NASSCO Lays Keel of USNS Wally Schirra

General Dynamics NASSCO, a wholly owned subsidiary of General Dynamics laid the keel for USNS Wally Schirra, the eighth dry cargo-ammunition ship in the U.S. Navy’s T-AKE program.  Secretary of the Navy Donald C. Winter recently named the ship in honor of the late Navy captain and original NASA pioneer.  The Wally Schirra is scheduled to be delivered to the Navy in the third quarter of 2009.
On April 21, NASSCO will begin construction of the ninth ship of the Lewis and (T-AKE) class.  The ship will be named later and is scheduled to be delivered to the Navy in the first quarter of 2010.
“From keel-laying to delivery, NASSCO is significantly reducing the T-AKE build cycle with each subsequent ship and providing substantial cost savings to the Navy,” said Frederick J. Harris, president of General Dynamics NASSCO.  “What took 26 months to complete on T-AKE 1 is now projected to take 16 months for T-AKE 8 and 9.  NASSCO recognizes that the timely delivery of these high-quality ships helps the Navy improve its global combat logistics capabilities.”
NASSCO has delivered the first four ships of the Lewis and Clark class and will deliver the fifth ship, USNS Robert E. Peary (T-AKE 5), in June.  USNS Amelia Earhart (T-AKE 6) was launched on April 6 and USNS Carl Brashear (T-AKE 7) is under construction at the shipyard.