History | |
---|---|
France | |
Name | Monet |
Owner | French Government Line |
Builder | Chantier naval de La Ciotat (in French) |
Launched | 9 July 1977 |
Completed | 1978 |
United States | |
Name | MV Buffalo Soldier |
Namesake | Buffalo Soldiers |
Owner | RR and VO Partnership |
Out of service | 2001; returned to owners at completion of MSC charter |
Identification |
|
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Buffalo Soldier-class T-AK container & roll-on/roll-off ship |
Displacement | 26,378 long tons (26,801 t) |
Length | 670 ft (200 m) |
Beam | 87 ft (27 m) |
Draft | 34 ft 6 in (10.52 m) |
Speed | 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph) |
Complement | 19 civilian, 0 military |
MV Buffalo Soldier (T-AK-9301) is a roll-on/roll-off ship, formerly of the French Government Line (now merged into CMA CGM). She was sold and reflagged U.S., renamed to honor Buffalo Soldiers, and chartered by the United States Navy Military Sealift Command as a Maritime Prepositioning ship serving at Diego Garcia laden with U.S. Air Force munitions. She is self-sustaining, that is, she can unload herself, an asset in harbors with little or no infrastructure. Her 120-long-ton-capacity roll-on/roll-off ramp accommodates tracked and wheeled vehicles of every description. While she is not currently in service with MSC, ships with her general characteristics are designated Buffalo Soldier class, fleet designation AK 2222. [1]
MV Virginian, formerly named the MV Strong Virginian (T-AKR-9205), is a combination container, heavy lift, and roll-on/roll-off ship. Owned and operated by Sealift Incorporated of Oyster Bay, New York, the ship is one of seventeen container—roll-on/roll-off ships in use by the Military Sealift Command, and one of 28 ships assigned to that organization's Sealift Program Office. The ship was previously known as the MV Saint Magnus and the MV Jolly Indaco.
Strategic sealift ships are part of the United States Military Sealift Command's (MSC) prepositioning program. There are currently 17 ships in the program, strategically positioned around the world to support the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Defense Logistics Agency. Most are named after Medal of Honor recipients from the service they support. The ships are assigned to two Military Prepositioning Ship (MPS) squadrons located in the Indian Ocean at Diego Garcia and in the Western Pacific Ocean at Guam and Saipan.
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 US military services as well as for other government agencies. It first came into existence on 9 July 1949 when the Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS) became solely responsible for the Department of Defense's ocean transport needs. The MSTS was renamed the Military Sealift Command in 1970.
MV TSgt John A. Chapman (T-AK-323) was a Buffalo Soldier-class container ship. She was one of Military Sealift Command's Prepositioning Program.
John Paul Bobo was a United States Marine Corps second lieutenant who posthumously received the Medal of Honor for heroism during the Vietnam War on March 30, 1967.
MV Capt. Steven L. Bennett (T-AK-4296) was a container ship and lead ship of her class. Originally named TNT Express, she was built by Samsung Heavy Industries in Koje, South Korea in 1984. She was named after United States Air Force Medal of Honor recipient Captain Steven L. Bennett. The ship was a Logistics Prepositioning Ship sponsored by the U.S. Air Force. The ship returned to commercial service after the MSC contract ended in October 2012.
MV Shughart (T-AKR-295) is the lead ship of her class of cargo ships operated by the United States Navy. She is a 'roll-on roll-off' non-combat vessel designated as a "Large, Medium-Speed Roll-on/Roll-off" (LMSR) ship.
USNS Taurus (T-AK-273) was a Landing Ship Vehicle built for the United States Navy. The lone ship of her class, she was named for the constellation Taurus, and was the second U.S. Naval vessel to bear the name.
A Buffalo Soldier was a member of one of four original regiments activated in 1866 by the United States Army. Today it refers to the character and nickname of the United States Army soldiers in the 9th and 10th Cavalry units.
USNS GySgt Fred W. Stockham (T-AK-3017) is a Shughart-class container & roll-on roll-off support vessel in the United States Navy's Military Sealift Command (MSC). The vessel is the second Navy ship named after Marine Gunnery Sergeant Fred W. Stockham (1881–1918), who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor during World War I.
USNS PFC Dewayne T. Williams (T-AK-3009), , is the second ship of the 2nd Lt. John P. Bobo-class cargo ship and one of the maritime prepositioning ships of the US Navy. She is named after Medal of Honor recipient and US Marine Dewayne T. Williams.
Type N3-S ships were a Maritime Commission small coastal cargo ship design to meet urgent World War II shipping needs, with the first of the 109 N3, both steam and diesel, type hulls delivered in December 1942.
MV PFC James Anderson Jr. (AK-3002),, was the third ship of the Cpl. Louis J. Hauge Jr.-class cargo ship built in 1979. The ship is named after Private First Class James Anderson Jr., an American Marine who was awarded the Medal of Honor during the Vietnam War.
USNS 2nd Lt. John P. Bobo, formally MV 2nd Lt. John P. Bobo (AK-3008) is a strategic sealift ship currently in service with the United States Navy since its original charter in 1985. The ship is named after US Marine Medal of Honor recipient 2nd Lieutenant John P. Bobo. She is the only US Navy ship to bear the name.
USNS Sgt. William R. Button (T-AK-3012),, is the fifth ship of the 2nd Lt. John P. Bobo-class cargo ship built in 1986. The ship is named after Sergeant William Robert Button, an American Marine who was awarded the Medal of Honor during United States occupation of Haiti.
USNS LTC John U.D. Page (AK-4496), was the lead ship of the LTC John U.D. Page-class cargo ship built in 1985. The ship is named after Lieutenant Colonel John U. D. Page, an American soldier who was awarded the Medal of Honor during Korean War.
MV Cpl. Louis J. Hauge Jr. (AK-3000),, was the lead ship of the Cpl. Louis J. Hauge Jr.-class cargo ship built in 1979. The ship is named after Corporal Louis J. Hauge Jr., an American Marine who was awarded the Medal of Honor during World War II.
MV 1st Lt. Alex Bonnyman (AK-3003),, was the fourth ship of the Cpl. Louis J. Hauge Jr.-class cargo ship built in 1980. The ship is named after First Lieutenant Alexander Bonnyman Jr., an American Marine who was awarded the Medal of Honor during World War II.
MV Pvt. Franklin J. Phillips (AK-3004),, was the fifth ship of the Cpl. Louis J. Hauge Jr.-class cargo ship built in 1980. The ship is named after Private Franklin J. Phillips, an American Marine who was awarded the Medal of Honor during the Boxer Rebellion.
The Naval Vessel Register considered these two ships to be units of the AK 2222 Ship Class, though their characteristics are dis-similar [and indeed there does not appear to be a ship designated AK 2222].