USNS Joshua Humphreys (T-AO-188) is a Henry J. Kaiser-class 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.
_150117-N-KB426-153_(16129286187).jpg) USNS Joshua Humphreys (T-AO-188) in 2015
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| 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 replenishment oiler |
| Type | Fleet replenishment oiler |
| Tonnage | 31,200 deadweight tons |
| Displacement |
|
| Length | 677 ft (206 m) |
| Beam | 97 ft 5 in (29.69 m) |
| Draft | 35 ft (11 m) maximum |
| Installed power |
|
| 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 |
|
Construction and delivery
editJoshua 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 US Navy service with a primarily civilian crew on 3 April 1987.
Service history
edit1980s-1990s
editJoshua 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.
2000s
editJoshua 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.
2010s
editIn 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 Strike Group.[2]
Gallery
edit-
Joshua Humphreys underway in reverse during sea trials, February 1987 -
Joshua Humphreys at NISMF - Philadelphia in 2008 -
Joshua Humphreys replenishes Royal Navy destroyer HMS Daring in 2012
References
edit- ^ "U.S. Department of Defense Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) - Contracts - Navy". defense.gov. 5 March 2010. Archived from the original on 29 May 2010. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
- ^ "Lincoln Sailor Reunites With Father While Deployed in Arabian Gulf". Retrieved 22 November 2010.
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.
External links
edit
- NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive: USNS Joshua Humphreys (T-AO-188)
- 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.