Shortly after the end of the World War II, the U.S. Navy designed a new generation of minesweepers, those tough little ships that brave treacherous waters to find and destroy enemy underwater minefields before the fleet arrives.
The USS Affray was one of the new Acme II-class minesweepers designed to take advantage of new detection and protection technologies coming out of the war. Her new hull form saved about 50 percent of hull weight. Internal machinery and components helped minimize the ship’s magnetic “signature,” while special mine-locating sonar was capable of detecting contact, acoustic and magnetic mines.
Affray and her sister ships were among the Navy’s most complex and innovative vessels – matched in cost per ton only by submarines. Some 50,000 sailors — including Savannah’s Howard Morrison — proudly served on them before the last one was decommissioned in 1994.
So it seemed only fitting that Morrison — who served on the Affray’s sister ships USS Exploit and USS Aggressive from 1966 to 1969 — should present the Savannah Maritime Trade and Convention Center with a model of the Affray last week.
It was the fourth in a growing collection of authentically detailed models of ships from the 20th century and beyond that represent maritime innovation.
The first was the Navigator Pluto, a petrochemical tanker built at the turn of the 21st century, donated by Savannahian Remer Lane II, who helped build the vessel when he worked for Navigator Gas.
The next was a model of the CPO Savannah, a modern container ship built in 2009 by Claus-Peter Offen Shipping Co. of Hamburg, Germany.
The donation of the Savannah, which frequently calls on our port trading for the United Arab Shipping Co. as the UASC Shuiaba, was arranged by Savannahian and former merchant marine captain Chris Desa.
In late July, a model of the William T. Moore, a steel-hulled oceangoing tug with close Savannah ties was presented to the trade center on long-term loan by the tug’s namesake, William T. “Ted” Moore of Statesboro. Named by Moore’s father, the tug spent more than a decade plying the ocean waters of the U.S. East Coast, Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean, making a number of stops at Savannah.
Next will be a model of Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics’ newest prototype design for an environmentally friendly ship, currently on display at the trade center as part of the Savannah Ocean Exchange.
The shipping line is the sponsor of the Ocean Exchange’s $100,000 WWL Orcelle Award, which will be given to the potential solution that would make shipping and logistics more sustainable by advancing zero-emissions marine transport and technologies that are commercially viable.
Other models in the works for the trade center’s “Maritime Innovations” exhibit include two models of WWL’s iconic roll-on/roll-off ships, one a 1980s vintage and the other their newest model — the largest Ro-Ro ship ever built.
Friends — and fellow Brits — Nick Farley and Robert Baugniet are in the process of commissioning two models of the SS James Oglethorpe, the first Liberty Ship built in Savannah.
“We’ll have one for the trade center exhibit in Savannah and the other for the Wellington Museum in London,” said London-born and Canada-raised Baugniet, now an American citizen who once commanded Canada’s Naval Reserve.
“I grew up understanding the importance of Liberty Ships in helping England win the Battle of the Atlantic during World War II,” Baugniet said. “I’m happy to help Nick preserve a piece of that history.”
Senior business reporter Mary Carr Mayle covers the ports for the Savannah Morning News. She can be reached at 912-652-0324 or at mary.mayle@savannahnow.com.
SHIPPING SCHEDULE
These are the ships expected to call on Georgia Ports Authority’s Garden City and Ocean Terminals in the next week. Sailing schedules are provided by Georgia Ports Authority and are subject to change.
Terminal Ship name Arrival
GCT MSC MONTEREY Today
GCT HANJIN GDYNIA Today
GCT ASIR Today
GCT PRESIDENT TRUMAN Today
GCT OOCL BRITAIN Today
GCT MUSTAFA DAYI Today
GCT STUTTGART EXPRESS Today
GCT MSC ORIANE Today
GCT KAETHE C. RICKMERS Saturday
GCT DUBAI EXPRESS Saturday
GCT EVER DELUXE Saturday
GCT MSC SARAH Saturday
GCT RIO THELON Saturday
GCT ARTHUR MAERSK Saturday
GCT CHARLESTON EXPRESS Saturday
OT FEDORA Saturday
GCT CONRAD S Sunday
GCT HYUNDAI UNITY Sunday
GCT KIEL EXPRESS Sunday
OT SAUDI DIRIYAH Sunday
OT GRANDE MAROCCO Sunday
GCT AKINADA BRIDGE Monday
GCT MSC BRUXELLES Monday
GCT NYK CONSTELLATION Monday
GCT MARFRET SORMIOU Monday
GCT TOKYO EXPRESS Monday
GCT SCT ZURICH Tuesday
GCT APL GARNET Tuesday
GCT ZIM CONSTANZA Tuesday
GCT MS SIMON Tuesday
GCT YM PORTLAND Tuesday
GCT NYK LAURA Tuesday
OT MANDARIN SINGAPORE Tuesday
OT TITANIA Tuesday
GCT STADT GERA Wednesday
GCT ZIM SAN FRANCISCO Wednesday
GCT SEA-LAND CHAMPION Wednesday
GCT MOL PREMIUM Wednesday
GCT SEOUL EXPRESS Thursday
GCT ZIM BEIJING Thursday
GCT MSC INGRID Thursday
GCT JO KASHI Thursday
GCT MSC EMMA Thursday
GCT UASC DOHA Thursday
GCT E.R. DENMARK Thursday
GCT MAERSK DUNEDIN Thursday
GCT BAVARIA Thursday
GCT MAERSK ROUBAIX Thursday
GCT HUDSON RIVER Thursday
GCT E. R. MELBOURNE Thursday
GCT HANJIN MARSEILLES Thursday