USNS Bob Hope (T-AKR-300), the lead ship of its class of vehicle cargo ships for Army vehicle prepositioning, is a naval ship of the United States named after Bob Hope, the entertainer. Very few ships of the United States Navy have been named after a person who was alive at the time of the christening. The contract to build her was awarded to Avondale Industries on 2 September 1993 and her keel was laid down on 29 May 1995. She was launched on 27 March 1997, and delivered on 18 November 1998. Bob Hope has already seen service delivering supplies and equipment to the Balkans and Iraq.