MV ''Cape Trinity'' (T-AKR-9711) 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). , the homeport of this

motor vessel A motor ship or motor vessel is a ship propelled by an internal combustion engine, usually a diesel engine. The names of motor ships are often prefixed with MS, M/S, MV or M/V. Engines for motorships were developed during the 1890s, and by th ...

(MV) is the

Port of Houston The Port of Houston is one of the world's largest ports and serves the metropolitan area of Houston, Texas. The port is a 50-mile-long complex of diversified public and private facilities located a few hours' sailing time from the Gulf of Mexico. ...

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, 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 Trinity'' 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 ...

, in 1977. 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 began commercial service on 7 December 1977 with DDG Hansa Line as MV ''Rheinfels''. She was sold to Anker Shipping GmbH, an affiliate of DDG Hansa, 13 October 1980. Following the bankruptcy of DDG Hansa, ownership passed to a Hamburg bank in December 1980. She was then sold to Christian F. Ahrenkiel of Hamburg and renamed MV ''Norefjord''. Ownership passed in July 1981 to Heyo Janssen, Leer, Germany, she was renamed MV ''Radbod'' and was reflagged

Panamanian Panamanians (Spanish: ''Panameños'') are people identified with Panama, a transcontinental country in Central America (a region within North America) and South America, whose connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For m ...

. She was auctioned off in September 1987 to a group of German banks, and resold to Argentinean interests. Again, she was resold in November 1987 to Vericaribe CA and renamed MV ''Santos'' retaining the Panama flag. In May 1990, she was chartered to Kent Line with the name MV ''Canadian Forest''. She was resold to Conro Shipping Ltd. of Panama in September 1991 and renamed MV ''Santos''. Ownership passed in 1993 to South American Shipping Co., tonnage date rearranged and modified and vessel was retransferred to Conro Shipping Ltd.

US Government service

''Cape Trinity'' was acquired by the US Government on 15 November 1994 and became part of the Ready Reserve Fleet. In January thru March 1999, ''Cape Trinity'' participated in Operation Battle Griffin, the triennial exercise of reinforcing Norway, carrying

US Marines The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

between

Morehead City, North Carolina Morehead City is a port town in Carteret County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 8,661 at the 2010 census. Morehead City celebrated the 150th anniversary of its founding on May 5, 2007. It forms part of the Crystal Coast. Hist ...

, Cheatham Annex Naval Base, Virginia, and

Hommelvik Hommelvik is the administrative centre of the municipality of Malvik in Trøndelag county, Norway. The village is located at the end of the ''Hommelvika'', a bay off of the Trondheimsfjord. Hommelvik is about southwest of the village of Muruvi ...

, Norway. On 23 January 2003, ''Cape Trinity'' 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 15 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.

Footnotes

Notes Citations

References

Printed References * * Online * * * *

External links

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