"Give them great meals of beef, and iron and steel. They will eat like wolves and fight like devils."
— William Shakespeare: "King Henry V, Act 3, Scene, 7." 1598
The crew of Military Sealift Comand’s USNS John Lenthall, an oiler in the Naval Fleet Auxiliary Force, made sure that the ships of the USS John F. Kennedy Carrier Strike Group had all the food, fuel and materials they needed during a recently completed replenishment mission off of the coast of Virginia. The battle group was returning to Mayport, Fla., following a deployment to the Middle East.
During the replenishment mission USNS Lenthall resupplied six surface warships, conducted underway replenishment exercises with USNS Kanawha and qualified two helicopter aircrews for deck landing operations.
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USS John F. Kennedy takes on fuel from three of USNS John Lenthall’s diesel pumping rigs.
B.J. Talley photos |
Bosun’s Mate Billie Ray Davis of USNS Lenthall directs Underway Replenishment Team Alpha during a cargo transfer to Kennedy. |
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| When the day is done, the deck and rigs of Lenthall are bathed in the fading light of the setting sun as the ship completes the final day of its resupply mission and prepares to head for home. |
Fast combat support ship USS Seattle takes up position off the port bow of Lenthall during a late morning underway replenishment off Norfolk, Va. |
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| Underway Replenishment Team Alpha works quickly as the crewmembers prepare to send two pallets of cargo to USS John F. Kennedy on the wire. Sending cargo on the wire means sending supplies on a line that is strung between the two ships. In all, Lenthall transferred 86 pallets of cargo and more than 800,000 gallons of diesel fuel to the aircraft carrier. |
Capt. Jonathon Mellow, right, master of USNS John Lenthall and Ship’s Purser Peter Holmes oversee the underway replenishment of the cruiser USS Vicksburg. |
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