USNS ''GySgt Fred W. Stockham'' (T-AK-3017) is a ''Shughart''-class

container A container is any receptacle or enclosure for holding a product used in storage, packaging, and transportation, including shipping. Things kept inside of a container are protected on several sides by being inside of its structure. The term ...

roll-on roll-off Roll-on/roll-off (RORO or ro-ro) ships are cargo ships designed to carry wheeled cargo, such as cars, motorcycles, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, buses, trailers, and railroad cars, that are driven on and off the ship on their own wheels or using ...

support vessel 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 ...

's Military Sealift Command (MSC). The vessel is the second Navy ship named after Marine Gunnery Sergeant Fred W. Stockham (1881–1918), who was posthumously awarded the

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 valo ...

during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. The ship was originally built as MV ''Lica Maersk'', at the Lindovaerftet shipyard, in

Odense Odense ( , , ) is the third largest city in Denmark (behind Copenhagen and Aarhus) and the largest city on the island of Funen. As of 1 January 2022, the city proper had a population of 180,863 while Odense Municipality had a population of 20 ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

, and delivered for commercial service with the A. P. Moller-Maersk Group, Maersk Line circa 1980. She was acquired by the U.S. Navy on 11 November 1997, and converted for MSC service as a Large, Medium Speed, Roll-On/Roll-Off (LMSR) sealift ship at National Steel and Shipbuilding Co. (NASSCO), in San Diego, California. The ship was renamed USNS ''Soderman'' (T-AKR-299) — the first Navy ship named after Private First Class, PFC William A. Soderman (1912–1980), who was awarded the

for heroism during World War II's Battle of the Bulge. ''Soderman'' was placed in service in 1998, operated by Bay Ship Management Inc. under the direction of the MSC. She was placed out of service in 2000 for conversion to an enhanced prepositioning ship. The ship was placed back in service as USNS ''GySgt Fred W. Stockham'' (T-AK-3017) on 1 March 2001. Her new namesake, Gunnery Sergeant Fred W. Stockham, USMC, was awarded the Medal of Honor, posthumously, for heroism at the Battle of Belleau Wood in 1918. ''GySgt Fred W. Stockham'' is one of the Military Sealift Command's seventeen container & roll-on/roll-off ships, and one of the 36 ships in the Prepositioning Program. ''Stockham'' is assigned to Maritime Prepositioning Program Squadron Two which operates out of Diego Garcia. On May 31, 2008 ''The Guardian'' reported that the human rights group Reprieve named the ''Stockham'' as one of up to sixteen US Naval vessels that may have been used to covertly hold captives.

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External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:GySgt. Fred W. Stockham (T-AK-3017) Shughart-class cargo ships Ships built in Odense 1981 ships Auxiliary transport ship classes