Watson-class vehicle cargo ship

The Watson-class vehicle cargo ship is a class of Large, Medium-Speed Roll-on/Roll-off cargo ship used for prepositioning of military vehicles and other materiel by the United States. The class comprises eight of Military Sealift Command's nineteen ships of this type, and is one part of the 33 ships involved in the Prepositioning Program. The ships are named after Medal of Honor recipients.
The lead ship of this class is. The class, as with the lead ship, was named for Private George Watson, a United States Army soldier killed at sea during World War II. Watson was laid down on 23 May 1996, launched on 26 July 1997, and put into service in the Pacific Ocean on 23 June 1998. The most recent ship of the class is, laid down on 31 October 2000, launched on 26 April 2002, and put into service in the Pacific Ocean on 24 September 2002.