![]() Lewis B. Puller departing for its first operational deployment in 2017
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History | |
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Namesake | Lewis B. Puller, Sr.[6][8] |
Awarded | February 2012[5] |
Builder | NASSCO – San Diego, California[6] |
Cost | $650 million[10] |
Laid down | 5 November 2013[6][7] |
Launched | 6 November 2014[1] |
Sponsored by | Martha Puller Downs[9] |
Christened | 7 February 2015[9] |
Acquired | 12 June 2015[2][3] |
Commissioned | 17 August 2017[4] |
Identification |
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Motto | Courage, Leadership, Duty |
Status | in active service[4] |
Badge | ![]() |
General characteristics | |
Displacement | Approx. 90,000 long tons (100,000 short tons) fully loaded[11] |
Length | 764 ft (233 m)[14][Note 1] |
Beam | 164 ft (50 m)[13] |
Draft | 25.5 ft (7.8 m)[13] |
Installed power | Diesel-electric[13] |
Propulsion |
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Speed | 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)[6][13] |
Range | 9,500 nautical miles (17,600 km; 10,900 mi)[6] |
Boats & landing craft carried | Accommodation barge (298 mission-related personnel max.)[5] |
Complement | 19 officers, 231 enlisted[15] |
Armament | 12 x .50 caliber machine gun stations[16] |
Aircraft carried | Up to 4 CH-53 heavy-lift transport helicopters[Note 2] |
Aviation facilities | Helicopter landing deck and hangar[5] |
Notes | Afloat forward staging base variant[5] |
USS Lewis B. Puller (ESB-3), (formerly USNS Lewis B. Puller (T-ESB-3), and (T-MLP-3/T-AFSB-1) prior to that)[17][18] is the first purpose-built expeditionary mobile base vessel (previously classified as a mobile landing platform, and then as an afloat forward staging base) for the United States Navy, and the second ship to be named in honor of Chesty Puller. The lead ship in her class of expeditionary mobile bases, she is also a sub-variant of the Montford Point-class expeditionary transfer docks.[19] Lewis B. Puller replaced USS Ponce with the U.S. Fifth Fleet in the Persian Gulf in late 2017.[6][7]
Lewis B. Puller was commissioned on 17 August 2017 in Bahrain, with her prefix changing from USNS to USS and her hull designation changing from T-ESB-3 to ESB-3.[4]
See pages 101–102
General Dynamics NASSCO has commissioned Converteam to supply integrated power systems to the U.S. Navy, a move that follows the engineering solutions company's multimillion-dollar contract to design and supply the complete electric power, propulsion and vessel automation system for the Mobile Landing Platform program.
Has limited self-defense capability against any threat. Its self-defense capability against small boat attacks consists of 12 50-caliber gun stations capable of 360-degree
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