The Quiet Fleet

US Maritime Prepositioning Force

by Larry Bond

USNS Bob Hope (TAKR-300) (Avondale Industries)

The United States has a fleet of over thirty ships. They operate world-wide, are vital to our foreign presence and our global reach, and almost nobody hears about them. Why? There's not a gun on the lot. The most powerful sensor on any of them is a nav radar, and yet they've participated in every major military action we've fought in the last decade, including Desert Storm, Desert Fox, and Allied Force. But they never made the papers.

Who are they?

They're the Maritime Prepositioning Ships (MPS), operated under the civilian-manned Military Sealift Command. Organized in Forces and Squadrons in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans, they are pre-stocked with armored and logistics vehicles, supplies, ammunition and other important materiel. Except for SS Curtiss and SS Wright, all are ready to sail on twenty-four hours' notice. (Curtiss and Wright are ready to steam on 5 days' notice.) They hold frequent exercises to practice their offload capabilities.

In tactical, or Harpoon terms, these ships are targets. They don't even have provision for armament, nor would anyone waste time trying to fit armament if a crisis occurred. In operational and strategic terms, though, these vessels have real striking power. It takes a long time to move a division and all its equipment from the United States to a trouble spot an ocean away, but if their equipment is already there, then all you have to move is people. Logistically, people are light, and you can move a lot of them quickly by air. It might cut the time for deploying a division down from two weeks to three days.

USNS Watson (TAKR-310) (National Steel)

The MPS force was started in the 1980s, as a response to the Afghan and Iranian crises which found us needing troops in a hurry a long way from home. The first MPS ships were deployed in the Indian Ocean, and have since been joined by others covering the Atlantic and Mediterra-nean and the Western Pacific, all now organized as MPS Squadrons. Ships of the Combat Prepositioning Force and the Logistics Prepositioning Force (see below) are colocated with the MPS Squadrons, and they support all the services.

There are actually several Prepositioning Forces, all operating under the MSC. They include four squadrons of Maritime Prepositioning Ships. Each squadron of four or five ships carries the equipment and supplies for a Marine Air-Ground Task Force (equivalent to a division) for 30 days. Because they carry their own lighters, they do not have to discharge their cargo at a port.

The Combat Prepositioning Force supports the Army with seven ships in the Persian Gulf. Four are loaded with combat equipment, while one carries logistics vehicles and supplies. Another three ships carry ammunition. A third group, of two, carries the Port Opening Package. These specialized ships have cranes and carry tugs, lighters, and other equipment that lets them offload cargo at primitive ports or unimproved beaches. The Logistics Prepositioning Force, supports the Navy, Air Force, and the Defense Logistics Agency. It has ships loaded with fuel, ammunition, even a complete 500-bed Navy hospital.

MPS ships have no fixed home port, but move about a great deal in their area of responsibility. MPSRON 2 is centered on Diego Garcia, and MPSRON 3 often operates near Guam and Saipan.

Their potential use in Harpoon scenarios is obvious. In addition to a convoy scenario, players could be faced with an established beachhead that they have to defend or attack, or with an isolated attack on one or more transit-ing MPS ships. Players might also want to game out a preemptive attack on the MPS force as part of a strategic campaign.

Scenario builders are not limited to the MPS ships that happen to be in their theater. If the US has enough time, they would move MPS ships from other areas to a crisis spot, from the Indian Ocean toward the Western Pacific, for example. Statistics for all the ships listed above are provided on page 12.

[Regarding the displacements in Annex A4, it is difficult to obtain Standard (std) displacements for cargo and merchant vessels. Light Ship (ltshp) displacements can be substituted, but Gross Registered Tonnage (grt) must be reduced by 25% to approximate standard displacement. If Full Load (fl) displacement is used, it should be reduced by 75%.]

The Maritime Prepositioning Force
ForceType of
Support
Atlantic &
Mediterr.
Indian
Oceam
Western
Pacific
Class
Maritime Prepositioning Squadron One (Atlantic & Mediterranean)
MV 2nd Lt. John P. BoboUSMCX-- 2nd Lt. John P. Bobo
SS Sgt. Matej KocakUSMCX--Sgt. Matej Kocak
SS Pfc. Eugene A. ObregonUSMCX--Sgt. Matej Kocak
SS Maj. Stephen W. PlessUSMCX--Sgt. Matej Kocak
MV Capt. Steven L. BennettUSMCX--Capt. Steven L. Bennett
Maritime Prepositioning Squadron Two (Indian Ocean)
MV Pfc. William B. BaughUSMC-X-Cpl. Louis J. Hauge
MV Cpl. Louis J. Hauge Jr.USMC-X-Cpl. Louis J. Hauge
MV 1st Lt. Alex BonnymanUSMC-X-Cpl. Louis J. Hauge
MV Pvt. Franklin J. PhillipsUSMC-X-Cpl. Louis J. Hauge
MV Pfc. James Anderson Jr.USMC-X-Cpl. Louis J. Hauge
Maritime Prepositioning Squadron Three (Western Pacific)
MV 1st Lt. Jack LummusUSMC--X2nd Lt. John P. Bobo
MV Sgt. William R. ButtonUSMC--X2nd Lt. John P. Bobo
MV 1st Lt. Baldomero LopezUSMC--X2nd Lt. John P. Bobo
MV Pfc. Dewayne T. WilliamsUSMC--X2nd Lt. John P. Bobo
Afloat Prepositioning Squadron Four (Persian Gulf)
USNS Yano (T-AKR 297)Army-X-Shughart
USNS Gilliand (T-AKR 298)Army-X-Gordon
USNS Bob Hope (T-AKR 300)Army-X-Bob Hope
USNS Watson (T-AKR 310)Army-X-Watson
USNS Sisler (T-AKR 311)Army-X-Watson
Combat Prepositioning Force
SS Green Harbor (LASH)Army Ammo-X-C8-S-81b
SS Green Valley (LASH)Army Ammo-X-C9-S-81d
MV Jeb Stuart (LASH)Army Ammo-X-Atlantic Forest
MV American Cormorant (Float-on/Float-off)Army PoP--XAmerican Cormorant
MV SP5 Eric G. Gibson (Ro-Ro Container)Army Cargo--XLtc. Calvin P. Titus
MV Ltc. Calvin P. Titus (Ro-Ro Container) Army Cargo--XLtc. Calvin P. Titus
SS Gopher State (Auxiliary Crane Ship)Army PoP-X-C5-S-73b
Logistics Prepositioning Force
MV Buffalo Soldier (Ro-Ro Container)USAF Ammo-X-Cezanne
MV Captain Steven L Bennett (Ro-Ro Cont)USAF AmmoX--Capt. Steven L Bennett
MV Bernard F. Fisher (Ro-Ro Container)USAF Ammo-X-?
SS PotomacDLA TankerX--Potomac
SS PetersburgDLA Tanker-X-?
USNS Henry J. Kaiser (TAO-187)USAF Tanker (JP-4)X--Henry J. Kaiser
MV Green Ridge (Breakbulk)Navy Hospital-X-Green Ridge
SS Cape Jacob
(Modular Cargo Delivery Syst.)
Navy Ammo-X-C4-S-1u
SS Curtiss (Aviation Logistic Support)USMC helicoptersX--Wright
SS Wright (Aviation Logistic Support)USMC helicopters--XWright

Note: Although Bernard F. Fisher and Petersburg are listed as MPS ships by the Military Sealift Command, I have been unable to find any information on their characteristics.

BT


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