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USNS Lewis and Clark (T-AKE 1)

contributed by Ludger Brockmann

USNS LEWIS AND CLARK is the Navy's first Dry Cargo / Ammunition Ship and the second ship in the Navy to bear the name.

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Crew List:

This section contains the names of sailors who served aboard USNS LEWIS AND CLARK. It is no official listing but contains the names of sailors who submitted their information.

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About the Ship's Name:

Meriwether Lewis was born 18 August 1774 in Albemarle County, Va. Much of his boyhood was spent learning the ways of wildlife and Indian lore. When he was 20 years old he was called to active duty during the “Whiskey Rebellion” in October 1794. After joining the Regular Army, he marched to Greenville, Ohio, the following year to view the signing of the Northwest Treaty. During this mission he was a subordinate of William Clark, his future companion in exploring the West.

Following Thomas Jefferson’s election, Lewis was offered the post of private secretary, and he became overseer of Jefferson’s domestic arrangements. In 1803, when Congress appropriated funds for exploring the West, Lewis went to Philadelphia to organize the expedition. As his companion officer he chose William Clark.

Clark was born 1 August 1770 in Caroline County, Va. Like Lewis, he was brought up in the revolutionary spirit and spent some of his early years defending against marauding Indians.

Designed to find a land route to the Pacific, the expedition mustered in Illinois in 1804 and for the next 28 months, proceeded to gain invaluable information about the unknown parts of the continent and its Indian inhabitants. The exploring party returned to St. Louis in September 1806.

For the rest of their lives, Lewis and Clark dedicated their abilities to administration of the U.S. territories and gave valuable service in Indian affairs. Meriwether Lewis died 11 October 1809 and William Clark died 1 September 1838.

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USNS LEWIS AND CLARK History:

USNS LEWIS AND CLARK was conceived as the lead ship of a new class of Military Sealift Command dry cargo and ammunition ships designed to consolidate and modernize at-sea logistics for U.S. naval forces - moving food, repair parts, general stores, and ordnance in ways that support sustained forward presence. Built to commercial standards and operated with civilian mariners, the ship was intended to be a workhorse "station ship" for replenishment at sea, with the flexibility to deliver mixed dry cargo loads and ammunition and, when paired with an oiler, to help keep major formations supplied without repeated returns to port.

The Department of the Navy awarded the construction contract for USNS LEWIS AND CLARK to National Steel and Shipbuilding Company (NASSCO) in San Diego, California, on October 18, 2001. The keel for USNS LEWIS AND CLARK was laid on April 22, 2004, marking the start of physical construction of the class leader at NASSCO. On May 21, 2005, the ship was christened and launched during a launching ceremony in San Diego, a milestone that signaled the transition from major hull construction to outfitting and systems integration. After completion of the principal fitting-out period and preparations for sea trials, USNS LEWIS AND CLARK completed builder's trials on April 25, 2006. Delivery to the U.S. Navy - operationally aligned to Military Sealift Command - followed on June 20, 2006.

In the months after delivery, the ship began the practical work of proving out replenishment systems, aviation support arrangements, and cargo-handling routines that define a dry cargo/ammunition ship's day-to-day utility. On September 8, 2006, USNS LEWIS AND CLARK was documented preparing to moor at Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia, reflecting an early Atlantic Coast presence during the period when the ship and its support structure were still being established. By December 14, 2006, the ship was operating in the Atlantic Ocean in connection with replenishment activity involving USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT (CVN 71), with Navy imagery specifically documenting a vertical replenishment evolution that tied USNS LEWIS AND CLARK into the carrier's underway support cycle. These late-2006 events illustrate how quickly the ship moved from delivery into the practical, repetitive training and certification rhythms that make replenishment ships valuable to deploying strike groups.

During early 2007, USNS LEWIS AND CLARK continued documented underway replenishment activity connected to USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT. On February 7, 2007, Navy imagery again associated the ship with underway replenishment operations supporting the carrier as it maintained qualifications within the Fleet Response Plan construct. As the year progressed, dated evidence also places the ship in the Mediterranean region. On July 24, 2007, USNS LEWIS AND CLARK arrived at Souda Bay, Crete, Greece, for a port visit - an important logistics node for U.S. and allied naval activity in the Eastern Mediterranean because of its fueling and resupply infrastructure and its proximity to transit routes toward the Suez Canal. On November 12, 2007, the ship was photographed transiting off the bow of USS KEARSARGE (LHD 3) before a replenishment-at-sea event, further grounding the ship's role as an enabler for expeditionary and amphibious formations as well as carrier-centric operations.

By early 2008, USNS LEWIS AND CLARK had accumulated enough operational experience to complete what was described publicly as the first deployment for a ship of the T-AKE type. On February 8, 2008, the ship returned to Naval Station Norfolk from that first deployment. The publicly reported deployment summary underscored the intensity of the logistics tempo: USNS LEWIS AND CLARK conducted 73 underway replenishments and made 28 in-port deliveries during the deployment, moved 5,856 pallets of dry cargo, and delivered nearly 15 million gallons of fuel, while supporting ongoing U.S. operations tied to Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. Although replenishment ships are not the most visible elements of forward operations, the measurable throughput reported for this first deployment captured the reality that sustained maritime operations depend on repetitive, efficient cargo and fuel transfer more than on singular, dramatic events.

In the following years, dated Navy imagery repeatedly situates USNS LEWIS AND CLARK in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility, supporting maritime security operations and deployed amphibious forces in and around the Persian Gulf, Arabian Sea, Gulf of Aden, and adjacent waters at a time when regional naval presence was heavily shaped by Iraq and Afghanistan-era operational demands as well as escalating concerns over piracy emanating from the Horn of Africa. On November 14, 2008, USNS LEWIS AND CLARK was documented conducting a vertical replenishment with USS IWO JIMA (LHD 7) in the Persian Gulf, with the broader deployed context explicitly tied to maritime security operations in the 5th Fleet operating area. The pattern continued into 2009 with multiple dated replenishment events. On January 1, 2009, an SA-330 Puma helicopter was photographed lifting pallets from USNS LEWIS AND CLARK during vertical replenishment connected to USS CARTER HALL (LSD 50), with USS CARTER HALL described as deployed with the IWO JIMA Expeditionary Strike Group and supporting maritime security operations in the U.S. 5th Fleet area. On January 7, 2009, another replenishment-at-sea evolution was documented with CARTER HALL during which a shot line was fired to USNS LEWIS AND CLARK in the Persian Gulf - one of the routine but essential steps in rigging gear for connected replenishment. On January 21, 2009, USNS LEWIS AND CLARK was again directly linked to the IWO JIMA Expeditionary Strike Group when USS IWO JIMA was photographed breaking away after a replenishment at sea with the ship.

The anti-piracy dimension of that era became especially relevant to the ship's publicly reported history. In February 2009, USNS LEWIS AND CLARK detained 16 suspected pirates after an incident connected to the Gulf of Aden/Somali Basin piracy problem, holding them until they could be transferred ashore to Kenya. Reporting also described the ship serving as an afloat staging platform for Combined Task Force 151, the multinational counter-piracy task force established in January 2009 to conduct piracy-focused operations in and around the Gulf of Aden and Somali Basin. A more dramatic episode followed later that spring: on May 5, 2009, in waters off Somalia, suspected pirates in a skiff opened fire on USNS LEWIS AND CLARK and armed security personnel aboard the ship returned fire. The exchange was described as brief, and the attackers disengaged and fled. Subsequent reporting emphasized that the ship was not hit and continued on its voyage.

The ship's documented support of regional operations continued through 2009 and into the next decade. On March 24, 2009, Navy imagery placed an SA-330 Puma helicopter flying from USNS LEWIS AND CLARK to deliver mail to USS LAKE CHAMPLAIN (CG 57), with USS LAKE CHAMPLAIN described as deployed with the BOXER (LHD 4) Amphibious Ready Group and supporting maritime security operations in the 5th Fleet area.

In 2010, the ship was also documented supporting carrier operations in the Atlantic. On May 18, 2010, Navy imagery recorded ammunition being attached for transfer via MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopter during a vertical replenishment connected to USS GEORGE H.W. BUSH (CVN 77) while the carrier was underway in the Atlantic Ocean. Later the same year, USNS LEWIS AND CLARK again appears in dated imagery in the Middle East region. On August 30, 2010, a Puma helicopter associated with the ship was photographed transiting the Arabian Sea during vertical replenishment activity. On September 18, 2010, USNS LEWIS AND CLARK was documented replenishing elements of the PELELIU (LHA 5) Amphibious Ready Group in the Arabian Sea, with the deployed context described as maritime security operations and theater security cooperation efforts in the U.S. 5th Fleet area. On September 30, 2010, the ship was photographed cruising alongside USS PEARL HARBOR (LSD 52) during replenishment at sea in the Gulf of Aden, and the description explicitly tied PEARL HARBOR to Combined Task Force 151's counter-piracy mission set.

In early 2011, verified dated records place USNS LEWIS AND CLARK both in the Eastern Mediterranean and in the Red Sea, consistent with the ship's mobility between theaters and its role in supporting widely distributed naval activity. On February 11, 2011, Navy imagery documented the ship performing a berth shift for refueling before departing Souda Bay after a routine port visit. On February 23, 2011, USNS LEWIS AND CLARK was documented in the Red Sea during a vertical replenishment event involving an SA-330J Puma helicopter approaching the ship. These snapshots - routine on their own - collectively show the ship's consistent integration into the Navy's replenishment architecture across multiple maritime crossroads that connect the Mediterranean, Suez, Red Sea, and Indian Ocean.

A major shift in the ship's publicly described role is clearly documented in 2012, when USNS LEWIS AND CLARK was explicitly discussed as part of the Marine Corps' Maritime Prepositioning Force concept. In a narrative tied to events in the Indian Ocean, military and civilian logistics personnel tested the ship's ability to offload heavy Marine Corps vehicles in a way aligned to contingency response. On October 1, 2012, a test lift was conducted to demonstrate the ability to transfer 5,500-pound High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles from the ship to a ferry, with leadership describing the ship as transferred as a military prepositioning asset in Military Prepositioning Ship Squadron 2. The same reporting tied this evaluation to Exercise Coconut Grove 2012, conducted October 6-16, 2012, in the Republic of Maldives as a bilateral training event between the U.S. Marine Corps and the Maldivian National Defense Force. The operational logic described for USNS LEWIS AND CLARK within this construct was not day-to-day fleet replenishment, but rather carrying and holding mission-essential materiel in a strategic location so it could move quickly in response to conflict, contingency operations, or humanitarian crises - an approach that reflects the geopolitical reality that rapid response often depends on forward-positioned equipment as much as on forward-deployed troops.

By the middle of the next decade, shipyard maintenance and prepositioning-support cycles become more visible in official contracting and Navy public-affairs reporting, offering specific, date-stamped anchors for the ship's industrial and operational rhythm. On April 6, 2015, the Department of Defense contract record shows that Detyens Shipyards, Inc., North Charleston, South Carolina, received a firm-fixed-price contract for a 75-calendar-day shipyard availability for the regular overhaul and dry docking of USNS LEWIS AND CLARK, with work expected to be completed by July 3, 2015. The work scope described in the contract announcement included shipboard systems and preservation items typical of a drydocking cycle - equipment servicing, generator overhaul, life raft certification, hull cleaning and painting, sea valve work, tank preservation, and renewal of flight deck non-skid - reflecting the practical maintenance demands of a ship whose value depends on reliability of cargo handling, aviation support, and sustained underway operations.

In 2015, the ship was also documented in a distinctly different mission set connected to Pacific theater security cooperation and maritime law-enforcement engagement. On March 25, 2015, USNS LEWIS AND CLARK arrived at Naval Weapons Station Charleston, South Carolina, for a cargo upload, and on August 25, 2015, the ship returned to the same installation for a second cargo upload. On September 4, 2015, USNS LEWIS AND CLARK departed Charleston, beginning a chain of activities that culminated in the ship supporting Exercise Koa Moana 15-3 - an extended engagement emphasizing partner capacity, regional maritime security, and practical cooperation across widely dispersed Pacific island nations. On November 4, 2015, the ship arrived in Vanuatu as part of that exercise, with official Navy reporting stating that it anchored off the coast and had offloaded Marines and equipment as part of its continuing support. The same reporting placed earlier portions of the exercise in Tahiti in September 2015, followed by legs in Fiji and Kiribati in October 2015, and it described a combined pattern of theater security cooperation activities with host-nation partners alongside Oceania Maritime Security Initiative operations focused on diminishing transnational illegal activity at sea and enhancing interoperability. The official narrative also stated that after Vanuatu the ship would carry personnel and cargo to Timor Leste for further events and then return to Diego Garcia in early December 2015. Importantly, this reporting explicitly described USNS LEWIS AND CLARK as part of Maritime Prepositioning Ships Squadron 2, and it noted that Commander, Maritime Prepositioning Ships Squadron 2 was embarked in the ship while operating in the Pacific during the exercise period - language that directly ties the vessel's presence to the broader prepositioning and forward-deployment construct centered on Diego Garcia. The report further described the squadron maintaining tactical control of forward-deployed ships carrying afloat prepositioned U.S. military cargo for the Marine Corps, Army, and Air Force, framing this as enabling "the force from the sea" through swift transportation of vital equipment and supplies for designated operations.

In the years that followed, dated official contracting records again provide firm, verifiable markers of industrial periods for USNS LEWIS AND CLARK. On January 25, 2021, Alabama Shipyard LLC, Mobile, Alabama, was awarded a firm-fixed-price contract valued at $19,679,483 for a 76-calendar-day shipyard availability for the regular overhaul and dry docking of USNS LEWIS AND CLARK, with the work location explicitly listed as Mobile and completion expected by May 24, 2021.

The most recent major, clearly documented administrative-industrial milestone in the public record is a Department of Defense contract announcement in 2025 that suggests a maintenance and readiness posture involving a lay-berth arrangement with embedded repair options. On March 11, 2025, Detyens Shipyards Inc., North Charleston, South Carolina, received a $21,420,480 firm-fixed-price contract for lay berth of Military Sealift Command's fleet ordnance and dry cargo vessel USNS LEWIS AND CLARK. The contract announcement stated that it included unexercised options for extended lay berth, three industrial assist periods, and a regular overhaul and dry docking, which - if exercised - would raise the cumulative value substantially.

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USNS LEWIS AND CLARK Image Gallery:

The photo below was taken by Michael Jenning and shows the LEWIS AND CLARK at Naval Base Norfolk, Va., on September 21, 2018.

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