USNS Walter S. Diehl (T-AO-193)


USNS Walter S. Diehl is a of the United States Navy. She was named after Captain Walter Stuart Diehl, USN, a career naval officer and aeronautical engineer.

Design

The Henry J. Kaiser-class oilers were preceded by the shorter Cimarron-class fleet replenishment oilers. Walter S. Diehl has an overall length of. It has a beam of and a draft of. The oiler has a displacement of at full load. It has a capacity of of aviation fuel or fuel oil. It can carry a dry
load of and can refrigerate 128 pallets of food. The ship is powered by two 10 PC4.2 V 570 Colt-Pielstick diesel engines that drive two shafts; this gives a power of.
The Henry J. Kaiser-class oilers have maximum speeds of. They were built without armaments but can be fitted with close-in weapon systems. The ship has a helicopter platform but not any maintenance facilities. It is fitted with five fuelling stations; these can fill two ships at the same time and the ship is capable of pumping of diesel or of jet fuel per hour. It has a complement of eighty-nine civilians, twenty-nine spare crew, and six United States Navy crew.

Construction and delivery

Walter S. Diehl, the seventh ship of the Henry J. Kaiser class, was laid down at Avondale Shipyard, Inc., at New Orleans, Louisiana, on 7 August 1986 and launched on 2 October 1987. She entered non-commissioned U.S. Navy service under the control of the Military Sealift Command with a primarily civilian crew on 13 September 1988.

Service history

Walter S. Diehl serves in the United States Pacific Fleet, seeing service in the Pacific Ocean, Indian Ocean, and Persian Gulf regions.
On 23 April 2002, Walter S. Diehl was passing through the Strait of Hormuz when six small motorboats sped alongside in an aggressive and threatening manner. Walter S. Diehl fired flares to warn the boats off, but they did not move away. She then opened fire with a.50-caliber machine gun and the boats sped off.