Austal, US Navy Celebrate Keel-Laying of USNS Brunswick

Austal and the U.S. Navy celebrated the keel-laying of the future USNS Brunswick (JHSV 6), the second keel-laying ceremony for the Joint High Speed Vessel (JHSV) program since the beginning of the year.

Brunswick (JHSV 6) is one of ten Austal-designed 103-meter (338-foot) U.S. Navy JHSVs under contract. There have been four JHSVs delivered since receiving the 10-ship block-buy contract. The ship’s sponsor, Mrs. Alma B. Booterbaugh, was present at the ceremony to authenticate the keel.

A traditional keel-laying ceremony marks the first significant milestone in the construction of the ship. Due to Austal’s modular approach to ship manufacturing, all 43 of the modules that will be used to construct this 103-meter aluminum catamaran are already under construction. For Austal, keel-laying marks the beginning of final assembly. Sixteen modules have been moved from Austal’s Module Manufacturing Facility (MMF) and erected in the Final Assembly bay in their pre-launch position, the first having been erected just two months ago on October 2, 2014. The rest will follow over the coming months.

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Press release, Image: Austal