Three more United States Navy vessels arrived in Halifax today (September 8) as part of the Royal Canadian Navy's first Fleet Week (see also previous post).
First in was USS James E. Williams DDG-95 another of the handsome Arleigh Burke class of destroyers. This ships is one of the Flight IIA versions, built by Ingalls Shipbuilding, Pascagoula, MS and commissioned in 2004. The ship has been based in Norfolk and only recently (July 14) returned to the base after a seven month deployment to NATO where it was flagship of the Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 (SNMG2) in the Mediterranean.
The ship tied up in HMC Dockyard, Jetty NC 2/3 outboard of the USS Porter, also an Arleigh Burke class destroyer.
Although seriously backlit it was still possible to see that the starboard anchor was unshipped.
Arriving at half hour intervals, the next ship was USNS William McLean T-AKE 12, a Lewis and Clarke class underway replenishment ship.
The ship was built by National Steel + Shipbuilding Co (NASSCO) and launched in 2011 and handed over to the United States Navy Military Sealift Command later the same year. It is based in Colts Neck, NJ.
Built to partially commercial / partly naval standards in does possess some passive denfence features. It can carry ammunition, provisions, stores, spare parts, potable water and petroleum products to supply battle groups in combat zones.
The third arrival was not identified by name, but was quite clearly a USN nuclear submarine. As with all such vessels it berthed at the Shearwater jetty Navy Alpha, and will not be open to the public.
I am no expert in submarine identification, so will leave it to others to identify the class of this particular vessel.
.
Virginia Class
ReplyDelete