USNS Shughart (T-AKR-295)

USNS Shughart
History
United States
Name: Shughart
Owner: United States Navy
Operator: Military Sealift Command
Launched: 1980
Sponsored by: Mrs. Stephanie Shughart
Acquired: May 7, 1996
Commissioned: 8 February 1997
In service: 1996
Homeport: Baltimore
Status: in active service
General characteristics
Class and type: Shughart-class cargo ship
Displacement: 54,450 tons full load
Length: 908.8 ft (277.0 m)
Beam: 105.6 ft (32.2 m)
Draft: 34.8 ft (10.6 m)
Propulsion: 1 Burmeister & Wain 12L90 GFCA diesel; 1 shaft; bow and stern thrusters
Speed: 24 knots (44 km/h)
Range: 12,200 nautical miles (22,590 km) at 24 knots (44 km/h)
Capacity: 312,461 sq ft (29,029 m2).
Complement: 26 civilian crew
Armament: none
Aircraft carried: One helicopter landing pad

USNS Shughart (T-AKR-295) is the lead ship of her class of cargo ships. She is a 'roll-on roll-off' non-combat United States Navy designated a "Large, Medium-Speed Roll-on/Roll-off" (LMSR) ship.

History

She was originally the Laura Maersk, constructed in 1980 in Denmark by Lindøværftet for A. P. Moller-Maersk Group (Maersk). She was lengthened in 1987 and again in the early 1990s by Hyundai.[1]

Strykers make their way down the USNS Shughart's gangplank

On May 7, 1996 Laura Maersk was delivered to Military Sealift Command and was outfitted at the National Steel and Shipbuilding Company's docks in San Diego, California.[1] Operated by Bay Ship Management, the newly renovated ship was renamed in honor of Medal of Honor recipient US Army Sergeant First Class Randall D. Shughart. Senator Bob Kerrey of Nebraska was the ceremony's principal speaker and serving as the ship's sponsor was Mrs. Stephanie Shughart, Sergeant Shughart's widow. The Shughart remains under the charter of the US Navy Military Sealift Command and is operated by US Merchant Mariners.[1]

Shughart, along with others in her class, is capable of carrying 58 tanks, 48 other track vehicles, plus more than 900 trucks and other wheeled vehicles. To manipulate the immense cargo capacity, Shughart utilizes two 110-ton cranes, port and starboard ramps, and a stern ramp.[2]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Navysite.de article retrieved on March 12, 2007
  2. Federation of American Scientists T-AKR 295 Shughart, Large, Medium-speed, roll-on/roll-off ships retrieved on March 12, 2007

Media related to USNS Shughart (T-AKR-295) at Wikimedia Commons


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