USNS Matthew Perry (T-AKE-9) is a of the United States Navy, named in honor of Commodore Matthew C. Perry (1794–1858), who led the effort to open Japan to trade with the West.[1]
The contract to build Matthew Perry was awarded to National Steel and Shipbuilding Company (NASSCO) of San Diego, California, on 30 January 2006. Her keel was laid down on 3 October 2008. She was launched and christened on 16 August 2009, sponsored by Hester Evans, a great-great-great-granddaughter of Commodore Perry.
Matthew Perry was one of several participating in disaster relief after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.[2] During the 21 days of operations, Matthew Perry completed 17 separate replenishment events, delivering more than 1.5e6USgal of fuel and transporting relief supplies.[3]
USNS Matthew Perry underwent repair and upgrades from 11 to 27 March 2023 at Kattupalli Shipyard of Larsen & Toubro in India. After the refit, the ship returned to the Indo-Pacific theatre for operations. This was a result of the U.S.-India 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue in April 2022 where US was represented by Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.[4] [5] [6]