MV Capt. Steven L. Bennett

Capt. Steven L. Bennett was built in 1984 as TNT Express and operated as such under charter by ABC Containerline N.V. of Antwerp, Belgium for the London-based company TNT until 1991. In 1991, ABC Containerline bought the ship and renamed her Martha II. On February 14, 1996, the ship was detained in Melbourne, Australia when ABC went into receivership.{{cite web | title = Martha II at NZ Maritime Index | url =http://www.nzmaritimeindex.org.nz/ixvessel.asp?ID=50040400&name=SEAPRIDE&gsn=&owner=&num=&typ=&tid=0&tix=0&pix=0&SourceID=&refid=&hit=3 | work = nzmaritimeindex.org.nz | accessdate=March 3, 2007}} Den norske Bank of Norway bought the ship later in 1996 and renamed her Sea Pride. In 1997, the ship was bought by Sealift Incorporated of the United States and on November 20, 1997 given her final name MV Capt. Steven L. Bennett. In the first quarter of 1998, Capt. Steven L. Bennett began her prepositioning service under MPS Squadron One in the Mediterranean and as such became MV Capt. Steven L. Bennett (T-AK-4296).

Capt. Steven L. Bennett started her Air Force Prepositioning Program career in the Mediterranean Sea, with a mission to "support the prepositioning requirements of the Department of Defense by transporting U.S. Air Force ammunition."{{cite web | title = DefenseLink: Contracts for Friday, June 07, 2002 | url = http://www.defenselink.mil/Contracts/Contract.aspx?ContractID=2282 | work = defenselink.mil | accessdate=February 25, 2007}} The contract, awarded to owner and operator Sealift Incorporated, of Oyster Bay, New York was for $41,823,500 with "reimbursables that could bring the cumulative value of this contract to $47.4 million."

In 1999, Bennett was involved in the NATO peacekeeping mission in Kosovo, when she off-loaded more than two-thirds of her cargo of U.S. Air Force ammunition containers in Nordenham, Germany, which were distributed to the United Kingdom, Italy and other locations within Germany—quickly replenishing the Air Force's stockpile in theater.{{cite web|title=Military Sealift Command praises AMO ships, officers |url=http://www.amo-union.org/newspaper/Morgue/4-2002/Sections/News/msc.htm |work=American Maritime Officer magazine |accessdate=March 7, 2007 |url-status = dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20061008161252/http://www.amo-union.org/Newspaper/Morgue/4-2002/Sections/News/msc.htm |archivedate=October 8, 2006 }}

When the original contract expired in fiscal year 2002, Capt. Steven L. Bennett "competed for and won a new five-year contract and redeployed to the Mediterranean in October."{{cite web|title=Military Sealift Command: 2002 in Review |url=http://www.msc.navy.mil/annualreport/2002/pm3.htm |work=msc.navy.mil |accessdate=February 25, 2007 |url-status = dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070115032543/http://www.msc.navy.mil/annualreport/2002/pm3.htm |archivedate=January 15, 2007 }} Capt. Steven L. Bennett, as a ship carrying Air Force cargo, was used extensively during fiscal year 2002 to support Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom, and the global war on terrorism.

Capt. Steven L. Bennett had an eventful 2003. Still assigned to MPS Squadron One, she started the year in the Mediterranean.{{cite news | title = Ships/Navy: Logistics prepositioning ships | url = http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3738/is_200301/ai_n9182267 | work = Sea Power | accessdate=March 7, 2007 | year=2003}} In April, she delivered cargo to the Persian Gulf and continued on to Diego Garcia. In July, she returned briefly to the United States, stopping en route in Northern Europe to drop off and load additional cargo.{{cite web|title=Military Sealift Command: 2003 in Review |url=http://www.msc.navy.mil/annualreport/2003/pm3.htm |work=msc.navy.mil |accessdate=February 25, 2007 |url-status = dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070110115138/http://www.msc.navy.mil/annualreport/2003/pm3.htm |archivedate=January 10, 2007 }} In late 2003, Vice Adm. David Brewer III, commander of Military Sealift Command, awarded the officers and crewmembers of Bennett the Merchant Marine Expeditionary Medal.{{cite web|title=AMO members serve in military operations, exercises |url=http://www.amo-union.org/newspaper/Morgue/9-2003/Sections/News/medal.htm |work=American Maritime Officer magazine |accessdate=March 7, 2007 |url-status = dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20060720221414/http://www.amo-union.org/Newspaper/Morgue/9-2003/sections/news/medal.htm |archivedate=July 20, 2006 }}

Capt. Steven L. Bennett spent much of her time at anchor in the lagoon of Diego Garcia,{{cite web|title=Maritime Prepositioning Ship Squadron Two |url=http://www.msc.navy.mil/mpstwo/ |accessdate=March 7, 2007 |url-status = dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120229042433/http://www.msc.navy.mil/mpstwo/ |archivedate=February 29, 2012 }} and was spotted in New Orleans, Louisiana in early 2005.{{cite web | title = VOS Cooperative Ship Report: January through February 2005 | url=http://www.vos.noaa.gov/MWL/april_05/vos_ship_report_2005.shtml | work = vos.noaa.gov | accessdate=March 7, 2007}}

File:MV Capt Stephen L. Bennett (T-AK-4296)-2.JPG

Capt. Steven L. Bennett{{'s}} side number, T-AK-4296, gives some information about her. The letter T indicates that it was "assigned to Commander, Military Sealift Command as a type commander."{{cite web|title=SECNAV Instruction 5030.1L, dated 22 Jan 1993 |url=http://www.msc.navy.mil/inventory/inventory.asp?var=hull |work=msc.navy.mil |accessdate=March 3, 2007 |url-status = dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070206182816/http://www.msc.navy.mil/inventory/inventory.asp?var=hull |archivedate=February 6, 2007 }} The letters "AK" are reserved for cargo ships. In fact, Bennett was actually a conbulker, a flexible design allowing it to carry both containerized and bulk cargo.{{cite web | title = Shipspotting Brussel | url = http://www.shipspotting.com/modules/myalbum/photo.php?lid=320731 | work = shipspotting.com | accessdate=March 3, 2007}}{{cite web|title=Metallurgy and Shipbuilding |url=http://users.skynet.be/p.woinin/ssteel.htm |work=skynet.be |accessdate=March 3, 2007 |url-status = dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070304093044/http://users.skynet.be/p.woinin/ssteel.htm |archivedate=March 4, 2007 }} Fully loaded, it could carry 1,922 containers.{{cite web | title = T-AK 4296 Capt. Steven L. Bennett | url = http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ship/tak-4296.htm | work = globalsecurity.org| accessdate=February 25, 2007}}

Capt. Steven L. Bennett, like all MSC container ships, was self-sustaining, meaning that she had cranes which allowed her to move cargo without depending on shore-based equipment. This allowed Capt. Steven L. Bennett to fulfill her mission even in primitive, undeveloped or battle-damaged harbors.

As Capt. Steven L. Bennett carried sensitive electronic cargoes in harsh environments for potentially years at a time, she required advanced environmental controls. The most obvious is the cocoon, or white fabric shell, that covered the ship from holds number nine to three. The cocoon was removed from the ship in 2012 during a shipyard period. The hold climate control equipment was also mothballed. All ships in Bennett class "feature climate-controlled cocoons on their weather decks that allow them to carry approximately 50 percent more cargo, while protecting the additional cargo from the marine environment."

In addition to the cocoon, Capt. Steven L. Bennett used Tidal Engineering Corporation's Control and Monitoring System (TECMS) which monitored and controlled the cargo refrigeration and dehumidification controls, as well as providing administrative reports.{{cite web|url=http://www.tidaleng.com/tecms.htm|title=TECMS|publisher=Tidal Engineering}}

The ship was broken up at Alang, India on 18 March 2016.{{csr|register=MSI|id=8313661|shipname=TNT Express|accessdate=8 December 2020}}

• List of Military Sealift Command ships
• List of auxiliaries of the United States Navy

{{reflist|2}}

{{Commons category|Capt. Steven L. Bennett (ship, 1984)}}

• [http://www.sealiftinc.com/ Sealift Incorporated]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20090124171011/http://group.tnt.com/aboutus/history/index.aspx TNT Company History]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070719130059/http://www.mlaanz.org/docs/99journal3.html The Arrest of Martha II]
• [http://www.msc.navy.mil/inventory/ships.asp?ship=13&type=ContainerShip Info Sheet] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070520140517/http://www.msc.navy.mil/inventory/ships.asp?ship=13&type=ContainerShip |date=2007-05-20 }} at Military Sealift Command
• [http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ship/docs/n19971113_971432.htm AFN Article] on Naming Ceremony

{{Ships of Sealift Incorporated}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Capt. Steven L. Bennett (T-Ak-4296)}}

Category:Container ships of the United States Navy

Category:Ships built by Samsung Heavy Industries

Category:1984 ships