MV Cape Victory (T-AKR-9701)
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MV ''Cape Victory'' (T-AKR-9701) was built in 1984 as MV ''Marzario Britainna'' by Cant Nav. Italiani. After launching, it was delivered to CMB T. Italy for commercial operation. She was acquired. 2 April 1993, by 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 ...
,
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 ...
and renamed MV ''Cape Victory'' on 2 April 1994 and assigned to the Maritime Administration's
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 ...
, 19 August 1994. When activated ''Cape Victory'' is one of the Maritime Administration's 31 Roll-on/Roll-off Reserve Force Ships assigned to the US Navy's
Military Sealift Command Military Sealift Command (MSC) is an organization that controls the replenishment and military transport ships of the United States Navy. Military Sealift Command has the responsibility for providing sealift and ocean transportation for all US m ...
(MSC) Sealift Program Office. ''Cape Victory'' is nested at 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 ...
in
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 ...
, in ROS-5 status, with a 10-man maintenance crew on board.


History

Upon the conclusion of its reflagging, ''Cape Victory'' entered the Ready Reserve Force in Reduced Operating Status – 4 (ROS-4) on 2 September 1994. The vessel is required to be ready for tender to COMSC within 96 hours of an activation notice. The ten (10) person ROS crew performs continuous maintenance in order to maintain the vessel in class with the
American Bureau of Shipping American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...
and fully certificated by the
USCG The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mu ...
. Within seven days of entering the RRF, on 9 September 1994, the MV ''Cape Victory'' loaded cargo at Wilmington, NC and departed for Port-au-Prince, Haiti via Guantanamo, Cuba. MV ''Cape Victory'' supported
Operation Uphold Democracy Operation Uphold Democracy was a military intervention designed to remove the military regime installed by the 1991 Haitian coup d'état that overthrew the elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. The operation was effectively authorized by ...
, a peace keeping mission, for 94 days before returning to Beaumont, TX. Following her return from Uphold Democracy she returned to her layberth. MV ''Cape Victory'' was activated on 4 December 1998, for a test of her readiness mission. The vessel was fully operational when her sail orders were changed and she supported the humanitarian relief effort to Central America in response to the damage caused by
Hurricane Mitch Hurricane Mitch is the second-deadliest Atlantic hurricane on record, causing over 11,000 fatalities in Central America in 1998, including approximately 7,000 in Honduras and 3,800 in Nicaragua due to cataclysmic flooding from the slow motion ...
. ''Cape Victory'' transported construction equipment and relief supplies for 23 days, returning to her layberth. The ''Cape Victory'' was activated on 17 January 2003 for
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 ...
and loaded cargo from the 4th Infantry Division at the Port of Beaumont. The ship spent a total of 110 days in Full Operating Service (FOS) discharging cargo in Kuwait and returning to Beaumont on 9 May 2003. ''Cape Victory'' was active moving military equipment to Kuwait and back until the latter part of 2005. In 2005 ''Cape Victory'' provided relief to victims of
Hurricane Rita Hurricane Rita was the most intense tropical cyclone on record in the Gulf of Mexico and the fourth-most intense Atlantic hurricane ever recorded. Part of the record-breaking 2005 Atlantic hurricane season, which included three of the top ten L ...
in Beaumont, Texas. ''Cape Victory'' is currently located in the Beaumont Reserve Fleet in Reduced Operating Status with a crew of 10. Patriot Contract Services is the current Ship Manager. ''Cape Victory'' moved to the MARAD Reserve Fleet in Beaumont, Texas in August 2009 along with her sister ship the '' Cape Vincent'' saving the US Government approximately $1,000,000.00 per year.


Cargo Capability

From June through November 1998, ''Cape Victory'' and her sister vessel, ''Cape Vincent'', were modified by the addition of a new
spar deck A deck is a permanent covering over a compartment or a hull of a ship. On a boat or ship, the primary or upper deck is the horizontal structure that forms the "roof" of the hull, strengthening it and serving as the primary working surface. Ve ...
. This increased the overall militarily useful square-ft capacity of each vessel. The two ''Cape V''-class ships function the same in their ability to load wheeled and tracked vehicles via the stern ramp. MV ''Cape Victorys most notable feature is its total deck capacity consisting of 133,621 sq. ft of which 103,181 is militarily useful. MV ''Cape Victory'' has 103,181 sq. ft of heavy deck strength (over 525psf with 13 f. clearances) and 30,440 sq.ft of light deck. In addition ''Cape Victory'' has 100, 450 volt reefer outlets.


References


MV Cape Victory (T-AKR-9701)
*


External links


National Defense Reserve Fleet Inventory
* http://www.keyship.com * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cape Victory Ships built in Genoa 1984 ships Ships built by Fincantieri