USA: Navy’s First Joint High-Speed Vessel Visits Naval Station Mayport

The Navy’s first joint high-speed vessel, USNS Spearhead (JHSV 1), made a brief stop at Naval Station Mayport Feb. 14 to introduce the ship to Commander, U.S. 4th Fleet on its way to its new homeport in Little Creek, Va. Spearhead is the first of 10 planned joint high speed vessels under contract to be built. The next ship, USNS Choctaw County (JHSV-2), is scheduled to be operational later this year.

Built in Mobile, Ala., by Austal U.S.A., USNS Spearhead is designed for rapid, intra-theater transport of troops and military equipment. The U.S. Navy’s Military Sealift Command (MSC) owns and operates Spearhead, along with the nine other JHSVs that are currently under contract. Spearhead is a 338-foot long aluminum catamaran designed for speed, flexibility and maneuverability.

The reconfigurable 20,000-square-foot mission bay area can be quickly adapted to support a number of different missions – anything from carrying containerized portable hospitals to support disaster relief to transporting tanks and troops. Spearhead’s crew of 22 civil service mariners works for MSC which operates, navigates and maintains the ship. JHSVs are capable of transporting approximately 600 tons of military troops, vehicles, supplies and equipment 1,200 nautical miles at an average speed of 35 knots, and are designed to operate in austere ports and waterways, providing added flexibility to U.S. warfighters worldwide.

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Press Release, February 25, 2013