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A ceremony celebrating the keel authentication of the Navy’s 11th Spearhead-class Expeditionary Fast Transport ship, the future USNS Puerto Rico (EPF 11), was held last week at Austal USA’s Mobile, Ala. shipyard.A keel laying is the formal recognition of the start of a ship’s construction, as the keel is the symbolic backbone of a ship. The keel was said to be “truly and fairly laid” as it was authenticated by the ship’s sponsor, Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, by welding…

The U.S. Navy’s 10th Expeditionary Fast Transport ship, Burlington, completed acceptance trials, August 3 after two days of underway evaluation in the Gulf of Mexico.The ship demonstrated the readiness of its equipment and systems for operations, both dockside and underway, for the Navy’s Board of Inspection and Survey. The ship returned to the Austal USA shipyard in Mobil Ala. and will now begin preparations for delivery to the Navy later this year.“Acceptance trials are a major step towards delivering Burlington to the Navy,” said Capt.

The Navy will christen the future USNS Brunswick (JHSV 6) May 9 during a 10 a.m. CDT ceremony in Mobile, Alabama. Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus will deliver the ceremony’s principal address. Alma B. “Lee” Booterbaugh will serve as the ship’s sponsor. "We will celebrate the christening of the future USNS Brunswick - a modern marvel - just like the incredible shipyard that built it," said Mabus. "More than 4,000 American craftsmen have made this ship possible and the partnership they have with our uniformed men and women, our Navy civilians, the shipbuilding industry as a whole, and the American people, is one of the great strengths of our system. Named for a seaport city located on the southeast coast of Georgia, Brunswick is the fourth ship to bear the name.

The Navy will christen the future USNS Trenton (JHSV 5) Jan. 10 during a 10 a.m. CDT ceremony in Mobile, Alabama. Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus will deliver the ceremony’s principal address. Virginia Kamsky, chair and chief executive of Kamsky Associates, Inc., will serve as the ship’s sponsor. “This ship represents the hard-working men and women of New Jersey and the importance of the American cities along the Delaware River. It represents American shipyard, factory, and assembly line workers who have been the backbone of the Arsenal of Democracy since President Franklin Roosevelt coined the phrase more than seven decades ago. It represents the American spirit of hard work, patriotism and perseverance,” said Mabus.

The Navy will christen Joint High Speed Vessel (JHSV) Fall River on Jan. 11, during a 10 a.m. CST ceremony in Mobile, Ala. Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus will deliver the ceremony's principal address. Diane Patrick, the first lady of Massachusetts, will serve as the ship's sponsor. Upon delivery to the U.S. Navy's Military Sealift Command (MSC), Fall River will be designated as a United States naval ship (USNS), and will have a core crew of 21 civilian mariners who will operate and navigate the ship.

Joint High Speed Vessel (JHSV) 2, the future 'USNS Choctaw County', successfully comes through Austal USA's sea trials. Builder's trials are a significant step in the construction and delivery of a ship to the fleet and are the first opportunity to operate the ship underway and test overall system performance prior to demonstration to the Navy's Board of Inspection and Survey (INSURV). "JHSV 2 is the second ship in this class to go through rigorous builder's trials testing," said Strategic and Theater Sealift Program Manager Capt. Henry Stevens. "At this stage, JHSV 2 is more complete than the lead ship, and we are benefitting from JHSV 1's lessons learned.

Austal christening of 'USNS Choctaw County' (JHSV 2) at its Mobile, Alabama shipyard, the second of a nine-ship US$1.6-billion contract with US Navy. The ship was named Choctaw County to honor the contributions of the men and women of rural America. Three counties in America, located in Mississippi, Alabama, and Oklahoma, share the name. The ceremony was held in Austal’s final assembly bay under the ship with over 600 guests in attendance. Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus was the principal speaker at the event.

The Navy will christen the Joint High Speed Vessel (JHSV) Choctaw County, named for three U.S. counties, located in Mississippi, Alabama and Oklahoma, which share the county's name, during a ceremony in Mobile, Ala., Sept. 15, at 10 a.m. CDT. Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus will deliver the ceremony's principal address. Women from Ackerman High School's class of 1966, 29 in all, will serve as the ship's sponsors, with Theresa Pitts designated as the lead sponsor for the classmates. Ackerman High School is located in Choctaw County's town of Ackerman, Miss.

Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus joined Ackerman, Miss., Mayor Dick Cain to announce today that the name of the Department of the Navy's next Joint High Speed Vessel (JHSV) will be United States Naval Ship (USNS) Choctaw County, during a brief ceremony today at Ackerman High School, Ackerman, Miss. "I grew up in Choctaw County, Miss., where people work hard to raise their families and provide for their children," Mabus said. This will be the first naval vessel to serve as the county's namesake, an honor shared by Choctaw counties also located in Alabama and Oklahoma. Capable of transporting 600 short tons, 1,200 nautical miles at an average speed of 35 knots , the JHSV can operate in shallow-draft ports and waterways, providing U.S. forces added mobility and flexibility.

USNS Spearhead, the first of the Navy's joint high-speed vessels designed for rapid intra-theater transport of troops and military equipment, was christened Sept. 17 during a ceremony at Austal USA in Mobile, Ala. Military Sealift Command will own and operate Spearhead and the other joint high-speed vessels, or JHSVs, that are under contract to be built for the Navy. Spearhead will be crewed by 22 civil service mariners working for MSC who will operate, navigate and maintain the ship.

U.S. Navy Christens New Military Vessel in Mobile, Alabama at Austal USA. The Navy will christen the Joint High Speed Vessel (JHSV) Spearhead Saturday, Sept. 17, 2011, during a 10 a.m. CDT ceremony in Mobile, Ala. Chief Warrant Officer 4 Kenneth Wahlman, U.S. Army (Ret.) will serve as ship’s sponsor. His daughter Catherine, a Staff Sgt. in the Army ROTC attending Virginia Tech University, will assist her father in the christening, Mr. Wahlman’s wife, Chief Warrant Officer Five…

Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus joined Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick to announce that the name of the Department of the Navy's fourth Joint High Speed Vessel will be USNS Fall River (JHSV 4), during a brief ceremony at Heritage State Park on the Fall River waterfront. "The Fall River represents the physical embodiment of the City of Fall River's patriotic spirit," said Mabus, "and the dedication of the thousands of young men and women from this city who have worn and continue to wear the uniform of our country all over the world."  USNS Fall River will be the second ship to hold the name of the city. The first, USS Fall River, was a Baltimore-class heavy cruise ship commissioned in 1945 and used largely on training missions.

Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus and Secretary of the Army Pete Geren announced the names of the first three Joint High Speed Vessels as Fortitude (JHSV 1), Vigilant (JHSV 2) and Spearhead (JHSV 3). A cooperative effort between the Navy and the Army, JHSVs will be used for fast intra-theater transportation of troops, vehicles and equipment. The program highlights a Department of Defense acquisition objective of leveraging the expertise of one military branch to assist another.

Derecktor's investment in a new construction facility in Bridgeport, Conn., has paid off with a prestigious contract to build two new high-spec ferries for the Alaska Marine Highway System. Will the company soon be able to lure new defense construction business to the buildings? The State of Alaska gave notice to Derecktor Shipyards to proceed on construction of a second high-speed ferry for the Alaska Marine Highway System (AMHS). M/V Chenega is the second of a two-ferry $67.9 million contract. In February 2002 Derecktor Shipyards was awarded the contract to design and build two high-speed passenger & automobile ferries as the first phase of Alaska's plans to re-tool its regional water transportation system with fast, modern, efficient, environmentally-friendly vessels.

Derecktor Shipyards held a plate cutting ceremony at its Bridgeport Connecticut facility for the first piece of plate cut for the highspeed ferry M/V Chenega. the ferry. foot high-speed ferries for the Alaska Marine Highway System. Chenega, were City Councilman Gary Graham and Kate Tesar. Bridgeport Port Authority. connecting the ports of Cordova, Valdez, and Whittier. 2004 with the M/V Chenega expected to enter service one year later. with airline-style seating, an available snack bar, and minimal ship motions. will be significantly shorter than what is possible with conventional ferries. these communities. shipbuilding since these will be the first vessels of their kind ever built in this country. designs, developed expressly for the Alaska project.