1st Lt. Harry L. Martin (T-AK-3015)
2000–
The first U.S. Navy ship to be named for 1st Lt. Harry Linn Martin, USMC (4 January 1911-26 March 1945) awarded the Medal of Honor, posthumously, for his heroism on Iwo Jima.
(T-AK-3015; displacement: 51,531 tons; length: 754'; beam 106'; draft 36'; speed 18 knots; complement 37; class 1st Lt. Harry L. Martin).
1st Lt. Harry L. Martin (T-AK-3015) was built as Tarago at Bremer Vulkan, Bremen, Germany; delivered for commercial service on 1 January 1980; acquired by the Navy circa 1995; converted for Military Sealift Command (MSC) service at Atlantic Drydock, Jacksonville, Fla. in 1999; placed in service on 20 April 2000, under the direction of MSC as 1st LT. Harry L. Martin.
On 26 December 2004 a tsunami that stemmed from an underwater earthquake off Indonesia devastated South Asia. In response the Navy deployed six Maritime Prepositioning Ships -- 1st Lt. Harry L. Martin, 1st Lt. Jack Lummus (T-AK-3011), Maj. Stephen W. Pless (T-AK-3007), Cpl. Louis J. Hauge Jr. (T-AK-3000), Pfc. James Anderson Jr. (T-AK-3002), and 1st Lt. Alex Bonnyman (T-AK-3002). Those ships, part of Maritime Prepositioning Ships Squadron 3, were collectively laden with enough equipment and supplies to support 15,000 marines for 30 days. In addition to expeditionary Marine Corps combat equipment, the ships carried food, fuel, medical supplies, construction and road building equipment, electrical power generating equipment, airfield matting, and a Navy field hospital.
On 27 April 2008, 1st Lt. Baldomero Lopez and 1st Lt. Harry L. Martin arrived off the coast of Chuk Samet, Thailand. Anchored about three miles offshore, the two vessels offloaded a total of 16 pieces of lighterage, six pieces of which were pieced together to form a 180-foot by 63-foot floating platform -- a roll-on/roll-off discharge facility -- that was placed at the end of 1st Lt. Baldomero Lopez’s stern ramp. On 28 April offload operations began as rolling stock was driven down 1st Lt. Baldomero Lopez’s ramp onto the floating platform and then onto powered lighterage, which transported the cargo to shore. Containerized cargo was lifted onto the powered lighterage for transport ashore by one of 1st Lt. Baldomero Lopez’s three shipboard cranes. The two ships completed the at-sea offload of more than 350 pieces of equipment and supplies belonging to the 3rd Marine Expeditionary Force. The cargo, including wheeled and tracked vehicles, ammunition and supplies, was used in Exercise Cobra Gold that commenced on 8 May.
Detailed history under construction.
Christopher B. Havern Sr.
14 December 2015
