The U.S. Navy christened the Hershel "Woody" Williams in honor of retired Marine Chief Warrant Officer 4 Williams, who received the nation's highest decoration for combat bravery for his valorous actions on Iwo Jima in 1945. ((General Dynamics NASSCO))
The Woody Williams may look like a repurposed oil tanker (because it is), but this vessel can do it all for the U.S. Navy.
Jan 19, 2018
The USNS Herschel “Woody” Williams is neither fast nor heavily armed. And while she may look like a commercial cargo ship, the Navy's new vessel is also one of the most useful ships in the entire U.S. military.
Called an “expeditionary mobile base,” the Woody Williams can do just about any job, whether that means supporting a fleet of minesweepers or potentially hosting F-35B Joint Strike Fighters. The Williams was recently christened by builder General Dynamics National Steel and Shipbuilding Company (NASSCO) and is set to join the fleet soon.
One major maritime blog called the USNS Woody Williams “unsexy,” and to be honest it’s not a unfair statement. Call it the cargo pants of boats. The 785-foot long, 164 foot-wide, 90,000-ton ship is based on the civilian Alaska-class oil tanker, also built by NASSCO, and despite the gray paint job it still looks like it. This is where the similarity with an oil tanker ends, however.
As an expeditionary sea base, Woody Williams is designed to support amphibious operations from the sea, including seaborne invasions. The ship’s huge size allows it to carry up to 25,000 square feet of armored vehicles and military equipment inside, as well as 380,000 gallons of JP-5 aviation fuel…
Expeditionary Transfer Dock (ESD) /Expeditionary Sea Base (ESB)
NORFOLK (August 3, 2016) USNS LEWIS B. PULLER (T-ESB 3) off the coast of Norfolk conducting airborne mine countermeasure operations.
The Expeditionary Transfer Dock (ESD) and Expeditionary Sea Base (ESB) ship classes are highly flexible platforms that may be used across a broad range of military operations supporting multiple operational phases. Acting as a mobile sea base, they will be part of the critical access infrastructure that supports the deployment of forces and supplies to provide prepositioned equipment and sustainment with flexible distribution.
The ESD and ESB ships were originally called the Mobile Landing Platform (MLP) and the MLP Afloat Forward Staging Base (AFSB), respectively. In September 2015, the Secretary of the Navy redesignated these hulls to conform to traditional three-letter ship designations. The design of these ships is based on the Alaska class crude oil carrier, which was built by General Dynamics National Steel and Shipbuilding Company (NASSCO). Leveraging commercial designs ensures design stability and lower development costs.
USNS Montford Point (T-ESD 1) and USNS John Glenn (T-ESD 2) are configured with the Core Capability Set (CCS), which consists of a vehicle staging area, vehicle transfer ramp, large mooring fenders and up to three Landing Craft Air Cushion (LCAC) vessel lanes to support its core equipment transfer requirements. With a 9,500 nautical mile range at a sustained speed of 15 knots, these approximately 80,000 tons, 785-foot ships leverage float-on/float-off technology and a reconfigurable mission deck to maximize capability. Additionally, the ships’ size allows for 25,000 square feet of vehicle and equipment stowage space and 380,000 gallons of JP-5 fuel storage.
The Post Delivery Test and Trials period began with the demonstration and certification of USNS Lewis B. Puller (T-ESB 3) for Underway Replenishment, Fueling At Sea. T-ESB 3 receives a double probe fuel STREAM rig from the fast combat support ship USNS Arctic (T-AOE 8) in the Virginia Capes Operating Area.
The government designed CCS will provide inherent modularity and flexibility to ensure that ESD can support and execute a variety of missions including humanitarian support and sustainment of traditional military missions. ESD will provide the core capabilities to transfer vehicles and equipment at-sea and then interface with surface connectors to deliver the vehicles and equipment ashore. The CCS as installed is one configuration for an ESD mission set that can be augmented, allowing future capabilities to support a range of military operations. Ship utility services provided to the mission deck will enable the flexibility which could include additional capabilities such as berthing, medical, command and control, mission planning, connected replenishment, a container handling crane, or an aviation operating spot. Many of these capabilities have been incorporated in the ESB variant already delivered.
USNS Lewis B. Puller (T-ESB 3) crew demonstrates launch and recovery of a Airborne Mine Countermeasures 7m RHIB. Three Airborne Mine Countermeasures RHIBs are launched during Airborne Mine Countermeasures helicopter towing operations. T-ESB 3 is capable of launching and recovering boats and sleds up to 25,000 lbs. through NATO Sea State 3 (SS3).
USS Lewis B. Puller (T-ESB 3) is the first ESB delivered and along with follow-on ships, Hershel “Woody” Williams (ESB 4) and Miguel Keith (ESB 5), will be optimized to support a variety of maritime based missions including Special Operations Force (SOF) and Airborne Mine Counter Measures (AMCM). The ESBs include a four spot flight deck and hangar and are designed around four core capabilities: aviation facilities, berthing, equipment staging support, and command and control assets.
Lewis B. Puller (T-ESB 3) was redesignated from USNS and commissioned as a USS in August 2017 upon arrival in the 5th Fleet Area of Responsibility. As a commissioned ship, T-ESB 3 will provide combatant commanders greater operational flexibility on how the platform is employed in accordance with the laws of armed conflict.
Updated Jan 2018
Source navsea.navy.mil
GD NASSCO
