USNS Matthew Perry

USNS Matthew Perry (T-AKE-9) is a Lewis and Clark-class dry cargo ship of the United States Navy, named in honor of Commodore Matthew C. Perry (1794–1858), who led the effort to open Japan to trade with the West.^[2]

USNS Matthew Perry

History
Awarded	30 January 2006
Builder	National Steel and Shipbuilding
Laid down	3 October 2008
Launched	16 August 2009
Sponsored by	Hester G. Evans
Christened	16 August 2009
Acquired	24 February 2010[1]
Identification	IMO number: 9383625 MMSI number: 367840000 Callsign: NPER
Status	in active service
General characteristics
Class and type	Lewis and Clark-class dry cargo ship
Displacement	23,852 tons light, 40,298 tons full, 16,446 tons dead
Length	210 m (689 ft) overall, 199.3 m (654 ft) waterline
Beam	32.3 m (106 ft) extreme, 32.3 m (106 ft) waterline
Draft	9.1 m (30 ft) maximum, 9.4 m (31 ft) limit
Propulsion	Integrated propulsion and ship service electrical system, with generation at 6.6 kV by FM/MAN B&W diesel generators; one fixed pitch propeller; bow thruster
Speed	20 knots (37 km/h)
Range	14,000 nmi (26,000 km; 16,000 mi) at 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph)
Capacity	Max dry cargo weight:  5,910 LT (6,000 t) Max dry cargo volume:  783,000 cu ft (22,200 m3) Max cargo fuel weight:  2,350 LT (2,390 t) Cargo fuel volume:  18,000 bbl (2,900 m3)
Complement	49 military, 123 civilian
Electronic warfare & decoys	Nulka decoy launchers
Armament	2–6 × 0.5 in (12.7 mm) machine guns or 7.62 mm medium machine guns
Aircraft carried	two helicopters, either Sikorsky MH-60S Knighthawk or Aerospatiale SA330J Puma

The contract to build Matthew Perry was awarded to National Steel and Shipbuilding Company (NASSCO) of San Diego, California, on 30 January 2006. Her keel was laid down on 3 October 2008. She was launched and christened on 16 August 2009, sponsored by Hester Evans, a great-great-great-granddaughter of Commodore Perry.

Service

Matthew Perry was one of several participating in disaster relief after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.^[3] During the 21 days of operations, Matthew Perry completed 17 separate replenishment events, delivering more than 1.5 million US gallons (5,700 m³) of fuel and transporting relief supplies.^[4]

USNS Matthew Perry underwent repair and upgrades from 11 to 27 March 2023 at Kattupalli Shipyard of Larsen & Toubro in India. After the refit, the ship returned to the Indo-Pacific theatre for operations. This was a result of the U.S.-India 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue in April 2022 where US was represented by Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.^[5][6][7]

See also

• USS Perry, for other ships named after Commodore Perry