USNS ''Amelia Earhart'' (T-AKE-6), a ''Lewis and Clark''-class

dry cargo ship A bulk carrier or bulker is a merchant ship specially designed to transport unpackaged bulk cargo — such as grains, coal, ore, steel coils, and cement — in its cargo holds. Since the first specialized bulk carrier was built in 1852, econom ...

is the only ship of 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 ...

to be named for noted

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

aviation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' includes fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air craft such as hot air ...

pioneer Pioneer commonly refers to a settler who migrates to previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited land. In the United States pioneer commonly refers to an American pioneer, a person in American history who migrated west to join in settling and dev ...

and women's rights advocate

Amelia Earhart Amelia Mary Earhart ( , born July 24, 1897; disappeared July 2, 1937; declared dead January 5, 1939) was an American aviation pioneer and writer. Earhart was the first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. She set many oth ...

(1897–1937). The contract to build the ship 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, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

, on 27 January 2004. Her keel was laid down at the end of May 2007 at

General Dynamics General Dynamics Corporation (GD) is an American publicly traded, aerospace and defense corporation headquartered in Reston, Virginia. As of 2020, it was the fifth-largest defense contractor in the world by arms sales, and 5th largest in the Uni ...

' NASSCO shipyard. In early 2007, Alex Mandel along with members of the Amelia Earhart Society (AES) and Amelia Earhart Research Association (AERA) successfully petitioned the naming of the ship. On 26 July 2007 one of the ship's four 200-ton diesel-electric engines toppled from a truck delivering it to the shipyard in the 2700 block of Harbor Drive, San Diego. The engine damaged three vehicles, completely flattening one. A woman sleeping in the back of a van whose front-end was destroyed suffered minor injuries. The accident also created an sink-hole in the roadway and ruptured a water main. The accident is believed to have been caused when the truck accidentally delivered the engine to the wrong gate of the shipyard and hit the curb while backing up in an attempt to turn around. The engine was recovered on 29 July by three heavy cranes. At 9 p.m. 6 April 2008, a ceremony was held to christen the ''Amelia Earhart'', with the honors of breaking the traditional bottle of

champagne Champagne (, ) is a sparkling wine originated and produced in the Champagne wine region of France under the rules of the appellation, that demand specific vineyard practices, sourcing of grapes exclusively from designated places within it, spe ...

given to Amelia Earhart's closest living relative, niece Amy Kleppner. Ms. Kleppner is also sister-in-law of physicist

Daniel Kleppner Daniel Kleppner, born 1932, is the Lester Wolfe Professor Emeritus of Physics at MIT and co-director of the MIT-Harvard Center for Ultracold Atoms. His areas of science include Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics, and his research interest ...

, whose wife Beatrice and daughter Sofie participated as Matrons of Honor. The new ship is designed to deliver ammunition, food, fuel and other dry cargo to US and allied warships at sea. It will be crewed by 124 civil service mariners and, at times, will include an additional complement of naval personnel and carry two helicopters. On 20 November 2014 the ''Amelia Earhart'' collided with the '' USNS Walter S. Diehl'' in the

Gulf of Aden The Gulf of Aden ( ar, خليج عدن, so, Gacanka Cadmeed 𐒅𐒖𐒐𐒕𐒌 𐒋𐒖𐒆𐒗𐒒) is a deepwater gulf of the Indian Ocean between Yemen to the north, the Arabian Sea to the east, Djibouti to the west, and the Guardafui Channe ...

References

External links

* * File:Hopper-Earhart UNREP 2009 crop.jpg, ''Amelia Earhart'' conducting

underway replenishment Replenishment at sea (RAS) (North Atlantic Treaty Organization/Commonwealth of Nations) or underway replenishment (UNREP) (U.S. Navy) is a method of transferring fuel, munitions, and stores from one ship to another while under way. First develope ...

with USS ''Hopper'' (DDG-70), November 2009 File:USNS Amelia Earhart Under Construction.JPG, ''Amelia Earhart'' under construction, January 2008 File:Ship construction (2706986094).jpg, USNS ''Amelia Earhart''(T-AKE-6) dockside beside USNS ''Robert E. Peary(T-AKE-5) {{DEFAULTSORT:Amelia Earhart (T-AKE-6) Lewis and Clark-class dry cargo ships Ships built in San Diego 2008 ships *