USNS Guadalupe (T-AO-200) – November 3, 2017

USNS Guadalupe (T-AO-200) is a Henry J. Kaiser-class underway replenishment oiler operated by the Military Sealift Command to support ships of the United States Navy.

USNS Guadalupe (T-AO-200)

Guadalupe, the fourteenth ship of the Henry J. Kaiser class, was laid down at Avondale Shipyard, Inc., at New Orleans, Louisiana, on 9 July 1990 and launched on 5 October 1991. She entered non-commissioned U.S. Navy service under the control of the Military Sealift Command with a primarily civilian crew on 25 September 1992. She serves in the United States Pacific Fleet. In June 2004, USNS Guadalupe rescued 13 crew and a dog from the burning Taiwanese fishing vessel Hsin Chin Chanz, around 900 miles north east of Guam in the Pacific.

The Henry J. Kaiser-class oilers were preceded by the shorter Cimarron-class fleet replenishment oilers. Guadalupe has an overall length of 206.5 metres (677 ft 6 in). It has a beam of 29.7 metres (97 ft) and a draft of 11 metres (36 ft). The oiler has a displacement of 41,353 tonnes (40,700 long tons; 45,584 short tons) at full load. It has a capacity of 180,000 imperial barrels (29,000,000 l; 6,500,000 imp gal; 7,800,000 US gal) of aviation fuel or fuel oil. It can carry a dry load of 690 square metres (7,400 sq ft) and can refrigerate 128 pallets of food. The ship is powered by two 10 PC4.2 V 570 Colt-Pielstick diesel engines that drive two shafts; this gives a power of 25.6 megawatts (34,800 PS; 34,300 shp).

The Henry J. Kaiser-class oilers have maximum speeds of 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph). They were built without armaments but can be fitted with close-in weapon systems. The ship has a helicopter platform but not any maintenance facilities. It is fitted with five fuelling stations; these can fill two ships at the same time and the ship is capable of pumping 900,000 US gallons (3,400,000 l; 750,000 imp gal) of diesel or 540,000 US gallons (2,000,000 l; 450,000 imp gal) of jet fuel per hour. It has a complement of eighty-nine civilians (nineteen officers), twenty-nine spare crew, and six United States Navy crew

First Published: wikipedia.org