USNS ''City of Bismarck'' (JHSV-9/T-EPF-9), (ex-''Sacrifice'') is the ninth and operated by 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 ...

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 ...

. It is the first ship in naval service named after Bismarck,

North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the Native Americans in the United States, indigenous Dakota people, Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north a ...

’s capital city.

Construction and career

The ship's name was announced in 2016 as ''Bismarck''. The keel was laid on 18 January 2017, by which point the ship's name had been changed to ''City of Bismarck.'' The state of North Dakota was represented at the ceremony by Robert O. Wefald, a retired Navy officer, former state Attorney General, and longtime resident of Bismarck. Wefald welded his initials into a steel plate that would be incorporated into the ship. On 7 June 2017, USNS ''City of Bismarck'' was launched at Austal USA in

Mobile, Alabama Mobile ( , ) is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population within the city limits was 187,041 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, down from 195,111 at the 2010 United States census, 2010 cens ...

. The ''City of Bismarck'' completed acceptance trials on 20 October 2017 and its delivery was accepted by the U.S. Navy on 19 December 2017.

References

External links

Transports of the United States Navy Ships built in Mobile, Alabama Spearhead-class Joint High Speed Vessels 2017 ships {{US-mil-ship-stub