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USNS Lewis and Clark (T-AKE-1)

USNS Lewis and Clark in the Atlantic Ocean, December 2006
History
United States
Name: USNS Lewis and Clark
Namesake: Meriwether Lewis and William Clark
Ordered: 18 October 2001
Builder: National Steel and Shipbuilding
Laid down: 23 March 2004
Launched: 21 May 2005
In service: 20 June 2006
Status: in active service
General characteristics
Class and type: Lewis and Clark-class cargo ship
Displacement: 41,000 tons (41,700 t)
Length: 689 ft (210 m)
Beam: 105.6 ft (32.2 m)
Draft: 29.9 ft (9.1 m)
Propulsion: Integrated propulsion and ship service electrical system, with generation at 6.6 kV by FM/MAN B&W diesel generators; one fixed pitch propeller; bow thruster
Speed: 20 knots (37 km/h)
Range:
  • 14,000 nautical miles at 20 knots
  • (26,000 km at 37 km/h)
Capacity:
  • Max dry cargo weight:
  •   5,910 long tons (6,005 t)
  • Max dry cargo volume:
  •   783,000 cubic feet (22,000 m³)
  • Max cargo fuel weight:
  •   2,350 long tons (2,390 t)
  • Cargo fuel volume:
  •   18,000 barrels (2,900 m³)
  •   (DFM: 10,500) (JP5:7,500)
Complement: 13 military, 123 civilian
Aircraft carried: two helicopters

USNS Lewis and Clark (T-AKE-1) is an American dry cargo ship, the lead ship of her namesake class. It was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for the explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. The contract to build her was awarded to National Steel and Shipbuilding Company (NASSCO) of San Diego, California, on 18 October 2001 and her keel was laid down on 22 April 2004. She was launched on 21 May 2005, co-sponsored by Jane Lewis Sale Henley and Lisa Clark, descendants of the ship's namesakes. She was delivered to the Navy on 20 June 2006.

The T-AKE is a replenishment naval vessel. In 2012, Lewis and Clark became one of 14 ships that comprise the United States Marine Corps (USMC) Maritime Prepositioning Program (MPP).

Within days of her transfer to Maritime Prepositioning Squadron Two (MPSRON-2) in Diego Garcia, she participated in Exercise Coconut Grove in the Republic of the Maldives. Coconut Grove is a bilateral military exercise between the USMC and the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF). This exercise was the inaugural exercise of this type vessel for the USMC MPP.

United States Marine Corps Forces, Pacific (MARFORPAC) conducted a proof of concept for operational employment of the T-AKE vessel in October 2012 during exercise Coconut Grove 12. Coconut Grove is a bi-lateral exercise conducted bi-annually with the MNDF. This was the inaugural exercise using a USMC Maritime Prepositioning Force (MPF) T-AKE vessel and the first step in showing operational usage of MPF in support of ground forces ashore. Coconut Grove 12 provided an opportunity to test T-AKE concepts, and to continue development of doctrine and tactics, techniques, and procedures for the USMC use of this class of ship in this role.


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