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HMNZS ''Charles Upham'' (A02) was a Mercardian 2-in-1 class roll-on/roll-off vessel operated by the Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN) between 1994 and 2001. The vessel was built for the Danish shipping company Mercandia during the early 1980s, and operated under the names ''Mercandian Queen II'' and ''Continental Queen II''. The New Zealand Defence Force had identified the need for a logistic support ship as early as the 1970s but it was not until the 1991 white paper that planning to acquire a ship commenced in earnest. ''Mercandian Queen II'' was for sale around that time, and although not as capable as the RNZN had initially specified, was purchased in 1994. The ship arrived in New Zealand in 1995 under the name ''Sealift'', and was commissioned later that year as HMNZS ''Charles Upham'', taking the name of dual Victoria Cross winner Charles Upham. After some modification, the ship made two voyages to test her capabilities and determine what further work was required to make her fully operational. Significant problems with stability and seakeeping were encountered during the second voyage, and the ship was removed from service on her return. The cost of fixing the stability problems and fitting ''Charles Upham'' out for troop and vehicle transport was prohibitive, and the work was postponed. In the meantime, the ship was chartered to Spanish company Contenemar SA in 1998 and used to transport citrus fruit around the Mediterranean. By 2001, the New Zealand government had decided that ''Charles Upham'' was unusable and should be sold. The ship was sold to Contenemar (who operated her under the name ''Don Carlos'', then ''Don Carlos II''), then converted into a vehicle carrier and onsold in 2009 to Indonesian company PT Pelayaran Putra Sejati (operating as ''Nusantara Sejati''). In the meantime, the RNZN sought to acquire a new logistic vessel, with entering service in 2007. ==Design and construction== The vessel was one of 137 cargo vessels built by Danish shipping company Mercandia between 1964 and 1996 for their worldwide shipping fleet.〔 The ship is of the Mercandian 2-in-1 class design, with a displacement of at light load, and at full load.〔〔 She is long, with a beam of , and a draught of .〔 The propulsion system consists of a MaK M 453AK diesel motor, which supplied to a single controllable-pitch propeller.〔 This was supplemented by a bow thruster.〔 Maximum speed was , and maximum range was at .〔 The ship had a two ramps for vehicle loading; one at the stern, the other on the starboard side.〔 She was designed to carry up to of cargo.〔 The crew complement was 17 strong, and the ship was fitted with two I-band navigational radars.〔〔 The vessel was built by Frederikshavns Værft in Frederikshavn, Denmark.〔Sharpe (ed.), ''Jane's Fighting Ships 1998-99'', p. 473〕 Laid down as yard number 407, she was launched on 16 December 1983, and completed on 6 April 1984.〔Haworth (ed.), ''Single Ship Report for "8131128"''〕 The vessel was assigned the IMO Number 8131128.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「HMNZS Charles Upham」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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