USNS Joshua Humphreys (T-AO-188)

USNS Joshua Humphreys (T-AO-188) is a Henry J. Kaiser-class fleet replenishment oiler of the United States Navy. She was named for Joshua Humphreys, who designed the six original US Navy frigates. She entered service in 1987 and was placed in reserve just nine years later, but has twice been brought out of reserve and as of 2015 is once more on active duty.

For a ship with a similar name, see USS Humphreys (DD-236).

USNS Joshua Humphreys (T-AO-188) in 2015
History
United States
Name: Joshua Humphreys
Namesake: Joshua Humphreys (1751-1838), American shipbuilder
Awarded: 20 January 1983
Builder: Avondale Shipyard
Laid down: 17 December 1984
Launched: 22 February 1986
In service: 3 April 1987 – 29 June 1996 and 23 February 2005 – 1 October 2006
Out of service: 29 June 1996 – 23 February 2005 and 1 October 2006
Identification:
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
  • Full load variously reported as 42,382 tons and 40,700 long tons (41,353 metric tons)
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:
Complement: 103 (18 civilian officers, 1 U.S. Navy officer, 64 merchant seamen, 20 U.S. Navy enlisted personnel)
Armament:
Aircraft carried: None
Aviation facilities: Helicopter landing platform
Notes:
  • Five refueling stations
  • Two dry cargo transfer rigs

Construction and delivery
USNS Joshua Humphreys (T-AO-188) underway in reverse during sea trials, February 1987
Joshua Humphreys in reserve at the Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility in 2008
Joshua Humphreys replenishes UK destroyer HMS Daring in 2012

Joshua Humphreys, the second ship of the Henry J. Kaiser class, was specially built for the Military Sealift Command (MSC). She was laid down at Avondale Shipyard, Inc., at New Orleans, Louisiana, on 17 December 1984 and launched on 22 February 1986. She entered non-commissioned U.S. Navy service with a primarily civilian crew on 3 April 1987.

Service history

1987-1996

Joshua Humphreys served in the United States Atlantic Fleet under MSC control until taken out of active service on 29 June 1996, the second ship of her class to be deactivated. She was subsequently berthed at the Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility (NISMF) at the site of the former Philadelphia Navy Yard in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and placed in reserve.

2005-2006

Joshua Humphreys was reactivated on 23 February 2005. She was deactivated again on 1 October 2006, and again placed in reserve at the Philadelphia facility, where she was moored in the Delaware River.

2010 Reactivation

In March 2010 Atlantic Marine in Philadelphia was awarded a $12.8 million contract for the reactivation of the Joshua Humphreys.[1] Upon reactivation, she joined the US Fifth Fleet in support of counter-piracy and counter-terrorism operations in the Indian Ocean and Gulf area. As 11 November 2010 she was providing fuel to the Abraham Lincoln Carrier Group.[2]

References
  2. "Lincoln Sailor Reunites With Father While Deployed in Arabian Gulf". Retrieved 22 November 2010.

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