The ''Watson''-class vehicle cargo ship is a series of

vehicle cargo ship Vehicle cargo ship is a model of United States Navy ship used for the prepositioning of Army vehicles. An example of this is the USNS ''Bob Hope'' (T-AKR-300), the lead ship of her class. Auxiliary ships of the United States Navy ...

s, used by the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

for prepositioning of ground vehicles. The

class Class or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used differentl ...

comprises eight 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 Large, Medium-Speed Roll-on/Roll-off (LMSR) refers to several classes of Military Sealift Command (MSC) roll-on/roll-off type cargo ships. Some are purpose-built for military cargo, while others were converted. Bob Hope Class The Bob Hope class v ...

ships and is one part of the 33 ships involved in the Prepositioning Program. The

lead ship The lead ship, name ship, or class leader is the first of a series or class of ships all constructed according to the same general design. The term is applicable to naval ships and large civilian vessels. Large ships are very complex and may ...

of this class is . The class, as with the lead ship, was named for Private George Watson, 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. ''Watson'' was

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one o ...

on 23 May 1996, launched on 26 July 1997, and put into service in the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

on 23 June 1998. The most recent ship of the class is , laid down on 31 October 2000, launched on 26 April 2002, and put into service in the Pacific Ocean on 24 September 2002.

Vessels

* USNS ''Watson'' (T-AKR-310) * USNS ''Sisler'' (T-AKR-311) * USNS ''Dahl'' (T-AKR-312) * USNS ''Red Cloud'' (T-AKR-313) * USNS ''Charlton'' (T-AKR-314) * USNS ''Watkins'' (T-AKR-315) * USNS ''Pomeroy'' (T-AKR-316) * USNS ''Soderman'' (T-AKR-317)

References

Auxiliary transport ship classes {{US-navy-stub