The ''Emory S. Land''-class submarine tender is a class of three

submarine tenders A submarine tender, in British English a submarine depot ship, is a type of depot ship that supplies and supports submarines. Development Submarines are small compared to most oceangoing vessels, and generally cannot carry large amounts of food ...

in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

and

Military Sealift Command The 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 U ...

. is the

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

in the class, the others are and . ''McKee'' was the first ship in the class to be decommissioned. The ''Emory S. Land'' class is set to be replaced by two ships of the AS(X) class.

Design

The ''Emory S. Land''-class is identical to the preceding ''L. Y. Spear''-class. The ships were specifically designed to service nuclear-powered attack submarines. They feature 53 specialized workshops on 13 decks on board. Four submarines can be serviced simultaneously. The ships are equipped with two 40 ton bow anchors and one 20 ton stern anchor, two 60 ton cranes and two 7 ton cranes. All ships have a helicopter landing pad aft, although no hangar.

Ships in class

''Italics'' indicate estimated dates

References

Naval ships of the United States Ships built by Lockheed Shipbuilding and Construction Company {{ship-type-stub