MV Cape Taylor (T-AKR-113)

MV Cape Taylor (T-AKR-113) is a Roll-on/Roll-off (RO/RO) ship with the Ready Reserve Force (RRF) of the United States Department of Transportation's Maritime Administration (MARAD). , her homeport is the Port of Houston in Houston, Texas and she is on ROS-5 status; she is able to be fully operational within 5 days of being activated. When activated, she becomes part of the United States Navy's Military Sealift Command (MSC).

Design and Construction


The vessel now known as Cape Taylor was laid down by Sasebo Heavy Industries in Sasebo, Japan in 1977. She is a conventional RO/RO (Vehicle Carrier) ship with the superstructure aft, followed by twin funnels, and a stern ramp. She is 634 ft in overall length with a lightweight displacement of 12141 LT and a fully loaded displacement of 26456 LT. For carrying US Army and Marine Corp combat vehicles, she has 88136 sqft of cargo capacity. She can carry 340 containers plus vehicles and her hull is ice strengthened.

Commercial Service
She was launched on 8 July 1977 and began service with DDG Hansa Line as MV Rabenfels. In 1981, the vessel was sold to Lykes Lines who operated her as MV Cygnus. There are also records of her being named MV ASL Cygnus (1992) and MV Thakwini (1993) or MV ASL Cygnus Thakwini.

US Government Service
Cape Taylor was purchased by the US Government in 1992 and acquired on 15 March 1993. On 19 August 1994, she was transferred to MARAD and became part of the Ready Reserve Fleet.

On 23 January 2003, Cape Taylor was activated and placed “In Service” from the Ready Reserve Force to haul military cargo to the Middle East in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. On 6 June 2003, she was placed "Out of Service” and returned to her Ready Reserve Force lay berth in Houston on a four-day recall status.