US Navy names two future ocean surveillance ships

US Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro has confirmed that the US Navy's T-AGOS ocean surveillance ships will be known as the Explorer-class, with the first two ships in the class to be named USNS Don Walsh and USNS Victor Vescovo, respectively.

Operated by the Military Sealift Command, the Explorer-class will support the navy’s anti-submarine warfare operations.

The future USNS Don Walsh is the first-in-class, named in honour of the late Captain Don Walsh, a renowned explorer and pioneer of deep-see submergence.

The future USNS Victor Vescovo is named to honor Commander Victor Lance Vescovo, a private equity investor, explorer, and retired naval intelligence officer. Vescovo was instrumental in the discoveries of the wrecks of the World War II US Navy ships USS Johnston and USS Samuel B. Roberts which were lost during the Battle of Leyte Gulf in the Philippines.

The T-AGOS 25 class will be part of the tactical auxiliary general ocean surveillance (TAGOS) ships fleet operated by the Military Sealift Command (MSC) of the US Navy. In FY2022, the navy procured the first of a planned class of seven new T-AGOS 25 class ocean surveillance ships, which will gather acoustical data to support the mission of the Integrated Undersea Surveillance System (IUSS).

The T-AGOS 25 class ships will each be 356 feet (110 metres) long and feature a steel small waterplane area twin hull (SWATH) design. The upper section of the ship is supported by two struts that reach down to a set of submerged hulls resembling those of a submarine. The struts feature a slender profile where they meet the waterline, resulting in a minimal waterplane area.