Navy fleet oiler delivery date delayed to March 2022

The Navy’s T-AO 205 John Lewis Fleet Oiler delivery date is delayed to March of next year.

“The delay was predominately driven by the flooding of the graving dock,” Navy spokeswoman Jamie Koehler told Inside Defense.

The Navy christened the T-AO 205 last month, the first ship in the fleet oiler program.

The second ship, T-AO 206 Harvey Milk, is 81% complete and is planned to launch later this year with delivery scheduled for the first quarter of FY-23, Koehler said.

The Navy’s fiscal year 2022 budget called for one T-AO 205 class oiler and eight ships in total.