Skip to main content
Naval History and Heritage Command

Naval History and Heritage Command

Related Content
Topic
Document Type
  • Ship History
Wars & Conflicts
File Formats
Location of Archival Materials

Seay (T-AKR-302)

1998–

The first U.S. Navy ship named in honor of Sgt. William Wayne Seay, U. S. Army, who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions in Ap Nhi, Vietnam, on 25 August 1968.

William Wayne Seay -- born on 24 October 1948 -- enlisted in the Army at Montgomery, Al., in 1967 and served in the 62nd Transportation Company (Medium Truck), 7th Transportation Battalion, 48th Transportation Group.

On 25 August 1968, a convoy of the 81 trucks escorted by 8 Military Police gun jeeps left Long Binh for the 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, at Tay Ninh. Traveling at the mandated convoy speed of 20 mph, the convoy passed through the village of Ap Nhi. At approximately 11:45 a battalion-sized North Vietnamese Army force opened fire from the Ben Chu Rubber Plantation on their right. The lead 30 5-ton cargo trucks escaped the ambush, but the enemy set two fuel tankers on fire at the front of the convoy and also two ammunition trailers at the rear, trapping the convoy in between.

When the convoy was forced to stop, Sgt. Seay immediately dismounted and took a defensive position behind the wheels of a vehicle loaded with high-explosive ammunition. As the North Vietnamese assault approached to within 10 meters of the road, he opened fire and killed two of the enemy. He then spotted a sniper in a tree approximately 75 meters to his front and killed him. When an enemy grenade was thrown under an ammunition trailer near his position, Seay left his protective cover, exposing himself to intense enemy fire, picked up the grenade and threw it back to the North Vietnamese position, killing four more of the enemy and saving the lives of the men around him. Afterwards, another enemy grenade landed approximately 3 meters from Sgt. Seay’s position. Once again he left his position and threw the grenade back upon the assaulting enemy.

After returning to his position he was painfully wounded in the right wrist; however, Seay continued to give encouragement and direction to his fellow soldiers. After moving to the relative cover of a shallow ditch, he detected three enemy soldiers who had penetrated the position and were preparing to fire upon them. Although weak from loss of blood and with his right hand immobilized, Seay stood up and fired his rifle with his left hand, killing all three and saving the lives of the other men in his location. Soon afterwards, Sgt. Seay was mortally wounded by a sniper’s bullet. He continued to fight back enemy assaults until he died from loss of blood. The ambush had lasted for over nine hours.

William Wayne Seay was interred at Weaver Cemetery in Brewton, Alabama.

(T-AKR-302: displacement 62,644; length 950'; beam 106'; draft 35'; speed 24 knots; complement 26 civilian (up to 45) up to 50 active duty; class Bob Hope)

Seay (T-AKR-302) was laid down on 24 March 1997 at New Orleans, La., by Avondale Shipyard, Inc.; and launched on 25 June 1998. She entered non-commissioned U.S. Navy service with the Military Sealift Command (MSC) with a primarily civilian crew on 28 March 2000. A non-combatant Large, Medium-Speed, Roll-on/Roll-off (LMSR) vessel, Seay and other ships of her class are used to preposition tanks, trucks, various wheeled vehicles and supplies needed to support an army heavy brigade. She is assigned to Diego Garcia-based Maritime Prepositioning Ship Squadron Two.

During mobilization for the continuing global war on terrorism, the MSC surge fleet of LMSRs and fast sealift ships delivered 10.7 million square feet of cargo. This was approximately forty percent of the total dry cargo carried by all MSC government-owned and chartered ships during fiscal year 2004.

The Surge Project fleet includes 11 LMSRs and eight fast sealift ships that are all maintained in a four-day reduced operating status at various U.S. East and Gulf Coast ports. The LMSRs are especially suited for transporting heavy or bulky unit equipment such as tanks, large wheeled vehicles and helicopters.

Surge Project LMSRs were one of MSCs biggest success stories during the 2004 deployment phase of the Operation Iraqi Freedom troop and equipment rotation. They were activated within three days and maintained an average speed of more than 17 knots throughout the deployment. With a 300,000 square foot capacity per ship, the 11 Surge Project LMSRs delivered more than 7.6 million square feet of cargo in 39 voyages. This averaged 194,540 square feet per ship per voyage. One LMSR effectively replaced six commercial ships chartered during Operation Desert Storm in 1990-91.

On 25 June 2013 Seay rendered assistance to a commercial vessel in distress while underway in the Indian Ocean. Raptor, a 49-foot, Australian-flagged catamaran radioed Seay indicating that they had five crew members aboard of various nationalities and that all were in good health and spirits. Raptor’s crew stated that the vessel experienced trouble with its sails on 20 June before its engines failed. Capt. Bruce Kreger, Seay’s civilian master, immediately ordered his crew to change course and render assistance. After consulting with British Indian Ocean Territory Diego Garcia customs and police, Seay towed the stricken vessel to Diego Garcia. Approximately three nautical miles from Diego Garcia lagoon, a small craft assigned to Diego Garcia’s port operations met the catamaran and towed it safely to the pier.

Detailed history under construction.

Paul J. Marcello

16 December 2015

Published: Mon Dec 21 09:36:26 EST 2015