USNS ''Fall River'' (JHSV-4/T-EPF-4) is the fourth , which is operated by the United States Navys

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 ...

(MSC).Joint High Speed Vessel (JHSV)

USN 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 of ...

. Retrieved 12 March 2010. ''Fall River'' was built by 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 ...

Capabilities

The EPF will be able to transport US Army and US Marine Corps

company A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of people, whether Natural person, natural, Legal person, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common p ...

-sized units with their vehicles, or reconfigure to become a

troop transport A troopship (also troop ship or troop transport or trooper) is a ship used to carry soldiers, either in peacetime or wartime. Troopships were often drafted from commercial shipping fleets, and were unable land troops directly on shore, typicall ...

for an infantry battalion. It will have a flight deck for helicopter operations and a loading ramp that will allow vehicles to quickly drive on and off the ship. The ramp will be suitable for the types of austere piers and quay walls common in developing countries. EPF will have a shallow draft (under ).

Construction and career

On 23 March 2010, Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus announced in Fall River, Massachusetts that the fourth

Expeditionary Fast Transport The ''Spearhead''-class expeditionary fast transport (EPF) is a United States Navy–led shipbuilding program to provide a high-speed, shallow draft vessel intended for rapid intra-theater transport of medium-sized cargo payloads. The EPFs can r ...

will be named USNS ''Fall River''. Because the ship will be operated by the Military Sealift Command and not the United States Navy itself, it will carry the USNS prefix instead of USS. The ship was christened on 11 January 2014 by First Lady of Massachusetts,

Diane Bemus Patrick Deval Laurdine Patrick (born July 31, 1956) is an American politician, civil rights lawyer, author, and businessman who served as the 71st governor of Massachusetts from 2007 to 2015. He was first elected in 2006, succeeding Mitt Romney, who ...

, at Austal USA's Shipyard in Mobile, Alabama. The ship was launched seven days later on 16 January. ''Fall River'' completed acceptance trials on 25 July 2014. Following delivery and Final Contract Trials (FCT) later in the year, ''Fall River'' was accepted into MSC service on 15 September 2014.Fourth Joint High Speed Vessel Delivers
- News.USNI.org, 15 September 2014

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fall River (EPF-4) Transports of the United States Navy Spearhead-class Joint High Speed Vessels 2014 ships