USNS ''Watkins'' (T-AKR-315) is one of

Military Sealift Command Military Sealift Command (MSC) is an organization that controls the replenishment and military transport ships of the United States Navy. Military Sealift Command has the responsibility for providing sealift and ocean transportation for all US m ...

's nineteen Large, Medium-Speed Roll-on/Roll-off Ships and is part of the 33 ships in the Prepositioning Program. She is a ''Watson''-class vehicle cargo ship. She was named for Master Sergeant

Travis E. Watkins Travis Earl Watkins (September 5, 1920 – September 3, 1950) was a United States Army soldier and a posthumous recipient of the Medal of Honor for his actions in the Korean War. A veteran of World War II, Watkins was awarded the medal for his co ...

, a

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor. ...

recipient. Laid down on 24 August 1999 and launched on 28 July 2000, ''Watkins'' was put into service in the Pacific Ocean on 2 March 2001. According to ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' the

human rights Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...

group Reprieve identified the ''Watkins'' and sixteen other USN vessels as having held "

ghost prisoners Ghost detainee is a term used in the executive branch of the United States government to designate a person held in a detention center, whose identity has been hidden by keeping them unregistered and therefore anonymous.extrajudicial detention Administrative detention is arrest and detention of individuals by the state without trial. A number of jurisdictions claim that it is done for security reasons. Many countries claim to use administrative detention as a means to combat terrorism ...

.
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References

External links

at navsource.org {{DEFAULTSORT:Watkins Watson-class vehicle cargo ships Ships built in San Diego 2000 ships