The 785ft-long vessel has been named after US Marine Corps Vietnam veteran Lance Corporal Miguel Keith, who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his service in Vietnam War.

With a beam of 164ft and around 39ft navigational draft, USS Miguel Keith is the third ESB platform.

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The US Navy christened ESB 5 in October 2019.

According to the US Department of Defense (DoD), USS Miguel Keith will now be part of the Forward Deployed Naval Force (FDNF) and will operate from Saipan.

ESB was previously known as Afloat Forward Staging Base. General Dynamics NASSCO is building the warships.

The ships are designed to support a range of missions, including special operations force (SOF) and airborne mine counter measures (AMCM), as well as logistics movement from sea to shore.

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The vessels provide capabilities, such as aviation facilities, berthing, equipment staging area, and command and control.

In December 2016, NASSCO was awarded the construction contract for ESB 5. The firm is also responsible for the detail design and construction of ESB 6 and 7.

With a range of 9,500nm, the ESBs can accommodate a crew of 34 Military Sealift Command personnel.

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