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USNS John Glenn (T ESD 2)

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Namesake
  
John Glenn

Laid down
  
17 April 2012

Status
  
In Service

Construction started
  
17 April 2012

Displacement
  
34.5 million kg

Ordered
  
27 May 2011

Acquired
  
12 March 2014

Length
  
233 m

Launched
  
15 September 2013

Range
  
16.668 million m

USNS John Glenn (T-ESD-2) Mobile Landing Platform Ship

Owner
  
Military Sealift Command

Builder
  
National Steel and Shipbuilding Company

Expeditionary transfer dock esd usns john glenn t esd 2 usns


USNS John Glenn (T-ESD-2), (formerly MLP-2) is a United States Navy Expeditionary Transfer Dock ship named in honor of John Glenn, a Naval Aviator, retired United States Marine Corps colonel, veteran of World War II and the Korean War, astronaut, and United States senator.

Contents

USNS John Glenn (T-ESD-2) httpsuploadwikimediaorgwikipediacommonsthu

Design

USNS John Glenn (T-ESD-2) Mobile Landing Platform Ship

The Expeditionary Transfer Dock is a new concept, part of the Maritime Prepositioning Force of the future. To control costs, the ships will not be built to combat vessel standards and are designed primarily to support three military hovercraft (such as the Landing Craft Air Cushion), vehicle staging with a sideport ramp and large mooring fenders. A decision was made to eliminate helicopter capability and ship-to-ship transfer of heavy equipment.

USNS John Glenn (T-ESD-2) Expeditionary Transfer Dock ESD USNS John Glenn TESD2

The propulsion motors are of British design and build. Power conversion company Converteam was selected as the supplier of Integrated Power Systems with the award of an additional contract to design and supply the electric power, propulsion and vessel automation system.

USNS John Glenn (T-ESD-2) NASSCO Delivers Second Mobile Landing Platform USNI News

An auxiliary support ship, its role would be a seagoing pier for friendly forces in case accessibility to onshore bases are denied. Such flexibility would be useful following natural disasters and for supporting US Marines once they are ashore. The ESD in its basic form possesses a core capability set that supports a vehicle staging area, side port ramp, large mooring fenders and up to three landing craft air cushioned vessel lanes.

Construction

The ship's keel was laid down on 17 April 2012 at the National Steel and Shipbuilding Company (NASSCO) shipyard in San Diego, California. It was christened on 2 February 2014 and was attended by John Glenn and his family. Other Navy and Marine guest speakers that attended the ceremony include Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Research, Development and Acquisitions) Sean Stackley, Chief of Naval Operations Jonathan Greenert, and Lieutenant General John A. Toolan.

The John Glenn was delivered in 2014 to the Military Sealift Command's Maritime Prepositioning Force. As an ESD, the ship is under the command of the United States Navy's Military Sealift Command, and thus will not be commissioned into the US Navy (hence her designation prefix, "USNS"). The ship will undergo further construction additions at the Vigor Shipyard in Portland, Oregon.

Ship re-designation

Effective 4 September 2015, U.S. Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus officially announced the creation of a new ship designation, "E" for expeditionary support. Joint High Speed Vessel (JHSV) will be called Expeditionary Fast Transport, or EPF; the Mobile Landing Platform (MLP) will be called Expeditionary Transfer Dock, or ESD; and the Afloat Forward Staging Base (AFSB) variant of the MLP will be called Expeditionary Mobile Base, or ESB. The new designation was pursuant to a memorandum sent to Secretary Mabus from Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Jonathan Greenert dated 31 August 2015.

References

USNS John Glenn (T-ESD-2) Wikipedia