MOBILE – Austal USA celebrated the official start of construction on the future USNS Solomon Atkinson (T-ATS 12), the Navy’s seventh Towing, Salvage and Rescue Ship, with a keel-laying ceremony April 16 honoring its namesake, who became one of the first U.S. Navy SEALs.
The keel-laying symbolically recognizes the ceremonial beginning of the construction of a ship, with last week’s event coming only weeks after Austal USA celebrated the christening of the future USNS Billy Frank Jr. (T-ATS 11).
The Navajo-class T-ATS vessels will be able to support current missions including towing, salvage, rescue, oil-spill response, humanitarian assistance, and wide-area search and surveillance. The platform also enables future rapid capability initiatives such as supporting modular payloads.
Honoring a hero
Local community leaders, Austal USA employees, Navy personnel, and family and friends of ship namesake Solomon Atkinson attended the ceremony.
Solomon Atkinson, born in 1930 in Metlakatla, Alaska, worked as a commercial fisherman before enlisting in the U.S. Navy in 1952. A year later, Atkinson volunteered for the underwater demolition teams and became a frogman, the precursor to present day SEALs.
In 1962, Atkinson became one of the first Navy SEALs and was a plank owner for SEAL Team 1. As a SEAL, he deployed to Korea and completed three combat tours in Vietnam. His Vietnam service-related awards include a Bronze Star, a Navy Commendation Medal with Combat “V,” and a Purple Heart.
Atkinson also had the distinction of training numerous astronauts, including Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, in underwater weightless simulations at the Underwater Swimmers School in Key West, Florida.
Atkinson retired from active naval service in 1973 as a Chief Warrant Officer 4 and returned to Metlakatla, where he continued to serve his people and state on the Indian Community Council and Board of Education, as founder and president of the first veterans’ organization on Annette Island, and as mayor of Metlakatla.
Atkinson died in July 2019, leaving a legacy that resonates through his family, community, and those who served alongside him.
Ship sponsors Joann Atkinson, Solomon Atkinson’s widow, and daughters Michele Gunyah and Maria Hayward, authenticated the keel by welding their initials into a keel plate that will be welded to the hull of the ship. They were assisted by Rufus Lord, a fifteen-year Austal USA veteran A-class welder.
“I am proud of the Austal USA T-ATS program team for providing us with the opportunity to celebrate two T-ATS milestones so close together,” said Dave Growden, vice president of new construction. “This ceremony is evidence of the hard work and dedication put forth by Austal USA and our Navy and supplier partners to keep the T-ATS program steadily moving forward.”
Above photo: Courtesy of U.S. Navy, 2018.
Below photo: Artist rendering of a T-ATS, courtesy of Austal USA.
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