Byrd enters 7th Fleet

The Navy's Military Sealift Command said the dry cargo-ammunition ship USNS Richard E. Byrd entered the waters of the U.S. Navy's 7th Fleet today, marking the first Lewis and Clark-class multiproduct combat logistics support ship in service to the 52 million-square-mile region in the Western Pacific and Indian Ocean for which the 7th Fleet is responsible.

The Byrd replaces MSC combat stores ship USNS Niagara Falls, which has been forward deployed supporting 7th Fleet since 1994.

The new ship will enable our command to provide the warfighter with a level of support that is unprecedented, said Rear Adm. Nora Tyson, CTF 73 commander. It brings a much more robust capability to the fight.

The 689-foot-long underway replenishment vessel, known as a T-AKE, replaces the current capability of the Kilauea-class ammunition ships and Mars-class combat stores ships, and it also possesses the capability to refuel ships at sea.

Byrd has a crew of 124 civil service mariners working for MSC as well as a military detachment of 11 sailors who provide operational support and supply coordination. When needed, Byrd can also carry a supply detachment.

MSC operates about 110 noncombatant, merchant marine-crewed ships that replenish U.S. Navy ships, conduct specialized missions, strategically preposition combat cargo at sea around the world and move military cargo and supplies used by deployed U.S. forces and coalition partners. 

Source: American Shipper