USS Miguel Keith (ESB-5) (formerly USNS Miguel Keith (T-ESB-5)) is a Lewis B. Puller-class expeditionary mobile base, currently in service with the United States Navy (USN).

 

The crew of the Lewis B. Puller-class expeditionary mobile base USS Miguel Keith (ESB 5) prepare to board the ship during the ship’s commissioning ceremony. Miguel Keith is the Navy’s third purpose-built expeditionary sea base (ESB). (Photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Kevin Leitner/U.S. Navy)

The ship was named in honor of Lance Corporal Miguel Keith, United States Marine Corps, by United States Secretary of the Navy Richard V. Spencer at the 242^rd United States Marine Corps Birthday Ball held in National Harbor, Maryland, on November 5, 2017. The ship's namesake received the Medal of Honor posthumously for combat action in Quang Ngai Province during the Vietnam War in 1970. Miguel Keith was the first naval vessel named by Secretary Spencer.^[6][7] Miguel Keith was originally a non-commissioned ship, with a USNS prefix but, like her sister ships, she was commissioned by the Navy,^[8][9] in order to provide combatant commanders greater operational flexibility in utilizing the ESBs in accordance with the laws of armed conflict.^[10]

Miguel Keith had her keel laid on 30 January 2018^[2] and delivered to U.S. Navy on 15 November 2019.^[3]

The ship was damaged while under construction when the General Dynamics National Steel and Shipbuilding Company drydock was accidentally flooded on 11 July 2018.^[11]

As of March 2021 she is undergoing sea trials near San Diego