Page 58: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (April 1993)

USNS Yukon (T-AO 202) is christened at Avondale Industries.

Latest Navy Oiler

Christened USNS Yukon

By Avondale Industries

T-AO 202, the 13th of 16 fleet oilers

New Orleans-based Avondale Indus- tries is building for the U.S. Navy, was christened the USNS Yukon in launching ceremonies at the company's westbank Shipyards Divi- sion today.

The new ship takes its name from

Alaska's Yukon River, the third-long- est river in North America measuring nearly 2,000 miles long, and is the second Navy ship to be named Yukon.

T-AO 202 and her sister ships of the T-AO 187 Class being built at

Avondale are 667.5 feet long, 97.5 feet wide and have a maximum draft of 36 feet. Their primary mission is to transport fuel oils from shore depots to ships and support forces under- way. The ships also carry limited fleet freight, cargo, water, mail and per- sonnel. Several of theAvondale-built

T-AO ships have been performing with distinction in the Navy over the past several years, playing key roles with the Atlantic and Pacific fleets world- wide.

Albert L. Bossier, Jr., chairman, president and CEO, Avondale Indus- tries ., Inc., welcomed all distinguished guests and attendees.

The sponsor of T-AO 202 was

Belinda Hidalgo, an honors gradu- ate from the University of Houston, and wife of former Secretary of the

Navy Edward Hidalgo.

The principle speaker at the chris- tening ceremony was General Alfred

M. Gray, U.S. Marine Corps (Re- tired). From 1987 to 1991, General

Gray served as a member of the Joint

Chiefs of Staff and was the 29th

Commandant of the Marine Corps.

Jan Gray, wife of General Gray, and Mrs. Jerry Huggard, partici- pated in the Yukon christening pro- gram as the Matrons of Honor.

T-AO 202 has a cargo oil capacity of 183,000 barrels in 18 cargo tanks, and is capable of simultaneously re- ceiving, storing and discharging two separate grades of cargo fuel. Cargo- underway replenishment is accom- plished using transfer rigs with trans- fer hoses suspended by a span wire automatically maintained in a con- stant-tension range. All cargo pump and valve operations as well as the ship's segregated ballast system, are remotely manipulated from the cargo control center in the ship's super- structure. Powered by twin, ten- cylinder Colt Pielstick diesel engines, the 42,000-ton T-AO ships are capable of service speeds of 20 knots. The twin-screw propeller design provides the vessel with improved directional stability, ease of control and mission reliability under combat conditions.

The T-AO fleet oilers and other ships under construction at Avondale are built using state-of-the-art modular construction techniques, which in- clude pre-fabrication and pre-outfit- ting of the individual modules in des- ignated outfitting zones throughout the shipyard.

The pre-outfitted modules are then moved to the erection site and as- sembled into complete ships. As a result of these modern construction techniques, the ships are approxi-

BOATS AND BARGES

Gladding-Hearn Fireboat Exceeds

New York City Contract Specifications

Gladding-Hearn's new fireboat for New York City performed beyond requirements.

The latest addition to New York

City's fireboat fleet exceeds contracted performance requirements in both speed and pumping capacity, accord- ing to the manufacturer.

The new vessel was built by

Gladding-Hearn Shipbuilding, The

Duclos Corp., of Somerset, Mass., and delivered in December.

Designedjointly by Gladding-Hearn and Boston's C. Raymond Hunt Asso- ciates , the 52-foot, all-aluminum fire- boat, equipped with four deckpipes, exceeds the rated pump capacity of mately 80 percent complete at the time of their launchings, and T-AO 202 is the most complete ships to date at time of launching at Avondale.

Avondale Industries, Inc., is one of the leading marine fabricators in the

U.S., active in the construction, re- pair and conversion of oceangoing vessels. In addition, the company manufactures boats and landing craft air cushion (LC AC) vehicles and builds a wide range of non-marine indus- trial facilities and components for land- based plants.

For more information about the services available from Avondale In- dustries,

Circle 109 on Reader Service Card 5,000 gpm by more than 20 percent.

The twin-screw, shallow-draft ves- sel, which has a 16-foot beam and a four-foot draft, is powered by a pair of

DetroitDiesel8V-92TAengines,each rated for 650 bhp at 2,300 rpm.

The deep-V planing hull tops out at 28 knots, more than two knots faster than called for by city fire officials.

According to officials at the ship- yard, the vessel's straightforward design makes it simple to operate, and the boat is equipped with readily- available, off-the-shelf parts.

Its fire system consists of two sepa- rate self-priming centrifugal pumps, each powered by a 400 hp Detroit 6V- 53TI engine. Each pump delivers more than 2,500-gpm at 150 psi to four monitors located on the foredeck, midships and stern. A 250 gpm foam system, supplied by Chubb National

Foam, also supplies the forward moni- tor and three, four-inch hose outlets.

Peter Duclos, the shipyard's vice president of engineering, said that by separating the pumps from the main engines, the fireboat is easy to oper- ate, maneuver and maintain its firefighting capacity even with the loss of a main engine.

The vessel is designed for a five- member crew but can be operated

USNS YUKON

Equipment List

Main engines Colt Pielstick

Propellers Bird Johnson

Shafting Trinton Lavalin

Generator engines Berge

Reduction gear Falk

Engine controls Tano

Steering controls Jered Brown

Deck machinery Lakeshore

Pumps Warren

Coatings Amero

Autopilot, Compass Sperry

Radar Raytheon

Loran North Star easily by two firefighters, he added.

Available design options include monitors that are remote-controlled from the wheelhouse and a water-jet propulsion system, which, instead of conventional propellers, would reduce the vessel's draft to about 18 inches.

Gladding-Hearn catamaran fireboats are also available for firefighters who require extra wide platforms.

For more information on the prod- ucts and services of Gladding-Hearn,

Circle 121 on Reader Service Card

FIREBOAT

Equipment List

Main engines Detroit

Gears ZF

Engine controls Morse

Gensets Northern Lights

Steering system Teleflex

Radar Raytheon

VH Raytheo

Loran Raytheon

Depth Sounder Datamarine

Compass Ritchi

Loud hailer Whelen

Sewage System Wilcox-Crittendon 60 Maritime Reporter/Engineering News