General Dynamics NASSCO Launches USNS Amelia Earhart (T-AKE 6)

General Dynamics NASSCO, a wholly owned subsidiary of General Dynamics (NYSE: GD), yesterday launched the U.S. Navy’s newest resupply ship, USNS Amelia Earhart (T-AKE 6). The ship is named in honor of the record-setting woman aviator.

The Sunday evening ceremony took place at the NASSCO shipyard. Rep. Susan Davis (D-Calif.) was the ceremony’s principal speaker. Mrs. Amy Morrissey Kleppner, Amelia Earhart’s niece, christened the ship with the traditional bottle of champagne. More than 2,000 people attended the ceremony, including Amelia Earhart’s stepson, George Putnam Jr.

Starting in 1922, Earhart (b.1897- d.1937) made a series of record-setting flights. Her accomplishments include becoming the first woman to make a solo transatlantic flight and the first woman to receive the Distinguished Flying Cross awarded by Congress, both in 1932. She also was the first person to fly solo over the Pacific from Honolulu to Oakland, California in January 1935.

USNS Amelia Earhart is the sixth ship of the Lewis and Clark class of dry cargo-ammunition ships for the Navy. NASSCO began constructing the ship in December 2006 and is scheduled to deliver it to the Navy later this year. The T-AKE class incorporates international marine technologies and commercial ship-design features, including an integrated electric-drive propulsion system, to minimize operating costs over its projected 40-year service life. When the Amelia Earhart joins the fleet, its primary mission will be to deliver more than 10,000 tons of food, ammunition, fuel and other provisions to combat ships at sea.