Conversion Of Fast Sealift Ship 'Regulus' Completed By NASSCO

A naming ceremony was held recently at National Steel and Shipbuilding Company (NASSCO) in San Diego for the USNS Regulus (T-AKR-292), a Fast Sealift Ship (FS) converted for the U.S. Navy's Military Sealift Command.

Among those participating in the event were: U.S. Senator Pete Wilson, keynote speaker; Mrs.

Pete Wilson, guest of honor and sponsor of the ship; Mrs. Tina Edlund, matron of honor; Lawrence Korb, Assistant Secretary for Manpower Installation and Logistics, Department of Defense; Rear Adm. George Davis Jr., Naval Surface Force Commander, Pacific Fleet; William J. Deasy, president of Morrison-Knudsen; Comm. Richard Donnelly, Commander, Military Sealift Command; C. Larry French, chairman of NASSCO; Richard H. Vortmann, NASSCO president; and Alfred W.

Lutter Jr., senior vice president of NASSCO.

The Regulus and her sister ships are among the largest and fastest cargo ships in the world, with an overall length of 946 feet and speed of more than 30 knots. Including the Regulus, five vessels of the FSS program have been delivered to the MSC; all eight T-AKRs will be contracted- operated by civilian mariners, and held in reserve status until needed for contingencies or used in DoD exercises.

The Fast Sealift Ships are former Sea-Land SL-7 containerships.

They are being converted to give them roll-on/roll-off capability; heavy- and medium-lift cargo-handling equipment for a self-sustaining potential independent of a developed port facility; an emergency helicopter landing area; and side ports to facilitate rapid loading and discharge. They will provide rapid sealift capability for the transport of military equipment from the U.S. to any part of the world.

MSC is responsible for providing the necessary sealift capability to rapidly deploy military forces overseas and sustain them for as long as operational requirements dictate.

The Command also operates auxiliary ships that deliver supplies to Navy combatant ships while under way, oceanographic and survey vessels, and tankers and dry cargo ships that deliver Defense Department cargo worldwide.

Maritime Reporter Magazine, page 22, Sep 1985

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