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Rappahannock II (T-AO-204)

1995–

Rappahannock (T-AO-204) 110317-N-ZS026-010
Rappahannock pulls alongside the amphibious assault ship Boxer (LHD 4) on 17 March 2011 for replenishment at sea. Boxer is the flagship of the Boxer Amphibious Ready Group, which is underway with the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit (13th MEU) on a deployment to the western Pacific Ocean. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Trevor Welsh/Released) 110317-N-ZS026-010

II

(T-AO-204: displacement 9,500; length 677'; beam 97'; draft 35'; speed 20 knots; complement 103; armament 1 .50-caliber machine gun, 2 20 millimeter Phalanx CIWS; class Henry J. Kaiser)

The secondRappahannock -- the eighteenth and final ship of the Henry J. Kaiser class -- was laid down at New Orleans, La., by Avondale Shipyard, Inc., on 29 March 1992 and launched on 14 January 1995. Sponsored by Mrs. Vicky Kennedy, wife of Senator Edward Kennedy, she was one of only three of the eighteen Henry J. Kaiser-class ships - the other two being Patuxent and Laramie - to be built with a double bottom in order to meet the requirements of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990. Hull separation is 6 feet at the sides and 6 feet 6 inches on the bottom, reducing her liquid cargo capacity by about 21,000 barrels (3,300 m3) from that of the 15 ships of her class without a double bottom.

Rappahannock entered non-commissioned U.S. Navy service under the control of Military Sealift Command with a primarily civilian crew on 7 November 1995 and serves in the U.S. Pacific Fleet.

During Operation Tomodachi, Rappahannock delivered fuel, stores and humanitarian relief supplies to Blue Ridge for transport to mainland Japan. Rappahannock then loaded diesel and aviation fuel at Sasebo, Japan, on 24 March before sailing for Gwangyang, South Korea, arriving 27 March. There, Rappahannock loaded 289 pallets of bottled water, which the ship delivered to Yokosuka, Japan, 30 March. Less than 24 hours later, the ship was underway again in the direction of Sendai. Rappahannock completed 10 underway replenishment missions delivering more than 2.4 million gallons of fuel.

On 16 July 2012, Rappahannock was involved in an incident in the Persian Gulf off the coast of Dubai with an Indian fishing boat that approached the ship despite several warnings. She followed her force protocol by first attempting to warn away the approaching craft with a series of non-lethal procedures using voice, radio, and lights. After those failed, Rappahannock escalated to lethal force, firing on the approaching vessel with a .50-caliber machine gun, killing an Indian fisherman onboard and wounding three others.

Rappahannock (T-AO-204) 120716-N-ZZ999-001
On 16 July 2012 an embarked security team aboard Rappahannock fired upon a small motor vessel after it disregarded warnings and rapidly approached the ship near Jebel Ali, United Arab Emirates. In accordance with Navy force protection procedures, the sailors aboard Rappahannock used a series of non-lethal, preplanned responses to warn the vessel before resorting to lethal force. The crew repeatedly attempted to warn the vessel's operators to turn away from their deliberate approach. When those efforts failed to deter the approaching vessel, the security team on Rappahannock fired rounds from a 50-caliber machine gun. (U.S. Navy photo/Released) 120716-N-ZZ999-001

Detailed history under construction.

Paul J. Marcello

5 November 2015

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Published: Sat Aug 10 23:35:10 EDT 2019