USNS GySgt. Fred W. Stockham (T-AK-3017)

USNS GySgt Fred W. Stockham (T-AK-3017) is a Shughart-class container & roll-on roll-off support vessel in the United States Navy's Military Sealift Command (MSC).[3][4][5] The vessel is the second Navy ship named after Marine Gunnery Sergeant Fred W. Stockham (1881–1918), who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor during World War I.[3]

For other ships with the same name, see USS Stockham and USNS Soderman.
History
Name: MV Lica Maersk
Launched: 20 March 1981
Fate: Sold to the U.S. Navy, 11 November 1997
Name: USNS Soderman
Namesake: William A. Soderman
Acquired: 11 November 1997
In service: 1998–2000
Renamed: USNS GySgt Fred W. Stockham
In service: 1 March 2001
Identification:
Status: in active service
General characteristics
Displacement:
  • 54,298 t. (full)
  • 32,589 t. (light)
Length: 907 ft (276 m)
Beam: 106 ft (32 m)
Draft:   36 ft (11 m)
Installed power: 47,000 hp (35 MW) [1]
Propulsion:
  • 1 Burmeister & Wain 12L90 GFCA diesel;
  • 1 shaft; bow and stern thrusters
Speed: 22 knots (41 km/h)
Capacity: 312,461 sq ft (29,029 m2) [2]
Complement:
  • 29 civilian mariners,
  • 2 naval officers, 48 enlisted
Aviation facilities: helicopter platform

The ship was originally built as MV Lica Maersk, at the Lindovaerftet shipyard, in Odense, Denmark, and delivered for commercial service with the Maersk Line circa 1980. She was acquired by the U.S. Navy on 11 November 1997, and converted for MSC service as a Large, Medium Speed, Roll-On/Roll-Off (LMSR) sealift ship at National Steel and Shipbuilding Co. (NASSCO), in San Diego, California.

The ship was renamed USNS Soderman (T-AKR-299) — the first Navy ship named after PFC William A. Soderman (1912–1980), who was awarded the Medal of Honor for heroism during World War II's Battle of the Bulge.[1] Soderman was placed in service in 1998, operated by Bay Ship Management Inc. under the direction of the MSC. She was placed out of service in 2000 for conversion to an enhanced prepositioning ship. The ship was placed back in service as USNS GySgt Fred W. Stockham (T-AK-3017) on 1 March 2001. Her new namesake, Gunnery Sergeant Fred W. Stockham, USMC, was awarded the Medal of Honor, posthumously, for heroism at the Battle of Belleau Wood in 1918. GySgt Fred W. Stockham is one of the Military Sealift Command's seventeen container & roll-on/roll-off ships, and one of the 36 ships in the Prepositioning Program. Stockham is assigned to Maritime Prepositioning Program Squadron Two which operates out of Diego Garcia.

On May 31, 2008 The Guardian reported that the human rights group Reprieve named the Stockham as one of up to sixteen US Naval vessels that may have been used to covertly hold captives.[6][7]

References
  1. "USNS Soderman (T-AKR 299) Named After Medal of Honor Recipient". United States Department of Defense. October 24, 1997. Retrieved 2008-06-09.
  2. "USNS GySgt Fred W. Stockham (T-AK 3017)". Navysite.de. Retrieved 2008-06-09.
  3. "Forgotten Marine is ship's namesake". Military Sealift Command. Retrieved 2008-06-02.
  4. "Ship inventory: USNS GySgt Fred W. Stockham (T-AK 3017)". Military Sealift Command. Retrieved 2008-06-02.
  5. Bill Gowdy (April 16, 2007). "USNS Stockham Responds To Distress Call in Solomon Islands". United States Navy. Archived from the original on 2008-06-28. Retrieved 2008-06-02.
  6. Duncan Campbell, Richard Norton-Taylor (June 2, 2008). "US accused of holding terror suspects on prison ships". The Guardian. Retrieved 2008-06-01.
  7. Duncan Campbell, Richard Norton-Taylor (June 2, 2008). "Prison ships, torture claims, and missing detainees". The Guardian. Retrieved 2008-06-01.


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