US Navy Expeditionary Sea Base USS Hershel Woody Williams conducted naval exercise with Senegalese Navy.

According to information released by the U.S. Navy on September 21, 2020, the U.S. Navy Expeditionary Sea Base USS Hershel ‘Woody’ Williams (ESB 4) conducted naval exercises with Senegalese naval counterpart patrol vessel Kedougou (OPV 45) in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Senegal, September 21, 2020.
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Expeditionary Sea Base USS Hershel "Woody" Williams (ESB 4), front, conducts a training exercise in the Atlantic Ocean, September 15, 2020. (Picture source U.S. Navy)

Hershel ‘Woody’ Williams and Kedougou used the Senegalese Maritime Operations Center (MOC) to communicate and pass information to conduct the exercise. Communications Marines from II Marine Expeditionary Force (II MEF) provided additional assets for maritime communications between the two vessels.

U.S. Navy vessels routinely conduct training with allies and partners in order to enhance interoperability and increase capability in order to strengthen regional maritime security.

Hershel “Woody” Williams is on a regularly-scheduled deployment to the U.S. Naval Forces Africa area of operations and is a key element in integration between U.S. Navy and Marine Corps operations, especially Marine aviation and support to amphibious operations.

Other operations and training the ship can conduct include support to Special Operations, command and control, and staging of equipment and other assets, as directed. The ship will be a long-term presence assigned to the U.S. Africa Command mission set and will support security cooperation missions and operations in and around the African continent.

U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa Fleet, headquartered in Naples, Italy, conducts joint and naval operations in order to support regional allies and partners and U.S. national security interests in Europe and Africa.

The USS Hershel "Woody" Williams (ESB-4) is a Lewis B. Puller-class expeditionary sea base, currently in service with the United States Navy. The $498 million contract for the then-unnamed vessel was awarded to the National Steel and Shipbuilding Company (NASSCO), a division of General Dynamics, in December 2014. The vessel was christened on 21 October 2017, at NASSCO in San Diego. She was delivered to Military Sealift Command on 22 February 2018,[4] and placed into service the same day. The Expeditionary Sea Base (ESB) ship class is a highly flexible platform that may be used across a broad range of military operations supporting multiple operational phases. Acting as a mobile sea base, they are part of the critical access infrastructure that supports the deployment of forces and supplies to provide prepositioned equipment and sustainment with flexible distribution.

The U.S. Navy Hershel “Woody” Williams (ESB 4) is designed to support a variety of maritime-based missions including Special Operations Force (SOF) and Airborne Mine Counter Measures (AMCM). The ESBs include a four spot flight deck, mission deck and hangar, are designed around four core capabilities: aviation facilities, berthing, equipment staging support, and command and control assets.

The Kedougou patrol vessel (OPV 45) is an Offshore Patrol Vessel based on Raidco Marine design built by STX France's shipyard of Lorient in Brittany. Navy Recognition learned during Euronaval 2014 (Naval defense Exhibition in Paris) that Kedogou OPV 45 was launched on October 10, 2014. OPV 45 vessels are 45.6 m long and 8.4 m wide. It can be armed with a weapon system up to 40 mm. Two 6.2 m RHIBs are also on board. Its hull is made of steel and the superstructure is in aluminum. There are 25 sailors aboard. The vessel has a steel hull and aluminum superstructure. It is powered by two Cummins diesel engines (1 940 kW) providing a top speed of 22 knots. Endurance is ten days with a range of 2 000 nautical miles. It is able to launch two RHIBs via a stern ramp.