USNS ''Alan Shepard'' (T-AKE-3) is a ''Lewis and Clark''-class dry cargo ship in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

. She is named for

astronaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft. Although generally r ...

and

Rear Admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarde ...

Alan Shepard (1923–1998), the first American in space and the fifth person to walk on the Moon. The contract to build her was awarded to

National Steel and Shipbuilding Company National Steel and Shipbuilding Company, commonly referred to as NASSCO, is an American shipbuilding company with three shipyards located in San Diego, Norfolk, Virginia, Norfolk and Mayport (Jacksonville), Mayport. It is a division of General Dy ...

(NASSCO) of San Diego, on 16 July 2002. Construction began on 13 September 2005. She was launched on 6 December 2006, sponsored by Laura Churchley, daughter of RAdm. Shepard. She is part of the Pacific Fleet.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Alan Shepard (T-AKE-3) Lewis and Clark-class dry cargo ships Ships built in San Diego 2006 ships Alan Shepard Bulk carriers of the United States Navy