Posted:
January 22, 2014
The second mobile landing platform, USNS John Glenn, successfully completed builder's sea trials Jan. 13 and is scheduled to be christened Feb. 1 at General Dynamics NASSCO in San Diego, Calif., bringing new jobs to the membership of American Maritime Officers.
Like the first MLP, the USNS John Glenn is operated for Military Sealift Command by Ocean Ships, Inc. and is manned in all licensed positions by AMO.
"We are proud to be expanding our union's role with this new class of ship and extending our tradition of exceptional service to the U.S. Armed Forces in the MSC fleet," said AMO National President Tom Bethel. "The AMO officers working aboard the first-in-class USNS Montford Point continue to earn well-deserved praise at every phase of the ship's development and evaluation. The AMO members aboard the USNS John Glenn are doing great work in giving MLP 2 an equally strong start."
The second MLP is named for Col. John Glenn, a retired decorated Marine Corps pilot, distinguished astronaut, Congressional Space Medal of Honor recipient and U.S. senator. During his time with the Marine Corps, Glenn flew 59 combat missions during World War II and a combined 90 missions over the course of two tours in the Korean War.
During a week of builder's sea trials this month, General Dynamics NASSCO conducted comprehensive tests to demonstrate the performance of all of the ship's major systems, Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) reported.
The USNS John Glenn "performed extremely well, a testament to the thorough preparation by NASSCO, the Navy MLP program office, and our supervisor of shipbuilding," said Capt. Henry Stevens, strategic and theater sealift program manager, Program Executive Office, Ships. "This ship is well on its way to acceptance trials and delivery later this year."
Using the commercially designed Alaska-class crude oil carrier as its base, the Navy's Strategic and Theater Sealift Program Office (PMS 385) worked in conjunction with NASSCO to develop a design that supports the Navy's core capabilities while maintaining low costs, NAVSEA reported.
The MLP has a maximum speed of 15 knots and range of 9,500 nautical miles, NAVSEA reported. The ship has tankage for 100,000 gallons of potable water and can hold 380,000 gallons of JP-5 jet fuel. Acting as a mobile sea base, the mobile landing platforms will be part of the critical access infrastructure that supports the deployment of forces and supplies to provide prepositioned cargo with flexible distribution in support of a variety of missions, including humanitarian support and sustainment of traditional military missions.
Following builder's trials, the ship will be inspected by the Navy Board of Inspection and Survey during a series of acceptance trials, NAVSEA reported. Delivery of the ship to the Navy is expected in March 2014.
New AMO jobs aboard the USNS John Glenn (MLP 2)
The second mobile landing platform, USNS John Glenn, successfully completed builder's sea trials Jan. 13 and is scheduled to be christened Feb. 1 at General Dynamics NASSCO in San Diego, Calif., bringing new jobs to the membership of American Maritime Officers.
Like the first MLP, the USNS John Glenn is operated for Military Sealift Command by Ocean Ships, Inc. and is manned in all licensed positions by AMO.
"We are proud to be expanding our union's role with this new class of ship and extending our tradition of exceptional service to the U.S. Armed Forces in the MSC fleet," said AMO National President Tom Bethel. "The AMO officers working aboard the first-in-class USNS Montford Point continue to earn well-deserved praise at every phase of the ship's development and evaluation. The AMO members aboard the USNS John Glenn are doing great work in giving MLP 2 an equally strong start."
The second MLP is named for Col. John Glenn, a retired decorated Marine Corps pilot, distinguished astronaut, Congressional Space Medal of Honor recipient and U.S. senator. During his time with the Marine Corps, Glenn flew 59 combat missions during World War II and a combined 90 missions over the course of two tours in the Korean War.
During a week of builder's sea trials this month, General Dynamics NASSCO conducted comprehensive tests to demonstrate the performance of all of the ship's major systems, Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) reported.
The USNS John Glenn "performed extremely well, a testament to the thorough preparation by NASSCO, the Navy MLP program office, and our supervisor of shipbuilding," said Capt. Henry Stevens, strategic and theater sealift program manager, Program Executive Office, Ships. "This ship is well on its way to acceptance trials and delivery later this year."
Using the commercially designed Alaska-class crude oil carrier as its base, the Navy's Strategic and Theater Sealift Program Office (PMS 385) worked in conjunction with NASSCO to develop a design that supports the Navy's core capabilities while maintaining low costs, NAVSEA reported.
The MLP has a maximum speed of 15 knots and range of 9,500 nautical miles, NAVSEA reported. The ship has tankage for 100,000 gallons of potable water and can hold 380,000 gallons of JP-5 jet fuel. Acting as a mobile sea base, the mobile landing platforms will be part of the critical access infrastructure that supports the deployment of forces and supplies to provide prepositioned cargo with flexible distribution in support of a variety of missions, including humanitarian support and sustainment of traditional military missions.
Following builder's trials, the ship will be inspected by the Navy Board of Inspection and Survey during a series of acceptance trials, NAVSEA reported. Delivery of the ship to the Navy is expected in March 2014.