Secretary of the Navy Donald Winter announced on May 29 his decision to name the Navy's newest underway replenishment vessel, USNS Amelia Earhart (T-AKE 6).The name honors Amelia Mary Earhart for her courage, vision, and groundbreaking achievements, both in aviation and for women.
Amelia Earhart's name became a household word in 1932 when she became the first woman -- and second person --to fly solo across the Atlantic, on the fifth anniversary of Charles Lindbergh's feat, flying a Lockheed Vega from Harbor Grace, Newfoundland to Londonderry, Ireland.
That year, she received the Distinguished Flying Cross from the Congress, the Cross of Knight of the Legion of Honor from the French government, and the Gold Medal of the National Geographic Society from President Herbert Hoover.
In January 1935 Earhart became the first person to fly solo across the Pacific Ocean from Honolulu to Oakland, Calif. Later that year she soloed from Los Angeles to Mexico City and back to Newark, N.J. In July 1936 she took delivery of a Lockheed 10E "Electra," financed by Purdue University, and started planning her round-the-world flight.
The primary goal of the T-AKE program is to provide effective fleet underway replenishment capability at the lowest life cycle cost.To meet that goal, the ship will be designed and constructed to commercial specifications and standards and certified/classed by the American Bureau of Shipping, U.S. Coast Guard, and other regulatory bodies. All of the new ships will be operated by the Military Sealift Command.They are being built in San Diego by General Dynamics NASSCO.