US SECNAV Names Next JHSV

US Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus announced the next joint high speed vessel (JHSV) will be named USNS Trenton during a ceremony in Trenton, New Jersey, Sept. 25.

Mabus named the ship, designated JHSV 5, in honor of the long-standing relationship New Jersey’s capital city shares with the Navy.

“The City of Trenton has an important place in our American history, but has a long history in our Navy as well,” Mabus said. “It is time for another Trenton, time to keep the storied name alive in our Navy and Marine Corps.”

The future USNS Trenton (JHSV 5) will be the fourth naval vessel to bear the name. The first ship was built following the Civil War and was named to honor George Washington’s Revolutionary War victory on the banks of the Delaware River. Since then, there has been a Trenton serving during every vital Navy mission until 2007 when the last ship was decommissioned.

JHSVs have a 20,000 square foot open mission deck and an aviation flight deck to support day and night air vehicle launch and recovery operations. They can operate in a variety of roles to include supporting overseas contingency operations, conducting humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, supporting special operations forces and supporting emerging joint sea-basing concepts.

“[Trenton] is a new and innovative kind of ship. Manned with a hybrid crew of both civilian mariners and uniformed Sailors, she will be vital to our ability to maintain presence around the world,” Mabus said. “With her shallow draft, and ability to operate in rivers and bays, in many parts of the world the JHSVs and the Sailors and Marines aboard them will be the only Americans that citizens from other countries will ever see.”

USNS Trenton is being constructed by Austal USA in Mobile, Alabama and will join the fleet at the beginning of next year.

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Press Release, September 29, 2014; Image: Austal