Article Posted on : - Jul 15, 2010

USNS Charles Drew.

SAN DIEGO (BNS): General Dynamics NASSCO has delivered USNS Charles Drew (T-AKE 10) dry cargo ship to the US Navy on Wednesday.

In October 2008, the NASSCO had begun the construction of USNS Charles Drew, which is a Lewis and Clark-class dry cargo ship. The company is under contract for the construction of the entire T-AKE class, a total of 14 ships.

The 689-foot-long supply ship will serve under the US Navy’s Military Sealift Command. The ship is capable of delivering almost 10,000 tonnes of dry cargo and petroleum products at one time to Navy and allied ships underway at sea.

Currently, three ships are under construction at the San Diego shipyard. The construction of the fourteenth and final ship of the Lewis and Clark class will begin in the fall.

The USNS Charles Drew ship was constructed on the West Coast of the United States shipyard San Diego.

The ship is named in honour of Dr. Charles R. Drew (1904-1950), the African American surgeon and hematologist.