TAKR 312 Dahl
USNS Dahl is one of Military Sealift Command's nineteen Large, Medium-Speed Roll-on/Roll-off Ships and is part of the 42 ships in the Prepositioning Program. Most of the ship's time will be spent in and around Diego Garcia, an island in the central Indian Ocean. Large, Medium-speed, Roll-on/Roll-off Ships, or LMSRs, can carry an entire U.S. Army Task Force, including 58 tanks, 48 other track vehicles, plus more than 900 trucks and other wheeled vehicles.
The ship carries vehicles and equipment to support humanitarian missions, as well as combat missions. The new construction vessels have a cargo carrying capacity of more than 380,000 square feet, equivalent to almost eight football fields. In addition, LMSRs have a slewing stern ramp and a removable ramp, which services two side ports making it easy to drive vehicles on and off the ship. Interior ramps between decks ease traffic flow once cargo is loaded aboard ship. Two 110-ton single pedestal twin cranes make it possible to load and unload cargo where shore-side infrastructure is limited or nonexistent. A commercial helicopter deck was added for emergency daytime landing.
On July 19, 1999 the National Steel and Shipbuilding Company (NASSCO) delivered the USNS DAHL to the U.S. Navy. The USNS DAHL (T-AKR 312) is the third Sealift New Construction ship built by NASSCO under the Strategic Sealift Program and the third ship to be completed under target cost and delivered to the Navy ahead of schedule.
USNS Dahl was christened in 1998.
The USNS DAHL is the first ship delivered under NASSCO's single integrated trial concept, a process that reduced the delivery schedule by five weeks and saved the U.S. Navy hundreds of thousands of dollars.
A total of seven Sealift New Construction ships have been awarded to NASSCO. All seven ships are being named for U.S. Army Medal of Honor recipients. The USNS DAHL is named after Specialist Fourth Class Larry G. Dahl, a posthumous recipient of the U.S. Army Medal of Honor for heroic actions in Vietnam in 1971. The USNS DAHL is 950 feet in length and contains 390,000 square feet of cargo carrying space.
The USNS DAHL, was launched in October 1998.
The USNS Dahl departed Jacksonville on February 14, 2003 carrying equipment belonging to the 101st Airborne Division.
Spec. Larry G. Dahl
USNS Dahl (T-AKR 312) is named in honor of Army Spec. Larry G. Dahl, (1949-1971), a native of Portland, Ore., posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.
Dahl was awarded the Medal of Honor for conspicuous gallantry while serving in the 359th Transportation Company, 27th Transportation Battalion, U.S. Army Support Command in Vietnam on Feb. 23, 1971. The gun truck in which Dahl was riding was sent with two other gun trucks to assist in the defense of a convoy that had been ambushed by an enemy force. After a brief period of intense fighting, the attack subsided. As the trucks were preparing to return to their escort duties, an enemy hand grenade was thrown into the truck in which Spec. Dahl was riding. Instantly realizing the great danger, Spec. Dahl called a warning to his companions and threw himself directly onto the grenade. Through his indomitable courage, complete disregard for his safety, and profound concern for his fellow soldiers, Dahl sacrificed his life to save the other members of the truck crew.
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