USNS Carson City Christened
Austal celebrated the christening of Expeditionary Fast Transport USNS Carson City (EPF 7) with a ceremony this morning at its state-of-the-art shipyard here. USNS Carson City is the seventh of 10 Expeditionary Fast Transport vessels (EPF), formerly joint high speed vessels (JHSV), that Austal has under contract with the U.S. Navy as part of a $1.6 billion 10-ship block-buy contract.
EPF 7, a 338-foot shallow draft aluminum catamaran, is a multi-mission, non-combatant transport vessel characterized by its high volume, high speed, and flexibility. It is the second U.S. Navy ship to be named Carson City after the capital city of Nevada.
When Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus officially named EPF 7 "USNS Carson City" in April 2013 he proclaimed, "Carson City displays American values of community, ingenuity and perseverance at their best.” He said he chose to name the ship after Carson City to honor those values and the men and women of the community as well as the state of Nevada.
Carson City will soon join her sister EPF’s that have been delivered over the last three years including USNS Spearhead (T-EPF 1) which has over 100,000 nautical miles at sea and is currently on her fifth deployment since she was delivered in 2012.
“We’re very excited to christened Carson City, and at how well this ship is coming together.” Austal USA president Craig Perciavalle said. “The EPF program has really matured very well thanks to the incredible shipbuilding team we have here at Austal, including our Navy teammates.”
The ship’s sponsor, Susan Asbury Crowell is the daughter of U.S. Air Force Colonel Robert Asbury and wife of Captain Robert Crowell, USN (Retired). Susan and her husband have called Carson City home since the early 1970s. Active in her community, Susan has been a long-standing member of the Nevada Opera Association as well as president of the Brewery Arts Board of Directors and a member of the Mile High Jazz Band board, two of the premier organizations promoting all art forms in Nevada’s capital city. She has also served on the Carson Tahoe Hospital Foundation board of directors and is currently a member of the Carson Tahoe Hospital advisory board.
More than 300 naval guests, civic leaders, community members and Austal employees attended the ceremony held beneath the hull of the ship in Austal’s final assembly bay.
Three EPFs and six Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) are currently under construction in Austal’s Mobile, Ala. shipyard. The company is scheduled to launch EPF 7 before the end of the month, while the future USS Montgomery (LCS 8) prepares for its acceptance sea trials later this spring.
