MSC PAO 97-1
January 14, 1997
For more information, contact:
Marge Holtz or Nancy Breen
(202) 685-5055

USNS Yano to be named

Vice Adm. Phil Quast, USN, commander of the U.S. Navy's Military Sealift Command, will help name USNS Yano (T-AKR 297) at the National Steel and Shipbuilding Company in San Diego, Calif., on Jan. 18. USNS Yano is one of 19 large, medium-speed, roll-on/roll-off ships, called LMSRs, which will be built or converted at U.S. shipyards by the year 2001 in response to the need for expanded sealift capability identified in a congressionally-mandated study done in the early 1990s.

Formerly, a commercial container ship, USNS Yano has undergone nearly three years of conversion to make it ideal for the loading, transport and unloading of U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps combat equipment and combat support equipment. The third of five conversion ships, Yano initially will be used to preposition U.S. Army combat support equipment at sea, and later will serve as a surge asset for the transport of military cargo. USNS Shughart (T-AKR 295) and USNS Gordon (T-AKR 296), the first two conversion LMSRs, were delivered to MSC last year and presently are undergoing shakedown off the U.S. East Coast in preparation for joining the MSC fleet.

USNS Yano honors Sergeant First Class Rodney J.T. Yano of Kailua Kona, Hawaii, a Medal of Honor recipient who was killed in Vietnam in 1969 while serving as a helicopter crew chief with the Air Cavalry Troop. In an exposed position aboard a command and control helicopter during action against enemy forces in dense jungle, Yano fired upon the enemy in the face of intense small arms and antiaircraft fire. Even after a prematurely exploding grenade covered him with burning phosphorus and left him severely wounded and partially blinded, Yano hurled blazing ammunition from the helicopter at the enemy until the danger was past. This selfless action prevented further injury and loss of life to the rest of the crew members.

Both Yano's mother and father will attend the ceremony, with Yano's mother serving as the matron of honor. Mrs. Barry Zlatoper, wife of retired Adm. Ronald Zlatoper, will christen the ship.

USNS Yano has an overall length of 906.9 feet; a maximum beam of 105.6 feet; a draft (full load) of 34.9 feet; a displacement (full load) of 55,000 long tons and a speed of 24 knots. Yano's cargo space equals nearly six football fields and can be loaded and off-loaded in 96 hours.

USNS Yano will be crewed by merchant mariners under contract to Military Sealift Command. In addition, up to 50 military personnel, called supercargoes, will embark to monitor and maintain the military equipment aboard to ensure its military readiness.