This class of freighter was used for use in shallow water ports.  Because of the large open storage areas below deck, skids of cargo could be loaded down into the hull on barges and in very shallow ports could be lifted overboard and towed to shore on the barges with cargo. The Santa Ana was in service in the late1920's and was used to move freight between the US and Central and South America.  Most of its use was moving bananas as its primary cargo.  The below chart shows some of the ports serviced by these ships in the late 1920's where the ownership had already passed to the Grace Lines.

In the Mid 1930's the US Government was buying freighters and commissioning them for use in the US Maritime Service.   The Maritime fleet had a myriad of jobs and was pressed into service moving freight in WWII.  When the Santa Ana was purchased, the Maritime service changed the name to SS Cape John.  The SS Cape John and many other sister ships in the Maritime service were used to haul freight and munitions during WWII, The Korean War, The Vietnam War, The Gulf War and Iraqi Freedom.  You can see how useful these ships could be in off-loading freight in very little water depth.  As time went on the radio equipment was changed to reflect state of the art equipment updates.  Later the Maritine Service pulled many of the breakbulk freighters and reassigned them to the Ready Reserve Force.

Ships that don't get used very often get old and fall apart--or that's what conventional wisdom would lead one to believe. But in the last few weeks of the 1990's, Ready Reserve Force ship SS Cape John proved that it and other mature RRF sister ships still have a lot of kick left in them--enough kick to make them a valuable asset to the United States, especially in times of war.

The RRF breakbulk ship showed off its capabilities as more than just a cargo carrier: Cape John proved its mettle as an underway replenishment ship as well.

When called upon, the RRF's cargo ships can really make their presence felt: Without their help, U.S. military missions to Bosnia, Haiti, Somalia and the Persian Gulf would not have been accomplished as quickly.   One of its sister ships in the RRF, the SS Cape Johnson was tapped to participate in the George Washington Battle Group Composite Training Unit Exercise 98-1. COMPTUEX tested different capabilities of a Navy battle group at sea--everything from vertical replenishments to interdiction operations--making sure each part of the battle group works in tandem and effectively.

Cape Johnson is a 564-foot-long breakbulk ship designed to carry pallets of ammunition, combat or replenishment supplies. The ship was included in the exercise to test its modular cargo delivery system. Ships with MCDS installed can conduct underway replenishment services with other U.S. Navy ships, assisting and augmenting the Navy Combat Logistics Force in times of war. The MCDS is installed on seven breakbulk RRF ships.

"It's great to see our reserve ships perform up to the highest Navy standards. Cape Johnson held her own, providing support on-time and with great results," said Peter Bullenkamp, MSC's Sealift Program manager. "I know the George Washington Battle Group got some great service from MSC." Cape Johnson provided underway replenishment services to 11 Navy ships during the two-week exercise.

The Ready Reserve Force is a group of 94 ships owned and maintained by the U.S. Maritime Administration and under the operational control of Military Sealift Command when activated. The ships are normally kept in reduced operating status in berths around the nation that are close to military loading ports. Each ship is activated on a cycle to make sure all its systems are working properly and to test its capabilities   The below picture is the configuration of SS Cape John.

The term "breakbulk ships" refers to ships characterized by large open hatches and fitted with boom-and-winch gear or deck cranes. They are primarily used at ports which, either because of low cargo volumes or local economic factors, lack the modern facilities and inland rail/highway connections required to support efficient containership operations. In competition with containerships, breakbulk ships are no longer commercially viable. Fewer of these ships are being built each year, and none has been built for US flag owners in recent years. Break-Bulk ships have always been routinely used for deployed and resupply in the past, that is, during WWII, Korea, and Southeast Asia sealift operations. With their open deck, multiple cargo holds, and service by booms and/or cranes, these ships can lift most military cargoes. These are the most versatile ship types for in-the-steam or LOTS-type operations. The military advantages of general cargo or breakbulk ships include flexibility in the load composition afforded by open decks and multiple cargo holds and the ability to discharge cargo without the use of port facilities. Their military disadvantages include time-consuming cargo operations and the requirement for large numbers of trained personnel to load and unload. For these reasons, the break-bulk ships are no longer commercially competitive with the containers and RO/RO ships and are being phased out of the commercial trade routes. The government has purchased many of the newer break-bulk ships and put them into the Ready Reserve Fleet for use in an emergency.  Many of the older ones have been updated and retrofitted with modern equipment including the newer satellite communication systems.

Merchant Ship Naval Augmentation Program (MSNAP) features and equipment are designed to enable specific merchant-type ships to augment and, when needed, act as Combat Logistics Force [CLF] vessels during a crisis or conflict. These ships are CINC-allocated assets in service with MSC or maintained in the RRF to support Navy ships. Ships modified with MSNAP systems will be activated and deployed to US or overseas ports for loadout. They will resupply fleet ships with ordnance, other dry stores, or POL. Vertical Replenishment [VERTREP] is provided by adding an elevated deck at the stern of the ship. This installation has been done on three Consol and six MCDS ships. The deck is approved for daylight hours, hover-only operations. The helicopters are from ships being resupplied. Helicopters up to the size of a CH-53E can use this system. Strike-up and pre-stage from the ship’s hold to the VERTREP deck capability is provided.

The Modular Cargo Delivery System (MCDS) is a mechanized cargo transfer unit that acts as a combination elevator and winch, hoisting pallets of cargo into the air and then across wire lines strung between two ships sailing side-by-side. The Modular Cargo Delivery System [MCDS] enables dry cargo merchant ships to perform limited Standard Tensioned Replenishment Alongside Method (STREAM) UNREP operations with all naval ships equipped with a dry cargo UNREP receiving station. The MCDS is a self-contained Navy Standard dry cargo STREAM station. Modifications include those similar to the consolidation system for cargo handling cargo stowage. Additionally, two MCDS units are installed over hatches, one forward and one aft of the ships superstructure.

Installations have been made on seven RRF ships. Two MCDS units have been installed on Ready Reserve Force ships SS Cape Johnson, SS Cape Alexander, SS Cape Gibson, SS Cape Girardeau, SS Cape John, SS Cape Juby and SS Cape Jacob.   The SS Cape John is currently stationed in Violet, Louisiana (New Orleans).

All vessels have MCDS and VERTEP capability. The cargo capacities increase from CAPE JUBY to CAPE JOHNSON to CAPE JACOB and CAPE JOHN. The CAPE JACOB and CAPE JOHN have the same highest capacity because they have an extra ‘tween deck. For Navy prepositioning, MSC operates the Navy's first modular cargo delivery system (MCDS) vessel, SS CAPE JACOB. The vessel will carry Navy Ordnance and will also have the capability to operate as a shuttle replenishment ship for naval battle groups. SS Cape Jacob is one of Military Sealift Command's 34 Ready Reserve Force Ships and is part of the 38 ships in the Prepositioning Program (PM3)

As of 2003, the SS Cape John and many of its RRF sister ships were redeployed to aid with Iraqi Freedom where it is currently being used.

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