SS ''Grand Canyon State'' (T-ACS-3) 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 ...

ready reserve The Ready Reserve is a U.S. Department of Defense program which maintains a pool of trained service members that may be recalled to active duty should the need arise. It is composed of service members that are contracted to serve in the Ready Res ...

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

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

, which is also known as the ''Grand Canyon State''.

History

''Grand Canyon State'' was laid down on 20 March 1964, as the combination breakbulk-container ship SS ''President Polk'', ON 500484, IMO 6510899, 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-1aq) hull under MARAD contract (MA 164). Built by

National Steel and Shipbuilding National Steel and Shipbuilding Company, commonly referred to as NASSCO, is an American shipbuilding company with four shipyards located in San Diego, Norfolk, Bremerton, and Mayport. It is a division of General Dynamics. NASSCO owns a subsidi ...

, San Diego, CA, hull no. 338, she was launched on 23 January 1965, and delivered to MARAD on 4 November 1965, for service with

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 ...

. She was converted to a MARAD type (C6-S-1qc)

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 ...

, in 1973, and continued to be operated by APL until delivered to the Maritime Administration in 1982 for lay up 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 ...

(NDRF). In 1985-1987 she was converted to a type (C6-S-MA1qd) Crane Ship by Dillingham Corporation, San Francisco, CA. She was placed in service as SS ''Grand Canyon State'' (ACS-3) 27 October 1987, assigned to the

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)

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).Polmar 2005 p. 308 The ''Grand Canyon State'' was assigned to the Maritime Propositioning Squadron Three and maintained a 5-day readiness status (ROS-5) at Ready Reserve Fleet Alameda. In 2020 she was reassigned to the

Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet The Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet colloquially known as the mothball fleet, is located on the northwest side of Suisun Bay (the northern portion of the greater San Francisco Bay estuary) in Benicia, California. The fleet is within a regulated navig ...

References

Notes

Bibliography

Online

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External links

Military Sealift Command Ship Inventory
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grand Canyon State Ships built in San Diego 1965 ships Keystone State-class crane ships