USNS Carl Brashear (T-AKE 7)

 

USNS CARL BRASHEAR (T-AKE 7)

 

September 18, 2008, San Diego, CA

 

USNS Carl Brashear (T-AKE 7) was successfully christened and launched on September 18, 2008 at NASSCO Shipyard, San Diego, CA

 

Carl's eldest granddaughter, Ms. Lauren Brashear, is the ship's sponsor and successfully christened the ship with one solid strike of the champagne bottle that sent the ship down the ways to her home in the sea.

 

I have pictures that I will be putting up during the next few days.

 

Background:                         

Secretary of the Navy, Dr. Donald C. Winter, announced the naming of the seventh Military Sealift Command ship of the Lewis and Clark-class Auxiliary Dry Cargo ships (T-AKE) as Carl Brashear.  The selection of Carl Brashear, designated T-AKE 7, honors Master Chief Boatswain's Mate (Master Diver) Carl M. Brashear, who joined the United States Navy in 1948. He was a pioneer in the Navy as the first black deep-sea diver, the first black Master Diver and the first U.S. Navy diver to be restored to full active duty as an amputee, the result of a leg injury he sustained during a salvage operation. After 31 years of service, Brashear officially retired from the U.S. Navy on April 1, 1979. Brashear was the subject of the 2000 movie "Men of Honor" starring Cuba Gooding Jr.