Navy's sealift command picks up the pace: cargo is moving faster than in first Gulf War, 'but we need to be faster' yet, chief says.

• Author: Kennedy, Harold

One of the dearest lessons learned from the recent U.S.-Iraq war is the need for greater speed in moving combat equipment and supplies across oceans, said Navy Vice Adm. David L Brewer III, head of the Military Sealift Command.

The MSC has sped up its act since the first Persian Gulf war, Brewer told National Defense, but more needs to be done. "We may be fast, but we need to be faster," he said.

"During Desert Storm, the average speed of our ships was about 13 knots," Brewer said, "Today, our large, medium-speed, roll-on/roll-off ships can go up to 24 knots. Their average speed, during the war, was about 18 knots. When you're going 9,000 miles, that's a significant difference."

Since Desert Storm, the MSC has invested $6 billion to convert or build 20 LMSRs. Nineteen now are in service. The 20th--the USNS Benavidez (T-AKR 306), being built by Northrop Grumman Ship Systems' Avondale Operation, in New Orleans--was scheduled to be delivered to the Navy in June.

LMSRs "really are the ships of choice for cargo-carrying missions," said one MSC official. They are 950 feet long and have more than 380,000 square feet of cargo space, making them only slightly smaller in size than the Navy's aircraft carriers.

An LMSR's six-deck interior is larger than eight football fields. Each ship can carry an entire Army armor task force, including 58 Abrams tanks and 48 other tracked vehicles, plus more than 900 trucks and other wheeled vehicles.

The ship's decks have ample open space for lashing down helicopters, tanks, trucks and other large vehicles. A moveable stern and side ramps make it easy to drive vehicles on and off the ship. An LMSR can be loaded or off-loaded within 96 hours. Two 110-ton, single-pedestal, twin cranes make it possible to load and unload cargo even in locations without port facilities.

Despite their huge size, LMSRs have small crews--as few as 26 merchant mariners, compared to the 5,500 or so sailors assigned to the typical carrier. The reason, Brewer said: "They don't engage in combat, and they don't fly and maintain aircraft."

Although spectacular in size, the LMSRs were only a small portion of the fleet that delivered U.S. equipment and supplies for operations in Iraq. To get the job done as quickly as possible, the MSC chartered scores of merchant ships to bolster its normal peacetime fleet of about 115 vessels. "At the peak of operations--on March 24--we had 167 ships directly supporting the war," Brewer said. They included:

Fast Sealift Ships. These ships were built originally as container vessels. Two decades ago, the MSC had eight of them converted for use as vehicle cargo ships. Capable of speeds up to 33 knots, they can sail from the U.S. East Coast, through the Suez Canal, to the Persian Gulf in 18...