Austal christens T-ATS 11, USNS Billy Frank Jr.

Austal USA has held a christening ceremony for the company’s first steel ship, future USNS Billy Frank Jr., the Navy’s sixth towing, salvage, and rescue ship (T-ATS 11), at the company’s Mobile, Alabama, ship manufacturing facility. 

Credit: Austal

Ship sponsor Peggen Frank christened the ship on March 29, 2025. The ship’s namesake, Billy Frank, Jr., was a member of the Nisqually Indian Tribe and a Korean War veteran where he served in the US Marine Corps. He was posthumously named a...