Latest Navy Oiler Christened USNS Yukon By Avondale Industries
T-AO 202, the 13th of 16 fleet oilers New Orleans-based Avondale Industries is building for the U.S. Navy, was christened the USNS Yukon in launching ceremonies at the company's westbank Shipyards Division today.
The new ship takes its name from Alaska's Yukon River, the third-longest 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 underway. The ships also carry limited fleet freight, cargo, water, mail and personnel. 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 worldwide. Albert L. Bossier, Jr., chairman, president and CEO, Avondale Industries ., Inc., welcomed all distinguished guests and attendees.
The sponsor of T-AO 202 was Belinda Hidalgo, an honors graduate from the University of Houston, and wife of former Secretary of the Navy Edward Hidalgo.
The principle speaker at the christening ceremony was General Alfred M. Gray, U.S. Marine Corps (Retired). 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, participated in the Yukon christening program 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 receiving, storing and discharging two separate grades of cargo fuel. Cargounderway replenishment is accomplished using transfer rigs with transfer hoses suspended by a span wire automatically maintained in a constant- 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 superstructure. Powered by twin, tencylinder 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 include pre-fabrication and pre-outfitting of the individual modules in designated outfitting zones throughout the shipyard.
The pre-outfitted modules are then moved to the erection site and assembled into complete ships. As a result of these modern construction techniques, the ships are approxi-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, repair 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 industrial facilities and components for landbased plants.
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