USNS Henry Eckford

	USNS Henry Eckford (T-AO-192) (left) and USNS Benjamin Isherwood (T-AO-191) preparing for long-term storage.
History
United States
Name	USNS Henry Eckford
Namesake	Henry Eckford (1775–1832), naval architect and shipbuilder
Awarded	6 May 1985
Builder	Pennsylvania Shipbuilding Company, Chester, Pennsylvania, and Tampa Shipbuilding Company, Tampa, Florida
Laid down	22 January 1987
Launched	22 July 1989
In service	Never
Stricken	10 November 1997
Identification	IMO number: 8508888
Fate	Construction contract canceled 15 August 1993 when ship 84% complete; Sold for scrapping July 2011;
General characteristics
Class and type	Henry J. Kaiser-class replenishment oiler
Type	Fleet replenishment oiler
Tonnage	31,200 deadweight tons
Displacement	9,500 tons light; Full load variously reported as 42,382 tons and 40,700 long tons (41,353 metric tons);
Length	677 ft (206 m)
Beam	97 ft 5 in (29.69 m)
Draft	35 ft (11 m) maximum
Installed power	16,000 hp (11.9 MW) per shaft; 34,442 hp (25.7 MW) sustained total;
Propulsion	Two medium-speed Colt-Pielstick PC4-2/2 10V-570 diesel engines, twin shafts, controllable-pitch propellers
Speed	20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph)
Capacity	178,000 to 180,000 barrels (28,300 to 28,600 m3) of fuel oil and jet fuel; 7,400 sq ft (690 m2) dry cargo space and eight 20-foot (6.1 m) refrigerated containers with room for 128 pallets;
Complement	103 (18 civilian officers, 1 U.S. Navy officer, 64 merchant seamen, 20 U.S. Navy enlisted personnel)
Armament	Peacetime: none; Wartime: probably 2 x 20-mm Phalanx CIWS;
Aircraft carried	None
Aviation facilities	Helicopter landing platform
Notes	Five refueling stations; Two dry cargo transfer rigs;

USNS Henry Eckford (T-AO-192) was a Henry J. Kaiser-class fleet replenishment oiler of the United States Navy. She was never completed.

Construction

Henry Eckford, the sixth Henry J. Kaiser-class ship, was laid down by the Pennsylvania Shipbuilding Company in Chester, Pennsylvania, on 22 January 1987. Her construction encountered numerous problems. Although she was launched on 22 July 1989, her construction contract with Pennsylvania Shipbuilding was cancelled on 31 August 1989. Along with her unfinished sister ship USNS Benjamin Isherwood (T-AO-191), the incomplete Henry Eckford was towed to the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard in Philadelphia on 27 October 1989 for lay-up.

A new contract was awarded on 16 November 1989 to the Tampa Shipbuilding Company of Tampa, Florida, to complete Henry Eckford, and she was towed from Philadelphia to Tampa. However, construction problems continued, and that contract also was canceled, on 15 August 1993, when the ship was 84 percent complete. Cost overruns had run into the millions of U.S. dollars.

Reserve

The Navy decided that completion of Henry Eckford as an oiler was no longer necessary, and considered converting her into an ammunition ship, but the conversion was found to be cost-prohibitive. Instead, the nearly complete Henry Eckford was turned over to the Maritime Administration and towed up the James River in Virginia, where she remained in reserve in the National Defense Reserve Fleet as part of the United States Navy's James River Reserve Fleet at Lee Hall, Virginia. She was struck from the Navy List on 10 November 1997, and her title was transferred to the Maritime Administration on 2 February 1998. She and Benjamin Isherwood were the only units of the 18-ship Henry J. Kaiser class not to be completed.

Scrapping

On 19 July 2011, Henry Eckford departed for Brownsville, Texas, to be recycled by International Shipbreaking Limited.

References

Jampoler, Andrew C.A. "Who Was Henry Eckford?" Naval History, December 2007, Pages 38–45.
This article includes information collected from the Naval Vessel Register, which, as a U.S. government publication, is in the public domain. The entry can be found here.

External links

NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive: T-AO-192 Henry Eckford
USNS Henry Eckford (T-AO 192)
Ex-USNS Vessels to Depart for Texas
Wildenberg, Thomas (1996). Gray Steel and Black Oil: Fast Tankers and Replenishment at Sea in the U.S. Navy, 1912–1995. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. Retrieved 28 April 2009.

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