General Dynamics NASSCO Starts Construction of Seventh T-AKE Ship

General Dynamics NASSCO, a wholly owned subsidiary of General Dynamics announced the start of construction on the seventh dry cargo-ammunition ship in the U.S. Navy's T-AKE program. The ship is scheduled to be delivered to the Navy in the first quarter of 2009. Since June 2006, NASSCO has delivered USNS Lewis and Clark (T-AKE 1) and USNS Sacagawea (T-AKE 2) to the Navy. The third ship of the class, USNS Alan Shepard, and the recently-launched USNS Richard E. Byrd will also be delivered to the Navy by the end of 2007. The T-AKE class is expected to include 11 ships for the Military Sealift Command fleet.