The ships can be quickly activated to support military sea transportation needs.

The crane ships are converted container ships with three twin boom pedestal cranes which can lift containers or other cargo from themselves or adjacent vessels and deposit the cargo on a pier or lighterage.

The US Navy converted ten cargo ships to crane ships, three Gopher State class and seven Keystone State class, the first of which was completed in 1984 and the last of which was completed in 1997.

USNS Gopher State acted as a temporary Army prepositioning ship in 1994.

This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Navy.