USNS Patuxent

USNS Patuxent (T-AO-201) is a Henry J. Kaiser-class underway replenishment oiler operated by the Military Sealift Command to support ships of the United States Navy. Patuxent, the fifteenth ship of the Henry J. Kaiser class, was laid down at Avondale Shipyard, Inc., at New Orleans, Louisiana, on 16 October 1991 and launched on 23 July 1994. She was the first of three ships in the class of eighteen—the other two being USNS Laramie and USNS Rappahannock—to be built with a double hull required by the Oil Pollution Act of 1990. Hull separation is 6 feet (1.8 m) at the sides and 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) at the bottom, reducing her liquid cargo capacity by about 21,000 barrels (3,300 m3) from that of the 15 single-hull ships in the class. Patuxent entered non-commissioned U.S. Navy service under the control of the Military Sealift Command with a primarily civilian crew on 21 June 1995. She serves in the United States Atlantic Fleet.