The U.S. Navy added the 11th ship to its Lewis and Clark class of cargo ships as the USNS Washington Chambers, named for a U.S. Navy officer who played a major role in the early years of naval aviation, slid into the water on Sept. 11, 2010.
The 689-foot-long ship, designated T-AKE 11, is designed to carry ammunition, provisions, spare parts, potable water and fuel to other Navy vessels at sea, allowing those combat and support ships to remain underway and ready for combat for extended periods, according to the U.S. Navy.
The Navy and the ship's builder, General Dynamics, launched the Washington Chambers during a ceremony in San Diego in which the ship's sponsor, Loretta Penn, broke the traditional bottle of champagne against the ship's bow. Penn is wife of former Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Installations and Environment and former Acting Secretary of the Navy B.J. Penn.
General Dynamics NASSCO, the subsidiary that worked on the USNS Washington Chambers, has delivered seven Lewis and Clark class ships to the U.S. Navy and is under contract to build four more after the Washington Chambers. The Navy plans a total of 14 Lewis and Clark class ships.
Sea Trials Next Up for USNS Washington Chambers
Construction of the USNS Washington Chambers, which began with the ship's keel laying on Aug. 25, 2009, took less than 13 months.
The Navy's Military Sealift Command will take charge of the Washington Chambers in 2011, but in the meantime, the ship is scheduled for a series of tests and sea trials to test its systems. Eventually, the Washington Chambers' crew will include 129 civil service mariners and 11 Navy sailors.
The USNS Washington Chambers and the other ships in the Lewis and Clark class are operated by the Navy's Military Sealift Command.
The first 11 ships in the class will serve as combat logistics force ships, and the last three to be built will be attached to maritime pre-positioning squadrons, according to the U.S. Navy. Pre-positioning squadrons place combat cargo at sea, which enables fast delivery to fighters on shore.
The Navy Military Sealift Command operates approximately 110 non-combatant, civilian-crewed ships. The ships help to supply U.S. Navy combat ships such as the U.S.S. Enterprise, conduct some missions, pre-position cargo designed to support combat troops and move military cargo and supplies worldwide.
Ship Named for Naval Aviation Pioneer Washington Chambers
The USNS Washington Chambers honors Navy Capt. Washington Irving Chambers, an early and ardent supporter of naval aviation who engineered the world's first airplane takeoff and landing from a warship, thus confirming the potential for carrier-based naval aviation, according to the U.S. Navy.
Chambers graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., in 1876 and spent his career in the U.S. Navy, eventually working in the Bureau of Navigation, where he was placed in charge of developing naval aviation.
In addition to his role in confirming the potential for aircraft carrier-based naval aviation, Chambers pioneered work on naval torpedoes and submitted one of the first American designs for an all big-gun battleship, according to Arlington National Cemetery, where he is buried.
In addition to the USNS Washington Chambers, Chambers Field in Norfolk, Va., also was named for Chambers.
Jane Anderson - Jane M. Anderson spends as much time as possible on the water, working and sailing on boats. She grew up sailing Sunfish and Rhodes 19s on ...
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