General Dynamics NASSCO on April 24, 2012 delivered USNS Medgar Evers (T-AKE 13) to the U.S. Navy. The ship is named in honor of the slain African-American civil rights leader from Mississippi who served as the state’s first-ever field secretary for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the shipbuilding firm said on Tuesday.
Construction of the USNS Medgar Evers began in April 2010. NASSCO has incorporated international marine technologies and commercial ship-design features into T-AKE-class ships, including an integrated electric-drive propulsion system, to minimize operating costs during each ship’s projected 40-year service life. During the course of the decade-long T-AKE Program, NASSCO has implemented more than 20,000 ideas to drive down costs and improve quality and more than 1.5 million hours have been invested in employee training since 2006. With a cargo capacity of more than 10,000 tons, the primary mission of T-AKE ships is to deliver food, ammunition, fuel and other provisions from shore stations to combat ships at sea.
“As demonstrated on our successful sea trials three weeks ago, the Medgar Evers is ready for immediate service,” said Fred Harris, president of General Dynamics NASSCO. “The 12 deployed T-AKE ships are performing and proving their ability to serve the fleet in their primary missions and in a variety of other roles.”
Including the Medgar Evers, NASSCO has delivered the first thirteen ships of the T-AKE (Lewis and Clark) class to the Navy. The fourteenth ship and final ship of the class, USNS Cesar Chavez, will be christened and launched on May 5, before its delivery in fourth quarter 2012.
Located on San Diego Bay, General Dynamics NASSCO has been designing and building ships since 1960, specializing in auxiliary and support ships for the U.S. Navy and oil tankers and dry cargo carriers for commercial markets. NASSCO employs about 3,300 people and is the only major ship construction yard on the West Coast of the United States.
General Dynamics NASSCO is one of three shipyards in the Marine Systems group of General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE: GD). General Dynamics, headquartered in Falls Church, Virginia, employs approximately 90,000 people worldwide. The company is a market leader in business aviation; land and expeditionary combat systems, armaments and munitions; shipbuilding and marine systems; and information systems and technologies.