SS ''Diamond State'' (T-ACS-7) 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 catama ...

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 ...

(NRDF) 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 ...

. The ship was named for the state of

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacen ...

, which is also known as the "Diamond State". The ship was initially a

bulk freighter A bulk carrier or bulker is a merchant ship specially designed to transport unpackaged bulk cargo — such as grains, coal, ore, steel coils, and cement — in its cargo holds. Since the first specialized bulk carrier was built in 1852, economi ...

named SS ''Japan Mail'' when launched in 1961 and entered service in 1962 with the American Mail Line. In 1971, the ship was lengthened and renamed SS ''President Truman''. In 1987, the vessel was taken over by

MARAD Marad (Sumerian: Marda, modern Tell Wannat es-Sadum or Tell as-Sadoum, Iraq) was an ancient Near Eastern city. Marad was situated on the west bank of the then western branch of the Upper Euphrates River west of Nippur in modern-day Iraq and ro ...

and converted to a crane ship and in 1989, renamed ''Diamond State''.

History

''Diamond State'' was

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one ...

on 22 November 1960, as the break-

SS ''Japan Mail'', ON 287976, IMO 5170185, 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 issu ...

type (C4-S-1s) hull, under

contract (MA 87). Built by Todd Shipyards, Los Angeles Division, San Pedro, Los Angeles,

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

, hull no. 78, she was launched on 8 August 1961 and delivered to MARAD on 19 April 1962, entering service for American Mail Line (AML), a subsidiary of

American President Lines APL, formerly called American President Lines Ltd., is an American container shipping company that is a subsidiary of French shipping company CMA CGM. It operates an all-container ship fleet, including 9 U.S. flagged container vessels. In 1938, ...

(APL). In 1971 she was lengthened and converted to a type (C6-S-1a) hull

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 ...

by Bethlehem Steel, San Francisco, California. On 14 November 1975, the ship was renamed ''President Truman'', after AML was merged into APL. She was returned to MARAD on 21 January 1987, and placed in the

(NDRF). In 1988 the ship was converted to a type (C6-S-1aq) crane ship, completed 15 December 1988,Silverstone 2011 p. 237 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

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 ...

(MSC) and placed in service as SS ''Diamond State'' (ACS-7), 22 February 1989. ''Diamond State'' is one of 10 crane ships in the Surge Force and was berthed at

Houston Houston (; ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in Texas, the Southern United States#Major cities, most populous city in the Southern United States, the List of United States cities by population, fourth-most pop ...

, Texas. and assigned to Maritime Prepositioning Ship Squadron Three and was maintained in a five-day readiness status (ROS 5). She was removed from MSC control, withdrawn from the RRF by reassignment to the NDRF (Beaumont, Texas) on 28 July 2006.

References

Notes

Bibliography

Online

SS Diamond State (T-ACS-7)
*

External links

National Defense Reserve Fleet Inventory
{{DEFAULTSORT:Diamond State Ships built in Los Angeles 1961 ships Keystone State-class crane ships