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USNS Henry J. Kaiser (T-AO 187)

USNS HENRY J. KAISER is the lead ship of the HENRY J. KAISER - class of fleet oilers. This class was specially built for the Military Sealift Command (MSC). She is the first ship in the Navy named after Henry John Kaiser (1882-1967), an American industrialist. He established the Kaiser Shipyard in Richmond, Calif., and is known as the father of modern American shipbuilding.

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Crew List:

This section contains the names of sailors who served aboard USNS HENRY J. KAISER. It is no official listing but contains the names of sailors who submitted their information.

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USNS HENRY J. KAISER History:

USNS HENRY J. KAISER entered Military Sealift Command service on December 19, 1986, as the lead unit of a new generation of fleet oilers built by Avondale Shipyards at Bridge City, Louisiana. She had been laid down on August 22, 1984, and launched on October 5, 1985, then completed trials and post-delivery work before joining MSC as a government-owned, civilian-crewed oiler capable of fueling two ships at once and supporting vertical replenishment by helicopter. Early planning documents and Navy fact files framed the class as the backbone of at-sea fueling for carrier and amphibious forces through the 1990s and beyond.

Following delivery, HENRY J. KAISER operated from Norfolk with SECOND FLEET. During a 14-month Sixth Fleet deployment in 1988-1989 she conducted 301 replenishments in the Mediterranean, sustaining surface combatants and carriers on routine presence missions and contingency tasking. In September 1989, during a NATO exercise off the west coast of England, she damaged a ballast tank (the master was subsequently relieved), returned to port, and resumed service after repairs. The ship's early Cold War/late-Cold War tempo is reflected in her two Coast Guard Special Operations Service Ribbons (1987 and 1989) and the sustained underway fueling record in the Med.

On July 1, 1990, HENRY J. KAISER departed Norfolk for what was planned as a six-month deployment that extended past nine months as events in West Africa and the Middle East unfolded. Off Liberia, she supported U.S. naval forces during the non-combatant evacuation operations of Operation Sharp Edge, conducting multiple UNREPs for amphibious and surface units. On August 7, 1990, for example, WHIDBEY ISLAND (LSD 41) reported a replenishment with KAISER as ECOMOG and U.S. forces stabilized the situation around Monrovia. The oiler then continued Mediterranean tasking as Desert Shield ramped up. For this period the ship was later credited with the Southwest Asia Service Medal for 1991.

In 1994, HENRY J. KAISER was in the Red Sea when the Egyptian ferry AL-QAMAR AL-SAUDI AL-MISRI caught fire with hundreds aboard. KAISER joined the multinational rescue effort and carried approximately 270 survivors to Hurghada, providing immediate humanitarian support before turning back to logistics duties. The episode underscored the dual utility of MSC platforms in both naval logistics and emergent civil maritime crises.

In January 1995, the ship shifted to the Indian Ocean as part of Maritime Prepositioning Ships Squadron TWO at Diego Garcia, serving as a jet-fuel tanker to support aviation operations from forward hubs. Stationing at Diego Garcia put KAISER on the main logistics artery for CENTCOM and INDOPACOM through the mid-1990s, a role that included shuttling JP-5 to afloat forces and shore sites.

During March 1-22, 1997, HENRY J. KAISER participated in TANDEM THRUST '97, a large U.S.-Australian joint/combined exercise. By providing connected and vertical replenishment at sea instead of making port calls in Australia, she helped reduce exercise costs. Navy reporting at the time highlighted seven-figure savings attributed to at-sea logistics.

By 2000, the oiler was prepositioned in the Mediterranean for Sixth Fleet support and then, in 2002, transferred to THIRD FLEET and placed in reduced operating status at Portland, Oregon, before a brief 2003 activation to cover simultaneous oiler maintenance. Subsequently placed in reduced operating status again at Alameda, Calif., she returned to full service approx. late 2006 under THIRD FLEET. A photo taken in July 2006 shows KAISER at Alameda with rigs and hoses struck. After reactivation, the oiler resumed a steady cycle of local training support, workups, and deployments on the U.S. West Coast and into the Pacific. A U.S. Navy photo dated March 20, 2007, shows USNS HENRY J. KAISER conducting an underway replenishment with USS BONHOMME RICHARD (LHD 6) and USS CHOSIN (CG 65) during a Joint Task Force Exercise off Southern California.

In 2009, KAISER's schedule reflected her core mission: repetitive underway replenishment training with carrier strike groups and amphibious ready groups off Southern California and Hawaii, consolidating skills and certifying teams ahead of deployments. That pattern continued into 2011, when she moved forward to FIFTH FLEET waters, supporting ships in the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Oman during maritime security operations associated with Operation Iraqi Freedom's drawdown and ongoing counter-piracy and theater presence missions. On March 18, 2011, she approached the carrier ENTERPRISE (CVN 65) in the Red Sea for a RAS during that deployment.

In 2012, HENRY J. KAISER played a visible role at RIMPAC. In coordination with the "Great Green Fleet" demonstration she onloaded advanced biofuel at Defense Fuel Support Point Manchester, Washington, and delivered a 50/50 biofuel-petroleum blend - roughly 900,000 gallons - to ships of the NIMITZ (CVN 68) strike group during the exercise. That summer also saw routine UNREPs with units like PELELIU (LHA 5) during certification events. The biofuel evolution was an early milestone in the Navy's operational testing of alternative fuels.

The oiler supported DAWN BLITZ off Southern California in 2013 and again in 2015, when on September 4, 2015 she conducted a dual-ship RAS that simultaneously fueled BOXER (LHD 4) and the JMSDF ship ASHIGARA during the multinational amphibious exercise. Such evolutions rehearsed complex contested-logistics profiles relevant to amphibious force certification.

RIMPAC 2014 introduced a different task: acting as the "suspect vessel" during the inaugural Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) exercise FORTUNE GUARD in Hawaii. On August 6, 2014, multinational boarding teams from Japan, the Republic of Korea, the U.S. Coast Guard, and others practiced visit-board-search-and-seizure tactics on KAISER to refine WMD-interdiction procedures at sea. The drill, part of the Asia-Pacific Exercise Rotation, emphasized rapid decision-making and combined boarding operations.

In 2015, KAISER also supported the JOHN C. STENNIS (CVN 74) strike group's COMPTUEX/JTFEX series, repeatedly fueling STENNIS and escorts during July-August workups. Imagery from July 31 and August 13-20 shows the oiler breaking away after fueling and supporting connected and vertical replenishment into the carrier's hangar bay, a staple of pre-deployment certification in the Eastern Pacific ranges.

RIMPAC 2016 kept KAISER in the thick of a 40-ship multinational force. She executed close-formation operations and post-exercise logistics as units departed Hawaii. Later that summer, on August 29, 2016, she escorted the littoral combat ship CORONADO (LCS 4) back toward Pearl Harbor after a propulsion casualty during the ship's Western Pacific transit, demonstrating the ad hoc escort role logistics ships can play when needed.

In May 2017, while the AMERICA (LHA 6) Amphibious Ready Group prepared for deployment, KAISER ran an "opposed" replenishment under simulated submarine threat - fueling AMERICA with an accompanying LOS ANGELES-class submarine acting as the adversary - forcing blue-water logistics teams to practice under stress and contact. That same year she conducted routine RAS events with AMERICA and PEARL HARBOR (LSD 52) during group training.

At RIMPAC 2018, KAISER supported a diverse slate of partner ships, including an Australian amphibious assault ship and a Peruvian frigate, while MSC reported millions of gallons delivered across more than a hundred replenishments in the exercise. In May 2018, she also sustained the JOHN C. STENNIS strike group off California, delivering roughly 9 million gallons of fuel and hundreds of pallets of stores over 18 RAS events.

In 2019, the ship shifted north to support NORTHERN EDGE in the Gulf of Alaska, a high-end joint exercise that included the THEODORE ROOSEVELT (CVN 71) carrier strike group - the first carrier in the event in a decade. On May 16, 2019, KAISER made MSC history by conducting the command's first cargo load-out at Seward, Alaska, taking aboard 53 pallets for delivery at sea to participating ships.

Pandemic-year 2020 found the oiler executing two high-profile series. In June-July she supported the THEODORE ROOSEVELT strike group on its return transit, delivering more than 100 pallets and nearly half a million gallons of fuel off Hawaii while ships minimized port exposure. In August at a scaled-down, at-sea RIMPAC 2020, KAISER completed 39 UNREPs in just 15 days - nearly 4 million gallons of diesel and over 65,000 gallons of JP-5 - serving 22 multinational ships and moving 183 pallets of provisions and retrograde. She also fueled units like STERETT (DDG 104) during WESTPAC workups.

In 2021-2022 KAISER continued West Coast and Hawaiian operations out of San Diego. MSC highlighted RAS events with CARL VINSON (CVN 70) and Carrier Strike Group ONE during the group's high-tempo Pacific operations. In June 2022, she fueled NIMITZ in the Eastern Pacific ahead of further training and Hawaiian evolutions, then departed Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam at the end of that summer's events.

In 2023, KAISER supported PACIFIC PARTNERSHIP 2024-1 by fueling the hospital ship MERCY (T-AH 19) at sea on October 16, 2023, during the mission's Pacific phase.

After completing West Coast "duty oiler" operations in late 2023, HENRY J. KAISER entered a scheduled Mid-Term Availability in January 2024 (planned 75 days). This period aligned with routine lifecycle maintenance before another Pacific employment cycle.

She was back at sea in the Western Pacific by December 2024. Photo captions document a replenishment/vertical replenishment with USS CARL VINSON on December 14, 2024, in the Philippine Sea and a double evolution on December 6, 2024, with USS MICHAEL MURPHY (DDG 112) and USS SPRUANCE (DDG 111). In early 2025 she continued Pacific work: January 27, 2025, alongside USS FITZGERALD (DDG 62) in the Pacific, and February 9, 2025, with USS NIMITZ. These evolutions marked the last verified West Coast/Western Pacific at-sea replenishments before her transit east.

The Navy awarded an East Coast regular overhaul (ROH) to Bayonne Dry Dock & Repair (Bayonne, New Jersey) on January 27, 2025 - a 100-day dry-dock/overhaul slated to commence March 31, 2025. Spotters photographed KAISER northbound in the Panama Canal on March 19, 2025, and again arriving Bayonne on March 25, 2025, which aligns with the ROH start window. Contract notices list Bayonne as the place of performance and target completion by July 8, 2025. While in the yard, MSC recognized the ship's prior-year performance with a Maritime "E" award announced in late March 2025.

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USNS HENRY J. KAISER Construction Gallery:

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USNS HENRY J. KAISER Image Gallery:

The photos below were taken by me on July 18, 2006, and show the HENRY J. KAISER laid up at Alameda, Calif. Note the missing fuel hoses.

The photos below were taken by me on October 6, 2011, and show the HENRY J. KAISER undergoing maintenance at San Francisco, Calif.

The photos below were taken by me on October 5, 2012, and show the HENRY J. KAISER returning to Naval Air Station North Island, San Diego, Calif. The last two photos were taken one day earlier, when the HENRY J. KAISER was moored at the Fuel Pier in San Diego.

The photo below was taken by Henry Schnutz on August 27, 2013, and shows the HENRY J. KAISER at Naval Air Station North Island, San Diego, Calif.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the HENRY J. KAISER at Naval Air Station North Island, San Diego, Calif., on December 27, 2014.

The photos below were taken by Sebastian Thoma and show the HENRY J. KAISER at Naval Air Station North Island, San Diego, Calif., on December 20 and 21, 2016.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the HENRY J. KAISER departing Naval Air Station North Island, San Diego, Calif., on October 10, 2017.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the HENRY J. KAISER at Naval Air Station North Island, San Diego, Calif., on March 2, 2019.

The photos below were taken by Sebastian Thoma and show the HENRY J. KAISER at Naval Air Station North Island, San Diego, Calif., on November 28 and November 29 (aerial photo), 2021.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show USNS HENRY J. KAISER at Naval Air Station North Island, San Diego, Calif., on October 15, 2024.

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