MV TSgt. John A. Chapman (AK-323) moored pierside at Military Ocean Terminal at Sunny Point, N.C., 8 April 2006 during renaming ceremony. |
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| Career (France) | |
|---|---|
| Name: | MV CGM Utrillo |
| Owner: | Compagnie Générale Maritime |
| Launched: | 1978 |
| Fate: | Purchased in 1992 by American Automar, re-flagged US and renamed MV American Merlin |
| Career (United States) | |
| Name: | MV American Merlin |
| Owner: | American Automar |
| Acquired: | 1992 |
| In service: | until late 2001 under long term lease as AK-323 MSC |
| Out of service: | Returned to her owners after completion of her MSC charter |
| Reinstated: | Acquired by Sealift Inc and renamed MV Merlin |
| Notes: | MV American Merlin was assigned to Maritime Prepositioning Program Squadron Two and operated out of Diego Garcia |
| Career (United States) | |
| Name: | MV TSgt John A. Chapman (AK-323) |
| Namesake: | Technical Sergeant John A. Chapman, from the 24th Special Tactics Squadron, killed March 4, 2002, while fighting against the Taliban during Operation Anaconda in Afghanistan. He was posthumously decorated with the nation’s second-highest award for valor, the Air Force Cross. |
| Owner: | Sealift Inc |
| Acquired: | 8 April 2005 |
| Status: | Active in service as of 2009 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Buffalo Soldier class Container Roll-on/Roll-off Logistics Prepositioning Ship |
| Displacement: | 26,378 long tons (26,801 t) |
| Length: | 670 ft (200 m) |
| Beam: | 87 ft (27 m) |
| Draft: | 34 ft 6 in (10.52 m) |
| Speed: | 16 kn (30 km/h) |
| Complement: | 19 civilian, 0 military |
Motor Vessel TSgt John A. Chapman (T-AK-323) is a Buffalo Soldier-class container ship. She is one of Military Sealift Command's seventeen container and roll-on/roll-off ships and is part of the 36 ships in the Prepositioning Program.
Built in 1978 by Chanters Navigation de la Ciotat in France, she was originally named Merlin.[1] On 8 April 2005, she was renamed for Pope Air Force Base combat controller Technical Sergeant John A. Chapman, an Air Force Cross recipient.[2] [3]
MV TSgt John A. Chapman carries Air Force munitions. She features climate-controlled cocoons on her weather decks which protect additional cargo from the marine environment. She is owned and operated by Sealift Incorporated and is under charter to MSC.