T-ACS 4 Gopher State

T-ACS 4 Gopher State is an auxiliary crane ship with four 30-ton cranes. Gopher State was renamed in 1987 after conversion from a container ship, and the ship is named in honor of the state of Minnesota. Gopher State is owned by the Maritime Administration and operated by Interocean-Ugland Corporation. Its mission is to provide crane support when no improved pier facilities exist. It has two twin 30-ton-capacity boom cranes mounted on the starboard side of the ship. When moored inboard of another ship, cargo can be unloaded either from itself or from the outboard ship to the pier facility. In addition to the crane capability, the vessel carries 284 TEUs of transportation and quartermaster equipment. Although not employed for their ability to carry cargo, these ships have an overall capability of carrying 711 TEUs of containers.

Gopher State is prepositioned in Guam, and is the only T-ACS serving with the Army Prepositioning Afloat program.

The T-ACS 5 Flickertail State T-ACS 6 Cornhusker State T-ACS 7 Diamond State T-ACS 8 Equality State and T-ACS 9 Green Mountain State, assigned to Maritime Prepositioning Ships Squadron Three, are among the more than 30 Military Sealift Command ships in the Prepositioning Program.

T-ACS 10 Beaver State is assigned to the Ready Reserve Force (RRF), crewed by Maritime Administration (MARAD) personnel in an increased state of readiness that would permit activation within a few days. When activated, RRF ships come under the operational control of the Military Sealift Command.

In October 1992 the Congress directed the Secretary of the Navy and the Secretary of Transportation to increase the contract price (the contract price, including all modifications as of the date of enactment of the Defense Appropriations Act) for the T-ACS 7 and T-ACS 8 conversion and reactivation contract by $13,300,000 based upon the Defense Contract Audit Agency's estimated incurred costs sustained by the contractor, and to pay to the contractor which built and delivered T-ACS 7 and T-ACS 8 the amount of $13,300,000, no later than November 1, 1992.

Specifications
	T-ACS 4 - 6	T-ACS 7 - 8	T-ACS 9 - 10
Builder			Ingalls
Power Plant	Steam turbines, 2 boilers,  17,500 shp, 1 shaft	Steam turbines, 1 shaft	Steam turbines, 1 shaft
Length	Overall : 610 ft Waterline : 581 ft	Overall : 668 ft Waterline : 635 ft	Overall : 668 ft Waterline : 635 ft
Beam	91 feet	76.1 feet	76 feet
Draft	50 feet	33.5 feet	33 feet
Displacement	Light : 13900 tons Full : 26670 tons Dead Weight: 12770 tons	Light : 16400 tons Full : 31498 tons Dead Weight: 15098 tons	Light : 11714 tons Full : 24477 tons  Dead Weight: 12763 tons
Speed	20 knots ( mph)
Crew
Aircraft	none

Ships
Name	Number	Builder	Homeport	Ordered	Commissioned	Decommissioned
Gopher State	T-ACS 4	Bath	Guam	10 Oct 1970	22 Jan 1973
Flickertail State	T-ACS 5	Bath	Cheatham Annex	30 Nov 1965	20 Jun 1969
Cornhusker State	T-ACS 6	Bath	Cheatham Annex	30 Nov 1965	21 Feb 1969
Diamond State	T-ACS 7	Todd	Houston	05 Aug 1959	19 Apr 1962
Equality State	T-ACS 8	Todd	Houston	05 Aug 1959	02 Jan 1962
Green Mountain State	T-ACS 9	Ingalls	Vancouver	29 Jun 1962	26 Mar 1965
Beaver State	T-ACS 10	Ingalls	Portland	29 Jun 1962	28 May 1965