A cargo ship or freighter is a merchant ship that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's seas and oceans each year, handling the bulk of international trade. Cargo ships are usually specially designed for the task, often being equipped with cranes and other mechanisms to load and unload, and come in all sizes. Today, they are almost always built of welded steel, and with some exceptions generally have a life expectancy of 25 to 30 years before being scrapped.
Commerce raiding is a form of naval warfare used to destroy or disrupt logistics of the enemy on the open sea by attacking its merchant shipping, rather than engaging its combatants or enforcing a blockade against them.
Roll-on/roll-off ships are cargo ships designed to carry wheeled cargo, such as cars, motorcycles, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, buses, trailers, and railroad cars, that are driven on and off the ship on their own wheels or using a platform vehicle, such as a self-propelled modular transporter. This is in contrast to lift-on/lift-off (LoLo) vessels, which use a crane to load and unload cargo.
Naval Station Rota, also known as NAVSTA Rota, is a Spanish-U.S. naval base commanded by a Spanish rear admiral. Located in Rota in the Province of Cádiz, NAVSTA Rota is the largest American military community in Spain, housing U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps personnel. There are also small U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force contingents on the base.
Canarias (F86), is the last of the six Spanish-built Santa Maria-class frigates of the Spanish Navy, which are based on the American Oliver Hazard Perry-class design. The Santa Maria class offer both anti-air and anti-submarine defence for the Spanish Navy. The frigate was laid down by Bazan on 15 April 1992 and launched on 21 June 1993. Upon entering service on 14 December 1994, Canarias was homeported at Rota and assigned to the 41st Escort Squadron. Canarias has been assigned to Operation Atalanta of the Somali coast, combatting piracy and Operation Sophia in the Mediterranean Sea, intercepting illegal trafficking of migrants.
Juan Carlos I is a multi-purpose amphibious assault ship-aircraft carrier in the Spanish Navy. Similar in role to many aircraft carriers, the amphibious landing ship has a ski jump for STOVL operations, and is equipped with the McDonnell Douglas AV-8B Harrier II attack aircraft. The vessel is named in honour of Juan Carlos I, the former King of Spain.
USS Merrimac, sometimes incorrectly spelt Merrimack, was a cargo steamship that was built in 1894 in England as Solveig for Norwegian owners, and renamed Merrimac when a US shipowner acquired her in 1897.
USS General Alava (AG-5) was a cargo steamship that was built in Scotland in 1895 and sunk in the Pacific Ocean in 1929. She was built for the Spanish Government; however, in 1900 United States forces captured her in the Spanish–American War. She spent most of her career in the United States Navy.
HMS Port Quebec was a British motor ship that was designed and launched in 1939 to be the refrigerated cargo ship Port Quebec, but completed in 1940 as an auxuiliary minelayer. In 1944 she was converted into an aircraft component repair ship and renamed HMS Deer Sound. In 1947 she was returned to her owner, Port Line, and completed as a cargo ship. She was scrapped in Taiwan in 1968.
USS West Elcasco (ID-3661) was a steel-hulled cargo ship which saw service as an auxiliary with the U.S. Navy in World War I and as an Army transport in World War II.
Dédalo was a steamship that was built in England in 1901 as the cargo ship Neuenfels for the German shipping company DDG "Hansa". Spain seized her in 1918 and had her converted into a seaplane tender and balloon carrier, entering Spanish Navy service in 1922. She served in the Rif War, in which her aircraft took part in the Alhucemas landing of French and Spanish forces in 1925. She was decommissioned in 1934 and scrapped in 1940.
USS Beukelsdijk was a Dutch-owned turret deck ship that was built in England in 1903 as Grängesberg. She was renamed Beukelsdijk in 1916 when she changed owners. In 1918 she was requisitioned as USS Beukelsdijk, with the Naval Registry Identification Number ID–3135. She returned to civilian service in 1919, and was wrecked in the Norwegian Sea in 1923.
Patiño is a replenishment oiler of the Spanish Navy. It was named after the Spanish navy minister José Patiño Rosales, who reorganized the fleet on the orders of Philip V of Spain. The vessel was ordered in 1991 from Navantia and built at their yard in Ferrol, Galicia. The ship entered service with the Spanish Navy in June 1995 and is homeported at Ferrol. Patiño has been deployed with NATO forces around the world, participating in missions in the Kosovo War, the War in Afghanistan along with the European Union's anti-piracy mission to Somalia.
Cantabria (A15) is a replenishment oiler operated by the Spanish Navy. Acquired to provide logistical support for the Spanish fleet, Cantabria was commissioned in 2010. Cantabria is the second-largest naval ship currently operated by the Spanish, behind Juan Carlos I.
HMS Southern Prince was a motor ship that was built in 1929 as the refrigerated cargo ship Southern Prince. She was commissioned into the Royal Navy in 1940 as a minelayer. She became a headquarters ship and then an accommodation ship in 1944, was a fleet training ship in 1945, and returned to civilian trade in 1946. In 1947 she was sold to Italian owners who had her refitted as a passenger ship and renamed her Anna C. From 1952 she was a cruise ship. She was scrapped in 1972.
TCG Anadolu (L-400) is an amphibious assault ship of the Turkish Navy. It is named after the peninsula of Anatolia which forms the majority of the land mass of Turkey. The construction works began on 30 April 2016 at the shipyard of Sedef Shipbuilding Inc. in Istanbul, with the keel being laid on 7 February 2018. TCG Anadolu was commissioned with a ceremony on 10 April 2023.
USS St. Francis (ID-1557) was a cargo steamship. She was built in Ireland in 1914 as San Francisco, and renamed St. Francis in 1918 when she was commissioned into the United States Navy. In 1933 she was renamed Lammot du Pont. In 1942 she was sunk by a U-boat, and 19 of her crew were lost.
Temple Hall was a cargo motor ship that was built in Scotland in 1954. She was later renamed Pantelis in 1969 and then again as Telamon in 1977.
MV Helt was a Panamanian-flagged, Estonian-owned general cargo ship which sank in the Black Sea off the coast of Odesa during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Vsevolod Bobrov is an Elbruss-class in the Russian Navy. Built by the Severnaya Verf Shipyard from 2013 to 2021, the ship is used for transporting dry cargo, water, and ammunition, as well as providing search-and-rescue, medical support, and towing capabilities. The ship was named after the Soviet football and ice hockey player Vsevolod Bobrov.
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