Kacey Roberts
General Dynamics’ NASSCO subsidiary has begun building the sixth vessel for the U.S. Navy’s Expeditionary Sea Base program.
Named after a Medal of Honor recipient and Korean War veteran, the future USNS Hector A. Cafferata Jr. will serve as a mobile sea base supporting multiple military operations, the Naval Sea Systems Command said Friday.
“The ship will support a variety of mission sets while focusing on its core capabilities of aviation facilities, berthing, special operations, equipment staging support and command and control operations,” said Tim Roberts, Strategic And Theater Sealift program manager at the Navy.
ESB 8’s construction is an option under a $1.6 billion contract issued to the company in August 2019.
NASSCO delivered ESB 6 to the service branch earlier this year, while it is currently working on the future ESB 7 at its San Diego shipyard.
