TS Kennedy

Last updated
Kennedy Anchored in Mayaguez Bay.jpg
USTS Kennedy anchored in Mayaguez Bay, Puerto Rico (2022)
History
Flag of the United States.svgUnited States
NameUSTS Kennedy
NamesakeKennedy Family
Owner U.S. Maritime Administration
Operator Texas A&M University at Galveston
Port of registryBuzzards Bay
Builder Avondale Shipyards, New Orleans, Louisiana
Cost$10.5 Million
Yard number1069
Way number182
Laid down1964
Launched1967
In service1967
RenamedSS Velma Lykes, SS Cape Bon, TS Enterprise, TS Kennedy
Reclassified2001
Refit2001
Homeport Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts
Identification
FateTraining Vessel Texas A&M University at Galveston
Status Ready Reserve Fleet, Training Vessel
General characteristics
Type Training Ship/Troopship
Displacement18,549 long tons (18,847 t)
Length540 ft (160 m)
Beam76 ft (23 m)
Height119 ft 0 in (36.27 m) from keel to radar mast
Draft28'6"
Depth42'6"
Decks8
Installed power2 x GE ATI Turbine 750kW, ABB Wartsila Diesel 1.3MW, Caterpillar 3406 365bhp
Propulsion2 × Marine D Type 600 PSI Foster Wheeler Boilers, De Laval steam turbine, single screw, 15,500 horsepower
Speed21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph)
Range10,000 nautical miles
Complement710
Crew43
Time to activate3 days
Aircraft carriedNone
Aviation facilitiesHelicopter pad (winch only)
Kennedy moored at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy Pier (2021) Kennedy at Mass Maritime 2021.jpg
Kennedy moored at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy Pier (2021)

USTS Kennedy(T-AK-5059), callsign KVMU, IMO number 6621662, is a former commercial freighter and a current training vessel of the United States Maritime Service.

Contents

Construction and Early Years

United States Training Ship Kennedy was laid down in 1964 as Velma Lykes, a Maritime Administration (MARAD) break bulk cargo freighter type (C4-S-66a) hull under Maritime Administration contract (MA 182) at Avondale Industries, New Orleans, LA. She was delivered to Lykes Brothers Steamship Company in 1966. She was known as Velma Lykes until the vessel was reacquired by MARAD and she was renamed Cape Bon.

Government Service

Kennedy in New York in 2022 USTS Kennedy in New York, July 2022.jpg
Kennedy in New York in 2022

The SS Cape Bon was acquired by the Maritime Administration on 26 June 1985, and was placed in reserve at Suisun Bay, Benecia, CA, as part of the National Defense Reserve Fleet. In September 1985 she was renamed SS Cape Bon (AK-5059). [1] She served the US Government for over 20 years including several tours to the Persian Gulf as part of the First Gulf War.

In 2001, Cape Bon was moved to Buzzards Bay, MA for preparation to replace Patriot State as the Training Ship for the Massachusetts Maritime Academy. She was converted to be a training ship at Bender Ship Repair in Mobile, Alabama, being delivered and christened Enterprise, after the school's original training ship USS Enterprise, on National Maritime Day 2003. She was renamed Kennedy in January 2009 in honor of the Kennedy Family. [2]

The TS Kennedy made 23 training cruises with the Massachusetts Maritime Academy. The ship carried thousands of cadets during her service, calling in many Caribbean Island ports as well as multiple making multiple Panama Canal transits.

TS Kennedy was transferred to the Texas A&M Maritime Academy on the Galveston Campus of Texas A&M University in 2023 and departed Galveston for a 60-day cadet training at sea semester on June 7, 2023. [3] [4]

Kennedy anchored off the shores of Mayaguez, Puerto Rico during 2022 Training Cruise (taken during lifeboat testing from LB-2 on January 15, 2022) Kennedy Anchored in Mayaguez Bay.jpg
Kennedy anchored off the shores of Mayaguez, Puerto Rico during 2022 Training Cruise (taken during lifeboat testing from LB-2 on January 15, 2022)

Relief Work

Kennedy was deployed to New York Harbor in support of Hurricane Sandy relief efforts in 2012 and Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico in 2017. Its mission was to house first responders and FEMA SCF personnel [5] [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Training ship</span> Ship used to train seafarers

A training ship is a ship used to train students as sailors. The term is mostly used to describe ships employed by navies to train future officers. Essentially there are two types: those used for training at sea and old hulks used to house classrooms. As with receiving ships or accommodation ships, which were often hulked warships in the 19th Century, when used to bear on their books the shore personnel of a naval station, that were generally replaced by shore facilities commissioned as stone frigates, most "Training Ships" of the British Sea Cadet Corps, by example, are shore facilities.

Texas A&M University at Galveston (TAMUG) is an ocean-oriented branch campus of Texas A&M University offering both undergraduate and graduate degrees. Students enrolled at Texas A&M University at Galveston, known affectionately as 'Sea Aggies', share the benefits of students attending Texas A&M University (TAMU) campus in College Station. TAMUG is located on Pelican Island, offering benefits for its maritime focused majors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Massachusetts Maritime Academy</span> Public college in Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts

Massachusetts Maritime Academy is a public university in Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts, focused on maritime-related fields. It was established in 1891 and is the second oldest state maritime academy in the United States. Originally established to graduate deck and engineering officers for the U.S. Merchant Marine, the academy has since expanded its curriculum. Though not required, some graduates go on to serve in active and reserve components of the U.S. Armed Forces. The academy operates a training ship, the USTS Kennedy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Type C1 ship</span> Class of American cargo ships

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SS <i>Cape Mohican</i> (T-AKR-5065)

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USNS <i>Henry Gibbins</i>

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SS Green Mountain State (T-ACS-9) is a crane ship in ready reserve for the United States Navy. The ship was named for the state of Vermont, which is also known as the Green Mountain State.

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SS <i>Cape May</i> (T-AKR-5063)

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TS <i>Patriot State</i>

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USNS <i>Upshur</i> (T-AP-198)

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Type C5 ship

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Type C8-class ship Type of Heavy Lift Barge Carrier

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References

  1. NavSource Online. "TS Kennedy". NavSource.org. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
  2. "Maritime Academy to rename its ship The Kennedy". Boston.com. Boston Globe. November 1, 2012. Archived from the original on 2012-04-27. Retrieved 2012-11-15.
  3. Blenkey, Nick (April 27, 2023). "Texas A&M Maritime Academy welcomes training ship TS Kennedy". Marine Log. Simmons-Boardman Publishing. Retrieved June 12, 2023.
  4. "Texas A&M Maritime Academy Prepares Next Generation of Maritime Professionals". Ocean News and Technology (ON&T). Technology Systems Corporation. June 2, 2023. Retrieved June 12, 2023.
  5. "Mass. Maritime ship, T.S. Kennedy, is being deployed to New York to help with Hurricane Sandy relief". 7 News WHDH.com. Associated Press. August 10, 2008. Retrieved 2012-11-15.
  6. Corey Kilgannon (2012-12-11). "After Storm Work, a Night's Rest on Water". New York Times . Bronx, New York. p. A30. Archived from the original on 2012-12-12. Two other ships that were brought to the New York area to house workers, the S.S. Wright and the T.S. Kennedy, are anchored off Staten Island. All three ships provided sleeping space for about 1,200, but that number has decreased in recent weeks as the immediate response has ebbed, said Mike Byrne, 58, the coordinating officer in charge of the Federal Emergency Management Agency response in New York.