US Navy christens newest fleet replenishment oiler USNS Sojourner Truth

The US Navy’s newest fleet replenishment oiler USNS Sojourner Truth (T-AO 210) was christened during a ceremony at the General Dynamics NASSCO shipyard in San Diego.

As disclosed, the ship honors Sojourner Truth, an escaped slave who became an American abolitionist and activist for African-American civil rights, women’s rights, and alcohol temperance. The oiler will be operated by the Military Sealift Command (MSC).

“We reserve the naming of our ships for special places, historic events and great people who represent the best among us, and who’s distinguished contributions are worthy of our remembrances for generations to come,” said Brett A. Seidle, performing the duties of the Under Secretary of the Navy.

“In that vein, Sojourner Truth was a natural choice to be memorialized with a ship bearing her name.”

The official christening moment happened when the ship’s sponsor, Barbara Allen, the sixth-generation granddaughter of Sojourner Truth, broke a bottle of champagne over the ship’s bow.

The 227.3-meter Truth is the sixth ship of the John Lewis fleet replenishment oiler class. Truth has the ability to carry 162,000 barrels of diesel ship fuel, aviation fuel and dry stores cargo.

According to the navy, the John Lewis class is built with double hulls to protect against oil spills and strengthened cargo and ballast tanks and will be equipped with a basic self-defense capability.

The Lewis-class oilers will replace the current Kaiser-class fleet replenishment oilers as they age out of the MSC fleet.

In addition to Truth, three more Lewis-class oilers are on order for the US Navy. In July 2016, US Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus said that he would name the Lewis-class oilers after prominent civil rights activists and leaders, including Harvey Milk, Lucy Stone, Thurgood Marshall, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Harriet Tubman.

To remind, the US Navy welcomed the oiler USNS Robert F. Kennedy (T-AO 208) in December last year.

MSC directs and supports operations for approximately 140 civilian-crewed ships that replenish US Navy ships at sea, conduct specialized missions, preposition combat cargo at sea around the world, perform a variety of support services, and move military equipment and supplies to deployed US forces.