USNS Patuxent (T-AO 201), the U.S. Navy's twelfth ship of the Henry J. Kaiser class underway replenishment oilers, deployed to U.S. Naval Forces Central and U.S. 5th Fleets area of responsibility, July 26.

Patuxent returned from deployment in May and deploys again as Military Sealift Command (MSC) continues to celebrate 100 years of underway replenishments at sea.

USNS Patuxent is scheduled to support military efforts in the U.S. Naval Forces Central and U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa's areas of operations by providing underway replenishment support.

Underway replenishments are a critical naval capability which allows U.S. Navy and allied ships to be resupplied with fuel, food and stores without pulling into a port. This capability allows naval warships to stay on station longer and continue with their mission uninterrupted.

Earlier this year, USNS Patuxent successfully participated in the high-visibility United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) exercise Cutlass Express 2017, which significantly enhanced theater cooperation among U.S. and other partner nations. Patuxent was the visit, board, search and seizure target ship in this annual exercise consisting of maritime forces from Djibouti, Kenya, Mozambique, and the United States. As a key asset for this exercise, Patuxent's contribution was lauded by all participants. Additionally, Patuxent worked several port loading restrictions and very tight schedule restrictions to ensure exercise success and all 5th Fleet cargo requirements were met in support of combat operations off the coast of Yemen.

USNS Patuxent was delivered to the U.S. Navy's Military Sealift Command in June 1995, and is the first of three ships in the class of 15 to be built with a double hull to comply with the Oil Pollution Act of 1990. The ship is manned with civilian mariners.

The Henry J. Kaiser-class oilers have a maximum sustained speed of 20 knots and are fitted with five fueling stations capable of pumping 900,000 gallons per hour to two ships at a time.

MSC operates approximately 120 non-combatant, civilian-crewed ships that replenish U.S. Navy ships, conduct specialized missions, and strategically preposition combat cargo at sea around the world while moving military cargo and supplies used by deployed U.S. forces and coalition partners.

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For more news from Military Sealift Command, visit http://www.navy.mil/.