Ron J
Active member
Monday was a day off for me,so i decided to hop on my Roadstar , and take a ride to Boston to do some waterfront snooping! I love snooping any waterfront area's,never know what you will find. I headed down Rte.1 ,over the Mystic River bridge,thru the Big Dig area,to the North Station,bang a left,and head towards the waterfront. My destination,was Drydock #3, location of the Boston Ship Repair Inc.. This place always fascinates me. There is usually always some sort of sea going vessel to see,and photograph. On the skids,was a rather large Navy vessel. Its marked " U S Naval Ship ALGOL ". Thats odd,because usually they are numbered,not marked "U S Naval Ship". It isn't armed,or at least no armament is seen. Appeared to be a cargo vessel of some kind,with very large cranes on board. She is getting a fresh coat of paint. Imagine how many drums of paint is needed for the task? Wish i was the supplier!! I searched for info on her,and found it interesting. There is eight of this type,in the Navy. All were built originally as Container Ships,for Sea-Land Services in New Jersey. They were not cost effective,because of fuel consumption,as merchant ships. All are nearly the length of aircraft carriers,(946 feet) and get this..They are the fastest cargo ships in the world! They are called by the Navy, SL-7 Type Fast Sealift Ships. All are named after super giant Stars. All eight ships together,can carry all the equipment needed to equip a full Army Mechanized Division. They are manned by the US Merchant Marine,not Navy personnel,that must be why the marking is not numbered. All are kept in reduced status,with a crew of 18 men, and can be activated adding another 25 men,ready to go,in 96 hours. They have performed in Desert Shield,and Desert Storm. It would take 116 WWII Liberty Ships to carry the same tonnage as the 8 of these ships carry! I love this stuff! Rj [attachment 67560 Boston060.jpg][attachment 67561 Boston056.jpg][attachment 67562 Boston062.jpg][attachment 67563 Boston063.jpg][attachment 67564 Boston066.jpg][attachment 67565 Boston059.jpg]