SS Algol

SS Algol (T-AKR 287) is an Algol-class vehicle cargo ship that is currently maintained by the United States Maritime Administration as part of the Military Sealift Command's Ready Reserve Force. She was built as a high speed container ship by Rotterdamsche Droogdok Maatschappij N.V. in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, hull no. 331, for Sea-Land Service, Inc. and named SS Sea-Land Exchange, USCG ON 546383, IMO 7303205. As the first of her class in service, her owners were eager to showcase her abilities and so ordered that in August of 1973 the vessel would attempt to best the record-setting Atlantic Ocean crossing time of the SS United States which earned her the Blue Riband to showcase the capabilities of the new class of cargo vessels. Though ineligible to take the title as she was not a passenger vessel, the Sea-Land Exchange nevertheless completed her Eastbound crossing at an average of 34.97 knots (64.76 km/h; 40.24 mph), only 1 knot slower than the SS United States. The vessel is still the Guinness Book of World Records holder for fastest Eastbound Atlantic Crossing by a cargo ship.

Due to her high operating cost, Sea-Land Exchange was sold to the United States Navy in October 1981 as USNS Algol (T-AK-287).

In keeping with the pattern of the naming the Algol-class ships after bright stars, Algol was named after the bright eclipsing binary star Algol, known colloquially as the Demon Star, which is a bright star in the constellation Perseus.