SS ''Cornhusker State'' (T-ACS-6) is a

crane ship A crane vessel, crane ship or floating crane is a ship with a crane specialized in lifting heavy loads. The largest crane vessels are used for offshore construction. Conventional monohulls are used, but the largest crane vessels are often catam ...

ready reserve The Ready Reserve is a U.S. Department of Defense program which maintains a pool of trained service members that may be recalled to active duty should the need arise. It is composed of service members that are contracted to serve in the Ready Rese ...

for 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 ...

. She is stationed in

Newport News, Virginia Newport News () is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 186,247. Located in the Hampton Roads region, it is the 5th most populous city in Virginia and 140th most populous city in the Uni ...

under operation control of the Military Sealift Command (MSC). The ship was named for the state of

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...

, which is also known as the ''Cornhusker State''.

History

''Cornhusker State'' was laid down on 27 November 1967, as the

container ship A container ship (also called boxship or spelled containership) is a cargo ship that carries all of its load in truck-size intermodal containers, in a technique called containerization. Container ships are a common means of commercial intermodal ...

CV ''Stag Hound'', ON 520743, IMO 6916433, a

Maritime Administration Maritime administrations, or flag state administrations, are the executive arms/state bodies of each government responsible for carrying out the shipping responsibilities of the state, and are tasked to administer national shipping and boating issue ...

type (C5-S-73b) hull under MARAD contract (MA 207). Built by

Bath Iron Works Bath Iron Works (BIW) is a major United States shipyard located on the Kennebec River in Bath, Maine, founded in 1884 as Bath Iron Works, Limited. Since 1995, Bath Iron Works has been a subsidiary of General Dynamics. It is the fifth-largest de ...

, Bath, Maine, hull no. 356, she was launched on 2 November 1968, and delivered to MARAD 20 June 1969, entering service for

American Export-Isbrandtsen Lines American Export-Isbrandtsen Lines, New York, was the leading US-flag shipping company between the U.S. east coast and the Mediterranean from 1919 to 1977, offering both cargo ship and passenger ship services, until it declared bankruptcy and was ...

. She was sold to

Farrell Lines Farrell Lines Incorporated was a boat company named in 1948 after James A. Farrell, Jr., and John J. Farrell, sons of James Augustine Farrell, president of US Steel. The company was previously known as American South African Lines (ASAL). It was ...

in 1978 without name change. The ship was returned to MARAD in 1986 and laid up in the

National Defense Reserve Fleet 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 ...

(NDRF). In 1987–1988 she was converted to a type (C5-S-MA73c) Crane Ship by Norfolk Shipbuilding & Drydock, Norfolk, Virginia. Completed on 12 April 1988, she was placed in service as SS ''Cornhusker State'' (T-ACS-6) and assigned to 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), under operation control of the Military Sealift Command (MSC).Silverstone 2011 p. 237 ''Cornhusker State'' has been in ready reserve at Newport News, Virginia since 1993.

References

Notes

Bibliography

* *

Online

United States Navy Fact File - Crane Ships

External links

Military Sealift Command page on ''Cornhusker State''
*

* ttp://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ship/tacs-specs.htm Global Security.org - T-ACS Keystone State Auxiliary Crane Ships specifications
National Defense Reserve Fleet Inventory

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cornhusker State 1968 ships Gopher State-class crane ships Ships of American Export-Isbrandtsen Lines Type C5 ships