MV Bob Hope

Bob Hope in harbor at Souda Bay in Crete
History
Name	USNS Bob Hope
Namesake	Bob Hope
Awarded	2 September 1993
Builder	Avondale Shipyard
Laid down	29 May 1995
Launched	27 March 1997
In service	18 November 1998
Status	in active service
General characteristics
Displacement	62,069 tons full
Length	951 ft 5 in (290.0 m)
Beam	106 ft (32.3 m)
Draft	34 ft 10 in (10.6 m) maximum
Propulsion	4 x Colt Pielstick 10 PC4.2 V diesels; 65,160 hp(m) (47.89 MW)(Beloit, WI)Falk Gear Power Transmission (Milwaukee,WI)
Speed	24 knots (44 km/h)
Capacity	380,000 sq ft (35,000 m2)
Complement	26 to 45 civilian crew; up to 50 active duty
Aviation facilities	Helicopter landing area

USNS Bob Hope (T-AKR-300), the lead ship of her class of vehicle cargo ships for Army vehicle prepositioning, is the only naval ship of the United States to be named after Bob Hope, the entertainer. Very few ships of the United States Navy have been named after a person who was alive at the time of the christening.

The contract to build her was awarded to Avondale Industries on 2 September 1993 and her keel was laid down on 29 May 1995. She was launched on 27 March 1997, and delivered on 18 November 1998.

A non-combatant roll-on/roll-off (RORO) vessel crewed by U.S. civilian mariners under the Navy's Military Sealift Command, Bob Hope and other ships of the class are used to preposition tanks, trucks and other wheeled vehicles and supplies needed to support an army heavy brigade.

Bob Hope has already seen service delivering supplies and equipment to the Balkans and Iraq.

Features

The ship has two 110-ton Hagglunds deck crane pedestals mounted with twin cranes.

External links

Media related to USNS Bob Hope (T-AKR-300) at Wikimedia Commons

• MSC Ship Inventory: USNS Bob Hope
• T-AKR USNS Bob Hope (GlobalSecurity.org)
• "Bob Hope (464628)". Port State Information Exchange. United States Coast Guard. Retrieved 2010-02-25.

A helicopter being loaded onto Bob Hope in Antwerp, Belgium