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Military Sealift Command accepts USNS Richard E. Byrd (1/9)

The U.S. Military Sealift Command has issued the following release, dated January 8. The release also is available on MSC's web site HERE Military Sealift Command accepted delivery of dry/cargo ammunition ship USNS Richard E. Byrd today in San Diego. The ship was built by General Dynamics NASSCO. Byrd, designated T-AKE 4, is the fourth in the Lewis and Clark-class of underway replenishment ships which deliver ammunition, provisions, stores, spare parts, potable water and petroleum products to the Navy’s underway carrier and expeditionary strike groups, allowing them to stay at sea for extended periods of time “One of the really exciting things about the T-AKEs is their capability to carry food, ammunition and fuel,” said Robert Jaeger, Byrd’s civil service master. Jaeger has a first-hand appreciation of the need for the T-AKEs’ expanded capabilities, as he has spent the better part of the past 27 years sailing aboard other MSC underway replenishment ships. The T-AKEs will replace some of these aging, single-mission ships such as Kilauea-class ammunition ships and Mars- and Sirius-class combat stores ships that are nearing the end of their service lives. Later this month, the 689-foot Byrd will go on a short “shakedown cruise” where the ship’s crew will test a range of shipboard operations including a mock ammunition transfer that will use shipboard cranes to lift dummy ordnance onto Byrd’s deck from barges. This is the first such test ever done aboard a T-AKE. Byrd is anticipated to deploy on its first operational mission this summer. The first ship of the class, USNS Lewis and Clark, recently completed its deployment in the Persian Gulf. Lewis and Clark was replaced in theater by the second ship of the class, USNS Sacagawea. Byrd has a crew of 124 civil service mariners working for MSC as well as a military detachment of 11 sailors who provide operational support and supply coordination. When needed, Byrd can also carry a helicopter detachment. MSC operates approximately 110 noncombatant, merchant mariner-crewed ships that replenish U.S. Navy ships, conduct specialized missions, strategically preposition combat cargo at sea around the world and move military cargo and supplies used by deployed U.S. forces and coalition partners. ###