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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

IX-532
ex
Joint Venture (HSV-X1)

High-speed Catamaran:

Laid down, 19 January 1998, at Incat Tasmania Party Ltd, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia

Launched, 7 November 1998

Delivered, 21 November 1998

Joint Venture was a joint-service experimental craft. Capabilities tested included speed, high payload fraction, longer and more useful ranges and the ability to tailor the payload for optimum mission success. The joint-service experiment was coordinated by the Navy Warfare Development Command in close partnership with elements of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard. Joint Venture was homeported at Naval Amphibious Base, Little Creek, VA.

Struck from the Naval Register, 15 March 2004 and turned over to the US Army

Returned to Incat Tasmania Party Ltd, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia in the Autumn of 2006

Purchased, 19 May 2008, by the Isle of Man Steam Packet Co. and refitted for mercantile service at Portsmouth, England

Placed in service, 22 May 2009, as Manannán mac Lir providing service between Douglas, Isle of Man and Liverpool, England

Specifications:
Displacement 940 t.(lt) 1668 t.(fl)
Length 326'
Beam 87'
Draft 13'
Complement 5 Officers, 25 Enlisted
Propulsion diesel-powered, water jet Catamaran

Click On Image For Full Size Image	Size	Image Description	Source
Joint Venture (IX-532)
	450k	The high-speed experimental research vessel Joint Venture (HSV-X1) transits the channel leading to the U.S. Marine Corps' Blount Island command near Jacksonville, FL. US Navy photo # 011129-C-0000P-001 Atlantic Ocean (Nov. 29, 2001), courtesy of Gordon I. Peterson, Sea Power Magazine.	Tommy Trampp
	39k	Joint Venture (HSV-X1) prepares to get underway during local training exercises in the Arabian Gulf, 8 May 2002. *Joint Venture, an experimental craft, was originally designed as a civilian car and passenger ferry. Currently, it is in the research and development stage to be used by the United States military as a rapid troop and equipment transport carrier. Joint Venture* was on a scheduled six to twelve month deployment in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. US Navy # photo # 020508-N-6077T-001 PH1 (AW/SW) Kevin H. Tierney.	CHINFO web site
	236k	Joint Venture (HSV-X1) pulls into the port of Souda Bay, Crete, 3 April 2002. The 313 foot-long experimental craft is a wave-piercing Catamaran capable of 45 knots and is currently being operated by joint U.S. Army and U.S. Navy personnel. *Joint Venture*’s naval employment includes replenishment and resupply at sea, special operations insertion and re-deployment, reconnaissance, command and control, anti-submarine warfare, mine warfare, humanitarian assistance/evacuation, surface warfare and force protection. US Navy by Paul Farley	Robert Hurst
	565k	Joint Venture (HSV-X1) moves through the waters off the coast of southern California, on 2 August 2002. *Joint Venture* is participating in Fleet Battle Experiment Juliet (FBE-J) as part of operations supporting Millennium Challenge 2002 (MC-02). MC-02 is the nation's premier joint integrating event, bringing together both live field exercises and computer simulations throughout the Department of Defense. US Navy photo by PH2 Frederick McCahan.	Robert Hurst
	73k	Joint Venture (HSV-X1) and the US Army's Spearhead (TSV-1X) pierside at Camp Patriot, Kuwait. Operation Enduring Freedom is the first time the craft have been deployed together in support of military operations US Navy photo # 030225-N-1050K-001 by JO1 Joseph Krypel.	US Navy Newsstand
	259k	*Sea Slice* (foreground) passes the docked HSV-1X (IX-532) Joint Venture. Upper left is the hospital ship *USNS Mercy* (T-AH-19)**, date and location unknown.	Robert Hurst
Merchant Service
	76k	Ex-Joint Venture (IX-532) at Incat Shipyard, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia undergoing preparation for US Army service, 20 September 2003. *Joint Venture* is moored stern to the building sheds where the ships are constructed under cover.	Photo by Nick Jansen
	62k	Ex-Joint Venture (IX-532) at Incat Shipyard, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia undergoing preparation for US Army service, 20 September 2003.	Photo by Nick Jansen
	70k	Ex-Joint Venture (IX-532) at Incat Shipyard, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia undergoing preparation for US Army service, 20 September 2003.	Photo by Nick Jansen
	66k	Ex-Joint Venture (IX-532) at Incat Shipyard, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia undergoing preparation for US Army service, 20 September 2003. the bow of *The Lynx, a commercial version of the High-speed Wave Piercing Vessel, and a close relative of Joint Venture* can be seen in this photo.	Photo by Nick Jansen
	100k	Ex-Joint Venture (IX-532), right, and US Army ex-Spearhead (TSV-1X), left, at Incat Shipyard, Hobart, Tasmania., Incat 060, *ex-Spearhead* has been sold to the Government of Trinidad and Tobago will be fitted out for civilian service and is to be renamed *T & T Spirit. Incat 050 ex-Joint Venture* appears to be idle.	Photo by Glenn Towler
	26k	Ex-Joint Venture (IX-532) purchased by the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company and renamed HSC Manannan practices berthing while at Belfast Northern Ireland in 2009 She arrived in Douglas, 11 May 2009, after a major refit at Portsmouth, England. She was named after *Manannán mac Lir*, the Celtic god of the sea.	Tommy Trampp
	221k	HSC Manannan on her maiden service voyage with the Steam Packet Company on Friday 22 May 2009 with the 07:30 sailing from Douglas to Liverpool.	Robert Hurst
	91k	HSC Manannan moored at Douglas, Isle of Man, 27 May 2009.	Tommy Trampp
	104k	HSC Manannan tied up at her usual berth at the Pier Head, Liverpool, with the Liver Building in the background, 30 May 2012. Photo ©El Pollock, courtesy geograph.org.uk	Robert Hurst
	138k	HSC Manannan under way on the River Mersey heading for Liverpool, 17 May 2013. Photo ©El Pollock, courtesy geograph.org.uk	Robert Hurst