USS Emory S. Land approaches USS La Salle while in Italy. |
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| Career | |
|---|---|
| Name: | USS Emory S. Land |
| Namesake: | Emory S. Land |
| Awarded: | 20 November 1974 |
| Builder: | Lockheed Shipbuilding and Construction Company, Seattle, Washington |
| Laid down: | 2 March 1976 |
| Launched: | 4 May 1977 |
| Commissioned: | 7 July 1979 |
| Homeport: | Diego Garcia |
| Motto: | "The Best to Support the Rest" "Go Big Land" |
| Nickname: | Land of Opportunity |
| Honours and awards: |
2 × Meritorious Unit Commendations 4 × Battle Effectiveness Awards Navy Expeditionary Medal Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal |
| Status: | in active service, as of 2012[update] |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Emory S. Land-class submarine tender |
| Tonnage: | 9,067 LT tons deadweight (DWT) |
| Displacement: | 13,911 long tons (14,134 t) light 22,978 long tons (23,347 t) full load |
| Length: | 649 ft (198 m) |
| Beam: | 85 ft (26 m) |
| Draft: | 26–29 ft (7.9–8.8 m) |
| Propulsion: | 2 × boilers Steam turbine 1 shaft 20,000 shp (14,914 kW) |
| Speed: | 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph) |
| Complement: | 85 officers, 1,268 enlisted |
| Armament: | • 2 × 40 mm AA guns • 4 × 20 mm AA guns • 4 × .50 caliber machine guns |
USS Emory S. Land (AS-39) is the lead ship in her class of submarine tenders in the United States Navy. She was named for Admiral Emory S. Land.
The ship provides food, electricity, water, consumable, spare parts, medical, dental, disbursing, mail, legal services, ordnance, and any parts or equipment repair that a submarine may require. To accomplish this, the ship has a physical plant similar to that of a small town, including 53 different specialized shops.
It was the second ship in the fleet to have women serve aboard her and the first ship to have a Drug Dog Detection unit permanently assigned to her. Originally homeported in Norfolk Virginia. When she deployed from Puget Sound Naval Shipyard her first port of call was Oakland California from there she cruised to Acapulco Mexico before arriving inport Norfolk Virginia. She spent time in refresher training at Guantanamo Bay Cuba.
In September 1980, Emory S. Land deployed to the Pacific Fleet to provide services to the Indian Ocean Battle Group. She made two Port Calls in Spain,(Palma Majorca and Malaga) and Haifa Israel before arriving in Diego Garcia. In July 1986, Emory S. Land operated as Officer in Tactical Command of four United States ships and five foreign ships in transit from the Virginia Capes operating area to the New York Harbor where she participated in the International Naval Review and Fourth of July Statue of Liberty Rededication ceremonies. In August 1987, Emory S. Land operated as the tactical and communications platform for Submarine Squadron 8 and Submarine Squadron 6 to work both with and against a surface combatant group.
In 1988, Emory S. Land was underway and deployed for 182 days. During the deployment, the ship steamed 26,011 nautical miles (48,172 km) and circumnavigated the world. Port visits included Lisbon, Portugal; Naples, Italy, Port Said, Egypt; Muscat, Oman; Fremantle, Western Australia; and Rodman, Panama. During her 92 days anchored in the North Arabian Sea, she tended the surface combatants of Joint Task Force Middle East and Carrier Battle Group operating in the North Arabian Sea.
In July 1993, Emory S. Land served as the Commander, Submarine Group 2 flagship during a port visit to Boston, and was the host ship for a visit by the Commanding-In-Chief, Russian Northern Fleet and three visiting Russian ships.
Since her commissioning, Emory S. Land has received two Meritorious Unit Commendations, the Navy Expeditionary Medal, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal and four Battle Efficiency Awards in addition to numerous departmental awards. The ship won the Captain Edward F. Ney Memorial for Large Ship Food Service Excellence in 1985 and 1995, the Safety "S" award for 1995, and the Red "DC" in 1995.
USS Emory S. Land (AS-39) (ESL), returned to its homeport May 30, 2007 after a seven-day visit to the nation of Montenegro. ESL is only the third U.S. Naval ship to visit Montenegro since the United States began diplomatic relations with the country in 2006. http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/news/2007/06/mil-070601-nns08.htm
Emory S. Land served at La Maddalena, Italy as the sole permanently assigned vessel in Submarine Force, U.S. Atlantic Fleet's Submarine Group 8 from June, 1999, until 30 September 2007, on which date she departed for Bremerton, Washington, where she underwent a conversion to a hybrid US Navy/Military Sealift Command crew. She departed Bremerton, Washington on June 14, 2010 and after port calls in Hawaii, Guam and Singapore, arrived in her new homeport of Diego Garcia on August 14, 2010.[1]
The ship's skipper, Captain Eric Merrill, was removed from command on 21 June 2011 after the ship struck a channel buoy at Mina Salman, Bahrain earlier that same month. The ship was damaged in the collision.[2]
This article includes information collected from the Naval Vessel Register, which, as a U.S. government publication, is in the public domain. as well as various press releases and news stories.
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