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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

SS Equality State (ACS-8)

Keystone State Class Crane Ship):

Built 1961 as SS Washington Mail, a Maritime Commission type (C4-S-1s) hull by Todd Shipyard, San Pedro, California

Launched, 11 May 1961

Delivered to American Mail Lines, 2 January 1962

Lengthened and converted to a container ship in 1971 at Bethlehem Shipbuilding Co., San Francisco, CA.

Renamed SS President Roosevelt, 26 November 1975

Sold to Delta Lines, 7 September 1983, renamed SS Santa Rosa

Sold to U.S. Lines in 1985, renamed SS American Builder

Laid up in Hampton Roads, VA., 6 April 1987

Converted to a crane ship Maritime Administration type (C6-S1aq) hull under Maritime Administration contract (MA 86) in 1989 by Tampa Shipyards, Tampa, Florida and renamed SS Equity State

Assigned by the Maritime Administration to the Ready Reserve Force, (RRF), under operation control of the Military Sealift Command (MSC)

Placed in service as SS Equality State (ACS-8), date unknown

SS Equality State (ACS-8) was berthed at New Orleans, LA. and assigned to Maritime Prepositioning Ship Squadron Three and was maintained in a four-day readiness status

Removed from MSC control, withdrawn from the RRF by reassignment to the National Defense Reserve Fleet, 28 July 2006

Laid up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, Beaumont, TX.

Final Disposition, departed the Reserve Fleet, Beaumont, TX. 26 June 2019 for recycling at Brownsville, TX.

Specifications:

Displacement

Washington Mail - 22,595 t.(LT)

Equality State - 31,498 t.(LT)

Length

Washington Mail - 563' ¾"

Equality State - 667'11"

Beam 76'

Draft

Washington Mail - 31' 7"

Equality State - 33" 3&fac58"

Speed 20 kts.

Complement

Equality State - fully operational status 89 civilian mariners, reserve operational status 10 civilian mariners

Cargo Capacity

Washington Mail- breakbulk

Equality State - 1108 TEU,

Cranes

Washington Mail - none

Equality State - six 30 ton capacity cranes

Armament none

Propulsion

Washington Mail - Single screw, geared turbine powered, 19,250 HP. Two CE WT boilers, 640 PSI WP

Equality State - Single screw, 2 GE geared turbine powered, 22,000 HP., Two Combustion Engineering WT boilers

Click On Image For Full Size Image	Size	Image Description	Source
Merchant Service USA American Mail Line SS Co.
	112k	SS Washington Mail underway in the livery of the American Mail Line after having been converted to a container ship, date and location unknown.	Gerhard Mueller Debus
Maritime Administration
09760808	155k	A starboard bow view of the container ship SS American Builder being converted to the MARAD auxiliary crane ship *SS Equality State* (T-ACS-8)** at Tampa Shipyards, Tampa, FL., circa January 1988 to February 1989. Photo from www.picryl.com - U.S. National Archives and Records Administration	John Spivey
	72k	*SS Equality State* (ACS-8)** underway, date and location unknown. US Navy photo.	MSC web site
	1434k	*SS Equality State* (ACS-8) moored in her lay berth alongside SS Diamond State (ACS-7)** at New Orleans, LA., March 1990.	Photo ©Richard Leonhardt
	320k	Ships moved in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, Beaumont, TX. 2 November 2014. From left to right: *SS Cape Mendocino* (AKR-5064) SS Diamond State (ACS-7), SS Equality State (ACS-8) and ex-USNS Flint (T-AE-32)**.	Photo by Chris Holley
	188k	Ex-*SS Equality State* (ACS-8)** moored at Brownsville, TX. at the scrappers yard, June 2019.	Photos by Chris Holley
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