The USS Lewis B. Puller is the first ship in U.S. Navy history commissioned outside the United States: a 90,000-ton Expeditionary Sea Base built from an oil tanker hull and armed with just a handful of machine guns. In this video we break down what the Puller class is, how these floating bases are built, what they cost, and what they actually do in the Persian Gulf and the Pacific.
In August 2026, General Dynamics NASSCO delivered the U.S.N.S. Hector A. Cafferata Jr., the sixth and final ship of the class. We cover the Navy's Expeditionary Sea Bases (ESB), from the Montford Point tanker-hull design to the four-spot flight deck, the mission bay, the mine countermeasures helicopters, and the crew of civilian mariners and military personnel who run them. We also look at the ships still operating today, including the USS Miguel Keith in the Fifth Fleet.
Source: The Navy Channel
