Montford Point-class expeditionary transfer dock
_underway_in_July_2014.JPG) |
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| History | |
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| Name: | Montford Point |
| Namesake: | Montford Point Camp, North Carolina |
| Owner: | Military Sealift Command |
| Ordered: | 27 May 2011 |
| Builder: | National Steel and Shipbuilding Company |
| Laid down: | 19 January 2012 |
| Launched: | 13 November 2012 |
| Acquired: | 14 May 2013 |
| Identification: |
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| Status: | In Service |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Expeditionary Transfer Dock |
| Displacement: | 34,500 tonnes |
| Length: | 765 feet (233 m) |
| Speed: | 20 knots (37 km/h) |
| Range: | 9,000 nautical miles |
USNS Montford Point (T-ESD-1), (formerly T-MLP-1), the lead ship of her class of Expeditionary Transfer Docks (ESD), is a ship named in honor of African American Marine Corps recruits who trained at Montford Point Camp, North Carolina, from 1942 to 1949. After $115 million was allocated for long-lead time material and advanced design efforts, in late 2010 General Dynamics's National Steel and Shipbuilding Company was awarded the contract, worth approximately $500 million, to build the first of three planned vessels.
The Expeditionary Transfer Dock is a new concept, part of the Maritime Prepositioning Force of the future. To control costs, the ships will not be built to combat vessel standards and are designed primarily to support three military hovercraft (such as the Landing Craft Air Cushion), vehicle staging with a sideport ramp and large mooring fenders. A decision was made to eliminate helicopter capability and ship-to-ship transfer of heavy equipment. An auxiliary support ship, Montford Point's role would be a seagoing pier for friendly forces in case accessibility to onshore bases are denied. Such flexibility would be useful following natural disasters and for supporting US Marines once they are ashore. The ESD supports a vehicle staging area, side port ramp, large mooring fenders, and up to three landing craft air cushioned vessel lanes.
The propulsion motors are of British design and build. Power conversion company Converteam was selected as the supplier of Integrated Power Systems with the award of an additional contract to design and supply the electric power, propulsion and vessel automation system.
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