''For MV Cape Texas, a World War II Type C1-A, see

Type C1 ships Type may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Typing, producing text via a keyboard, typewriter, etc. * Data type, collection of values used for computations. * File type * TYPE (DOS command), a command to display contents of a file. * T ...

'' MV ''Cape Texas'' (T-AKR-112} is a

Roll-on/Roll-off Roll-on/roll-off (RORO or ro-ro) ships are cargo ships designed to carry wheeled cargo, such as cars, motorcycles, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, buses, trailers, and railroad cars, that are driven on and off the ship on their own wheels or using ...

(RO/RO) ship with the

Ready Reserve Force The National Defense Reserve Fleet (NDRF) consists of ships of the United States of America, mostly merchant vessels, that have been "mothballed" but can be activated within 20 to 120 days to provide shipping during national military emergencies ...

(RRF) of the

United States Department of Transportation The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT or DOT) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It is headed by the secretary of transportation, who reports directly to the President of the United States and ...

's Maritime Administration (MARAD). , her homeport is the

Port of Beaumont The Port of Beaumont is a deep-water port located in Beaumont, Texas near the mouth of the Neches River. It is the fourth busiest port in the United States according to the American Association of Port Authorities ''U.S. Port Ranking by Cargo To ...

Beaumont, Texas Beaumont is a coastal city in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat, seat of government of Jefferson County, Texas, Jefferson County, within the Beaumont–Port Arthur, Texas, Port Arthur Beaumont–Port Arthur metropolitan area, metropo ...

, and she is on ROS-5 status; she is able to be fully operational within 5 days of being activated. When activated, she becomes part of the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

's Military Sealift Command (MSC).

Design and construction

The vessel now known as ''Cape Texas'' was laid down by

Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft (often abbreviated HDW) is a German shipbuilding company, headquartered in Kiel. It is part of the ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) group, owned by ThyssenKrupp. The Howaldtswerke shipyard was founded in Kiel in 183 ...

Kiel Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021). Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the J ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. She is a conventional RO/RO (Vehicle Carrier) ship with the

superstructure A superstructure is an upward extension of an existing structure above a baseline. This term is applied to various kinds of physical structures such as buildings, bridges, or ships. Aboard ships and large boats On water craft, the superstruct ...

aft, followed by twin

funnels A funnel is a tube or pipe that is wide at the top and narrow at the bottom, used for guiding liquid or powder into a small opening. Funnels are usually made of stainless steel, aluminium, glass, or plastic. The material used in its construc ...

, and a stern ramp. She is in overall length with a lightweight displacement of and a fully loaded displacement of . For carrying

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

and

Marine Corps Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in littoral zones in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship (refle ...

combat vehicles, she has of cargo capacity. She can carry 340 containers plus vehicles and her hull is ice strengthened.

Service history

Commercial Service

She was launched on 16 June 1977 and began service with DDG Hansa Line as . In 1981, the vessel was sold to

Lykes Lines Lykes Bros. Steamship Co., also called Lykes Lines, was a cargo shipping company acting from the beginning of the 20th century to 2005 having its main business in the trade to and from the United States. History In 1898 the sons of Dr. Howell Tys ...

who operated her as .

US Government Service

''Cape Texas'' was purchased by the US Government in 1992 and acquired on 21 January 1993. She initially operated in MSC service as the . On 19 August 1994, she was transferred to MARAD and became part of the Ready Reserve Fleet. On 23 January 2003, ''Cape Texas'' was activated and placed “In Service” from the Ready Reserve Force to haul military cargo to the Middle East in support of

Operation Iraqi Freedom {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...

. She proceeded to

Corpus Christi, Texas Corpus Christi (; Ecclesiastical Latin: "'' Body of Christ"'') is a coastal city in the South Texas region of the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat and largest city of Nueces County, it also extends into Aransas, Kleberg, and San Patrici ...

, to load military vehicles and equipment. On 2 May 2003, she was placed "Out of Service” and returned to her Ready Reserve Force lay berth in Houston on a four-day recall status. On 26 December 2004, she was again activated to MSC in continued support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. She was returned to the Ready Reserve Force on 7 April 2005 and returned to Houston.

Footnotes

Notes Citations

References

Printed References * * Online * * * *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cape Texas 1977 ships Ships built in Kiel Transports of the United States Navy