Tag Archives: USNS Hershel “Woody” Williams (T-ESB-4)

Deployed to Africa, USS 'Woody' Williams Key Platform to Train, Engage Partners in Piracy Hotspot

Deployed to Africa, USS ‘Woody’ Williams Key Platform to Train, Engage Partners in Piracy Hotspot

Members of a Brazilian Navy Visit, Board, Search, and Seizure (VBSS) team participate in a drill aboard the Expeditionary Sea Base USS Hershel “Woody” Williams (ESB-4) as part of Operation Guinex, Aug. 23, 2021. US Navy Photo

The small, rigid-hulled inflatable boat sped from the Brazilian Navy Frigate BNS Independencia (F-44) last week, taking an armed boarding team to a ship suspected of harboring illicit or piracy activities off western Africa’s coast. Read More

Navy Prefers Fielding 'Revolutionary' Combat Capability Through New Weapons Rather than New Hull Designs

Navy Prefers Fielding ‘Revolutionary’ Combat Capability Through New Weapons Rather than New Hull Designs

Michael Monsoor (DDG-1001) pulls along pierside in Naval Base San Diego, Dec. 7, 2018. US Navy Photo

SAN DIEGO – The Navy is striving to field “revolutionary combat capability” in new ships and through mid-life modernizations, but it can do so while keeping risk low by focusing on new weapons and systems rather than radical new hull designs, the program executive officer for ships said. Read More

Top Stories 2018: U.S. Marine Corps Operations

Top Stories 2018: U.S. Marine Corps Operations

An F-35B Lightning II assigned to the “Avengers” of Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 211 sits on the flight deck of the Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Essex (LHD 2) on March 7, 2018. US Navy Photo

USNI News polled its writers, naval analysts and service members on what they consider the most important military and maritime stories in 2018. This story is part of a series; please also see U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Navy Operations.

The Marine Corps spent 2018 preparing the force for a new era of warfare, modernizing how it conducts its business in ways large and small. Read More

Marines See Future for Special Purpose MAGTFs Even As Ship Count Rises

Marines See Future for Special Purpose MAGTFs Even As Ship Count Rises

Landing Support Specialists with Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force-Crisis Response-Africa conduct helicopter support team drills with an MV-22B Osprey at Morón Air Base, Spain, Oct. 4, 2017. SPMAGTF-CR-AF deployed to conduct limited crises-response and theatre-security operation in Europe and North Africa. US Marine Corps photo.

THE PENTAGON – The Marine Corps may have expanded its use of ground-based Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Forces (SP-MAGTFs) in response to a shortage of amphibious ships to carry Marines around the globe, but Marine Corps leadership says the service is committed to these units even as the number of available amphibious ships is rising. Read More

2nd Expeditionary Sea Base USNS Hershel ‘Woody’ Williams Delivers to Navy

2nd Expeditionary Sea Base USNS Hershel ‘Woody’ Williams Delivers to Navy

The Military Sealift Command expeditionary mobile base USNS Lewis B. Puller (T-ESB 3) departs Naval Station Norfolk to begin its first operational deployment on July 10, 2017. US Navy photo.

The Navy’s second afloat base for special operations and mine countermeasure forces has delivered to the service, according to a Thursday statement from Naval Sea Systems Command. Read More

ESB USNS Hershel 'Woody' Williams Likely to Deploy to Mediterranean

ESB USNS Hershel ‘Woody’ Williams Likely to Deploy to Mediterranean

An MH-60R Sea Hawk helicopter assigned to the “Easyriders” of Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 37 delivers cargo to the expeditionary mobile base USS Lewis B. Puller (T-ESB 3) during a vertical replenishment. Puller is deployed with the Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations in support of maritime security operations to reassure allies and partners and preserve the freedom of navigation and the free flow of commerce in the region. US Navy photo

CAPITOL HILL – The Marine Corps intends for the next Expeditionary Sea Base ship, the future USNS Hershel “Woody” Williams (T-ESB-4), to operate in the Mediterranean Sea on its maiden deployment, Marine commandant said today. Read More