U.S. Navy's Military Sealift Command
Fact Sheet |
March 2012 |
Includes 48 government-owned ships kept in reserve by the U.S. Maritime Administration to meet surge shipping requirements for the Department of Defense.
RRF ships get warfighting equipment and other supplies to deployed U.S. forces in peacetime and war.
RRF ships, formerly commercial vessels, are well suited for transporting out-sized military equipment and supplies.
RRF ships offset the shortage of militarily-useful sealift ships in the U.S. merchant fleet.
For Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2004, 21 RRF roll-on/roll-off ships were activated, primarily to carry the equipment and supplies for various U.S. military forces from the United States to the Middle East.
Civilian Crews
Most RRF ships are kept pierside in a reduced operating status with small cadre crews on board to monitor operating systems and ensure the ships are ready for activation if needed.
Ships are crewed by U.S. merchant mariners hired from maritime union halls by private ship managing companies under contract to MARAD.
Reserve Ships . . . Ready When Needed
Ships can be activated -- crewed and ready to proceed to a loading site -- in four, five, 10 or 20 days. When activated, RRF ships come under the operational control of the U.S. Navy's Military Sealift Command.
Ship Locations
Zero RRF ships are currently active as afloat prepositioning ships.
RRF ships normally are maintained at ports close to potential military load-out sites on U.S. coasts, as well as one port in Tsuneshi, Japan. U.S. ship locations include:
East Coast
- Baltimore, Md.
- Newport News, Va.
- Norfolk, Va.
- Portsmouth, Va.
- Wilmington, N.C.
- Charleston, S.C.
Gulf Coast
- Houston, Texas
- Beaumont, Texas
- New Orleans, La.
West Coast
- Tacoma, Wash.
- Suisun Bay, Calif.
- Alameda, Calif.
- San Francisco, Calif.
- Long Beach, Calif.
- San Diego, Calif.
Ships Well Suited for Military Transport
With the advent of container shipping in the private sector, militarily-useful transport ships are in short supply.
The RRF offsets the shortage by maintaining the following:
- 27 Roll-on/Roll-off Ships
- 8 Fast Sealift Ships
- 6 Crane Ships
- 2 Lighter Aboard Ships
- 2 Heavy Lift Ships
- 1 Government-owned Tanker
Historical Highlights:
In 1998, four RRF ships were activated to carry military construction equipment and supplies to Central America following the aftermath of Hurricane Mitch.
RRF ships were called into action in 1995 and 1996 to support United Nations and NATO actions in Bosnia.
RRF ships were activated in 1994 to support camps at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and for Operation Uphold Democracy in Haiti.
In 1992, several RRF ships operated in support of humanitarian efforts in Somalia.
79 RRF ships, or about 75 percent of the RRF, were activated in support of the Persian Gulf War in the early 1990s.
In the 1990s, seven RRF roll-on/roll-off ships and a crane ship were activated to serve in MSC's Afloat Prepositioning Force while large, medium-speed, roll-on/roll-off ships, or LMSRs, were constructed and converted at U.S. shipyards.
For 25 years, the Ready Reserve Force has been integral to the flexibility, mobility and combat readiness of U.S. forces worldwide.
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