Future USNS Billy Frank Jr. (T-ATS 11), June 2025
Below is an Austal USA news release,
Hopefully, this success suggests the Austal portion of the Offshore Patrol Cutter program will move along faster than the Eastern portion.
This ship, the future USNS Billy Frank, Jr. is the first in the second phase of procurement of a planned class of ten. The first five were contracted to Gulf Island Fabrication. The shipyard and the contract passed to Bollinger, 19 April 2021.
Austal got their contract for up to five in October 2021 (FY2022).
These are simpler ships than the OPCs, costing less than $80M each, but their full load displacement is actually more than that of the OPCs. The rate of progress seems to bode well for the OPCs. Billy Frank was laid down 14 November 2023 and launched 14 June 2025, 17 months later.
Certainly the Independence class trimaran Littoral Combat Ships that Austal has been building for 20 years are at least as complex as the OPC, and the last one, USS Pierre (LCS-38) went from keel laying to launch in only 14 months. We can’t expect construction of the first OPC to go that quickly, but for later ships it might be possible.
Two of the Bollinger ships are reportedly completed, but I have seen no indication they are in service yet. The first took 41 months from laid down to launch, the second took 52 months to reach the same milestones. The third and fourth Bollinger built ships had keels laid in 2022 but have yet to be launched.
But were they late?:
It appears that the Austal contract actually anticipated faster delivery than we are seeing.
“The projected delivery for T-ATS 11 is in early FY 2025, with one more ship delivering in FY 2025, and two ships delivering in FY 2026.”
The Bollinger contract anticipated a slower delivery,
“The projected delivery for T-ATS 6 is in FY 2026, with follow-on Bollinger ships delivering each subsequent FY.”
Offshore Patrol Cutters:
Austal got the Phase II contract for up to eleven OPCs in June 2022 and began building their first OPC in late August 2024. With Austal completing their last LCS, I hope to see rapid progress on OPCs #5-15.
AUSTAL USA LAUNCHES FIRST STEEL SHIP FUTURE USNS BILLY FRANK JR. (T-ATS 11)
MOBILE, Ala. – Austal USA successfully launched the company’s first steel ship, the future USNS Billy Frank Jr. (T-ATS 11), on June 14. Named after a native American Korean War veteran who, as an activist, fought for justice and environmental preservation in the Northwest United States, Billy Frank Jr. is a Navy Towing, Salvage and Rescue Ship – one of 3 under construction at Austal USA and the first steel product of the company’s state-of-the-art automated steel panel line.
“It was amazing to see the flawless rollout of our first steel ship,” said Harley Combs, vice president of surface ship programs. “The completion of this milestone is the result of the hard work and dedication of our talented workforce. I am so proud of all they have accomplished.”
At 3,100 metric tons, T-ATS 11 is the heaviest ship Austal USA has launched to date. The launch was executed using the proven process used to launch most of the 32 Navy ships the company has built and delivered to the Navy over the last 15 years.
T-ATS will provide ocean-going towing, salvage and rescue capabilities to support fleet operations. T-ATS will be a multi-mission common hull platform capable of towing U.S. Navy ships and will have 6,000 square feet of deck space for embarked systems. The large, unobstructed deck allows for the embarkation of a variety of stand-alone and interchangeable systems. The T-ATS platform will combine the capabilities of the retiring Rescue and Salvage Ship (T-ARS 50) and Fleet Ocean Tug (T-ATF 166) platforms. T-ATS 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 with hotel services and appropriate interfaces.
With the ship over 85 percent complete at the time of launch, the future USNS Billy Frank Jr. will now prepare for her next major milestone, engine light off, as she gets ready for sea trials and delivery.
Chuck Hill's CG Blog 
The Navajo class is a class of Towing, Salvage and Rescue Ships could be a Multi-Mission Ship in a heartbeat. They were designed that way and will be used as such. More combat uses not just support uses are possible, but that might require some compartmentalization and watertight integrity improvements. With more containerized combat system elements coming on line the T-ATS would be a rapid response ship to EMERGENT tasking in a pinch. The U.S. Navy probably needs more than planned. I wonder if we could get a Heavy Lift vessel that could rapidly carry several T-ATS into theater, drop them off, and reposition to a rotating maintenance site for damaged vessels acting like a Tender and Drydock?
I look forward to Austal USA building an OPC to a MILSTD OPC. Hopefully the U.S. taxpayer begins to get a return on the investment in the steel construction facility. The T-ATS is a good down payment in that direction.