The ''Keystone State''-class crane ships are seven
auxiliary
Auxiliary may refer to:
* A backup site or system
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* Auxiliary language (disambiguation)
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* Auxiliary police
* Auxiliaries, civilians or quasi-military personnel who provide support of ...
crane ships of the U.S. Maritime Administration Ready Reserve Force. The ships can be quickly activated to support military sea transportation needs. These self-sustaining ships are useful in ports that have limited, damaged or undeveloped port facilities. When activated, they come under operational control of
Military Sealift Command.
Description
The crane ships are converted
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 intermoda ...
s with three twin boom pedestal cranes which can lift containers or other cargo from themselves or adjacent vessels and deposit the cargo on a pier or lighterage.
History
The
US 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 ...
converted ten cargo ships to crane ships, three ''Gopher State'' class and seven ''Keystone State'' class, the first of which was completed in 1984 and the last of which was completed in 1997. Five of the ships were deployed to the Persian Gulf in 1990–91. acted as a temporary Army prepositioning ship in 1994. Four of the ten ships have been deactivated and transferred to the reserve fleet.
General characteristics
*Builder: Defoe SB Co, Bay City; Dillingham SR, Portland; Norshipco, Norfolk; Tampa SY; Keith Ship Repair, New Orleans
*Propulsion: 2 boilers; 2 GE turbines; 19,250 hp; 1 shaft.
*Length: 668.6 feet.
*Beam: 76.1 feet
*Displacement: 31,500 tons(32,005.52 metric tons) full load.
*Speed: 20 knots
*Crew: 89 civilians
*Load: 300+ standard containers
List of ships
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References
Property Management and Archive Record System
External links
United States Navy Fact File
{{Keystone State class crane ship
Auxiliary transport ship classes