Tag Archives: USS Miguel Keith (ESB 5)

Can we talk ESBs?

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The Navy just received the final ship in the six-hull Expeditionary Sea Base program, transferring in the delivery ceremony of the 106,664-ton (not a misprint) USNS (future USS) Hector A. Cafferata Jr. (ESB 8) last week.

No other fleet in the world has anything that even comes close, not to mention having a half-dozen of them…

Expeditionary Sea Base USNS Hector A. Cafferata Jr. (ESB 8)

A peek into the hangar opening at the front of the huge topside aviation deck. You can store (at least) four CH-53s in there.

That metacentric height, tho…

While big deck commissioned (USS) ‘phibs like LHDs/LHAs, and LPDs get all the attention, the ESB, basically a converted Alaska-class oil tanker, has largely slid under the radar, and it should get more love.

Initially called the Mobile Landing Platform (MLP) and the MLP Afloat Forward Staging Base (AFSB), over the past decade, five other huge sister ESBs have been delivered: USS Lewis B. Puller (ESB 3), USS Hershel “Woody” Williams (ESB 4), USS Miguel Keith (ESB 5), USS John L. Canley (ESB 6), and USNS (future USS) Robert E. Simanek (ESB 7).

Commanded by a Navy O-6 with a permanently embarked 250-member military crew and accommodations for up to another 298 transient personnel, these gigantic NASSCO-built platforms run as big as an aircraft carrier and can rightfully be considered a large LPH with a four-spot flight deck for MV-22s/CH-53s, a mission deck, a hangar, an ordnance storage magazine, and underway replenishment facilities.

They are designed around four core capabilities: aviation facilities, berthing, equipment staging support, and command and control assets. The ship is perfect for missions such as counter-piracy, maritime security, airborne minesweeping, and humanitarian and disaster relief, all with an emphasis on rotor-wing aircraft.

I mean, look at this 52,000-square-foot flight deck. For reference, it is the third-largest in the Navy’s inventory, just behind LHA/LHDs and CVNs. The giant hangar is forward towards the bow, so no elevators are needed. But you can imagine that deck as a great base for UAVs.

The Expeditionary Sea Base USS Hershel “Woody” Williams (ESB 4) sails in the Atlantic Ocean, Oct. 17, 2020. Photo by: Sgt. Megan Roses | VIRIN: 201017-M-JH926-303

Plus, underneath the flight deck, the ESBs have a 25,000-square-foot mission deck used for storing heavy equipment, vehicle staging, and small boats.

Yes, they are slow (just 15 knots, max), but the Navy has mitigated that low speed by forward-deploying these ships overseas (ESB 3 is in CENTCOM, ESB 4 is at FDNF Souda Bay, ESB 5 and ESB 6 are at FDNF Saipan, etc.).

However, they are criminally under-armed with just 12 .50 cal stations, but are supposed to be used in low-threat situations and, in theory, could always be escorted by a DDG or two when not.

They should probably at least get a proper weapon fit more akin to an LHA/CVN (two RAM launchers, two CIWS, two Sea Sparrow launchers, four Mk 38s/Mk 46s plus the sensors and fire control to use them as well as soft kills such as Nukla, SLQ-32B, etc.) for which they have the space to spare for sure but will add a bit of cost and require some more rates to keep running.

Hell, maybe they should get some VLS cells for quad-packed ESSMs (the San Antonio-class LPDs were designed for such a thing but not fitted with them), or strike-length TLAMs.

Now that could get very interesting.

Of Blockades and Commerce Raiders, 2026 Edition

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So can we just talk for a minute, not of politics, but of naval tactics at work in the Persian Gulf, Gulf of Oman, and Arabian?

As any fan of the blog knows, we lean pretty hard into the stories of the old steam/diesel navies from 1833 to 1954, which in turn is heavily punctuated by surface/commerce raiders and naval quarantine/blockade.

With that foundation under us, it has become super interesting that the Navy has delivered its first disabling gunfire against a large surface vessel since 1988, with several 5″/62 rounds delivered into the engine room of the M/V Touska by the USS Spruance (DDG 111) while operating as part of the Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group.

It was certainly the old “cruiser rules” with Sprunace firing five warning shots and opting to use nine BLP (Blind Loaded Projectile, the blue, steel projectile loaded with inert contents) to wreck Touska’s engine room after several broadcasted warnings and a six-hour pursuit.

Dead in the water, Touska was soon boarded in a night operation by Marines from the 31st MEU carried via helicopter from USS Tripoli (LHA 7). Some real deal VBSS stuff on a 73,000-ton/968-foot Panamax-sized container ship– not your more typical seizure of an unflagged dhow that the Navy has typically done in the past several decades.

Such an incident shows the value of a 5-inch gun aboard a grey hull for just such a moment– and underlines why the Navy’s next frigates (and the Coast Guard’s larger cutters) need such a weapon installed. Bofors 57s aren’t going to get it.

Either way, you know Spruance’s already colorful forward mount will receive some extra paint on its gun house.

U.S. Navy Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Spruance (DDG 111) approaches fleet replenishment oiler USNS Henry J. Kaiser (T-AO-187) before a replenishment-at-sea Jan. 17, 2026. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Jordan Steis)

Then came the interception of the Iranian-chartered “Botswanan-flagged” (officially stateless) crude carrier M/T Tifani— 156,967 gross tons of shipping– on the 21st in the Bay of Bengal.

Of interest, she was seized by a converted tanker design, with an Expeditionary Sea Base, possibly the Lewis B. Puller-class USS Miguel Keith (ESB 5), seen just off her bow in the photos released by CENTCOM and DoW.

There is no way you can look at that as other than a direct call back to the auxiliary cruisers of the Russo-Japanese War, WWI, and WWII, which typically saw gently converted mail steamers and ocean liners modified with a few guns, some paint, and a military crew, then sent out to halt enemy blockade runners and similar auxiliary cruisers flying the flags of the other guys.

On 22 April, CENTCOM said that it had intercepted a total of 29 ships as part of the now nine-day-old blockade, including five Iranian-flagged/contracted/controlled tankers (Diona, Sevin, Dorena, Derya, and Deep Sea).

To wit, the IRCG has also said they have bagged a couple of ships of their own.

Sal catches us up on that.