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SAN DIEGO: General Dynamics NASSCO, a wholly owned subsidiary of General Dynamics, today delivered USNS Sacagawea (T-AKE 2) to the U.S. Navy. The ship is named in honor of the Native American woman who helped guide and interpret for Meriwether Lewis and William Clark during their legendary exploration of the American West in the early 1800s.
Construction of USNS Sacagawea began in September 2004. The ship is the second in an expected class of 11 dry cargo-ammunition ships for the Navy. The T-AKE class incorporates international marine technologies and commercial ship-design features, including an integrated electric-drive propulsion system, to minimize operating costs during its projected 40-year service life. NASSCO has contracts to build the first nine ships. The first ship of the class, USNS Lewis and Clark, was delivered to the Navy last June.
“We are proud to have built and delivered Sacagawea and extremely pleased with the progress of the T-AKE program and the four additional ships under construction today,” said Frederick J. Harris, president of General Dynamics NASSCO. “In many ways, the design and features we put into these ships will significantly upgrade the Navy's ability to transfer material and supplies at sea, in pace with the high level of operations and demands of the fleet.”
Sacagawea's primary mission will be to deliver food, ammunition, fuel and other provisions from shore stations to combat ships at sea. The 689-foot-long ship has modular cargo holding and handling systems onboard and can carry more than 6,600 tons of dry cargo and nearly 23,500 barrels of fuel. The ship will remain in San Diego for about six weeks to conduct crew familiarization and final outfitting before it departs for its homeport of Norfolk, Virginia. It will be part of the Navy's Military Sealift Command fleet.
General Dynamics NASSCO employs more than 4,600 people and is the only major ship construction and repair yard on the West Coast of the United States. In addition to the T-AKE ships under construction, NASSCO will soon begin construction on a series of nine Jones Act-compliant product carrier ships for U.S. Shipping Partners L.P.
