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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

SS Cape Girardeau (AK-2039)


Cape G Class Breakbulk Cargo Ship:
  • Built, date unknown, by Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Co., Newport News, VA. in 1968 as SS Alaskan Mail a Maritime Administration type (C5-S-75a)
  • Launched, date unknown
  • Delivered to the Maritime Administration (MARAD), 29 October 1968, for operation by American Mail Steam Ship Co.
  • Named changed to SS President Adams, 11 April 1978
  • Reacquired by the Maritime Administration for assignment to the Ready Reserve Fleet (RRF), 11 April 1988
  • Berthed at Alameda, CA. as part of the Maritime Administration Ready Reserve Fleet
  • Assigned to the Military Sealift Command (MSC) as SS Cape Girardeau (AK-2039)
  • Operated by APL for the government during Operation Desert Storm
  • SS Cape Girardeau (AK-2039) was withdrawn from the Ready Reserve Fleet, and returned to the National Defense Reserve Fleet in October 2008
    Specifications:
    Displacement 9,779 t.(lt), 31,995 t.(fl)
    Length 605'
    Beam 82'
    Draft 35' (max.)
    Speed 18.9 kts
    Cargo Capacities
    Bale 1,045,160 cubic feet
    Refrigerated 21,839 cubic feet
    Liquid 95,080 cubic feet
    Passenger Capacity 12
    Speed 23 kts.
    Full Operating Status Complement 45 Civilian Mariners, Reduced Operational Status 9 maintainers
    Propulsion
    one geared steam turbine
    two B&W WT boilers, 875 PSI @ 950 degrees fahrenheit
    single propeller, 24,000shp

    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image
    Size Image Description Source
    Merchant Service American President Lines
    Cape  Girardeau
    0913203910
    108k SS Alaskan Mail launching 16 April 1968 at Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Co., Newport News, VA. Christened by Mrs. E. L. "Bob" Bartlett, wife of the senator from Alaska. Dale Hargrave
    Cape  Girardeau
    0913203911
    109k
    Cape  Girardeau 86k American Mail Steam Ship Co. freighter SS President Adams underway, date and location unknown.  
    SS Cape Girardeau (AK-2039) MARAD Ready Reserve Fleet
    Cape  Girardeau 50k SS Cape Girardeau (AK-2039) underway in San Francisco Bay, date unknown.
    US Navy photo.
    MARAD web site
    Cape  Girardeau 50k SS Cape Girardeau (AK-2039) underway in San Francisco Bay, date unknown.
    US Navy photo.
    MARAD web site
    Cape  Girardeau 50k SS Cape Girardeau (AK-2039) moored pierside, date and place unknown.
    US Navy photo.
    MARAD web site
    Cape  Girardeau 163k SS Cape Girardeau (AK-2039) moored on the Columbia River, circa 1990s.
    Photo by Rick Garcia.
    Chris Howell, SOUTHLAND SHIP STORES LIMITED, Port of BLUFF, NEW ZEALAND
    Cape  Girardeau 60k SS Cape Girardeau (AK-2039) (the modular cargo delivery system ship) steams with USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) as an HH-60H Seahawk assigned to the "Black Knights" of Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron Four (HS-4) returns to pick up another load of supplies during a Vertical Replenishment (VERTREP), 16 July 2004. Cape Girardeau was re-activated from the National Defense Reserve Fleet to participate in exercises at sea.
    US Navy photo # 040716-N-0684R-084 by PHAN Ron Reeves from the Navy NewsStand web site.
    Fabio Peņa
    Cape  Girardeau
    0913203909
    153k SS Cape Girardeau (AK-2039) docked outboard at Alameda, CA., September 2005.
    Photo courtesy Stan Shebs
    Roert Hurst

    There is no history available for SS Cape Girardeau (AK-2039) at NavSource
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    MARAD Vessel History Database
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 10 October 2023