The US Navy has christened the USNS Hector A. Cafferata Jr. (ESB 8), marking the completion of the service’s Expeditionary Sea Base (ESB) programme at General Dynamics NASSCO shipyard.
The ceremony took place with Sergeant Major Carlos A. Ruiz as principal speaker, alongside remarks from representatives of NASSCO, the US Navy, and the US Marine Corps.
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The ship was officially christened with a champagne bottle break against the hull by co-sponsors Heather Cafferata, the namesake’s daughter, and Jessica Cafferata, his granddaughter.
The USNS Hector A. Cafferata Jr., the sixth and final vessel, under the ESB) programme is named after Private First Class Hector A. Cafferata Jr., who received the Medal of Honor for his actions during the Battle of Chosin Reservoir in the Korean War.
He received the Medal of Honor from President Harry Truman at a White House ceremony in 1952.
General Dynamics NASSCO president David Carver said: “Ships are not just steel and machinery—they carry legacies, and they connect past generations to future ones. The remarkable story of valour and sacrifice of Hector Cafferata Jr. will soon sail across the globe, carried by a ship that embodies his courage and dedication.”
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By GlobalDataGeneral Dynamics NASSCO received a contract modification valued at up to $1.6bn from the US Navy to construct the sixth and seventh expeditionary sea base (ESB) ships in 2019.
The USNS Hector A. Cafferata Jr. joins other ships in the ESB programme including USS Lewis B. Puller (ESB 3), USS Hershel “Woody” Williams (ESB 4), USS Miguel Keith (ESB 5), USS John L. Canley (ESB 6), and USNS Robert E. Simanek (ESB 7).
Designed to support a range of maritime missions from Special Operations Forces and Airborne Mine Counter Measures to Crisis Response Force Sea Basing, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance, and Unmanned Aviation Systems, these ships serve multiple operational roles.
Among their features are flight decks with four spots sized for V-22 aircraft, along with mission decks and hangars, enabling aviation facilities, berthing, equipment staging support, and command and control functions.
Each vessel is constructed on a 784-foot (ft) hull and includes a 52,000ft2 flight deck capable of accommodating MH-53, MH-60, MV-22 tilt-rotor, and H1 aircraft operations.
