USNS John Lewis (T-AO-205)

USNS John Lewis (T-AO-205) is a United States Navy replenishment oiler and the lead ship of her class. She is part of the Military Sealift Command fleet of support ships.

History
United States
Name:	John Lewis[1]
Namesake:	John Lewis
Awarded:	30 June 2016
Builder:	National Steel and Shipbuilding Company, San Diego, California
Cost:	$640,206,756
Laid down:	13 May 2019[2]
General characteristics
Type:	oiler
Displacement:	22,515 t (Light ship)
Length:	746 ft
Beam:	106 ft
Draft:	33.5 ft
Speed:	20 Knot
Complement:	99 civilian mariners (CIVMARS)

Design and construction

Secretary of the Navy Raymond E. Mabus, Jr. announced the assignment of the name John Lewis to T-AO-205 on 6 January 2016.[3] According to the Naval Vessel Register, construction was authorized for the first six ships in the class on 30 June 2016.[4] She is named for United States Representative and civil rights leader John Lewis.[5][6] The contract price for John Lewis is $640,206,756.[7] The John Lewis class will be equipped with a basic self-defense capability, including crew served weapons, degaussing, and Nixie Torpedo decoys, and has space, weight, and power reservations for Close In Weapon Systems such as SeaRAMs, and an Anti-Torpedo Torpedo Defense System.[8]

National Steel and Shipbuilding Company began construction of John Lewis on 20 September 2018, with completion scheduled for November 2020.[9]

Other ships in class

The Navy plans to purchase 20 of these ships, with six of them already ordered.[10] In July 2016, US Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus advised Congress that he intended to name the Military Sealift Command's John Lewis-class oilers after prominent civil rights activists and leaders:

• USNS John Lewis (T-AO-205) - Georgia politician and civil rights activist John Lewis.
• USNS Harvey Milk (T-AO-206) - LGBT activist Harvey Milk.[11]
• USNS Earl Warren (T-AO-207) - Chief Justice of the United States Earl Warren.
• USNS Robert F. Kennedy (T-AO-208) - U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy.
• USNS Lucy Stone (T-AO-209) - Women's rights activist Lucy Stone.
• USNS Sojourner Truth (T-AO-210) - Abolitionist and women's rights activist Sojourner Truth.[11]

See also

• Henry J. Kaiser-class - predecessor class

References

1. Dan Petty (2019-01-09). "The US Navy - Fact File: Fleet Replenishment Oilers T-AO". Navy.mil. Retrieved 2020-04-04.
2. "Future USNS John Lewis Keel Authenticated" (Press release). NAVSEA. 13 May 2019. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
3. DANFS 2016.
4. NAVSEA Shipbuilding Support Office (7 July 2016). "JOHN LEWIS (AO 205)". Naval Vessel Register. Retrieved 30 July 2016.
5. By: Sam LaGrone (2016-01-06). ""SECNAV Mabus Names First T-AO(X) Next Generation Oiler After Rep. John Lewis" USNI News, January 6, 2016". News.usni.org. Retrieved 2020-04-04.
6. ""Secretary of the Navy Announces First Ship of Next Generation Fleet Replenishment Oilers, USNS John Lewis" United States Department of Defense Press Release, January 6, 2016". Defense.gov. 2016-01-06. Retrieved 2020-04-04.
7. GlobalSecurity 2016.
8. "Navy John Lewis (TAO-205) Class Oiler Shipbuilding Program: Background and Issues for Congress" (PDF). fas.org. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
9. "NASSCO starts construction of first John Lewis class oiler". Marine Log. 21 September 2018. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
10. Ronald O'Rourke. "Navy John Lewis (TAO-205) Class Oiler Shipbuilding Program: Background and Issues for Congress" (PDF). fas.org. Retrieved 19 October 2017.
11. Sam LaGrone (28 July 2016). "Navy to Name Ship After Gay Rights Activist Harvey Milk". US Naval Institute. Retrieved 30 July 2016.

Bibliography

Online resources

• GlobalSecurity (22 July 2016). "T-AO 205 John LewisT-AO(X) Fleet Replenishment Oilers". GlobalSecurity.org. Retrieved 3 August 2016.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• DANFS (13 January 2016). "John Lewis (T-AO-205)". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Naval History and Heritage Command. Retrieved 3 August 2016.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link) This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.