Lewis class Navy oilers

Navy Secretary Ray Mabus announced Jan. 6 that the first in class ship of the Navy’s next generation class of fleet replenishment oilers will be named for civil rights activists and current U.S. Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.). He was a keynote speaker at the historic March on Washington in 1963 and led more than 600 peaceful protestors across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala., in 1965. Lewis was elected to Congress in 1986. The future T-AO 205 “will serve as a visible symbol of the freedoms Rep. Lewis holds dear, and his example will live on in the steel of that ship and in all those who will serve aboard her," said Mabus. The future USNS John Lewis will provide underway replenishment of fuel and stores to Navy ships at sea and jet fuel for aircraft assigned to aircraft carriers. A contract will be awarded for the ship this summer 2016. Construction is expected to begin in 2018. (Source: USNI News 01/06/16) Gulf Coast Shipbuilding/Maritime Note: Six ships of the planned 17-ship Lewis-class are part of a complicated shipbuilding deal between General Dynamics and Huntington Ingalls Industries of Pascagoula, Miss. Either yard is set to build the half dozen oilers or unnamed LHA-8 amphibious warship follow-ons to the America-class (LHA-6) amphibs.