Photo By Grady Fontana | YOKOHAMA, Japan - Civilian mariner Capt. Michael Sands, master of USNS Montford Point...... read more read more
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YOKOHAMA, Japan - The commander of U.S. 7th Fleet (C7F) visited one of Military Sealift Command’s newest class of Maritime Prepositioning Force ships, the expeditionary transfer dock USNS Montford Point (T-ESD 1) at North dock here for a familiarization tour, Oct. 8.
“It was a great tour today, the Montford Point brings a tremendous capability,” said Vice Adm. Joseph P. Aucoin, commander of C7F. “This is a ship that we need to fully utilize because we know we don’t have enough service combatants and this ship offers us capabilities that we haven’t fully explored. So between the Navy and Marine Corps, we need to exercise this ship and see how we can employ her to support our future missions.”
The Montford Point, which operationally is part of Maritime Prepositioning Ships Squadron Three (MPSRON 3) and provides logistics movement from sea to shore supporting a broad range of military operations. The Montford Point is one of two ESDs that will be part of the Navy’s “Sea Base” concept that provides the capability to transfer vehicles and equipment at-sea through Sea State 3, improving the U.S. military’s ability to deliver equipment and cargo from ship to shore when land bases don’t exist.
Sea state is the general condition of the free surface on a large body of water and Sea State 3 is marked by wave heights of about two to four feet.
“One of the things that we work on in the Navy is the afloat forward staging base, and this ship is a terrific enabler of that,” said Aucoin. “So we want to take [Montford Point] out, exercise with her and show how we can move logistics more efficiently between ships; to get the cargo to shore for the Marine Corps. So there’s a lot of potential with this ship and I would like to see her used more because she is a force multiplier.”
The Montford Point is categorized as an expeditionary floating pier-at-sea; the ship is tasked to the Marine Corps to provide a pier-at-sea move and transfer from Large, Medium-Speed, Roll-on/Roll-off Ship (LMSR) ships to landing craft air cushion (LCAC) to provide the sea basing capabilities to the Navy and the Marine Corps.
“By acting as a pier-at-sea we can unload, offload or retrograde material back from shore at a distance of about 25 miles offshore in the event that there was a natural disaster and a port was not available to be used,” said civilian mariner Capt. Michael Sands, master of Montford Point. “We could provide the transfer of equipment.”
When the ESD is on mission, the ship will submerge to about 40 feet while underway to the area of operations. Once on station it would submerge to about 50 feet, so that the LCACs can drive right up on the mission deck to pick up cargo, according to Sands. “This allows her to operate like a floating pier and will serve as a transfer point for Marine Corps amphibious landing forces.”
“With the Department of Defense rebalance to the Pacific, this is a great theater to utilize this ship because this theater is nothing but water and you need to be able to establish a sea base wherever you need it,” said Navy Capt. Robert “Rocky” Rochford, commodore of MPSRON 3. “With limited shore space and capability to move ashore, you have to establish a sea base and move this base wherever you need to—this is a great advantage to us.”
The ESD’s flexibility is critical for humanitarian response to natural disasters and for support to warfighters ashore. The size allows for 25,000 square feet of vehicle and equipment stowage space and 380,000 gallons of JP-5 fuel storage.
The Montford Point was recently re-designated as expeditionary transfer dock by the Secretary of the Navy and the vessel was formerly known as mobile landing platform. The USNS Montford Point was named in honor of the first African Americans who entered the Marine Corps at Montford Point Camp, New River, North Carolina, from 1942 to 1949.
MPSRON 3, operating in the western Pacific, maintains tactical control of the 12 ships carrying afloat prepositioned U.S. military cargo for the U.S. Marine Corps, the U.S. Army and the U.S. Air Force. The squadron’s mission is to enable force from the sea by providing swift and effective transportation of vital equipment and supplies for designated operations.
MSC operates approximately 115 non-combatant, civilian-crewed ships that replenish U.S. Navy ships, conduct specialized missions, strategically preposition combat cargo at sea around the world and move military cargo and supplies used by deployed U.S. forces and coalition partners.
| Date Taken: | 10.13.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 10.13.2015 04:26 |
| Story ID: | 178739 |
| Location: | YOKOHAMA, AOMORI, JP |
| Web Views: | 691 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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