USNS Rappahannock

For other ships with the same name, see USS Rappahannock.

USNS Rappahannock (T-AO-204) maneuvering into port at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, in April, 2005
History
Name	USNS Rappahannock
Namesake	Rappahannock River
Ordered	6 October 1988
Builder	Avondale Shipyard, Inc., New Orleans, Louisiana
Laid down	29 March 1992
Launched	14 January 1995
In service	7 November 1995 - Present
Motto	Stick Together, Team!
Status	In active service
General characteristics
Class and type	Henry J. Kaiser-class fleet replenishment oiler
Type	Fleet replenishment oiler
Tonnage	31,200 deadweight tons
Displacement	9,500 tons light 42,000 long tons (42,674 metric tons) full load
Length	677 ft (206 m)
Beam	97 ft 5 in (29.69 m)
Draft	35 ft (11 m) maximum
Installed power	16,000 hp (11.9 MW) per shaft 34,442 hp (25.7 MW) total sustained
Propulsion	Two medium-speed Colt-Pielstick PC4-2/2 10V-570 diesel engines, two shafts, controllable-pitch propellers
Speed	20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph)
Capacity	159,000 barrels (25,300 m3) of fuel oil and jet fuel 7,400 sq ft (690 m2) dry cargo space; eight 20-foot (6.1 m) refrigerated containers with room for 128 pallets
Complement	103 (18 civilian officers, 1 U.S. Navy officer, 64 merchant seamen, 20 U.S. Navy enlisted personnel) Also given as 81 civilian and 3 U.S. Navy personnel
Armament	Peacetime: none Wartime: probably 2 x 20 mm Phalanx CIWS
Aviation facilities	Helicopter landing platform
Notes	Five refueling stations Two dry cargo transfer rigs

USNS Rappahannock (T-AO-204) is a Henry J. Kaiser-class underway replenishment oiler operated by the Military Sealift Command to support ships of the United States Navy.

Construction and delivery

Rappahannock, the eighteenth ship and final ship of the Henry J. Kaiser class and the second U.S. Navy ship named for the Rappahannock River in Virginia, was laid down at Avondale Shipyard, Inc., at New Orleans, Louisiana on 29 March 1992 and launched on 14 January 1995. She was one of only three of the eighteen Henry J. Kaiser-class ships — the other two being USNS Patuxent (T-AO-201) and USNS Laramie (T-AO-203) — to be built with a double bottom in order to meet the requirements of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990. Hull separation is 6 feet (1.8 m) at the sides and 6 feet 6 inches (1.98 m) on the bottom, reducing her liquid cargo capacity by about 21,000 barrels (3,300 m³) from that of the 15 ships of her class without a double bottom.

Rappahannock entered non-commissioned U.S. Navy service under the control of Military Sealift Command with a primarily civilian crew on 7 November 1995 with Captain Charles L. Becker as the commanding officer.

Service history

Rappahannock serves in the United States Pacific Fleet.

During Operation Tomodachi, Rappahannock delivered fuel, stores and humanitarian relief supplies to Blue Ridge for transport to mainland Japan. Rappahannock then loaded diesel and aviation fuel at Sasebo, Japan, March 24 before sailing for Gwangyang, South Korea, arriving March 27. There, Rappahannock loaded 289 pallets of bottled water, which the ship delivered to Yokosuka, Japan, March 30. Less than 24 hours later, the ship was underway again in the direction of Sendai.Rappahannock completed 10 underway replenishment missions delivering more than 2.4 gallons of fuel.

On July 16th 2012 the Rappahannock was involved in an incident in the Persian Gulf off the coast of Dubai with an unknown motorboat that approached the ship despite several warnings. “An embarked security team aboard a U.S. Navy vessel fired upon a small motor vessel after it disregarded warnings and rapidly approached the U.S. ship,” Greg Raelson, media officer for U.S. Navy, said in an e-mailed statement. The incident is under investigation, he said. The vessel was struck by Navy fire, killing one person and injuring three others, said a U.S. official speaking on condition of anonymity. The pleasure craft was first warned away from the USNS Rappahannock by voice, radio, and lights, the official said. Rappahannock is a cargo ship operated by the Navy's Sealift Command.

On July 16, 2012 the Rappahannock open fired in the on a fast approaching zodiac boat killing at least one person of unknown origin off the coast of the United Arab Emirates.

References

•  This article includes information collected from the Naval Vessel Register, which, as a U.S. government publication, is in the public domain. The entry can be found here.

External links

• NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive: USNS Rappahannock (T-AO-204)
• USNS Rappahannock (T-AO-2014)
• USNS Rappahannock official homepage
• Wildenberg, Thomas (1996). Gray Steel and Black Oil: Fast Tankers and Replenishment at Sea in the U.S. Navy, 1912-1995. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. Retrieved 28 April 2009.