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MV Cape San Juan (T-AKR 5587)

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Delivered in 2012 as commercial roll-on/roll-off and container-capable ship JOLLY CRISTALLO, she was purchased by the Maritime Administration in 2023 and was subsequently prepared for military use. Renamed MV CAPE SAN JUAN (T-AKR 5587), she was assigned to the Ready Reserve Force. CAPE SAN JUAN is presently maintained in reduced operating status in a layberth at San Francisco, Calif.

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Crew List:

This section contains the names of sailors who served aboard MV CAPE SAN JUAN. 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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MV CAPE SAN JUAN History:

CAPE SAN JUAN (T-AKR 5587) is a modern roll-on/roll-off vehicle carrier whose documented history begins with its construction for commercial service and later transition into U.S. surge sealift. The ship was ordered in 2009 as part of a newbuild program for Ignazio Messina & C. S.p.A., a long-established Italian operator whose "JOLLY" series vessels were designed to move mixed wheeled and containerized cargo in liner service. The ship was built in South Korea by Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering at Okpo, Geoje, and was delivered in October 2012 as JOLLY CRISTALLO.

Against that backdrop, the U.S. Maritime Administration continued a broader recapitalization effort aimed at replacing aging government-controlled roll-on/roll-off capacity with newer, higher-utility ships suitable for rapid activation in contingencies. In the official National Defense Reserve Fleet accounting record, CAPE SAN JUAN is shown as having entered the fleet on June 28, 2023, and the same federal property report series explicitly records that title transferred to the Maritime Administration on June 28, 2023, with an estimated initial operational capability projected for fiscal year 2024, third quarter. In practical terms, this marked the ship's transition from commercial ownership and identity into the U.S. government's surge sealift architecture: it was assigned as a "Vehicle Carrier" within the Ready Reserve Force, intended to be maintained in a reduced operating status with the ability to be brought forward when required for Department of Defense surge deployments or other national needs. Through July 31, 2024, the same official inventory series continued to list CAPE SAN JUAN under the Atlantic accountable division with an assigned location at Norfolk, Virginia, consistent with an early period of layberthing, U.S.-flag integration, and readiness work that typically follows a ship's transfer into reserve-force management.

A significant documented shift occurred in the fall of 2024. The federal inventory change log records that, effective October 1, 2024, the ship's home port changed from Norfolk, Virginia, to Pier 80 in San Francisco, California. This administrative and operational re-basing aligned the ship with the Pacific accountable division and positioned it on the U.S. West Coast - an assignment that fits the Ready Reserve Force's need to distribute roll-on/roll-off surge capacity across multiple regions and embarkation hubs. Subsequent monthly federal inventories continued to carry CAPE SAN JUAN as a Ready Reserve Force "Vehicle Carrier" at Pier 80, San Francisco, California.

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MV CAPE SAN JUAN Image Gallery:

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the CAPE SAN JUAN - still with the name JOLLY CRISTALLO on the bow - at Norfolk, Va., on October 9, 2023.

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