Program Summary
Lewis and Clark class (T-AKE) dry
cargo/ammunition ships are being built to replace
the Military Sealift Command's aging fleet of
single-mission ammunition and combat store ships,
playing a vital role in guaranteeing the Navy’s
worldwide forward presence by delivering ammunition,
food, fuel, and other dry cargo to U.S. and allied
ships at sea.
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The Military Sealift Command dry cargo and ammunition ship USNS Robert E. Peary (T-AKE 5)is underway in the Red Sea. (U.S. Navy photo, by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Jason R. Zalasky/Released)
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As part of Military Sealift Command’s (MSC) Naval
Fleet Auxiliary Force (NFAF), the mission of
T-AKEs 1-11 is to deliver ammunition, provisions,
stores, spare parts, potable water and petroleum
products to deployed naval forces at sea worldwide.
The 689-foot T-AKE has the largest cargo-carrying
capacity and the largest flight deck of any combat
logistics ship afloat.
T-AKEs 12, 13 and 14 will each be assigned to one of
the three active Maritime Prepositioning Ship
squadrons, which are permanently forward deployed to
the Eastern Atlantic Ocean/Mediterranean Sea,
Western Pacific Ocean and Indian Ocean. While
identical in configuration to T-AKEs 1-11, the
mission of the last three ships in the class will be
to provide selective offload of cargo for resupply
and sustainment of U.S. Marine Corps forces ashore.
The primary goal of the T-AKE program is to provide
effective fleet underway replenishment capability at
the lowest life cycle cost. Built to commercial
standards, T-AKEs take advantage of industry best
practices and can be cost-effectively maintained
using commercial, off-the-shelf technology. T-AKEs
have built-in environmental protections such as
industry-leading “green” waste-management facilities
that decrease pollutants by 95 percent.
Built in San Diego by General Dynamics National
Steel and Shipbuilding Company (NASSCO), a
total of 14 T-AKEs will be procured, all of which
are currently under contract.
NASSCO was awarded a detailed design and
construction contract in October 2001. The first
nine ships of the class have been delivered and five
additional ships are under construction or contract.
The most recent ship to deliver is USNS Matthew
Perry (T-AKE 9), which delivered Feb. 24, 2010, more
than a month ahead of the contract delivery date.
As this class has entered serial production, NASSCO
has increased learning and production efficiencies
to make substantial reductions in labor hours, from
hull to hull. For example, T-AKE 7 was produced with
fewer than 50 percent of the man-hours it took to
produce T-AKE 1, and had a 37 percent reduction in
total construction time.
PEO Ships is taking advantage of this successful
program by applying lessons-learned from this class
to other programs to help move beyond the challenges
inherent in new ship construction.