Richard Spencer, the secretary of the U.S. Navy and a 2019 Wash100 awardee, said the service is naming its newest towing, salvage and rescue ship in honor of the Saginaw Chippewa Indian tribe from Michigan.
The Navy said Friday the USNS Saginaw Ojibwe Anishinabek is one of six contracted vessels to be named after either Native Americans or Native American tribes and will be used to support the service branch’s submarine salvage operations.
The service noted that Ojibwe refers to the Chippewa people comprising the Saginaw, Black River and Swan Creek bands of native Americans.Â
Gulf Island Shipyards secured a $64.8M contract in 2018 to design and manufacture the new vessel at its shipyard in Houma, Louisiana, through July 2021.Â
The rescue ship will feature commercial towing offshore vessel designs and will replace the Military Sealift Command’s T-ATF 166 and T-ARS 50 class ships.Â