USNS American Explorer
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2017}}
| {{Infobox ship begin
}} {{Infobox ship image | Ship image = American Explorer.png | Ship image size = 290px | Ship caption = American Explorer }} {{Infobox ship career | Hide header = | Ship country = United States | Ship flag = {{USN flag}} | Ship ordered = | Ship builder = Ingalls Shipbuilding, Pascagoula, MS | Ship original cost = | Ship laid down = 9 July 1957 | Ship launched = 11 April 1958 | Ship christened = | Ship completed = 27 October 1959 | Ship commissioned = | Ship decommissioned = | Ship in service = | Ship reclassified = | Ship out of service = | Ship struck = | Ship reinstated = | Ship honours = | Ship homeport = Beaumont, Texas | Ship identification = {{IMO Number|7737171}} | Ship fate = Scrapped | Ship notes = | Ship nickname = Hull# 469 }}{{Infobox ship class overview | Class after = Sealift Pacific class | Class before = Maumee class }} {{Infobox ship characteristics | Ship type = Type T5-S-RM2a Tanker | Ship tonnage = {{GT|14,980}} | Ship length = {{convert|595|ft|m|abbr=on}} | Ship beam = {{convert|80|ft|m|abbr=on}} | Ship draught = | Ship draft = {{convert|36.1|ft|m|abbr=on}} | Ship propulsion = | Ship speed = {{convert|20|knots|lk=in}} | Ship range = | Ship complement = 47 | Ship sensors = | Ship EW = | Ship armament = | Ship notes = }} |
USNS American Explorer (T-AOT-165) was a tanker built for the United States Military Sea Transport Service. The tanker was built by Ingalls SB of Mississippi in 1958, and at the time her keel was laid, the vessel was intended to be the world's first nuclear-powered tanker, but was completed with a conventional steam power plant. The ship was transferred to the US Maritime Administration in 1984 and was part of the US Reserve Fleet, Beaumont Reserve Fleet, Texas. American Explorer was sold for scrap on 8 July 2008 to the Southern Scrap Metal Corporation in New Orleans, Louisiana.[https://pmars.marad.dot.gov/detail.asp?Ship=203 Basic ship data – American Explorer] Property Management & Archive Record System, Division of Reserve Fleet {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721043815/https://pmars.marad.dot.gov/detail.asp?Ship=203 |date=21 July 2011 }}
On 13 August, two weeks before Hurricane Gustav struck the Southeastern Louisiana coastline, the tanker was moved to New Orleans' Industrial Canal.{{cite web|author=Shannon Russell |publisher=U.S. Department of Transportation |title=Two Ships from Beaumont Fleet Sell for $1.6 Million |date=16 July 2008 |access-date=5 September 2008 |format=PDF |url=http://marad.dot.gov/Headlines/2008/News%20Releases/marad%2016-08%202%20to%20southern%20scrap.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080912203711/http://marad.dot.gov/Headlines/2008/News%20Releases/marad%2016-08%202%20to%20southern%20scrap.pdf |archive-date=12 September 2008 }}
Adrift during Hurricane Gustav
During the night of 31 August/1 September 2008, as Hurricane Gustav approached the coast of Louisiana, two clusters ({{ship||Export Courier}}) of ships were dislodged from their moorings and broke free. American Explorer was shown in video coverage to be one of two military vessels (along with the former US Navy submarine tender {{USS|Hunley|AS-31|2}}) that ran into the Florida Avenue Bridge.
[http://www.nola.com/hurricane/index.ssf/2008/09/hold_please.html Coast Guard trying to secure a barge and two vessels in the Industrial Canal] by Michelle Krupa, The Times-Picayune Monday 1 September 2008, 10:10 am – nola.com After hitting the bridge, the ships then ran into two concrete pile-barriers that protect pump station No. 19, which serves the 9th ward of New Orleans.[https://web.archive.org/web/20080905111642/http://blogs.tampabay.com/weather/2008/09/derelict-vessel.html Derelict vessels pinned down in Industrial Canal] – Willie J. Allen Jr., Times staff writer – Posted by Times Editor at 5:29:56 pm on 1 September 2008 – Storm Watch – Tampabay.com A United States Coast Guard (USCG) tug eventually pinned the ships into position so that they would not move. Joel Dupree of Southern Scrap Metal Corporation claims the Corps of Engineers were testing docks on the Industrial canal which prevented moving the ships prior to Gustav entering the Mississippi River, and that the American Explorer was properly anchored during the storm.[http://www.nola.com/hurricane/index.ssf/2008/09/mooring_plan_under_fire_follow.html Mooring plan under fire following Industrial Canal wreckage episode] Hurricane Gustav News and Storm Tracking – Nola.com However, the level of the surge and winds were sufficient to break their moorings.[http://video.yahoo.com/network/100000055?v=3432690&l=3443196 Joel Dupre from Southern Scrap updates on the barges and ship that ran aground in the Industrial] New Orleans – Update on barges in Industrial Canal – Yahoo-local news {{dead link|date=May 2014}} The USCG, however, said that it had recommended that ships double-up mooring lines prior to the storm.[http://www.nola.com/hurricane/index.ssf/2008/09/two_groups_of_ships_broke_loos.html Hurricane Gustav News and Storm Tracking] Nola.Com Shortly after the peak of the storm, reporters for a local radio station went to the Florida Avenue bridge and reported the damage as being minor.{{Citation needed|date=July 2009}}
Another naval ship, the former US Navy cargo ship {{USNS|Courier|T-AK-5019|2}}, and two barges were involved in separate incidents at the Almonaster rail bridge and a nearby pump station. As a consequence of these events, all vessels to be removed from the Industrial Canal in advance of gale-force wind conditions, and Southern Scrap Metal Corporation was told to remove all floating vessels for the duration of the 2008 season.[http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2008/09/industrial_canal_would_have_be.html Ships and barges ordered from Industrial Canal for rest of 2008 Atlantic hurricane season] Industrial Canal would have been safe if Ike had approached, Coast Guard commander says by Sheila Grissett, The Times-Picayune
Thursday 18 September 2008, 5:57 pm Nola.com A US Coast Guard Investigation has been launched into the corporation's activities prior to Gustav.[http://www.realclearmarkets.com/news/ap/finance_business/2008/Sep/16/loose_storm_barges_in_new_orleans_from_one_company.html Loose storm barges in New Orleans from one company] The Associated Press – 16 September 2008