Austal USA has christened the US Navy’s sixth Navajo-class towing, salvage, and rescue vessel, the USNS Billy Frank Jr. (T-ATS 11), in Mobile, Alabama.
The ceremony is part of a 10-ship development program to replace the force’s Powhatan-class ocean tugs and Safeguard-class rescue vessels, which have been operational since the 1980s.
The new system was named after a Nisqually tribal member and Korean War veteran awarded the Albert Schweitzer Prize for humanitarianism, Martin Luther King Jr. Distinguished Service Award, and a Presidential Medal of Freedom for more than three decades of service to the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission.
Once commissioned, the Billy Frank Jr. will undertake naval fleet assistance tasks similar to those of its predecessors.
Moreover, the platform and its sister ships will conduct open ocean intelligence, oil spill response, and humanitarian missions.
The Billy Frank Jr. is one of five Navajo ships contracted from Austal. The first five systems were ordered from industry partner Bollinger Shipyards.
The Navajo T-ATS Vessel
A Navajo-class ship spans 80 meters (263 feet) long and has an 18-meter (59-foot) beam.
It can carry up to 65 personnel and transport vehicles on a 557-square-meter (6,000 square feet) deck space.
The vessel is fitted with two Wartsila diesel engines with 6,300 horsepower each for a speed up to 15 knots (28 kilometers/17 miles per hour) and a range of over 8,100 nautical miles (15,001 kilometers/9,321 miles).
