SS ''Diamond State'' (T-ACS-7) is a

crane ship A crane vessel, crane ship, crane barge, or floating crane is a ship with a crane specialized in lifting heavy loads, typically exceeding for modern ships. The largest crane vessels are used for offshore construction. The cranes are fitted to c ...

in the

National Defense Reserve Fleet The National Defense Reserve Fleet (NDRF) consists of Ship, ships of the United States, mostly Merchant ship, merchant vessels, that have been Reserve fleet, mothballed but can be activated within 20 to 120 days to provide shipping during nationa ...

(NRDF) for the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

. The ship was named for the state of

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states, South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey ...

, which is also known as the "Diamond State". The ship was initially a bulk freighter 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 (also Wana-Sedoum), 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 moder ...

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- bulk freighter 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 San Pedro ( ; ) is a neighborhood located within the South Bay (Los Angeles County), South Bay and Los Angeles Harbor Region, Harbor region of the city of Los Angeles, California, United States. Formerly a separate city, it consolidated with Los ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, 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 American President Lines, LLC, is an American container shipping company that is a subsidiary of French shipping company CMA CGM. It operates an all-container ship fleet, including nine U.S. flagged container vessels. In 1938, the U.S. governm ...

(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 intermodal ...

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, mostly merchant vessels, that have been mothballed but can be activated within 20 to 120 days to provide shipping during national military emergencies, or non-mil ...

, (RRF), under operation control of

Military Sealift Command The 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 U ...

(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 the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

, 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

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External links

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