Submarine tender USS Frank Cable (AS 40) is among the most unique ships in the Navy, forward deployed to provide maintenance capabilities to U.S. 7th Fleet. The ship is commanded by a Navy captain, so it maintains its status as a commissioned vessel, but has a hybrid crew of civil service mariners and uniformed Navy personnel.
Aboard Cable and its sister submarine tender, USS Emory S. Land (AS 39), ship operations are a team effort by two distinct types of maritime professionals. CIVMARs navigate and maintain the ship, manage engineering and communications, and perform laundry and galley services. Meanwhile, Sailors manage the repair department, weapons systems and security.
Check out some stats about Cable, and recent photos of the ship and crew in action!
- Length: 644 feet
- Beam: 85 feet
- Displacement: 23,000 tons
- Forward deployed to: Guam
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- Frank Cable travels through the Glass breakwater after returning from a port visit on Saipan.
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- Electrician’s Mate Fireman Eunice Lubigan reads to a young patient at the Likas Hospital in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia.
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- CIVMARs heave in the aft mooring lines to get underway from Sepanggar Naval Base, Malaysia.
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- Sailors build an ancient Chamorro hut as a demonstration for students in Mangilao, Guam.
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- Sailors play volleyball with students from Grace Christian Academy in Saipan.
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- Frank Cable CIVMARs assist USS Oklahoma City Sailors get underway from Polaris Point, Guam.
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- USS La Jolla (SSN 701) moors alongside the submarine tender USS Frank Cable in Saipan.
