New-Construction Sealift Ships
Desert Shield mobilization experience and the likelihood that US forces would have to build up rapidly at remote locations in the future led to a considerable expansion of the US sealift fleet. In addition to the conversion of five commercial Roll-On/Roll-Off (RO/RO) ships byNewportNewsShip-building and NASSCO, 12 new ships (Bob Hope class) were ordered in September 1993. An award for six (one confirmed plus five options) went to Avondale, followed by a similar award to NASSCO.
The design resembles that of the Algol class, having about the same length and beam. It is slower, however, with a maximum speed of 26 knots. {Experience with the Algols shows that the extra six to eight knots requires expensive, fuel-inefficient, and unreliable machinery.)
DEVELOPMENT •
The Avondale and NASSCO contracts require delivery of the first ships in October 1997 and the last ships by April 2001.
Algol (T-AKR 287)
These eight Fast Sealift Ships were built in West Germany and the Netherlands for the US Sea-Land Services, Inc., of Port Elizabeth, New Jersey, as commercial container ships. Originally delivered in the early 1970s, they are the fastest commercial cargo ships ever built. The penalties for such high-speed capability are heavy fuel consumption even at slower cruising speeds and machinery unreliability.
The relatively quick and simple conversion to Fast Sealift Ships included the addition of a RO/RO ramp forward and aft,
andaLO/LO (Load-On/Load-Off) capability aft for containers. Paired 35-ton cranes and twin 50-ton cranes serve the holds.
Each ship has a RO/RO capacity of
185,000 ft2 (17,187 m2), and a LO/LO capacity of 26,000 ft2 (2,415 m*) for containers or vehicles containerized in flat-
racks. A 35,000-ft2 (3,252-m?) helicopter flight deck strong enough for the heaviest US military helicopters is located between the forward and after deckhouse. Four cargo decks beneath the flight deck are connected by ramps and can accommodate helicopters as well as vehicles, the first deck with a height of 19 ft 6 in (5.94 m) and the others 13 ft 6 in (4.11 m).
DEVELOPMENT •
The US Navy purchased the eight ships in 1981-82 for a total of $272 million, including procurement of 400 containers and 800 container chassis and spare parts. Each ship cost approximately $60 million (FY1982 dollars) to convert to RO/RO vehicle cargo ships for use by the Military Sealift Command’s
(MSC) Rapid Deployment Force (RDF).
NASSCO of San Diego, California, converted three, as did Avondale of West-wego, Louisiana. Penn Ship of Chester, Pennsylvania, handled the other two.
These ships are maintained at East Coast and Gulf Coast layberths, ready for rapid loading of Army or Marine equipment and sailing to crisis/war areas.
COMBAT EXPERIENCE •
All eight ships left US ports in August 1990 to support Operation Desert Shield. Antares broke down in the Atlantic and had to be towed to Spain. Seven arrived in Saudi Arabia, taking an average of two weeks for the 8,800-mn voyage.
Altogether the seven ships made 32 “lifts” to the region by the end of April 1991, delivering 321,940 short tons of dry cargo. The value of their great size and speed is best seen in a comparison with the smaller, slower ships of the Ready Reserve Force, which averaged less than two trips per vessel and carried 45% less cargo per lift.
In December 1992, Altair, Bellatrix, Ca-pella, Denebola, and Pollux were activated to support the movement of supplies to Somalia as part of the Restore Hope humanitarian relief operation.
SPECIFICATIONS •
DISPLACEMENT 55,350 tons full load (22,279-25,915 tons deadweight)
DIMENSIONS
length 946 ft 6 in (288.5 m) overall
beam 105 ft 8 in (32.2m)
draft 36 ft 9 in (11.2m)
MACHINERY 2 Foster Wheeler boilers, 2 General Electric steam turbines, 120,000 shp on 2 shafts=33 kts, range 14,000 nm at 33 kts (unloaded), 12,200 nm at 27 kts (loaded), electric power 8,000 kW
CREW 45 civilian + 56 troops
HELICOPTERS flight deck
SENSOR navigation radar
2nd It. John P. Bobo
These five ships are part of the Maritime Prepositioning Squadron (MPS) force. Three MPSs are stationed in areas well away from the United States where support of US intervention may be required quickly. Each ship carries about a quarter of the equipment and supplies needed to support a 15,000-Marine force (known in 1990 as a Marine Expeditionary Brigade) in a forward area for 30 days. Four of the Bobo class form MPS 3, based in Guam, while the name ship is grouped with three Kocak-c\zs$ ships in MPS 1 in the eastern Atlantic. Although built specifically for the MPS role, the Bobo& are owned by private interests and are under 25-year-term charter to American Overseas Marine. They are the only class built expressly for MPS service.
These ships have an immense storage capacity: 150,000 ft* (13,935 m*) of vehicle deck; storage space for 522 standard 20-ft (6.1-m) and 41 refrigerated containers; almost 300,000 ft3 (8,495 m3) of dry storage capacity for ammunition, general cargo, standard military rations, and refrigerated storage, and over 1.5 million gallons of liquid storage.
All cargo can be unloaded onto a pier in three days; from a four-point mooring, discharge takes five days. On deck are four powered causeways, six unpowered causeways, two LCM-8 landing craft, one side-loading warping tug, and three hose reels. A Navire stern ramp is fitted for unloading vehicles into landing craft and onto piers. Five 40-ton capacity cranes are fitted ahead of the bridge on three pedestals (one single boom, two double booms). A 1,000-horsepower bow thrus-ter is fitted to permit maneuvering alongside a pier without the aid of tugs.
Crisis Action Modules (CAM) and Deterrence Force Modules (DFM) are alternative loading packages, developed beginning in 1989, that can be loaded and unloaded quickly to tailor an individual ship or a partial squadron for different requirements ranging from a contingency Marine air ground task force to a full 15,000-man force. The Lummuswzs fitted with a CAM after her initial deployment to Saudi Arabia during Operation Desert Shield.
All MPS ships have berths for a Marine “surge team”—known as the Off-Load Preparation Party (OPP)—that prepares vehicles and other materiel for unloading while the ships move from their bases to the disembarkation port.
DEVELOPMENT •
Bobo and Williams were ordered in August 1982, the others in January 1983. All were built at General
Dynamics’ Quincy, Massachusetts, yard and delivered in 1985-86. They are also known as the Braintree class, connoting the shipyard’s actual location in Massachusetts.
COMBAT EXPERIENCE •
These ships supported the Marine Corps buildup ashore as part of Operation Desert
Shield. MPS 3 off-loading in Saudi Arabia was complete by September 4, 1990. MPS 1, which included Bobo, arrived in December and finished off-loading in four days.
Once the MPS deployment was complete, Button and Williams were retained as sea-based logistics ships that provided environmentally controlled storage space, Lopez was put in service in “common user status,” and Lummuswas “reconstituted” with a CAM prepositioning loadout sufficient to support a Special-Operations-Capable Marine Expeditionary Unit/MEU(SOC) or an air contingency battalion. Bobo provided Assault Follow-On Echelon (AFOE) support to the 5th Marine Expeditionary Brigade (MEB). All MPS ships were restored to peacetime condition by November 1991.
Lummuswas also used to support relief efforts in Bangladesh after a May 1991 typhoon and in the Philippines in June after the eruption of Mount Pinatubo. Lummus also landed equipment for the Marine force that deployed to Somalia in
December 1992.
SPECIFICATIONS •
DISPLACEMENT 40,846 tons full load (26,523 tons deadweight)
DIMENSIONS
length 671 ft 2 in (204.6 m) overall
beam 105 ft 6 in (32.2 m)
draft 29 ft 6 in (9.0 m)
MACHINERY 2 Stork Werkspoor
18TM410V diesels, 26,040 bhp on 1
shaft=18 kts, range 12,840 nm at 18 kts, electric power 7,850 kW CREW 30 civilian + 25 maintenance personnel (flagship also has 7 Navy-civilian
and 8 Navy communications personnel)
HELICOPTERS landing area
SENSORS 2 navigation radars
CpJ. Louis /. Hcriige, Jr.
These five ships are former Maersk Line combination container and Roll-On/
Roll-Off (RO/RO) vehicle cargo ships that were acquired by the US government specifically for conversion to the Maritime Prepositioning Squadron (MPS) role. Each ship transports one-fifth of the equipment and supplies needed to support a Marine Expeditionary Brigade (MEB).
During conversion, a new 157 Vz-ft (48-m) midsection was added to each ship. The result was 120,080 ft2 (11,156 m2) of vehicle storage space and three vehicle parking decks. Each ship can carry up to 413 standard 20-ft (6.1-m) freight containers subdivided into 280 ammunition, 86 general cargo, 23 fuel-drum, and 24 refrigerated containers. Nearly 1.3 million US gal (mostly bulk fuels) is carried, and dry cargo capacity is 524,000 ft3 (14,838 m3). The Navire slewing ramp, two 36-ton and four 30-ton cranes serving eight hatches provide a limited self-unloading capability.
(For more information about the MPS program, see the 2nd Lt John P. Bobo class.)
DEVELOPMENT •
The first three ships were ordered in August 1982, the latter two in January 1983. The Hauge, Anderson, and Phillips were converted at the Bethlehem Steel yard at Sparrows Point, Maryland; the Baugh and Bonnyman at the Bethlehem Steel yard in Beaumont, Texas. They are owned by private interests and operated by the Maersk Line. The five ships form MPS 2, based in Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean.
COMBAT EXPERIENCE •
Two and a half weeks after Iraq invaded Kuwait in August 1990, Hauge, Anderson, and Bonny-man were unloading equipment in Saudi Arabia as part of Operation Desert Shield. (The other two ships were undergoing MPS Maintenance Cycle/MMC refits in the United States.) The Off-Load
Preparation Parties (OPP) were credited with having the equipment at a 99.9% readiness rate when it was disembarked. The Fisher (later renamed Franklin S. Phillips) arrived on August 24 and the Baugh on September 7. Altogether, the nine ships of MPS 2 and MPS 3 (see the Bobo class) delivered equipment and stores to support 33,000 Marines in combat for 30 days.
SPECIFICATIONS •
DISPLACEMENT 46,552 tons full load (20,718-23,138) tons deadweight)
DIMENSIONS
length 755 ft 6 in (230.3 m)
overall
beam 90 ft 1 in (27.5 m)
draft 32 ft 1 in (9.8 m)
MACHINERY 1 Sulzer 7RND 76M diesel, 16,800 bhp on 1 shaft=l7.5 kts, range 10,800 nm at 17.5 kts, electric power 4,250 kW
CREW 30 civilian + 20 civilian maintenance personnel (7 Navy-civilian + 8 Navy communications in Bonnnyman)
HELICOPTERS landingarea
SENSORS 2 navigation radars
Sgf. Mate; Kocak
These three ships were acquired for conversion to MPS ships soon after their completion for the Waterman Lines; they never entered commercial service. They are civilian-crewed and -operated under contract by Waterman Steamship Co. (For more on the MPS program, see 2nd Lt. John P. Bobo class.)
As part of their conversion, a 126-ft (38.4-m) midbody section was added primarily for hospital and troop spaces. Each ship carries one-fourth of the equipment and supplies needed to support a 15,000-Marine landing force.
The ships were reconfigured for 152,524 ft2 (14,170 m*) of vehicle cargo space, 682,000 ft3 (19,312 m3) of dry cargo storage space, and 540 standard cargo containers, and they carry more than 1.6 million US gal of liquids, mostly bulk fuels.
To aid unloading, the ships are fitted with vehicle ramps including a jackknife-style stern ramp. Ahead of the bridge are back-to-back 30-ton cranes on the after pedestal, back-to-back 50-ton cranes farther forward, and a full-beam traveling gantry for hoisting containers; the gantry has a 30-ton capacity.
DEVELOPMENT •
All three ships were converted to the MPS role by the National Steel and Shipbuilding Co. (NASSCO) in San Diego, California. The contract for the first two was awarded on August 17,1982; conversion ofthe Charles Carroll (renamed Major Stephen W. Pless) was ordered on January 14, 1983.
This class and the Bobo form the MPS 1 based in Norfolk, Virginia. All 13 MPS ships are named for US Marine Corps Medal of Honor winners.
COMBAT EXPERIENCE •
All three Kocak-cl’dss ships and the Bobo arrived in Saudi Arabia on December 13, 1990. The Pless and Kocak were then reassigned to “common user status” for the US Transportation Command, while the Obregon joined the Bobo as on-station repositories
of Assault Follow-On Echelon (AFOE) equipment to support the 5th Marine Expeditionary Brigade (MEB).
SPECIFICATIONS •
DISPLACEMENT 48,754 tons full load (21,189-23,653 tons deadweight)
DIMENSIONS
length 821 ft (250.3 m) overall
beam 105 ft 6 in 32.2 m)
draft 32 ft 4 in (9.9 m)
MACHINERY 2 boilers, 2 General Electric steam turbines, 30,000 shp on 1 shaft=20 kts, range 13,000 nm at 20 kts
CREW 39 civilian + 25 civilian maintenance personnel (plus 7 Navy-civilian + 8 Navy communications in 1 ship) HELICOPTERS landing area SENSORS 2 navigation radars
