USNS Andrew J. Higgins

USNS Andrew J. Higgins (T-AO-190) was a Henry J. Kaiser-class oiler of the United States Navy which saw active service from 1987 to 1996. Sold to Chile in 2009, she was commissioned as Almirante Montt in the Chilean Navy in 2010.

USNS Andrew J. Higgins in September 1987
History
United States
Name	USNS Andrew J. Higgins
Namesake	Andrew Higgins (1886-1952), American shipbuilder
Ordered	22 November 1983
Builder	Avondale Shipyard, Inc., New Orleans, Louisiana
Laid down	21 November 1985
Launched	17 January 1987
In service	22 October 1987
Out of service	6 May 1996
Stricken	6 January 2009
Fate	Sold to Chile 19 May 2009
Almirante Montt off Valparaiso, Chile, in March 2019.
Chile
Name	Almirante Montt
Namesake	Jorge Montt (1845-1922), Chilean Navy vice admiral, President of Chile (1891–1896)
Operator	Chilean Navy
Acquired	19 May 2009
Commissioned	10 February 2010
Identification	IMO number: 8325559
General characteristics
Class and type	Henry J. Kaiser-class 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 (12,000 kW) per shaft 34,442 hp (25,683 kW) 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	178,000 to 180,000 barrels (29,000 m3) of fuel oil and jet fuel 7,400 square feet 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)
Armament	Peacetime: none Wartime: probably 2 x 20-mm Phalanx CIWS
Aircraft carried	None – probably can facilitate Chilean Navy Eurocopter AS332 Super Puma
Aviation facilities	aft deck Helicopter landing platform
Notes	Five refueling stations Two dry cargo transfer rigs

Construction

Andrew J. Higgins, the fourth ship of the Henry J. Kaiser class, was laid down at Avondale Shipyard, Inc., at New Orleans, Louisiana, on 21 November 1985 and launched on 17 January 1987. She was named after Andrew Higgins, the man credited with developing the landing craft, vehicle, personnel (LCVP), or "Higgins Boat", of World War II.

Service history

U.S. Navy

Andrew J. Higgins entered non-commissioned U.S. Navy service under Military Sealift Command control with a primarily civilian crew on 22 October 1987. She was taken out of active service on 6 May 1996 and placed in reserve in the National Defense Reserve Fleet in Suisun Bay at Benicia, California, where she remained until September 2009. She was the first ship of her class to be taken out of service.

In 2008, Andrew J. Higgins was selected for transfer to Chile as a Foreign Assistance Act grant. She was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 6 January 2009 and sold to Chile on 19 May 2009. She was withdrawn from the Reserve Fleet at Suisun Bay on 24 September 2009 and towed to the Atlantic Marine Alabama shipyard at Mobile, Alabama, to undergo a three-month refit and overhaul.

Chilean Navy

Renamed Almirante Montt with the identification number AO-52, the oiler was commissioned in the Chilean Navy on 10 February 2010, replacing the oiler Araucano.

In an effort to address the Royal Canadian Navy's at-sea support services capability gap until the arrival of its new Protecteur-class supply ships, Canada signed a Mutual Logistic Support Arrangement with Chile in 2015. As part of that arrangement, the Chilean Navy operated Almirante Montt for 40 sea days in the Canadian Pacific region in support of Royal Canadian Navy training requirements in July and August 2015, working with the frigates HMCS Calgary and HMCS Vancouver. Almirante Montt returned to Canada in 2016, operating with the Royal Canadian Navy from April to June 2016.

References

Citations'

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.
• 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.

External links

• "Service Ship Photo Archive: T-AO-190 Andrew J. Higgins", NavSource Online
• USNS Andrew J. Higgins (T-AO 190)
• Sealift, U.S. Navy's Military Sealift Command: Chilean navy embarks on MSC oiler