Navy to Christen USNS William McLean-April 16

Tonite  8 pm, PDT, the Navy will christen and launch the dry cargo/ammunition ship USNS William McLean at a ceremony at the General Dynamics NASSCO shipyard in San Diego, California.
The ship is named to honor Navy research scientist William McLean whose accomplishments include developing the iconic Navy’s deadly AIM-9 sidewinder, a short-range air-to-air missile. This is the first ship named in McLean’s honor.
Vice Admiral David Venlet, program executive officer of the F-35 Lightning II Program, will deliver the ceremony’s principal address.
Serving as the ship’s sponsor is Margaret Taylor, niece of the ship’s namesake.
The ceremony will include the time-honored Navy tradition of the sponsor breaking a bottle of champagne across the bow to formally christen the ship.
Designated T-AKE 12, the USNS William McLean is the 12th of an expected class of 14 dry cargo/ammunition ships, all of which will be operated by the U.S. Navy’s Military Sealift Command.
Eleven of the T-AKEs are slated to serve as Combat Logistics Force ships and three are slated to be part of the Maritime Prepositioning Force.
Combat Logistic Force(CLF) ships help the Navy maintain a worldwide forward presence by delivering ammunition, food, fuel, and other supplies to U.S. and allied ships at sea. All 10 T-AKEs operating today are conducting CLF missions.
Advertisement Maritime Prepositioning Force ships are continuously deployed to strategic locations worldwide carrying U.S. Marine Corps cargo, which is ready for rapid delivery to Marines ashore if needed.
As part of MSC, T-AKE 12 is designated as a United States Naval Ship (USNS) and will be crewed by civil service mariners. For Combat Logistics Missions the T-AKEs’ crews include a small department of United States Navy Sailors.
Like the other dry cargo/ammunition ships, T-AKE 12 is designed to operate independently for extended periods at sea and can carry two helicopters and their crews.
The ship is 689 feet in length, has an overall beam of 106 feet, has a navigational draft of 30 feet, displaces approximately 42,000 tons and is capable of reaching a speed of 20 knots using a single-shaft, diesel-electric propulsion system.

Additional information about the T-AKE class of ship is available on line at http://www.navy.mil/navydata/fact_display.asp?cid=4400&tid=500&ct=4.

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