USS Robert E. Simanek (ESB-7) will be a Lewis B. Puller-class expeditionary mobile base for the United States Navy, and she is the first United States Navy vessel named after Marine Corps Private First Class Robert Ernest Simanek, who was awarded for the Medal of Honor for heroic actions during the Battle of Bunker Hill, August 1952, during the Korean War. Secretary of the Navy Kenneth Braithwaite officially announced the name on 15 January 2021, when he visited USS Constitution, the oldest U.S. Navy commissioned ship afloat.[2]
_at_Naval_Station_Norfolk_on_20_April_2016.JPG) Lewis B. Puller-class expeditionary sea base | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | Robert E. Simanek |
| Namesake | Robert E. Simanek |
| Ordered | 23 August 2019[1] |
| Builder | NASSCO, San Diego |
| Laid down |
|
| Sponsored by | Ann Simanek |
| Christened | 4 May 2024 |
| Identification | Hull number: ESB-7 |
| Status | Under construction |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Lewis B. Puller-class expeditionary mobile base |
| Displacement | Approx. 90,000 long tons (100,000 short tons) fully loaded |
| Length | 785 ft (239 m) |
| Beam | 164 ft (50 m) |
| Draft | 34.4 ft (10.5 m) at full load; 39.4 ft (12.0 m) at load line |
| Propulsion | Commercial diesel-electric |
| Speed | 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph) |
| Range | 9,500 nautical miles (17,600 km; 10,900 mi) |
| Complement | 34 ship personnel; 250 military (mission dependent) |
| Aviation facilities | Four-spot flight deck and hangar |
NASSCO laid the keel for the ship, without ceremony, in San Diego on 27 May 2022.[3] An official keel authentication ceremony was held on 21 October of the same year.[4] The Simanek was christened on 4 May 2024 by Ann Simanek Clark, the ship sponsor and daughter of the ship's namesake.[5]