Afloat Forward Staging Base
_underway_in_January_2014.jpg)
USNS John Glenn (T-ESD-2) sea trials in 2014
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| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Builders: | General Dynamics |
| Operators: | United States Navy |
| Building: | 3 |
| Planned: | 5 |
| General characteristics | |
| Tonnage: | >60,000 metric dwt |
| Length: | 785 ft (239 m) |
| Beam: | 164 ft (50 m) |
| Draft: | 39.37 ft (12.00 m) |
| Propulsion: |
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| Speed: | >15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph) |
| Range: | 9,500 nautical miles (17,600 km; 10,900 mi) at 15 knots |
| Boats & landing craft carried: |
3 LCAC |
| Aviation facilities: | ESB variant: Hangar for 2 × MH-53 and large flight deck |
An Expeditionary Transfer Dock (ESD), formerly the Mobile Landing Platform (MLP), was 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 ESD and ESB (Expeditionary Mobile Base) and are part of a new ship class added in 2015 with an E as a new designator, similar to the L-class amphibious ships, S-class submarines, A-class auxiliaries and more. These three E-class ships were previously listed as seabasing ships in the Naval Vessel Register.
In May 2011, General Dynamics NASSCO received a $744 million contract modification to fully fund the construction of the first two ships of the class, the USNS Montford Point (ESD 1) and USNS John Glenn (ESD 2) . Additional funding of $115 million for long lead time material and advanced design was awarded in August 2011.
The first ship of the ESD program, USNS Montford Point (ESD 1) was delivered in May 2013, and the second ship, USNS John Glenn (ESD 2), was delivered May 20, 2013.
In 2012, a third MLP, the USS Lewis B. Puller (ESB 3), was added to the contract and reconfigured as an Expeditionary Mobile Base (ESB), or formerly known as an MLP Afloat Forward Staging Base (AFSB). All three ships have been delivered to the U.S. Navy.
In September 2015, the Navy decided to redesignate the MLP as the Expeditionary Transfer Dock (ESD) and the AFSB as the Expeditionary Mobile Base (ESB).
The Expeditionary Transfer Dock concept is a large auxiliary support ship to facilitate the 'seabasing' of an amphibious landing force by acting as a floating base or transfer station that can be prepositioned off the target area. Troops, equipment, and cargo would be transferred to the MLP by large-draft ships, from where it can be moved ashore by shallower-draft vessels, landing craft like the Landing Craft Air Cushion (LCAC), or helicopters. In order to transfer vehicles from the larger ships to the ESD, the vessels were originally to be fitted with a Vehicle Transfer System; a ramp connecting the two ships alongside, and able to compensate for the movements of both vessels while underway.
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Wikipedia