SUPPORT SHIP RAINIER (AOE 7)
The Navy will hold a commissioning ceremony for the fast combat support ship
Rainier (AOE 7) at 11 a.m. on Saturday, January 21, 1995 at Puget Sound Naval
Shipyard, Bremerton, Washington.
Representative Norman Dicks of Washington will be the ceremony's principal
speaker. Admiral Jeremy "Mike" Boorda, Chief of Naval Operations, will also
speak. Suzanne Dicks, wife of the principal speaker and Rainier's Sponsor,
will also attend the ceremony.
Rainier is named in honor of Washington's tallest mountain. Two previous ships
have borne this name, a patrol craft which served during World War I, and an
ammunition ship (AE 5) which earned four battle stars for service in the Korean
Conflict, and eight stars during the Vietnam Conflict.
Rainier is the second ship of four authorized for construction in the Navy's
new Fast Combat Support Class. Rainier is a large replenishment ship designed
to operate in support of a joint task group, providing petroleum products,
munitions, and other supplies to aircraft carriers and surface combatants.
These ships are intended to replace the aging ammunition ships (AE) of the
Nitro and Suribachi Classes, and subsequently, the combat store ships (AFS) of
the Mars and Lyness Classes.
Rainier is 754 feet in length, has a waterline beam of 107 feet and displaces
approximately 49,000 tons fully loaded. The ship will have a crew of 550
including 28 officers, and 32 chief petty officers. Approximately 20 percent
of the crew will be women. Captain Thomas P. Danaher, U.S. Navy, a native of
Atchison, Kansas, will be the ship's commanding officer.
