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USNS Gordon (T-AKR 296)

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Photo by Stefan Karpinski, taken in Middle East waters in 2003. Click to enlarge.

Built as commercial container ship JUTLANDIA in Denmark in 1973, the ship was lengthened by Hyundai in 1984 and in the early 1990s, the Navy purchased the JUTLANDIA. The ship subsequently underwent conversion to a large, medium-speed, roll-on/roll-off ship (LMSR) at Newport News and was delivered to the Military Sealift Command on August 23, 1996 where the ship entered service as USNS GORDON becoming the first ship in the Navy named after US Army Master Sergeant Gordon. On April 26, 2023, USNS GORDON was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register and transferred the same day to the U.S. Department of Transportation's Maritime Administration (MARAD) Ready Reserve Force (RRF), being renamed MV GARY I. GORDON and ceasing to carry the USNS designation while in reserve status.

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Crew List:

This section contains the names of sailors who served aboard USNS GORDON. It is no official listing but contains the names of sailors who submitted their information.

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About the Ship's Name:

USNS GORDON is named in honor of US Army Master Sergeant Gordon of Lincoln, Maine, who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions in Mogadishu, Somalia, on October 3, 1993.

Citation:

Master Sergeant Gordon, United States Army, distinguished himself by actions above and beyond the call of duty on 3 October 1993, while serving as Sniper Team Leader, United States Army Special Operations Command with Task Force Ranger in Mogadishu, Somalia. Master Sergeant Gordon's sniper team provided precision fires from the lead helicopter during an assault and at two helicopter crash sites, while subjected to intense automatic weapons and rocket propelled grenade fires. When Master Sergeant Gordon learned that ground forces were not immediately available to secure the second crash site, he and another sniper unhesitatingly volunteered to be inserted to protect the four critically wounded personnel, despite being well aware of the growing number of enemy personnel closing in on the site. After his third request to be inserted, Master Sergeant Gordon received permission to perform his volunteer mission. When debris and enemy ground fires at the site caused them to abort the first attempt, Master Sergeant Gordon was inserted one hundred meters south of the crash site. Equipped with only his sniper rifle and a pistol, Master Sergeant Gordon and his fellow sniper, while under intense small arms fire from the enemy, fought their way through a dense maze of shanties and shacks to reach the critically injured crew members. Master Sergeant Gordon immediately pulled the pilot and the other crew members from the aircraft, establishing a perimeter which placed him and his fellow sniper in the most vulnerable position. Master Sergeant Gordon used his long range rifle and side arm to kill an undetermined number of attackers until he depleted his ammunition. Master Sergeant Gordon then went back to the wreckage, recovering some of the crew's weapons and ammunition. Despite the fact that he was critically low on ammunition, he provided some of it to the dazed pilot and then radioed for help. Master Sergeant Gordon continued to travel the perimeter, protecting the downed crew. After his team member was fatally wounded and his own rifle ammunition exhausted, Master Sergeant Gordon returned to the wreckage, recovering a rifle with the last five rounds of ammunition and gave it to the pilot with the words, "good luck." Then, armed only with his pistol, Master Sergeant Gordon continued to fight until he was fatally wounded. His actions saved the pilot's life. Master Sergeant Gordon's extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty were in keeping with the highest standards of military service and reflect great credit upon, his unit and the United States Army

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USNS GORDON History:

Built in Denmark by Burmeister & Wain as the commercial container ship MV JUTLANDIA, the vessel entered commercial service on June 1, 1973. After a decade in merchant service, she was lengthened in 1984 by Hyundai Heavy Industries, a modification that was part of her evolution toward higher-capacity transport work. In the early 1990s, as the United States expanded its post-Cold War strategic mobility architecture and sought fast, high-capacity roll-on/roll-off lift to move heavy Army and Marine Corps equipment on short notice, the ship was acquired for U.S. government use under a long-term charter and selected for conversion into a Large, Medium-Speed Roll-On/Roll-Off (LMSR) vehicle cargo ship. The conversion was carried out at Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company in Newport News, Virginia, transforming the former container carrier into a dedicated military sealift platform optimized for rapid vehicle loading and discharge. On July 4, 1996, the ship was officially named USNS GORDON (T-AKR 296) during a ceremony at Newport News, marking the completion of the program phase that brought her into the U.S. strategic sealift force under the name honoring Master Sergeant Gary I. Gordon.

On August 23, 1996, USNS GORDON was assigned to the Military Sealift Command (MSC) and entered non-commissioned service as part of the U.S. surge sealift inventory - ships intended to remain at high readiness so they can be activated quickly to load out military units and sustainment cargo during crises. For much of her MSC career, USNS GORDON operated within that surge construct, being maintained with activation timelines measured in days rather than weeks; specifically, she was assigned to MSC's Atlantic surge force and maintained at Canton, Baltimore, Maryland in Reduced Operational Status (ROS) 4, meaning she could be underway to pick up cargo within four days of notification. This posture reflected the strategic realities of the late 1990s and early 2000s: recurrent contingency planning for rapid reinforcement of overseas theaters, the need to support joint force deployments at scale, and the emphasis on sealift as the primary means of moving heavy combat power.

During the 2003 Iraq crisis and the opening phase of OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM, USNS GORDON was listed among MSC ships in the area of operations alongside other large roll-on/roll-off and logistics vessels, reflecting the heavy reliance on strategic sealift to position equipment and sustain the campaign. In later years, publicly documented snapshots of her activity show her continuing in the surge-sealift ecosystem, including time in the Newport News area where Transportation Command and MSC leadership visited surge vessels - including USNS GORDON and USNS MAJ STEPHEN W. PLESS (T-AK 3007) - on October 15, 2018, in the context of readiness and maintenance oversight for ships that must be kept able to activate on short notice.

In December 2019, MSC reported that USNS GORDON activated and got underway to conduct sea trials while transiting to a new layberth in Baltimore, an event consistent with the periodic activations, inspections, and sea trials required to keep ROS ships credible for contingency employment. In August 2021, she participated for 10 days in exercise TURBO ACTIVATION 21, another readiness-focused event intended to validate the ship's ability to transition rapidly from reduced operating status to an operational employment posture. In the final phase of her Navy service, a notable documented incident occurred on December 14, 2022, when the MSC-contracted vessel MV GARY CHOUEST responded to an emergent U.S. Navy tasking and towed USNS GORDON to safety in rough waters. MSC later highlighted the event in connection with a letter of appreciation presented on March 22, 2023.

On April 26, 2023, USNS GORDON was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register and transferred the same day to the U.S. Department of Transportation's Maritime Administration (MARAD) Ready Reserve Force (RRF), being renamed MV GARY I. GORDON and ceasing to carry the USNS designation while in reserve status. MARAD's RRF concept preserves the vessel for rapid activation, and the documented plan for this ship specifies that, if activated, she would report back to MSC and change her prefix from MV to USNS for the period of activation. As of the mid-2023, MARAD inventory reporting, she was recorded in the Ready Reserve Force in Baltimore, Maryland, reflecting the continuation of her strategic role - now under MARAD stewardship rather than active MSC assignment - within the broader U.S. surge sealift and mobilization system.

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USNS GORDON Image Gallery:

The photo below was taken by Stefan Karpinski and shows the GORDON being escorted through Bab El Mandeb by the German frigate MECKLENBURG-VORPOMMERN (F 218) during Operation Enduring Freedom in 2003.

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