USNS Lewis B. Puller (T ESB 3)

Background

Lewis B. Puller and its sister ship Hershel "Woody" Williams (T-ESB-4) will differ significantly from the U.S. Navy's first two Expeditionary Transfer Dock support vessels, Montford Point (T-ESD-1) and John Glenn (T-ESD-2). These two ships act as a floating base or transfer station that can be prepositioned off the target area. Lewis B. Puller and Hershel "Woody" Williams will serve as Expeditionary Sea Bases to support a variety of low-intensity missions. This allows more expensive, high-value amphibious warfare ships and surface combatant warships to be re-tasked for more demanding operational missions for the U.S. Navy. These ESB variants are slated to operate in the Middle East and the Pacific Ocean.

Lewis B. Puller will be operated by the Military Sealift Command. Its designation prefix will be "USNS." The crew will consist of civilian mariners under contract with U.S. maritime unions. Lewis B. Puller is intended to replace USS Ponce, the U.S. Navy's interim AFSB support ship.

Design features

The overall design of Lewis B. Puller is based on the hull of the civilian Alaska-class oil tanker. Lewis B. Puller will be outfitted with support facilities for its mine-sweeping, special operations, and other expeditionary missions. An accommodation barge will also be carried to support up to 298 additional mission-related personnel, including special-operations teams.

Lewis B. Puller's aviation facilities include a flight deck with landing spots for two heavy-lift transport CH-53 helicopters, as well as additional deck space for two more CH-53s. Lewis B. Puller will also have a helicopter hangar, an ordnance storage magazine, underway replenishment facilities, and deck space for mission-related equipment storage, including up to four Mk 105 minesweeping hydrofoil sleds.

GE Power Conversion will provide complete electric power, propulsion, and vessel automation systems for all MLP ships. This integrated power system (IPS) will also involve the ship's tandem propulsion motor powered by variable-frequency drives, Harmonic Filters, and high-voltage switchboards.

Unlike the ESDs which lower the entire ship until their boat decks are awash, ESBs use cranes to raise and lower small boats of up to 11 metric tons to the water from their mission deck.

Lewis B. Puller is the first non-combatant ship to have the new Navy N-30 class passive fire protection system installed.

Embarked aircraft

On 16 January 2014, at the Surface Naval Association's national symposium, the head of NAVSEA's Strategic and Theater Sealift program, Captain Henry Stevens, announced that the Bell-Boeing MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft will be evaluated for potential operations on board the Expeditionary Mobile Base (ESB) variant of the Expeditionary Transfer Dock. Currently, the testing and certification of MH-53E helicopters for minesweeping operations from ESB support ships are slated to begin during fiscal year 2016. Additionally, Captain Stevens noted that the F-35B STOVL strike fighter was not currently being considered for ESB operations because of concerns that exhaust heat damaging the flight decks of U.S. Navy amphibious assault ships.

Namesake

USNS Lewis B. Puller (T-ESB-3) is the second ship named after Lieutenant General Lewis Burwell "Chesty" Puller, USMC. A distinguished combat veteran of the Banana Wars, World War II and the Korean War, Puller is the most decorated individual in the history of the United States Marine Corps.

Construction history

The United States Navy ordered T-ESB-3 in February 2012 as part of the Fiscal Year 2013 appropriation for the U.S. Department of Defense via the National Defense Sealift Fund (NDSF).

The keel-laying ceremony for Lewis B. Puller took place at the General Dynamics NASSCO shipyard in San Diego, California, on 5 November 2013. The keel of Lewis B. Puller was authenticated by Elizabeth Glueck, the wife of Lieutenant General Kenneth J. Glueck, Jr., the commanding general of the Marine Corps Combat Development Command. Mrs. Glueck welded her initials onto a steel plate that will be permanently affixed to the ship, remaining a part of the Lewis B. Puller throughout its service life.

Lewis B. Puller was launched and floated-off at the General Dynamics NASSCO shipyard on 6 November 2014. The launching dock was slowly flooded with water until it could freely float by itself. The ship was christened on 7 February 2015, and it was delivered on 12 June 2015.

Lewis B. Puller set sail from San Diego to Norfolk via Cape Horn, arriving 13 October 2015 to begin its testing and evaluation phase. The ship is currently configured for mine-sweeping support but is also under consideration to support special operations forces (SOF) missions. Lewis B. Puller is slated to join the U.S. Fifth Fleet in the Persian Gulf in late 2016 or early 2017.

On 14 January 2016, the Secretary of the Navy announced that Lewis B. Puller's sister-ship would be named Hershel Woody Williams (T-ESB-4) during a ceremony in Charleston, West Virginia.

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. Mobile Landing Platforms (MLPs) 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.