Construction recently started on the second ship in the U.S. Military Sealift Command’s T-AKE program—a new class of combat logistics force vessels designated the Lewis and Clark class.Members of the SIU’s Government Services Division will fill the unlicensed positions on the new ships. Overall, the U.S. Navy has awarded contracts for six new Lewis and Clark dry cargo/ammunition ships—with options for an additional six vessels.
The ships are being built at the National Steel and Shipbuilding Company (NASSCO) in San Diego.
At a mid-September ceremony for the second vessel, Mrs. DeAnne Sutton, wife of U.S. Navy Commander George Sutton of the NAVSEA Program Office, made the first cut on the ship’s first steel plate to signify the start of construction. The vessel will be named the Sacagawea in honor of the Shoshone Indian woman who acted as guide and interpreter for Lewis and Clark on their expedition into the Northwest region of the United States from 1804-1806.
The first T-AKE, which has been under construction at NASSCO for a year, will be named the Lewis and Clark.
According to the shipyard, the T-AKE is the first new combat logistics force ship designed for the Navy in almost 20 years. The yard further noted that the new class combines lower-cost commercial ship design features with high-performance, proven international marine technologies such as integrated electric-drive propulsion.
The T-AKEs will be 689 feet long, with beams of 105 feet and a design draft of 30 feet. The ships will carry almost 7,000 metric tons of dry cargo and ammunition and 23,500 barrels of marine diesel fuel. They will have 40-year life expectancies.
In addition to the six T-AKEs, NASSCO is building four double-hull oil tankers for BP Shipping Company of Alaska, the first of which was delivered—and crewed by SIU members—in August.
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