Massive military cargo ship leaves Everett after month long visit
Published 9:00 pm Sunday, November 30, 2003
NAVAL STATION EVERETT – The USS Soderman left Everett just before 10 a.m. Monday, enroute to an undisclosed port.
“They’ve been given orders. And they’re on their way,” said Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Daniel Sanford, a spokesman for Naval Station Everett.
Sanford could not divulge the destination for the monstrous cargo ship, one of the largest military cargo ships in the world. It pulled into port here at Naval Station Everett on Oct. 31.
The Soderman, a Watson-class cargo ship with a civilian crew of about 30, is one of eight ships of its class used to take Army equipment to hot spots around the world.
Called a “large, medium-speed roll-on/roll off ship,” the 950-foot-long vessel is used by the Navy’s Military Sealift Command to “preposition” supplies needed for war or other emergencies.
Prepositioned ships are floating warehouses, filled with food, water, ammo and fuel ready for the Army’s use.
Like other ships in its class, the Soderman has six interior decks with more than eight football fields of space for equipment. The ship can carry the gear for an entire Army armor task force, including 58 tanks, 48 other track vehicles, plus more than 900 trucks and other wheeled vehicles.
The Soderman’s visit to Everett was preceded by a visit from its sister ship, the USNS Sisler.
The Sisler left Everett in early October for Kuwait and Operation Iraqi Freedom, and transported equipment from the Fort Lewis-based “Stryker” brigade, the 3rd Brigade of the 2nd Infantry Division. The brigade uses the Army’s new eight-wheeled Stryker troop carriers.
