Watson-class vehicle cargo ship

The Watson-class vehicle cargo ship is a class of Large, Medium-Speed Roll-on/Roll-off cargo ship used for prepositioning of military vehicles and other materiel by the United States. The class comprises eight of Military Sealift Command's nineteen ships of this type, and is one part of the 33 ships involved in the Prepositioning Program. The ships are named after Medal of Honor recipients.

The lead ship of this class is . The class, as with the lead ship, was named for Private George Watson, a United States Army soldier killed at sea during World War II. Watson was laid down on 23 May 1996, launched on 26 July 1997, and put into service in the Pacific Ocean on 23 June 1998. The most recent ship of the class is , laid down on 31 October 2000, launched on 26 April 2002, and put into service in the Pacific Ocean on 24 September 2002.

Ships in Class ShipHull. No.NamesakeLaid downLaunchedDeliveredStatusRefsWatsonT-AKR-310George Watson23 May 199626 July 199723 June 1998ActiveSislerT-AKR-311George K. Sisler15 April 199728 February 19981 December 1998ActiveDahlT-AKR-312Larry G. Dahl12 November 19972 October 199813 July 1999ActiveRed CloudT-AKR-313Mitchell Red Cloud29 June 19987 August 199918 January 2000ActiveCharltonT-AKR-314Cornelius H. Charlton4 January 199911 December 199923 May 2000ActiveWatkinsT-AKR-315Travis E. Watkins24 August 199928 July 20002 March 2001ActivePomeroyT-AKR-316Ralph E. Pomeroy25 April 200010 March 200114 August 2001ActiveSodermonT-AKR-317William A. Soderman31 October 200026 April 200224 September 2002Active

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