Page 51: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (August 1984)

Principals at the Antares naming ceremony were (L to R): Gen. Wallace H. Nutting, USA, principal speaker and Commander-in-

Chief of the U.S. Readiness Command; Mrs. Nutting, the ship's sponsor; Mrs. Paul D. Hurst; Mrs. Albert Bossier; Col. Eugene

C. Schoults, USMC, Commander of the Naval System Command, Department of the Navy, Washington. At rear are Capt. Paul D.

Hurst, USN, Supervisor of Shipbuilding-New Orleans; and Albert Bossier, president of Avondale. Flower girl is Miss Elizabeth

Carriere.

AVONDALE DELIVERS FAST SEALIFT

SHIP USNS ANTARES TO MSC

The Fast Sealift Ship (FSS) USNS Antares (T-AKR-294) was dedicated in ceremonies held recently at Avondale Shipyards, Inc. near New Orleans, and delivered to the Mili- tary Sealift Command about two weeks later.

This is the first of three SL-7 containerships that Avondale is converting for the MSC. The

FSS ships will provide for the rapid deploy- ment of heavy mechanized Army combat and support equipment and supplies, as well as providing sealift capability for the Marine

Corps, Air Force, and Navy.

The Antares has an overall length of 944 feet, a beam of 105.6 feet, and displacement of 55,372 long tons. She was built as the Sea-

Land Galloway at the A.G. Weser yard in Bre- men, West Germany, in 1972. Her 120,000- shp, twin-screw propulsion plant comprises

General Electric steam turbines and gears, and two Foster Wheeler boilers.

The capabilities of the Antares and other

Fast Sealift Ships include: 33-knot transit speed, roll-on/roll-off handling of cargo, and self-sUstaining lift-on/lift-off, by means of twin 35-ton and 50-ton cranes, of vehicles and hel- icopters. The vessels are able to land helicop- ters, and load a mixture of tanks, helicopters, wheeled vehicles, and containerized or palle- tized cargo.

The conversion of the Antares included, in part, the modification of existing container storage areas to accommodate various new decks including a helicopter flight deck, the installation of the 35-ton and 50-ton twin cranes, the fitting of two sideports and various platforms and ramps to support RO/RO operations.

Avondale utilized state-of-the-art tech- niques for zone outfitting in the conversion ef- fort. Structural modules were outfitted with piping, ductwork, electrical wireways, and equipment prior to being erected at the build- ing site.

The Navy names special amphibious sup- port cargo ships such as the Antares after ce- lestial bodies. The Fast Sealift Ships of the T-

AKR Class are named after brilliant stars, and the Antares (T-AKR-294) is named after the brightest star in the southern sky, in the constellation Scorpius.

Fast Sealift Ship USNS Antares has been delivered to MSC by

Avondale. She is first of three former SL-7 containerships being converted by the New Orleans shipyard.

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