CAMP ARIFJAN, Kuwait - Sliding out of port on the Army's experimental heavy-lift catamaran, the U.S. Army Vessel Spearhead, peering out the window is almost the only way to get a sense of motion.
Hardly the sail-driven skateboard-on-water of popular imagination, this diesel-engine catamaran always keeps both keels in the water while hauling heavy payloads of equipment, personnel and vehicles.
The Spearhead, hull number TSV-1X, which stands for "Theater Support Vessel - 1st Experimental, still bears a few reminders of its nine-year civilian past as a high-speed ferry between the Australian mainland and Tasmania. Most notably, there's the blue-and-rainbow-speckled carpet and passenger seating in the main-deck cabin. The large blue sunroof doesn't exactly shout "military" either. But standing in front of the docked craft, one could hardly mistake it for a civilian cruise ship.
The vessel's exterior is a glimmering silver, its aluminum skin left unpainted to save 9 tons of weight in paint. In fact, nearly the entire frame is aluminum, a material chosen over steel for its lightweight and rust resistance. The vessel's military-civilian hybrid appearance is a result of remodeling that was put on hold because the craft was needed in the Persian Gulf in preparation for Operation Iraqi Freedom.
The Spearhead is the latest catamaran with which the military has been experimenting for the last two years after seeing similar craft operated by the Australian navy during the East Timor crisis in 1999 and 2000.
The high-speed vessel HSV-X1 Joint Venture, built by Incat Ltd. in Australia -- as was the Spearhead -- is being leased from the company by the Navy and Army in a joint venture. Until recently, U.S. Central Command also used it in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Incat recently finished building another catamaran for the Navy, the HSV-X2, which will be stationed in Ingleside, Texas. Future catamarans for the military are planned to be built by Bollinger-Incat USA in New Orleans. The Army plans to deploy up to 17 TSVs around the world by 2011.
The Spearhead is an all-Army endeavor, operated by the 469th Transportation Detachment, Fort Eustis, Va. Last fall, a crew of Army sailors went to Hobart, Tasmania, to train on the vessel before sailing it to the Persian Gulf. One initial training crew member was Sgt. Victor Rondon III, a watercraft engineer.
"We took safety classes and an engine-room class to familiarize us with the engineering equipment, Rondon said, "and we christened the ship 'Hobart.' The navigators went to high-speed navigation school at the Maritime College in Tasmania."
Rondon said Army engineers have to be versatile. Unlike the Navy, which has a specialist for nearly every task aboard a ship, Army "sailors" must multitask, since the crew size -- about half that of a comparable Navy vessel -- is small, and operational doctrine still is being written for the TSV, he explained.
"We maintain the engine, hydraulics, electrical system -- whatever it is, you name it, we fix it. It keeps us busy. It's a lot of work, but we learn a lot," Rondon said. "We even make our own water, using reverse osmosis. We can make about 15 gallons per minute converting sea water to fresh water," he added.
The four-engine, 98-meter TSV has significantly more advanced engines and generators compared to the HSV, said Anthony Dasig, a TSV engineer. Dasig said the TSV is faster and holds more cargo than the HSV.
Compared to the longtime Army workhorse vessel -- the LSV, or Logistical Support Vessel, the TSV is four times faster at over 40 knots and can carry a more voluminous, though less heavy load, Dasig said.
After training in Hobart, the 31-member crew sailed the vessel to the Persian Gulf in December. Except for one month for maintenance, it has been in continuous service, logging more than 50,000 nautical miles (57,500 statute miles).
