USNS Millinocket (T-EPF-3)

USNS Millinocket (EPF-3) underway in May 2015.
Millinocket underway in 2015.
History
United States
Name: USNS Millinocket
Operator: Military Sealift Command
Awarded: 29 October 2010
Builder: Austal
Launched: 5 June 2013[1]
In service: 21 March 2014
Status: in active service, as of 2016
General characteristics
Class & type: Spearhead-class Expeditionary Fast Transport
Length: 103.0 m (337 ft 11 in)
Beam: 28.5 m (93 ft 6 in)
Draft: 3.83 m (12 ft 7 in)
Propulsion:
  • 4 × MTU 20V8000 M71L diesel engines
  • 4 × ZF 60000NR2H reduction gears
Speed: 43 knots (80 km/h; 49 mph)
Troops: 312
Crew: 41
Aircraft carried: Medium helicopter

USNS Millinocket (T-EPF-3), (formerly JHSV-3), (ex-Fortitude) is the third Spearhead-class expeditionary fast transport, which is part of the United States Military Sealift Command and was built in Mobile, Alabama.[2][3]

On 30 May 2012, Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus announced in Fall River, Massachusetts that the third Expeditionary Fast Transport, previously having been named Fortitude by the United States Army before the transfer of the EPF program to the Navy, would be named USNS Millinocket. Since the ship will be operated by the Military Sealift Command and not the United States Navy itself, it will carry the USNS designation and not USS.[4] The ship is the second U.S. Navy vessel to be named Millinocket, the first being a freighter sunk by a U-boat in 1942.[5][6]

In 2016 Millinocket will transport items to test with Fort Worth the LCS expeditionary maintenance capability.[7]

In 2015, NAVSEA announced that the Millinocket will be the sea trials platform for the U.S. Navy's prototype railgun at some point in 2016.

Capabilities

The EPF can transport US Army and US Marine Corps company-sized units with their vehicles, or reconfigure to become a troop transport for an infantry battalion.[2]

It has a flight deck for helicopter operations and a loading ramp that allows vehicles to quickly drive on and off the ship. The ramp is suitable for the types of austere piers and quay walls common in developing countries. EPF has a shallow draft (under 15 feet (4.6 m)).[2]

References

  1. "Navy's Third Joint High Speed Vessel Launched". Navy News Service. 6 June 2013. NNS130606-10.
  2. 1 2 3 Joint High Speed Vessel (JHSV), USN. Retrieved 12 March 2010.
  3. Joint High Speed Vessel (JHSV), globalsecurity.org. Retrieved 12 March 2010.
  4. "Secretary of the Navy Names Joint High Speed Vessel USNS Millinocket". U.S. Department of Defense (Washington, DC). Retrieved 2013-03-11.
  5. Sambides, Nick Jr. (May 30, 2012). "Navy names ship after 2 Katahdin region towns". Bangor Daily News. Bangor, ME. Retrieved 2013-03-11.
  6. "Future USNS Millinocket (JHSV 3) completes builder's sea trials". December 20, 2013.
  7. Mahadzir, Dzirhan (2 December 2015). "USS Fort Worth achieves objectives, learns lessons as it continues Asia-Pacific deployment". www.janes.com (IHS). Retrieved 8 December 2015.

External links

Media related to USNS Millinocket (EPF-3) at Wikimedia Commons

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