USS Miguel Keith
History
United States
NamesakeMiguel Keith
BuilderNASSCO – San Diego, California[1]
Laid down30 January 2018[2]
Launched10 August 2018
Sponsored byEliadora Delores Keith
Christened19 October 2019
Acquired15 November 2019[3]
Commissioned8 May 2021[4]
Identification
Motto
  • Semper in pugna
  • (Always in the Fight)[5]
Badge
General characteristics
Class and typeExpeditionary Mobile Base
DisplacementApprox. 90,000 long tons (100,000 short tons) fully loaded[1]
Length785 ft (239 m)[1]
Beam164 ft (50 m)[1]
Draft34.4 ft (10.5 m) @ full load; 39.4 ft (12.0 m) at load line[1]
PropulsionCommercial Diesel-Electric[1]
Speed17 knots (31 km/h; 20 mph)[1]
Range9,500 nautical miles (17,600 km; 10,900 mi)[1]
Complement19 officers, 231 enlisted[6]
Aviation facilitiesFour-spot flight deck and hangar[1]

USS Miguel Keith (ESB-5) (formerly USNS Miguel Keith (T-ESB-5)) is a Lewis B. Puller-class expeditionary mobile base, one of three such ships in service with the United States Navy (USN) as of late 2021.[3][7][8]

The ship was named in honor of US Marine Corps Lance Corporal Miguel Keith by Secretary of the Navy Richard V. Spencer at the 242nd Marine Corps Birthday Ball held in National Harbor, Maryland, on 5 November 2017. The ship's namesake received the Medal of Honor posthumously for combat action in Quang Ngai Province during the Vietnam War in 1970.[9][10]

Origins and concept

Miguel Keith was originally a non-commissioned ship, with a USNS prefix but, like her sister ships, she was commissioned by the Navy,[11][12] in order to provide combatant commanders greater operational flexibility in utilizing the ESBs in accordance with the laws of armed conflict.[13] Additionally, the vessel is particularly well-suited to humanitarian assistance and disaster response.[7]

Miguel Keith had her keel laid on 30 January 2018[2] and she was delivered to the Navy on 15 November 2019.[3] On 8 May 2021, Miguel Keith was commissioned into Navy service at Naval Air Station North Island.[4] The ship was damaged while under construction when the National Steel and Shipbuilding Company's drydock was accidentally flooded on 11 July 2018.[14]

Design and equipment

The 240-meter vessel is designed to provide a floating helicopter landing base, and provide other support to military operations as an expeditionary sea base.[8] The craft is officially a customizable floating command-and-control base and functionally a staging base, with the ability to launch helicopters and small boats, provide living quarters for troops, and command-and-control facilities. She can accommodate a variety of other facilities in shipping containers, including berthing for special operations troops, laundry facilities, or cold storage.[7]

The ship has a large upper flight deck, or mission deck, suitable for a wide range of applications, including the simultaneous accommodation of four helicopters. Though the ship's deck can land and maintain the largest helicopters, it cannot accommodate F-35B Joint Strike Fighters, despite their short-takeoff and vertical-landing capabilities.[7]

Below is an open space for storing equipment and for launching boats; however, there is no well deck to support the launching and recovery of hovercraft or larger boats. The flight deck separates forward and aft deckhouses. The forward deckhouse is home to a crew of 100 Navy personnel, rotated on a five-month cycle. Engineering and navigation are provided by about 40 civilian mariners berthed in the aft deckhouse.[7]

Deployment and operations

On her maiden deployment to the US 7th Fleet based in Japan, the ship left Hawaii on 20 September 2020, and arrived on 8 October 2021, anchoring off the Japanese coast near Nagasaki, Japan, at the US Naval base at Sasebo. Officially there to enhance capabilities to protect an open and free Indo-Pacific region, the arrival was suspected of being a US response to a growing Chinese military presence in the region.[8]

In October 2021, the ship was damaged by an underwater volcanic eruption. Pumice and other debris entered engineering systems requiring the engines to be shut down for intensive at-sea remediation.[15]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Fact File: Expeditionary Transfer Dock (ESD) / Expeditionary Sea Base (ESB)". United States Navy. 26 January 2018. Archived from the original on 22 February 2018. Retrieved 21 February 2018.
  2. 1 2 "Keel Laid for Future USNS Miguel Keith" (Press release). United States Navy. 30 January 2017. NNS180130-15. Archived from the original on 22 February 2018. Retrieved 21 February 2018.
  3. 1 2 3 "Navy Accepts Delivery of USNS Miguel Keith (ESB 5)" (Press release). United States Navy. 18 November 2019. NNS191118-06. Archived from the original on 19 November 2019. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
  4. 1 2 "USS Miguel Keith (ESB 5) Commissions" (Press release). United States Navy. 10 May 2021. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
  5. ↑ "USS Miguel Keith (ESB 5)". The Institute of Heraldry. U.S. Army. Retrieved 18 August 2022.
  6. ↑ "Naval Vessel Register - USS MIGUEL KEITH (ESB-5)". www.nvr.navy.mil. Retrieved 2021-05-09.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 "'Right Ship at the Right Time': Customizable Command-and-Control Vessel Arrives on Okinawa". military.com. 12 October 2021. Retrieved 18 October 2021.
  8. 1 2 3 "U.S. expeditionary sea base anchored off Nagasaki," October 11, 2021, NHK World, Japan, retrieved October 19, 2021,
  9. ↑ Sam LaGrone (5 November 2017). "Spencer Names First Ship as SECNAV After Vietnam War Marine Miguel Keith". United States Naval Institute. Retrieved 21 February 2018.
  10. ↑ "Prepared Remarks by the Honorable Richard V. Spencer Secretary of the Navy 242nd USMC Birthday Ball Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center, National Harbor, MD" (PDF). United States Navy. 4 November 2017. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 February 2018. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
  11. ↑ Molnar, Phillip (2021-05-08). "Navy commissions $525M warship in San Diego". San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved 2021-05-09.
  12. ↑ City News Service (2021-05-08). "Navy commissions USS Miguel Keith in San Diego". ABC10 News San Diego. Retrieved 2021-05-09.
  13. ↑ Eckstein, Megan (2020-01-21). "Navy Will Commission All Expeditionary Sea Bases as USS Warships". USNI News. Retrieved 2021-05-08.
  14. ↑ Eckstein, Megan (13 July 2018). "NASSCO Drydock Floods, Damaging Under-Construction Expeditionary Sea Base". news.usni.org. USNI News. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
  15. ↑ Stevens, John (13 December 2021). "New U.S. Navy Sea Base Sucks Up Volcanic Stone, Clogging Engineering Systems". Amphibious Squadron 11 Public Affairs. Retrieved 14 December 2021.
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