USNS Fall River (JHSV 4), currently under construction at Austal USA, was christened on January 11th 2014.
The ship is the fourth of ten Joint High Speed Vessels (JHSV) that Austal has under contract with the U.S. Navy as part of an overall 10-ship contract worth over $1.6 billion.
The 338-foot catamaran vessel was named Fall River by Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus, after the tenth largest city in the state of Massachusetts. According to Secretary Mabus , “ the Fall River represents the physical embodiment of the city of Fall River’s patriotic spirit.”
Over 400 naval and shipyard guests attended the ceremony, which was held underneath the ship, between the iconic twin hulls of the USNS Fall River.
Austal USA President, Craig Perciavalle , praised the ship, saying, “ Fall River is a revolutionary and cost-effective new platform with cutting edge technology, bringing an unprecedented level of flexibility, mobility, volume, efficiency and support to our combatant commanders and nation.” He also praised the shipbuilders, saying “this is a great ship, built by great Navy shipbuilders, master craftsman who work so hard to bring this revolutionary ship to life. You should take pride in this day, in the product you build, and in the service you’re providing this great nation. ”
Three JHSVs and four LCSs are currently under construction in Austal’s Mobile, Alabama shipyard. Austal will begin production of one more ship in each program before the end of January.
For the LCS and JHSV programs, Austal, as prime contractor, is teamed with General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems, a business unit of General Dynamics. For the JHSV program, General Dynamics is responsible for the design, integration and testing of the navigation and communication systems, C4I and aviation systems.
[mappress] Press Release, January 13, 2014