Military Sealift Command christened its newest Lewis B. Puller-class expeditionary sea base ship built by General Dynamics‘ NASSCO division at a ceremony held Saturday in San Diego, California, DVIDS reported.
The USNS Robert E. Simanek (ESB-7) is the seventh ship in MSC’s expeditionary mobile base fleet and the third expeditionary staging base model designed to support various military missions, including mine countermeasures, special operations, counter-piracy, crisis response and humanitarian aid.
ESB-7 is the first naval ship named after Robert Simanek, a Korean War veteran and a Medal of Honor recipient. The ship has a flight deck; a hangar with two aviation operating spots for handling MH-53E Sea Dragon-equivalent helicopters; command, control, communications, computers and intelligence systems; and a reconfigurable mission deck area.
“This ship will serve as a floating testimony to Private First Class Simanek’s valor and esprit de corps that all Marines and Sailors carry with them,” said Brig. Gen. Robert Weiler, assistant division commander of First Marine Division. “Just as Private First Class Simanek stood as a protector amongst his fellow Marines and Sailors, this ship will daringly sail the oceans as a protector of American freedom.”