Friday 12 November 2010

Ship Spotting


This ship may look ordinary but is very special.


What is it?

10 comments:

Chuck Hill said...

SL7 operated by MSC?

GrandLogistics said...

Hello Chuck Hill,

it certainly is.

Any idea what is so special about this class?


GrandLogistics.

Chuck Hill said...

They can do 33 knots. Not good for Commercial service, but militarily useful.

GrandLogistics said...

Hello Chuck Hill,

the had the speed records for the fastest cargo ships to cross the Atlantic and Pacific:

"The eight SL-7s that joined the Sea-Land fleet
could maintain 33 knots—10 to 15 knots faster than
any other cargo ship then in service. The superliner
SS United States may have wrested the transatlantic
speed record from the Queen Mary in 1952, but the
Sea-Land Exchange, one of the SL-7s, crossed the
North Atlantic in August 1973 at 34.92 knots, only
0.97 knots slower than the United States. Another SL-
7, Sea-Land Commerce, is the all-time speed champion
in the transpacific merchant trade."

That is very fast for a big ship,being able to move an army nearly 1,000 miles a day is a nice capability to have.

The picture is of Sea-Land Exchange in her civilian days before she became U.S.N.S. Algol,lead ship of her class.


GrandLogistics.

WAG said...

Served as an oiler on the Commerce on round trips from Seattle to Asia in the late 70's. It was fast and efficient. Where is it now? Also, what happened to Sealands fleet.

GrandLogistics said...

Hello Boring,

it must have been quite an experience to serve on such a fast ship.
Here is some information on her later life:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Regulus_(T-AKR-292)


GrandLogistics.

DoubleM said...

My Father Captain Thomas B Miller was Master of the Sea Land Commerce and was on it when it set the speed record.

Eric Weber said...

Did a Rotterdam to Algeciras run on the Galloway average speed 37.5 Knots, tried it again sea trials on the Algol also 37.5 with MEBA D1 engineers. The schedule for the 21 day North Atlantic run required 33 Knots average...

GrandLogistics said...

Hello DoubleM,

that is very impressive,a very special piece of family history.


Grand Logistics.

GrandLogistics said...

Hello Eric Weber,

there are very few people who will ever get to experience speeds like that on a big ship.


Grand Logistics.