THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, January 31, 1996 TAG: 9601310383
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TOM GILLESPIE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH LENGTH: Short : 49 lines
Admirals in gold-braided dress uniforms sipped punch Tuesday from a multi-tiered silver punch bowl - the kind used at weddings - and high-ranking maritime industry executives drank coffee from silver urns on crisp white tablecloths.
A 20-piece Navy band played Sousa-like renditions.
But the scene inside the main deck of the docked 648-foot cargo ship Cape Rise belied the fact that only weeks earlier the space where admirals now sipped punch had been packed fore and aft with howitzers, tanks and heavy field pieces - weapons of war, bound for NATO peacekeepers in Bosnia.
On Tuesday, Hampton Roads welcomed the return of two Portsmouth-based cargo ships, the Cape Rise and its sister ship Cape Race, which had just returned from a six-week mission to Bosnia to deliver military equipment and supplies to NATO forces there as part of Operation Joint Endeavor.
``These are what carry our hardware into theater,'' said Vice Adm. Phillip M. Quast, head of the Military Sealift Command, the parent command for the two cargo ships. ``These are a major part of our sealift capabilities. It's the best type ships we have to carry our cargos.''
Quast stressed the importance to the mission of the two vessels, particularly in light of the world's ever-changing geopolitical scene.
``Our ability to get our forces in is a critical factor,'' he said. ``Forces there today are appreciative of what (these two crews) did for them.''
Although they carry military cargos, the sealift ships are manned by civilian merchant mariner crews and are owned and maintained by the U.S. Maritime Administration.
Each of the two ships made two deliveries to Split, Croatia, about 100 miles west of Sarajevo, Bosnia. They logged more than 17,000 miles each and delivered nearly 2,500 wheeled and tracked vehicles and almost 2,600 pallets of ammunition and supplies.
The vessels, manned by crews of 29, are part of a 92-ship Ready Reserve Force, home-ported mostly on the East Coast.
They have a permanent crew of about 10, which keeps the vessel maintained in port. When the vessel is to be activated for missions such as Joint Endeavor, the remainder of the crew is assembled.
KEYWORDS: OPERATION JOINT ENDEAVOR BOSNIA by CNB