NORFOLK, Va. (Jan 15. 2021)—Military Sealift Command’s Combat Logistics Force fleet replenishment oiler USNS Patuxent (T-AO 201) departed Naval Station Norfolk, Jan. 15, to begin its six-month regularly scheduled overseas deployment in support of U.S. Navy and allied forces operating in the U.S. 6th Fleet’s and U.S. 5th Fleet’s areas of operation.
As a replenishment oiler, Patuxent’s primary responsibility is to provide underway at-sea-replenishment services to Navy combat ships at sea. While sailing alongside customer ships, Patuxent will be able to transfer both fuel and cargo to Navy ships and jet fuel for aircraft carriers at sea.
Prior to deployment, the crew loaded cargo and ordinance, performed required maintenance, and each received a COVID-19 test. According to the ship’s master, Captain Robert Baus, the crew did a fantastic job preparing for this deployment, demonstrating their tenacity and resolve at time in our history where the COVID-19 pandemic has brought unprecedented challenges. “Life’s roughest storms prove the strength of our anchors.”
Underway replenishment, or UNREP, provides a means for the navies of the world; so that, warfighting ships can maintain their capacities and deployed positions without having to go off-station or be replaced by another ship while they travel to get re-fueled and re-supplied with cargo and stores.
Patuxent is crewed by 110 Civil Service Mariners (CIVMARs) who are responsible for all operations aboard the ship.
Named for the Patuxent River in Maryland, Patuxent is a Henry J. Kaiser-class underway replenishment oiler operated by the Military Sealift Command to support ships of the United States Navy.
Patuxent is part of MSC’s Combat Logistics Force which is the supply lines to U.S. Navy ships at sea. These ships provide virtually everything that Navy ships need including fuel, food, fleet ordnance and dry cargo, spare parts, mail and other supplies.
MSC operates approximately 120 non-combatant civilian-crewed ships that replenish U.S. Navy ships, conduct specialized missions, and strategically preposition combat cargo at sea around the world while moving military cargo and supplies used by deployed U.S. forces and coalition partners.
For more information from Military Sealift Command, visit www.navy.mil/local/MSC.
| Date Taken: | 01.15.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 01.19.2021 11:03 |
| Story ID: | 387139 |
| Location: | NORFOLK, VA, US |
| Web Views: | 91 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Patuxent Leaves NAVSTA, Heads for Sixth and Fifth Fleets, by LaShawn Sykes, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
LEAVE A COMMENT