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SS Wright (T-AVB 3)

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Delivered in 1970 as SS MORMACSUN, the ship entered civilian service for Moore-McCormack Lines and was later renamed SS YOUNG AMERICA. From December 14, 1984 - May 4, 1986, the ship underwent a conversion to an Aviation Maintenance Logistics Ship at Todd Shipyards, Galveston, Tx., and was renamed and placed in service as SS WRIGHT (T-AVB 3) on May 14, 1986. She was named in honor of aviation pioneers Orville and Wilbur Wright. She became the third ship in the Navy vessel to bear the name. Subsequently, the WRIGHT was assigned to the Ready Reserve Force and - when activated - is tasked to provide support for US Marine Corps aircraft. The ship is presently held in reduced operation status at Naval Base Norfolk, Va., able to be fully activated within 5 days.

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Crew List:

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

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About the Ship's Name:

SS WRIGHT was named in honor of brothers Wilbur Wright (1867-1912) and Orville Wright (1871-1948), American aviation pioneers whose experiments with gliders, aerodynamics and aircraft control led to the first successful controlled, sustained and powered flight of a heavier-than-air aircraft. On December 17, 1903, at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Orville piloted their Flyer on its first flight, while Wilbur made the fourth and longest flight of the day. The brothers had approached the problem of powered flight systematically, conducting extensive tests of wings, propellers and control systems and even building their own wind tunnel. Their work laid important foundations for the development of practical aviation and made the Wright name closely associated with the beginning of powered flight.

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SS WRIGHT History:

SS WRIGHT began her career as a commercial cargo ship rather than as a purpose-built military auxiliary. She was laid down as SS MORMACSUN, Maritime Administration hull MA-224, at Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Mississippi, on June 24, 1968. Built as a C5-S-78A combination breakbulk and container cargo vessel, she was launched on July 29, 1969, and entered commercial service with Moore-McCormack Lines on February 2, 1970. Her service under the name MORMACSUN was comparatively short. On October 19, 1970, she was renamed SS YOUNG AMERICA and delivered to American Export-Isbrandtsen Lines in connection with Mediterranean Marine Line operations. American Export Lines acquired the ship on August 31, 1977, and she subsequently passed to Farrell Lines in 1978. The United States Maritime Administration acquired SS YOUNG AMERICA on December 15, 1981, after which the ship was withdrawn from normal commercial operation and placed in the James River Reserve Fleet in Virginia.

The ship's subsequent conversion resulted from a Marine Corps requirement for a rapidly deployable aviation intermediate-maintenance capability that could accompany Marine aviation forces to an overseas theater without depending immediately on established shore infrastructure. Conversion work began at Todd Shipyards, Galveston Division, Texas, on June 12, 1984. The project transformed the former commercial cargo ship into an Aviation Logistics Support Ship, or T-AVB, configured to transport the personnel, mobile maintenance facilities, spare parts, test equipment, vehicles and support material needed by a Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron. Standardized mobile maintenance shelters could be carried on the ship's cargo decks and connected to form an operating aviation intermediate-maintenance activity while aboard. The roll-on/roll-off arrangement, cargo-handling equipment and cranes facilitated the movement of workshops and vehicles, while a helicopter flight deck permitted the transfer of personnel, aircraft components and supplies between the ship and supported forces. She was unarmed and was operated by a civilian merchant-marine crew, with additional accommodations available when a Marine aviation-logistics organization embarked.

On May 14, 1986, the ship was renamed SS WRIGHT in honor of aviation pioneers Orville and Wilbur Wright. She was placed in service with the Military Sealift Command on September 7, 1986. Together with SS CURTISS (T-AVB 4), she provided the Marine Corps with an East Coast and West Coast pair of dedicated aviation-logistics support ships. The two vessels were not commissioned warships and normally operated with civilian crews. During their early years they were maintained under a special Department of Defense arrangement in a status similar to that of the Ready Reserve Force rather than as continuously deployed Military Sealift Command ships. This allowed them to remain available for activation while avoiding the expense of continuous full operation.

One of the earliest well-documented exercises involving SS WRIGHT after her conversion was Ocean Venture '88. On March 30, 1988, the ship was anchored off Puerto Rico while participating in the exercise. Ocean Venture was a large United States Atlantic and Caribbean training event conducted during the closing years of the Cold War and included extensive naval, amphibious and aviation activity. For SS WRIGHT, participation provided an opportunity to exercise the concept for which she had been converted: moving containerized aviation-maintenance facilities aboard a merchant-type hull and supporting Marine aviation logistics from an afloat platform.

By 1989, SS WRIGHT was being maintained at Philadelphia in a high state of readiness. During September 1989, personnel from Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 14 conducted a liaison visit aboard the ship as part of planning for the possible embarkation and logistical support of an aviation combat element associated with the Sixth Marine Expeditionary Brigade. The work reflected continuing efforts to integrate the new T-AVB capability into Marine Corps contingency plans. Although SS WRIGHT spent much of this period inactive, her role required the ship, her machinery and the embarkation arrangements for Marine maintenance facilities to remain available for relatively rapid activation.

The Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in August 1990 produced the first major wartime use of the T-AVB concept. As the United States and its coalition partners began Operation Desert Shield and moved large air, ground and naval forces to Southwest Asia, Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 14 coordinated the consolidation of aviation-support resources from units of the Second Marine Aircraft Wing. A forward element of the squadron deployed aboard SS WRIGHT on August 27, 1990. The ship reached Jubayl, Saudi Arabia, on September 17, 1990, during the rapid buildup of coalition forces intended initially to defend Saudi Arabia and subsequently to provide the capability to remove Iraqi forces from Kuwait.

SS WRIGHT and SS CURTISS transported the mobile shops, test equipment, spare parts and technicians required to establish intermediate-level maintenance support for Marine aircraft operating far from their normal home-station facilities. This capability was particularly useful during the rapid buildup because it allowed a substantial aviation-maintenance organization to be moved into the theater without waiting for permanent infrastructure to be established ashore. During December 1990, the forward Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 14 organization was transferred to the Third Marine Aircraft Wing and supported Marine Aircraft Group 13 Forward at King Abdul Aziz Naval Base in Saudi Arabia. Its work continued after the beginning of Operation Desert Storm in January 1991.

Both aviation-logistics ships remained in full operating service for the Marine Corps in the Persian Gulf from August 1990 through June 1991. Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 14 personnel returned to Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point on April 1, 1991, but that personnel movement did not mark the end of SS WRIGHT's own Gulf service. After the ship completed her Gulf War assignment, she underwent the periodic drydocking required for regulatory purposes. Her postwar employment did not end there. During the early part of Fiscal Year 1992, SS WRIGHT returned to the Persian Gulf to transport retrograde cargo, contributing to the movement of equipment out of the theater following the conclusion of major combat operations.

By the end of Fiscal Year 1992, SS WRIGHT was undergoing substantial repairs and equipment upgrades following her demanding Gulf deployments. The work continued into the following period and was followed by sea trials. During April 1993, after completion of the major repair work, she participated in a Marine Corps Miniload exercise at Morehead City, North Carolina. The abbreviated loading exercise allowed Marine personnel to practice moving aviation-logistics equipment aboard the ship without conducting a full operational deployment. After completing the exercise and associated trials, SS WRIGHT returned to her designated layberth in Baltimore, Maryland.

In May 1994, SS WRIGHT was activated for Agile Provider 94, a large sealift deployment-readiness exercise involving military sealift assets on the United States East Coast. She operated in connection with Jacksonville, Florida, and Morehead City, North Carolina, together with other sealift vessels including MV CAPE DIAMOND (T-AKR 5055). The exercise tested the ability to activate, load and employ reserve sealift ships in support of a major overseas contingency. For SS WRIGHT, the event also provided another opportunity to exercise the procedures required to transition from reduced operating status to active service and integrate Marine aviation-support equipment with the ship.

During Fiscal Year 1996, SS WRIGHT completed a scheduled drydocking while assigned at Baltimore. In mid-April 1996, the ship participated in Exercise Hornet's Nest 2-96 off South Carolina. During the exercise, a Marine Corps air wing activated an afloat intermediate-maintenance activity aboard SS WRIGHT and used it to support the repair of both fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft. The exercise directly tested the central function for which the ship had been converted a decade earlier.

A significant administrative change occurred in Fiscal Year 1998. Until then, SS WRIGHT and SS CURTISS had been maintained under a special arrangement that MARAD described as similar to Ready Reserve Force status. Beginning in Fiscal Year 1998, the two aviation-logistics ships were formally transferred into the Ready Reserve Force. This placed SS WRIGHT within the government's established reserve sealift structure while preserving her specialized Marine aviation-support mission. In subsequent RRF service she was maintained in reduced operating status and could be activated when required for exercises or contingencies.

On April 29, 1998, SS WRIGHT departed on a sea trial toward Military Ocean Terminal Sunny Point, North Carolina. The sea trial was completed on May 1, and on May 2 the ship passed to Military Sealift Command operational control. On May 5, she proceeded toward the exercise anchorage, and on May 6 she was at anchor for Carolina Dragon 98-1. The Marine Corps again established an afloat aviation intermediate-maintenance activity aboard the ship during the exercise. On May 13, SS WRIGHT departed the exercise area for Sunny Point to offload equipment, and Carolina Dragon 98-1 was completed there on May 14. She began her return toward Baltimore on May 17 and returned to Maritime Administration operational control on May 18.

The turn of the century brought another major Marine aviation-logistics exercise. SS WRIGHT departed Baltimore on April 30, 2000, for Carolina Patriot. She reached Sunny Point on May 2 following her sea trial and subsequently loaded the equipment required for the exercise. On May 9, she departed Sunny Point for the operating area, with a brief period associated with Morehead City during the exercise sequence. By May 14, she was conducting exercise operations off the Carolina coast. As in previous T-AVB exercises, a Marine Corps air wing activated an afloat intermediate-maintenance activity aboard the ship, allowing aviation components to be repaired at sea. Carolina Patriot concluded on May 19. SS WRIGHT began the return voyage toward Baltimore on May 23 and was again at Port Covington under Maritime Administration control by May 25. On September 26, 2000, she shifted from a temporary berth to Ruckert Terminal Pier 1 in Baltimore.

Further maintenance and training movements followed in 2001. On April 17, SS WRIGHT shifted to Port Covington for Marine Corps training. On June 12, she was taken under tow to a repair facility identified in the official vessel movement record as BMI. She departed that repair facility on August 6 and proceeded toward the Clinton Street Marine Terminal. On September 26, she again got underway for sea trials, which were completed on September 27.

Another Carolina Patriot exercise followed in August 2002. SS WRIGHT began a sea trial toward Sunny Point on August 3 and completed it on August 5, when she passed to Military Sealift Command operational control. On August 10, she was underway toward Beaufort, South Carolina. Later in the month, she completed the exercise sequence and, on August 28, was recorded underway toward Baltimore. Carolina Patriot was formally completed for the ship on August 30, when SS WRIGHT returned to Maritime Administration operational control.

The buildup preceding the United States-led invasion of Iraq resulted in SS WRIGHT's next major operational deployment. Military Sealift Command assumed operational control of the ship on January 17, 2003. On January 18, she proceeded toward Morehead City to embark personnel and equipment and was at the port on January 19. On January 29, Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 14 detached approximately 180 Marines for duty aboard the ship. The complete aviation-logistics organization embarked for the deployment was larger: contemporary naval records describe approximately 330 Marines from Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point and as many as 40 civilian contractors aboard SS WRIGHT during the operation.

The ship deployed to Southwest Asia to provide aviation intermediate-maintenance support during Operation Iraqi Freedom. The United States-led invasion began in March 2003, and Marine aviation units operated from bases and expeditionary locations in and around Kuwait and Iraq. SS WRIGHT provided a mobile repair capability for fixed-wing aviation components, while SS CURTISS was employed principally in support of rotary-wing aviation. On April 21, 2003, SS WRIGHT's aviation-logistics organization was documented at the Port of Kuwait.

Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 14 also deployed approximately 100 Marines aboard USS BATAAN (LHD 5). The aviation intermediate-maintenance department aboard USS BATAAN established a repair-and-return arrangement with the Marine maintenance organization aboard SS WRIGHT. Components requiring capabilities available aboard the aviation-logistics ship could therefore be transferred for repair and returned to the supported aviation units. This connected the maintenance resources aboard SS WRIGHT with aviation operations being supported from the amphibious force and from installations ashore.

The detailed Maritime Administration movement record marks SS WRIGHT's return from Operation Iraqi Freedom on June 12, 2003. On June 13, she conducted the final movement and sea-trial sequence associated with her return toward Baltimore and was restored to Maritime Administration operational control. The deployment represented the second major combat-related employment of the T-AVB concept after the Persian Gulf War and again demonstrated its intended function of moving a substantial aviation-maintenance organization into a theater aboard a single specialized sealift platform.

During Fiscal Year 2004, SS WRIGHT participated in Exercise Carolina Patriot/Dragon 04. The exercise continued the recurring Marine Corps program of activating the ship, loading mobile aviation-maintenance facilities and practicing their employment from an afloat platform.

In 2005, SS WRIGHT was activated for a mission considerably different from her normal aviation-logistics work. Hurricane Katrina struck the United States Gulf Coast on August 29, causing catastrophic flooding and infrastructure damage in Louisiana, Mississippi and neighboring areas. On September 3, the Department of Transportation requested the release of Ready Reserve Force vessels for domestic disaster assistance. SS WRIGHT was among the Maritime Administration ships activated to support the relief effort. The participating ships carried emergency supplies and equipment that included bottled water, portable generators, small boats, fuel-handling equipment, refrigerated containers and equipment for producing fresh water. SS DIAMOND STATE (T-ACS 7) was among the other reserve ships employed in the response.

SS WRIGHT departed her normal reserve role at Baltimore and arrived at New Orleans on September 14, 2005. She berthed at the Nashville Avenue Wharf. Her extensive accommodations, freshwater capacity, communications facilities and helicopter-support capability made her useful as a temporary floating support base while shore infrastructure remained damaged. She provided berthing and meals for personnel engaged in restoring port operations and supporting the wider disaster response. Her ability to house substantial numbers of workers reduced the demand on damaged or unavailable accommodation ashore. SS WRIGHT remained at New Orleans into January 2006.

In 2008, the ship returned to extensive Marine aviation-logistics training during Carolina Hornet 08. Preparatory work included loading and unloading training at Baltimore before SS WRIGHT moved to Morehead City. On July 26, 2008, Marines from the Second Marine Aircraft Wing, Third Marine Aircraft Wing and Second Marine Logistics Group began loading equipment aboard the ship at Morehead City. The embarked package eventually included 103 mobile maintenance facilities and associated support equipment. Most were associated with Marine Aviation Logistics Squadrons 14 and 31, with additional facilities supplied by Marine Aviation Logistics Squadrons 29 and 26.

SS WRIGHT was underway for the at-sea phase of Carolina Hornet 08 by July 30. More than 200 Marines, sailors, civilian personnel and members of the ship's operating organization participated in the exercise. The training was designed to establish and operate a functioning aviation intermediate-maintenance activity aboard the ship and to move aircraft components between the vessel and supported forces ashore. Six ship-to-objective logistics evolutions were conducted using an Army Reserve transport boat associated with the 824th Army Transport Command. Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 461 also participated in the movement of aviation material, and approximately five flight evolutions were conducted in conjunction with SS WRIGHT.

During Carolina Hornet 08 the ship spent approximately two days alongside Military Ocean Terminal Sunny Point, where personnel conducted aircraft rescue and firefighting training on the flight deck. On August 8, 2008, the commanding general of the Second Marine Aircraft Wing visited SS WRIGHT and observed the exercise. On August 10, five Marines participated in a burial-at-sea ceremony aboard the ship; the flag used during the ceremony was subsequently presented to the ship's master, Captain Robert D. Silva. SS WRIGHT returned to Morehead City on August 13 and began unloading the embarked mobile maintenance facilities and other equipment. Most of the participating Marines disembarked there, while a smaller group remained aboard during the subsequent movement back toward Baltimore.

Marine Corps use of the ship continued in 2009. Maritime Administration records document support connected with another Carolina Hornet exercise as well as Marine Corps Loadex training aboard SS WRIGHT.

A devastating earthquake struck Haiti on January 12, 2010, leading the United States government to organize Operation Unified Response. Maritime Administration reserve ships were considered for several possible humanitarian-support missions. SS WRIGHT was activated on January 24, 2010, as a potential relief asset. She did not, however, receive an operational assignment to Haiti and was subsequently deactivated. During Fiscal Year 2010 the ship was also used in connection with Marine Corps Carolina Hornet training, continuing the periodic exercise program for the aviation-logistics support mission.

SS WRIGHT was activated again in September 2011 for a Canadian special-operations exercise. On September 22, she was transferred from Maritime Administration to Military Sealift Command operational control and proceeded to the Halifax, Nova Scotia, area in support of Canfocom training. Canadian special-operations personnel used the ship as a platform for Vessel Boarding, Search and Seizure training off Halifax. The exercise provided an unusual employment of the large reserve vessel outside its normal aviation-maintenance role. SS WRIGHT returned to Baltimore in October 2011 and was subsequently redelivered to Maritime Administration operational control.

Hurricane Sandy led to another domestic humanitarian activation the following year. The storm made landfall along the New Jersey coast on October 29, 2012, causing extensive flooding, power failures and infrastructure damage throughout parts of New Jersey, New York and the surrounding region. On November 1, SS WRIGHT and TS KENNEDY (T-AK 5059) were activated to provide floating accommodation for personnel involved in the response. SS WRIGHT sailed from Baltimore and arrived in New York Harbor during the night of November 4.

The ship was used as a floating hotel and feeding facility for responders who otherwise would have required scarce accommodation ashore. Personnel housed aboard included employees of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, AmeriCorps personnel, American Red Cross workers and members of other governmental and volunteer disaster-relief organizations. TS KENNEDY joined the response at Staten Island, and by December 5, both ships were documented berthed there. SS WRIGHT's civilian operating crew had to support a large temporary population whose members were working ashore during the recovery effort. SS WRIGHT and TS KENNEDY completed their missions and departed the New York area on December 15, 2012. The masters and crews of the Maritime Administration vessels employed in the Sandy response were subsequently recognized with the United States Merchant Marine Medal for Outstanding Achievement.

SS WRIGHT returned to large-scale Marine aviation-logistics training in 2014. She was reactivated on July 2, 2014, for Carolina Dragon 14 and subsequently moved into the exercise preparation phase at Morehead City. By July 30, she was at the Port of Morehead City while Marine and civilian personnel prepared the ship for the operation. The combined ship and exercise population was approximately 234 personnel, and 121 mobile maintenance facilities were loaded and configured aboard the vessel.

Carolina Dragon 14 included approximately two weeks of operations off the Carolina coast. Marine personnel established aviation intermediate-maintenance capabilities aboard SS WRIGHT and practiced repairing critical aircraft components aboard ship and returning them to supported units. CH-53E Super Stallion heavy-lift helicopters and UH-1Y Venom utility helicopters operated with the vessel during the exercise, providing a practical link between the afloat repair activity and aviation units ashore. The operation again tested the ability to move a substantial maintenance organization aboard the ship, operate it while afloat and support expeditionary aviation without first establishing the entire intermediate-maintenance structure ashore.

From August 15 through August 26, 2016, SS WRIGHT participated in Bold Alligator 16 along the eastern seaboard of the United States. Her established role in the exercise was to provide intermediate-level aircraft maintenance support for the Second Marine Expeditionary Brigade, but the ship was also used for limited-objective experimentation. Planners examined whether the large aviation-logistics vessel could perform additional functions involving command and control, integrated aviation and ground logistics, and support for unmanned air and maritime systems operating in connection with forces ashore. USS BATAAN was among the principal naval platforms participating in the exercise, and Navy experimentation personnel observed activities aboard both USS BATAAN and SS WRIGHT.

The particularly destructive Atlantic hurricane season of 2017 resulted in another sustained humanitarian deployment. On September 6, 2017, the Federal Emergency Management Agency requested the activation of SS WRIGHT as Hurricane Irma threatened the United States Virgin Islands and other parts of the Caribbean. The ship embarked relief supplies and equipment that included ready-to-eat meals, bottled water, tactical and emergency-response vehicles and a Federal Aviation Administration mobile air-traffic-control facility. During the initial phase of the mission SS WRIGHT maneuvered as necessary to remain clear of Hurricanes Irma and Maria while preparing to support islands affected by the storms.

On September 19, 2017, SS WRIGHT was documented transiting the Caribbean Sea during hurricane-relief operations in company with USNS WILLIAM McLEAN (T-AKE 12), USS KEARSARGE (LHD 3), USS WASP (LHD 1) and USS OAK HILL (LSD 51). The amphibious ships provided extensive aviation capabilities while SS WRIGHT contributed accommodation, logistics capacity and relief cargo. Following Hurricane Maria, SS WRIGHT delivered bottled water at San Juan, Puerto Rico, before continuing to the United States Virgin Islands.

SS WRIGHT arrived at Crown Bay Pier on St. Thomas on September 24, 2017. The Federal Aviation Administration mobile air-traffic-control facility carried aboard the ship contributed to restoring airport operations after the hurricane had damaged normal infrastructure. SS WRIGHT also provided accommodation and meals for federal personnel involved in the recovery operation. During the St. Thomas mission, Maritime Administration records credited the ship with 3,958 responder berths and 9,923 meals. The Federal Emergency Management Agency released SS WRIGHT from the mission on October 18, and she departed St. Thomas on October 21.

The ship's compatibility with the Marine Corps' MV-22 Osprey tiltrotor was examined later in 2017. On November 9, an MV-22 operated aboard SS WRIGHT in connection with Aviation Facilities Certification work involving Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 21. The certification activity evaluated the compatibility of the MV-22 with the ship's aviation facilities and flight deck, extending the documented range of Marine aviation systems evaluated for use with the aging T-AVB platform.

In 2018, SS WRIGHT crossed the Atlantic in support of NATO Exercise Trident Juncture 18. On September 28, Marines from the Second Marine Aircraft Wing were loading High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles and other equipment aboard the ship at Morehead City in preparation for the deployment. Trident Juncture was a large multinational NATO exercise intended to test reinforcement, deployment and combined operations in and around Norway and the North Atlantic. After crossing the Atlantic, SS WRIGHT entered Orkanger Port, Norway, on October 27, 2018. Marines unloaded vehicles and other equipment from the ship at Orkanger on October 29. The deployment employed the vessel in the strategic transportation role inherent in the T-AVB concept, moving Marine aviation-logistics personnel, vehicles, maintenance equipment and supporting material from the United States to a European exercise area aboard a single specialized sealift ship.

Later that year, the ship took part in additional aviation training off North Carolina. On December 12, 2018, an MV-22 Osprey from Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 261 operated with SS WRIGHT during ship-to-shore training off Camp Lejeune. Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 29 provided landing-support personnel. Marine Corps reporting identified the event as the first time that the participating squadron had incorporated an MV-22 with a T-AVB during this type of ship-to-shore exercise. The activity followed the aviation-facilities certification work conducted aboard the ship the previous year.

SS WRIGHT continued to be exercised as a reserve aviation-logistics asset in 2020. On January 22 and January 23, 2020, Marines loaded equipment aboard the vessel at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in preparation for Carolina Patriot 2020. The exercise was intended to maintain the Second Marine Aircraft Wing's ability to embark aviation-logistics equipment and establish expeditionary intermediate-level maintenance support from a maritime platform. The loading sequence included the mobile facilities and associated equipment required to reproduce the ship's aviation-maintenance function during the exercise.

From September 10 through September 20, 2022, SS WRIGHT participated in Carolina Dragon 22. Approximately 200 Marines from 15 units of the Second Marine Aircraft Wing and Second Marine Logistics Group took part. The exercise integrated intermediate-level aviation maintainers and ground-logistics personnel aboard the same maritime platform and practiced the operation of maintenance capabilities from the ship in support of distributed forces. On September 20, Marines were documented unloading cargo from SS WRIGHT at the Port of Morehead City as the exercise concluded.

Despite her age, SS WRIGHT remained in the Ready Reserve Force and continued to be used for Marine aviation-logistics training during the middle of the decade. On September 17, 2025, Marines from the Second Marine Aircraft Wing conducted logistics operations aboard the ship at Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia, during Carolina Dragon 25. The exercise was conducted by the Second Marine Aircraft Wing together with Expeditionary Strike Group Two and was intended to exercise and validate the capabilities of SS WRIGHT for continued use in training and possible contingency operations.

The underway portion of Carolina Dragon 25 continued off the North Carolina coast. On October 8, 2025, a Marine CH-53E Super Stallion landed aboard SS WRIGHT during the exercise. The evolution combined the ship's aviation-support function with rotary-wing operations and provided another practical test of the shipboard facilities and procedures required to connect an afloat maintenance organization with aviation forces operating elsewhere.

SS WRIGHT also underwent a significant maintenance-related movement in July 2026. A United States Coast Guard navigation bulletin scheduled the 602-foot vessel for a dead-ship tow beginning on July 12 from the Elizabeth River at Norfolk, Virginia, toward the Chesapeake Bay entrance. A further Coast Guard safety zone was established for July 15 for the continuation of the dead-ship movement through Charleston Harbor, South Carolina, from the harbor entrance channel to Detyens Shipyards on the Cooper River in North Charleston. The use of a dead-ship tow indicated that the vessel was being moved without using her own propulsion for the shipyard transfer.

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SS WRIGHT Image Gallery:

The photo below was taken by me and shows the WRIGHT at her layberth at Baltimore, Md., on October 31, 2010.

The photo below was taken by Michael Jenning and shows the WRIGHT at Naval Base Norfolk, Va., on December 26, 2021.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the WRIGHT at Naval Base Norfolk, Va., on September 6, 2022.

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