USS Ponce, was an Austin-class amphibious transport dock, formerly in service with the United States Navy. She has been the only ship of the Navy named for Ponce in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, which in turn was named after the Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León, the first governor of Puerto Rico and the European discoverer of Florida. Her keel was laid down on 31 October 1966 by the Lockheed Shipbuilding and Construction Company of Seattle, Washington. She was launched on 20 May 1970 sponsored by Florence W. Hyland, the wife of Admiral John J. Hyland, and commissioned on 10 July 1971. She spent most of her career based on the East Coast and operating in the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea, serving in Operation Desert Shield and supporting US operations in the 2011 Libyan Civil War.
The Military Sealift Command (MSC) is an organization that controls the replenishment and military transport ships of the United States Navy. Military Sealift Command has the responsibility for providing sealift and ocean transportation for all US military services as well as for other government agencies. It first came into existence on 9 July 1949 when the Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS) became solely responsible for the Department of Defense's ocean transport needs. The MSTS was renamed the Military Sealift Command in 1970.
USS Halsey (DDG-97) is an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer in the United States Navy. She is the second ship to be named for Fleet Admiral William Halsey Jr.
Hector Albert Cafferata Jr., USMCR was a United States Marine who received the Medal of Honor for his actions at the Battle of Chosin Reservoir during the Korean War. In November 1950, Private First Class Cafferata single-handedly held off a regimental-strength enemy and saved wounded Marines by hurling away a live grenade that had landed in their midst, at the cost of serious personal injury.
United States ship naming conventions for the U.S. Navy were established by congressional action at least as early as 1862. Title 13, section 1531, of the U.S. Code, enacted in that year, reads, in part,
The vessels of the Navy shall be named by the Secretary of the Navy under direction of the President according to the following rule: Sailing-vessels of the first class shall be named after the States of the Union, those of the second class after the rivers, those of the third class after the principal cities and towns and those of the fourth class as the President may direct.
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the world's most powerful navy and the largest by tonnage, at 4.5 million tons in 2021 and in 2009 an estimated battle fleet tonnage that exceeded the next 13 navies combined. It has the world's largest aircraft carrier fleet, with 11 in service, one undergoing trials, two new carriers under construction, and six other carriers planned as of 2024. With 336,978 personnel on active duty and 101,583 in the Ready Reserve, the U.S. Navy is the third largest of the United States military service branches in terms of personnel. It has 299 deployable combat vessels and about 4,012 operational aircraft as of July 18, 2023.
The Spearhead-class expeditionary fast transport (EPF) is a United States Navy–led shipbuilding program to provide a high-speed, shallow draft vessel intended for rapid intra-theater transport of medium-sized cargo payloads. The EPFs can reach speeds of 35–45 knots, and allow the rapid transit and deployment of conventional or special forces, equipment and supplies.
An Expeditionary Transfer Dock (ESD), formerly the Mobile Landing Platform (MLP), is designed to be a semi-submersible, flexible, modular platform providing the US Navy with the capability to perform large-scale logistics movements such as the transfer of vehicles and equipment from sea to shore. These ships significantly reduce the dependency on foreign ports and provide support in the absence of port availability. The class also houses a sub-class variant called the Expeditionary Mobile Base (ESB), formerly the Afloat Forward Staging Base (AFSB).
USNS Montford Point (T-ESD-1),, the lead ship of her class of Expeditionary Transfer Docks (ESD), is a ship named in honor of African American Marine Corps recruits who trained at Montford Point Camp, North Carolina, from 1942 to 1949. After $115 million was allocated for long-lead time material and advanced design efforts, in late 2010 General Dynamics's National Steel and Shipbuilding Company was awarded the contract, worth approximately $500 million, to build the first of three planned vessels.
USNS John Glenn (T-ESD-2), is a United States Navy Expeditionary Transfer Dock ship named in honor of John Glenn, a Naval Aviator, retired United States Marine Corps colonel, veteran of World War II and the Korean War, astronaut, and United States senator.
USS Lewis B. Puller (ESB-3), is the first purpose-built expeditionary mobile base vessel for the United States Navy, and the second ship to be named in honor of Chesty Puller. The lead ship in her class of expeditionary mobile bases, she is also a sub-variant of the Montford Point-class expeditionary transfer docks. Lewis B. Puller replaced USS Ponce with the U.S. Fifth Fleet in the Persian Gulf in late 2017.
USS Hershel "Woody" Williams (ESB-4) is a Lewis B. Puller-class expeditionary mobile base (ESB), currently in service with the United States Navy. The ship is also a sub-variant of the Montford Point-class expeditionary transfer dock (ESD). The ESDs are operated by the Navy's Military Sealift Command with predominantly civilian crews, while the ESBs, owing to the nature of their operations, have been commissioned and commanded directly by the U.S. Navy. The ship was named in honor of Hershel W. "Woody" Williams in an announcement by then-Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus, on 14 January 2016. Williams was a Marine who was awarded the Medal of Honor in the Battle of Iwo Jima, during World War II.
USS Miguel Keith (ESB-5) is a Lewis B. Puller-class expeditionary mobile base, one of three such ships in service with the United States Navy (USN) as of late 2021.
USS John L. Canley (ESB-6) is the fourth Lewis B. Puller-class expeditionary mobile base (ESB) of the United States Navy, and the first ship to be named for Medal of Honor recipient John L. Canley. John L. Canley was constructed in San Diego, California by the National Steel and Shipbuilding Company (NASSCO). Like her sister ships, she is also a sub-variant of the Montford Point-class expeditionary transfer dock (ESD). The ESDs are operated by the Navy's Military Sealift Command with predominantly civilian crews, while the ESBs, owing to the nature of their operations, have been commissioned and are operated directly by the Navy with military personnel.
USS Robert E. Simanek (ESB-7) will be a Lewis B. Puller-class expeditionary mobile base for the United States Navy, and she is the first United States Navy vessel named after Marine Corps Private First Class Robert Ernest Simanek, who was awarded for the Medal of Honor for heroic actions during the Battle of Bunker Hill, August 1952, during the Korean War. Secretary of the Navy Kenneth Braithwaite officially announced the name on 15 January 2021, when he visited USS Constitution, the oldest U.S. Navy commissioned ship afloat.
HNLMS Hydrograaf (H8021) is a expeditionary survey boat (ESB) of the Royal Netherlands Navy.
United States