Can we talk ESBs?

The Navy just received the final ship in the six-hull Expeditionary Sea Base program, transferring in the delivery ceremony of the 106,664-ton (not a misprint) USNS (future USS) Hector A. Cafferata Jr. (ESB 8) last week. No other fleet in the world has anything that even comes close, not to mention having a half-dozen of them… Expeditionary Sea Base USNS Hector A. Cafferata Jr. (ESB 8) A peek into the hangar opening at the front of the huge topside aviation deck. You can store (at least) four CH-53s in there. That metacentric height, tho… While big deck commissioned (USS) ‘phibs like LHDs/LHAs, and LPDs get all the attention, the ESB, basically a converted Alaska-class oil tanker, has largely slid under the radar, and it should get more love. Initially called the Mobile Landing Platform (MLP) and the MLP Afloat Forward Staging Base (AFSB), over the past decade, five other huge sister ESBs have been delivered: USS Lewis B. Puller (ESB 3), USS Hershel “Woody” Williams (ESB 4), USS…