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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

MV American Tern (AK-4729)

International Radio Call Sign:
Whiskey - Alpha - Hotel - Foxtrot
 WAHF
Logistics Prepositioning Ship (Containership):
  • Laid down, 7 August 1989, as MV Lykes Flyer, to Finnish ice class 1A specifications, at VEB Schiffswerft Neptun, Rostock, Germany
  • Completed, 1 December 1990
  • Acquired in 2002 by the US Navy Military Sealift Command (MSC) on a time-charter contract with American Automar (APL) for eight years through 2010
  • MV American Tern (AK-4729) is one of the Military Sealift Command's seven Container Ships and is part of the 28 ships in the Sealift Program Office and is assigned to providing supplies for US Antarctic Expedition at McMurdo Sound
    Specifications:
    Displacement 52,898 t.(fl)
    Length 521'
    Beam 76'
    Draft 33' (max)
    Speed 16 kts.
    Armament none
    Complement 21 Civilian Mariners
    Propulsion diesel, single propeller
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    For Full Size Image    		Size Image Description Source
    MV American Tern (AK-4729) - MSC Charter
    American Tern 56k MV American Tern (AK-4729) ice moored in the McMurdo Shipping Channel, Antarctica, circa January-February 2003. Note: Mt. Discovery, the pyramid shaped mountain in the background. MSC web site
    American Tern 258k MV American Tern (AK-4729) being led into McMurdo Station, Antarctica, by the Russian Icebreaker Krasin during Operation Deep Freeze 2006.
    US Navy Military Sealift Command photo    		 Robert Hurst
    American Tern 243k MV American Tern (AK-4729) being led by two Russian icebreakers, 31 January 2006.
    US Navy Military Sealift Command photo    		 Robert Hurst
    American Tern 1159k Sailors assigned to Navy Cargo Handling Battalion One (NCHB-1) conduct cargo handling operations off MV American Tern (AK-4729) for the annual resupply mission for Operation Deep Freeze at McMurdo Station, Antarctica, February 4-12. For more than 50 years the National Science Foundation has relied on the highly skilled Navy Cargo Handlers to ensure safe delivery of life-sustaining cargo for its research scientists and residents at McMurdo Station. Around the clock, in two 12-hours shifts, the Sailors off-load and load a cargo ship in Antarctica during the summer month of February.
    US Navy photo # 070204-N-0469C-001 McMurdo Station, Antarctica (Feb. 4, 2007) by CDR. Vincent Clifton.    		 Douglas Brown
    American Tern 1488k MV American Tern (AK-4729) moored at McMurdo Station, Antarctica, February, 4 2007, while Sailors assigned to Navy Cargo Handling Battalion One (NCHB-1) conduct cargo handling operations The National Science Foundation has relied on the highly skilled Navy Cargo Handlers to ensure safe delivery of life-sustaining cargo for its research scientists and residents at McMurdo Station.
    US Navy photo # 070204-N-0469C-003 McMurdo Station, Antarctica (Feb. 4, 2007) by CDR. Vincent Clifton.    		 Douglas Brown
    American Tern 505k MV American Tern (AK-4729) moored at McMurdo Station, Antarctica, February, 4 2007, while Sailors assigned to Navy Cargo Handling Battalion One (NCHB-1) conduct cargo handling operations The National Science Foundation has relied on the highly skilled Navy Cargo Handlers to ensure safe delivery of life-sustaining cargo for its research scientists and residents at McMurdo Station.
    US Navy photo # 070204-N-0469C-004 McMurdo Station, Antarctica (Feb. 4, 2007) by CDR. Vincent Clifton.    		 Douglas Brown
    American Tern 1707k Military Sealift Command chartered dry cargo ship MV American Tern (AK-4729) during cargo unloading operations at McMurdo Station, Antarctica, 1 October 2007. Photo courtesy Kappa Pi Sigma U.S. Merchant Marine. Robert Hurst
    American Tern 300k Military Sealift Command chartered dry cargo ship MV American Tern (AK-4729) leaves McMurdo Sound, 11 February 2008, sailing toward New Zealand escorted by the Swedish icebreaker Odentoward. MV American Turn will return to the United States with cargo, experiments and waste from McMurdo Station..
    US Navy photo # 080407-O-xxxxx-002 MCMURDO STATION, Antarctica (Feb. 11, 2008) McMurdo Station, Antarctica     		Lee Wahler
    American Tern 226k Service members offloading a self-contained mobile hospital from MV American Tern (AK-4729), Norfolk, VA., circa 2008.
    Photo by LT. Penny Cockerell.    		 Robert Hurst
    American Tern 214k MV American Tern (AK-4729) sails to Antarctica to deliver supplies to the National Science Foundation's McMurdo station, 3 April 2008.
    USN Navy (MSC) photo    		 Robert Hurst
    There is no DANFS history available for MV American Tern (AK-4729) at NavSource
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 1 March 2019