USNS Zeus (T-ARC-7)
Encyclopedia
USNS Zeus (T-ARC-7) was the first cable ship specifically built for the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
, and was planned to be the first of two ships of her class, however the second ship was not built, leaving Zeus as the only ship of her class to have been constructed. Capable of laying 1000 miles (1,609.3 km) of cable at depths of up to 9000 feet (2,743.2 m), she is the only ship of her type currently operated by the U.S. Navy.
Function and Equipment
One of twenty-six ships in the Military Sealift CommandMilitary Sealift Command
The Military Sealift Command is a United States Navy organization that controls most of the replenishment and military transport ships of the Navy. It first came into existence on 9 July 1949 when the Military Sea Transportation Service became solely responsible for the Department of Defense's...
's Special Mission Ships Program, Zeuss primary missions are to transport, deploy, retrieve and repair submarine cables
Submarine communications cable
A submarine communications cable is a cable laid on the sea bed between land-based stations to carry telecommunication signals across stretches of ocean....
and test underwater sound devices, with a secondary mission of conducting acoustic, hydrographic, and bathymetric surveys.
Zeus is equipped with a SIMRAD EM 121 sonar, and can also operate towed sidescan sonars and deploy data buoys to assist in oceanographic surveys. She is fitted with an extensive suite of equipment for the handling and deploying of undersea cable, including five cable tanks, tension machines, and other devices. She can also be fitted with the Heavy Overboarding System (HOS), a 72000 pounds (32.7 t) A-frame capable of deploying remotely operated vehicles (ROVs).
Operations
USNS Zeus is operated by the Military Sealift CommandMilitary Sealift Command
The Military Sealift Command is a United States Navy organization that controls most of the replenishment and military transport ships of the Navy. It first came into existence on 9 July 1949 when the Military Sea Transportation Service became solely responsible for the Department of Defense's...
, part of the U.S. Transportation Command and the operator of the majority of the U.S. Navy's replenishment, transport and auxiliary ships. Assigned to the MSC Atlantic Special Mission Support Force, she is operated by a majority civilian crew, and is assigned no permanent homeport.
Zeus underwent an overhaul period at Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....
in 2008.