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TAKR 305 Brittin

USNS Brittin, is named in honor of Army Sgt. 1st Class Nelson V. Brittin, a Korean War Medal of Honor recipient. USNS Brittin is the 15th U.S. Navy ship named for a U.S. Army hero.

Brittin, like other LMSRs, is ideal for loading military combat and combat support equipment needed overseas and for re-supplying necessary equipment and supplies during national crisis.

She is 950-feet long and has a beam of 106 feet. The diesel-powered ship will be able to sustain speeds of up to 24 knots.

The ship's six-deck interior has a cargo carrying capacity of approximately 380,000 square feet and her roll-on/roll-off design makes her ideal for transporting helicopters, tanks and other wheeled and tracked military vehicles.

Two 110-ton twin pedestal cranes allow her to load and unload cargo where shoreside infrastructure is limited or nonexistant. A helicopter deck enables emergency daytime landings.

The USNS Brittin transited through the Suez Canal on February 14, 2003 according to the Agence France Press on Feb 14. Just what the Brittin, an LMSR, was carrying is not known as there has been no previous indication that the ship was being used to transit material.

Sgt. 1st Class Nelson V. Brittin

The ship was named in honor of Army Sgt. 1st Class Nelson V. Brittin, a Korean War Medal of Honor recipient who distinguished himself as a member of Company I in Yonggong-ni, Korea, March 7, 1951. Brittin volunteered to lead his squad up a hill with meager cover against a barrage of enemy gunfire. During this assault, Brittin was wounded by a grenade, but he refused medical treatment, replenished his supply of grenades and returned, hurling grenades into hostile positions. When his weapon jammed, he leapt into a foxhole and killed its occupants.

Brittin continued to wipe out foxhole after foxhole, then charged a machine gun nest and was instantly killed by a burst of automatic weapons fire. His unflagging courage and self-sacrifice enabled his company to attain its objective.