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SS Keystone State (T-ACS 1)

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Built and delivered as breakbulk ship PRESIDENT HARRISON for American Presidents Line, the ship was converted to a container ship in 1973. Transfered to the Maritime Adminitration on July 19, 1982, the ship was subsequently laid-up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet at Suisun Bay, Benicia, Calif., and shortly afterwards moved to the James River Reserve Fleet in Virginia. In July 1984, the ship was renamed SS KEYSTONE STATE and subsequently converted to a crane ship at Defoe Shipbuilding, Bay City, Mich. Today, the ship is part of the Ready Reserve Force and is berthed at Alameda, Calif., capable of being fully activated within 5 days.

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Crew List:

This section contains the names of sailors who served aboard SS KEYSTONE STATE. It is no official listing but contains the names of sailors who submitted their information.

• Click here to view the list.

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SS KEYSTONE STATE History:

SS KEYSTONE STATE began as the breakbulk/container ship SS PRESIDENT HARRISON for American President Lines. The Maritime Administration contract for her construction was awarded on June 27, 1963; her keel was laid at National Steel and Shipbuilding Company, San Diego, on January 23, 1965, she was launched on October 2, 1965, and entered commercial service on April 25, 1966. As containerization spread across liner trades, the ship was rebuilt to a container configuration on February 16, 1973 (type C6-S-1qc). As APL renewed its fleet at the end of the 1970s, she was traded to the Maritime Administration on April 30, 1979, formally delivered to government custody on July 19, 1982, and laid up at the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet before transfer on September 11, 1982, to the James River Reserve Fleet in Virginia.

The Navy's emerging concept for self-sustaining cargo discharge in undeveloped or damaged ports made the former PRESIDENT HARRISON the prototype for a new auxiliary crane ship series. She entered the yard at Bay Shipbuilding, Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, for conversion in March 1983. The work added three twin-boom pedestal cranes, reinforced cargo decks, and associated power and handling systems. The ship was reclassified to T-ACS 1 on October 21, 1983, renamed KEYSTONE STATE on December 27, 1983, and placed in service with Military Sealift Command's Ready Reserve Force on May 8, 1984 - becoming the lead unit of what would be known as the KEYSTONE STATE-class crane ships. Contemporary Navy notes described the goal succinctly: a self-sustaining hull that could lift containers or vehicles from itself or an adjacent ship and place them ashore or on lighterage when pier facilities were absent or damaged. Early in 1986, trade press also recorded contract work on the craneship under a Maritime Administration program, part of the fine-tuning that followed her pioneering conversion.

Through the later 1980s and into the early 1990s, she remained in the Ready Reserve Force, maintained for five-day activation on the U.S. West Coast. The broader crane-ship fleet was tested in real-world logistics during the 1990-1991 Gulf crisis, when five sister ships of the type deployed to the region to augment sealift and port opening. KEYSTONE STATE's role across that period was to sustain West Coast readiness for further tasking while the concept matured and the class expanded. The Navy's crane-ship program continued to grow during these years as lessons from the Gulf informed doctrine for joint logistics over the shore.

Routine evidence of her reserve cadence recurs in the public record. On July 18, 2006, photography shows KEYSTONE STATE berthed in line with GRAND CANYON STATE (T-ACS 3) and GEM STATE (T-ACS 2) at Alameda, California - the Ready Reserve Fleet outport opposite the preserved carrier HORNET (CVS 12). On February 20, 2012, images again place the trio together, reflecting the long-standing practice of mooring the three Pacific-assigned crane ships abreast for maintenance and periodic activation drills.

That same year saw a notable movement. On October 9, 2012, KEYSTONE STATE departed the San Francisco Bay bound for Portland, Oregon, a transit documented from the Golden Gate. Such repositionings typically align with shipyard periods or readiness trials for West Coast government-owned vessels, even when the detailed work package is not publicly released. After completing the evolution, the ship returned to the Bay Area layberth, resuming reduced operating status.

Beyond quiet upkeep, she continued to serve as a practical platform for fleet and expeditionary logisticians. In mid-July 2017, Navy Cargo Handling Battalion 14 used KEYSTONE STATE as a working stage in Alameda, hoisting containers across to GRAND CANYON STATE during a weekend evolution under the 5th Navy Expeditionary Logistics Regiment - one of many pier-side drills that keep cargo handlers current on crane-ship interfaces and procedures.

In July 2019, Military Sealift Command directed a short-notice "Turbo Activation" to stress the reserve sealift fleet. KEYSTONE STATE, along with GEM STATE and GRAND CANYON STATE, was ordered to sea from Alameda with only days to spin up. All three departed within four days for a three-day sea trial, validating material readiness and crew activation timelines that underwrite the ship's surge-sealift role.

The ship's later movements included a trans-Pacific and European sequence connected to allied logistics flows. On May 19, 2023, KEYSTONE STATE was photographed passing Bremerhaven, Germany, en route to the nearby port of Nordenham after a voyage from South Korea - an itinerary consistent with ordnance and materiel distribution patterns between Indo-Pacific and European theaters and with the long-standing use of Nordenham as a reception node for U.S. cargoes. The port call underscores that, while maintained in reserve, the crane ships are periodically activated for real movements that rehearse or fulfill operational logistics.

As of early 2025, MARAD's monthly National Defense Reserve Fleet inventory lists KEYSTONE STATE in Ready Reserve Force status on the Pacific, assigned to Oakland/Alameda, California.

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SS KEYSTONE STATE Image Gallery:

The photo below was taken by me and shows the KEYSTONE STATE berthed next to her sisterships at Alameda, Calif., on July 18, 2006. The ship on the left is the GRAND CANYON STATE (T-ACS 3) and the ship on the right is the GEM STATE (T-ACS 2).

The photo below was taken by me and shows the KEYSTONE STATE berthed at Alameda, Calif., on March 19, 2012.

The photos below were taken by me and show the KEYSTONE STATE departing the San Francisco area for Portland, Or. The photos were taken on October 9, 2012.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the KEYSTONE STATE departing the San Francisco area for Portland, Or. The photos were taken from the Golden Gate Bridge on October 9, 2012.

The photos below were taken by me and show the KEYSTONE STATE passing Bremerhaven, Germany, on her way to nearby Nordenham on May 19, 2023. The ship is arriving from South Korea.

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