USNS Lawrence H. Gianella (T-AOT-1125)

USNS Lawrence H. Gianella (T-AOT-1125) is a United States Military Sealift Command product tanker which typically carries diesel, gasoline, and JP5 (jet fuel).

History
United States
Name: USNS Lawrence H. Gianella
Builder: American Ship Building Company, Tampa, Florida
Launched: 1985
In service: 22 April 1986
Out of service: 23 May 2019
Identification:
Status: Laid up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet
General characteristics
Displacement: 39,624 long tons (40,260 t) full
Length: 615 ft (187 m)
Beam: 90 ft (27 m)
Draft: 24 ft 8 in (7.52 m)
Propulsion: 1 × 5-cylinder Sulzer 5RTA 76 diesel engine, 18,400 hp (13.7 MW), 1 shaft
Speed: 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph)
Capacity: 237,766 bbl (37,801.8 m3)
Complement: 24 contract mariners
Armament: None

Name origin

The vessel is named for Radio Operator Lawrence H. Gianella who was posthumously awarded the Merchant Marine Distinguished Service Medal in 1943 for the heroic action he undertook when his ship was torpedoed on 19 December 1941 in mid-Pacific. Orders had been given to abandon the rapidly sinking ship but Gianella - realizing that his shipmates chances of rescue were slim and dependent on him getting out an SOS message - stayed on board and rigged an emergency radio set, thus sacrificing himself for his shipmates.[1][2]

Service
Lawrence Gianella headed south towards McMurdo Station, Antarctica

Among Lawrence H. Gianella’s multiple tasks, her reinforced steel bow enables her to battle through pack ice in southern seas and deliver fuel to McMurdo Station, Antarctica. On 1 July 2009, she shifted from the MSC’s Sealift Program and began serving the Command’s Prepositioning Program. The ships assigned to the program preposition U.S. Marine Corps vehicles, equipment, and ammunition throughout the world. Lawrence H. Gianella served the program by delivering petroleum products to Department of Defense storage and distribution facilities worldwide.[1]

References
  1. "Lawrence H. Gianella (T-AOT-1125) 1986–". Naval History & Heritage Command. United States Navy. Retrieved 29 February 2016.
  2. Rose Adelle Gianella, Sister


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