The Navy christened its newest Expeditionary Fast Transport, the future USNS Burlington (T-EPF 10), during a 10 a.m. CST ceremony on Saturday, Feb. 24, at the Austal USA shipyard in Mobile, Alabama.
The future USNS Burlington, designated T-EPF 10, will be the first ship in naval service to honor Burlington, Vermont’s largest city.
The first Navy ship Burlington (PF-51) was named for Burlington, Iowa and served during WWII.
The principal speaker was U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont.
Mrs. Marcelle Pomerleau Leahy, Senator Leahy’s wife of 55 years, served as the ship’s sponsor and in a time-honored Navy tradition, she christened the ship by breaking a bottle of sparkling wine across the bow.
(See a Expeditionary Fast Transport (EPF) in action! Courtesy of Austal USA and YouTube)
“This ship honors Burlington, Vermont, a city that embodies American values and its patriotic, hardworking citizens for their support and contributions to our Navy,” said Secretary of the Navy Richard V. Spencer.
“Burlington, like the other ships in the EPF program, will provide our commanders high-speed sealift mobility and agility.”
“I am thankful for this ship and her crew who will serve our nation for decades to come, and I am thankful for our industrial force teammates whose service makes this great ship possible.”
With an all-aluminum shallow-draft hull, the EPF is a commercial-based catamaran capable of intra-theater personnel and cargo lift providing combatant commanders high-speed sealift mobility with inherent cargo handling capability and agility to achieve positional advantage over operational distances.
EPF class ships are designed to transport 600 short tons of military cargo 1,200 nautical miles at an average speed of 35 knots.
The ship is capable of operating in shallow-draft ports and waterways, interfacing with roll-on/roll-off discharge facilities, and on/off-loading a combat-loaded Abrams main battle tank (M1A2).
The EPF includes a flight deck for helicopter operations and an off-load ramp that will allow vehicles to quickly drive off the ship.
EPF’s shallow draft (under 15 feet) further enhances littoral operations and port access.
This makes the EPF an extremely flexible asset for support of a wide range of operations including maneuver and sustainment, relief operations in small or damaged ports, flexible logistics support, or as the key enabler for rapid transport.
Burlington is the tenth of 12 EPFs that Austal has under contract with the U.S. Navy with a combined value of over $1.9 billion.
“Austal is excited to get Burlington one step closer to joining the fleet” said Austal USA President Craig Perciavalle.
“The efficiency at which this complex ship has come together is truly remarkable and a testament to the incredible talent of our shipbuilding professionals here at Austal USA.”
The EPF program delivered its ninth ship late last year, USNS City of Bismarck (T-EPF 9). Puerto Rico (EPF 11) and Newport (EPF 12) are currently under construction at Austal’s shipyard.
