Vigor lays keel of first unit in new US Army landing craft series

Vigor has laid the keel for the first Maneuver Support Vessel (Light) (MSV(L)) that the company is building for the US Army.

The aluminium-hulled vessel will be named SSG Elroy F. Wells in honour of Staff Sergeant Elroy Wells, a US Army watercraft crewman who was killed in action in the Vietnam War.

SSG Elroy F. Wells will have an LOA of 117 feet (35.6 metres), a moulded beam of 28 feet (8.6 metres), a crew of eight, a transport capacity of 82 tonnes, and three 2,600hp (1,938kW) main engines that will deliver a speed of 21 knots at full load.

Designed in partnership with BMT, the MSV(L)s will feature improved capabilities compared to the army’s current LCM-8 landing craft.