Career | |
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Builder: | Incat |
Yard number: | Incat 050 |
Laid down: | 19 January 1998 |
Launched: | 7 November 1998 |
Acquired: | 21 November 1998 |
Struck: | 15 March 2004 |
General characteristics As Joint Venture | |
Displacement: | 1,668 tons full 940 tons standard |
Length: | 96 m (315 ft 0 in) overall |
Beam: | 26 m (85 ft 4 in) |
Draught: | 3.7 m (12 ft 2 in) |
Propulsion: | Caterpillar |
Speed: | Over 40 knots (46 mph) |
Complement: | 5 officers, 25 enlisted |
HSV-X1 Joint Venture was the name of a high speed catamaran passenger/car ferry previously operated by the military of the United States of America. Initially operated by the United States Navy, she was later transferred to the United States Army. This ship has served a deployment in Operation Enduring Freedom, spending time around the Horn of Africa.[1] At the end of its service the ship was returned to its builders for further civilian use.
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Built by Incat in Tasmania and launched in 1998 as Incat 050, she spent the summer of 1998/1999 running across Bass Strait, between Melbourne and Tasmania before being transferred to a New Zealand company, running between the North and South islands. In Bass Strait service she was known as "Devil Cat" although her name was officially Incat 050; in New Zealand service she was known as Top Cat", before being converted for military purpose. A flight deck was added to accommodate various helicopters in the US Navy arsenal.
Joint Venture was rapidly re-configurable and could perform a variety of missions, principal among them the ability to ferry up to 325 combat personnel and 400 tons of cargo up to 3,000 miles (4,800 km) one way at speeds in excess of 40 knots (74 km/h).
In 2003 Joint Venture was assigned to Operation Enduring Freedom in the Horn of Africa. She operated as a fast transport in support of the Combined Joint Task Force and performing a variety of tasks, such as transporting and supplying troops at high speed over long distances, operating as a mobile command centre, working close inshore, and operating as a helicopter carrier.
Joint Venture was handed back to Incat in fall of 2006. She had undergone a refit including painting in the Express Ferries livery and was planned to enter service with them as a car and passenger ferry, but this never materialised.
On 19 May 2008, she was purchased by the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company and, after an extensive refit, went into service in May 2009 as Manannan.
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