SS Gopher State
{{Short description|Crane ship}}
| {{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image |Ship image=Ssgopherstate.jpg |Ship caption=SS Gopher State (T-ACS-4) }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship country=United States |Ship flag={{Shipboxflag|United States}} |Ship owner=United States Maritime Administration |Ship operator=*(1973) American Export-Isbrandtsen Lines
|Ship name=Export Leader |Ship namesake= |Ship ordered=20 October 1970 |Ship builder=Bath Iron Works |Ship laid down=26 July 1971 |Ship launched=8 July 1972 |Ship acquired= |Ship commissioned= |Ship decommissioned= |Ship homeport=Newport News, VA |Ship in service=22 January 1973 |Ship out of service=1986 laid up |Ship struck= |Ship reinstated= |Ship identification={{IMO Number|7226689}} |Ship honours= |Ship fate=Acquired by the United States Navy |Ship status= |Ship notes= }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header=title |Ship country=United States |Ship flag={{USN flag}} |Ship name= Gopher State (T-ACS-4) |Ship namesake=Named in honor of the state of Minnesota. |Ship ordered= |Ship builder= |Ship laid down= |Ship launched= |Ship acquired=1986 |Ship commissioned= |Ship decommissioned= |Ship in service=12 October 1987 to the present |Ship out of service= |Ship struck= |Ship reinstated= |Ship identification=*{{IMO Number|7226689}}
|Ship honours= |Ship fate= |Ship status= |Ship notes=Five days needed to activate. }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption= |Ship class={{sclass|Gopher State|crane ship}} |Ship displacement=* 13900 tons (light)
|Ship length=668 ft 7 in |Ship beam=76 ft 1 in |Ship draught= |Ship draft=33 ft 6 in |Ship propulsion=* Steam turbines
|Ship speed=17 knots |Ship range= |Ship capacity=* 300 plus containers
|Ship complement=* 9 civilian during Reduced Operating Status
|Ship sensors= |Ship EW= |Ship armament= |Ship armour= |Ship armor= |Ship aircraft= |Ship aircraft facilities= |Ship notes= }} |
SS Gopher State (T-ACS-4) is a crane ship in ready reserve for the United States Navy. The ship was named for the state of Minnesota, which is also known as the Gopher State.
Gopher State is currently moored at Newport News, VA.
History
Gopher State was laid down on 26 July 1971, as the container ship Export Leader, ON 545126, IMO 7226689, a Maritime Administration type C5-S-73b hull under MARAD contract (MA 257). Built by Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine, hull no. 358, she was launched on 8 July 1972, and delivered to MARAD 22 January 1973, entering service for American Export-Isbrandtsen Lines (renamed American Export Lines in the same year). She was sold to Farrell Lines in 1978 without name change. The ship was returned to MARAD in 1986 and laid up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet (NDRF). In 1987 she was converted to a type C5-S-MA73c crane ship by Norfolk Shipbuilding & Drydock, Norfolk, Virginia. Completed on 12 October 1987, she was placed in service as Gopher State (T-ACS-4) and assigned to the Ready Reserve Force (RRF), under operation control of the Military Sealift Command (MSC).Polmar 2005 p. 308Silverstone 2011 p. 237
{{stack|File:SS Gopher State in Drydock No. 3.agr.jpg}}
Gopher State is in ready reserve, laid up at Newport News, Virginia. As of December 2016, she is in Drydock No. 3 in Boston.
See also
References
= Notes =
{{Reflist}}
= Bibliography =
- {{cite book |last= Polmar |first= Norman |title= The Naval Institute Guide to the Ships and Aircraft of the U.S. Flee |publisher= Naval Institute Press |year= 2005 |isbn= 1591146852 |url-access= registration |url= https://archive.org/details/navalinstitutegu0018polm }}
- {{cite book| last= Silverstone |first= Paul |title=The Navy of the Nuclear Age, 1947-2007 |publisher= Routledge |year=2011 |isbn=978-1135864668}}
= Online =
- U.S. Navy, [https://web.archive.org/web/20060514070919/http://www.msc.navy.mil/inventory/ships.asp?ship=93&type=CraneShip]
- U.S. Naval Register, [{{Naval Vessel Register URL|id=ACS4}}]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20050901161939/http://www.navy.mil/navydata/fact_display.asp?cid=4800&tid=100&ct=4 United States Navy Fact File - Crane Ships]
External links
{{Commons category}}
- [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ship/tacs.htm Global Security.org - T-ACS Keystone State Auxiliary Crane Ships]
- [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ship/tacs-specs.htm Global Security.org - T-ACS Keystone State Auxiliary Crane Ships specifications]
- [http://www.navsource.org/archives/09/76/7604.htm Navsource.org]
- [http://www.marad.dot.gov/documents/i101231.pdf National Defense Reserve Fleet Inventory]
{{Gopher State class crane ship}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gopher State}}
Category:Gopher State-class crane ships