USNS Comet

USNS Comet (T-AK-269), later T-LSV-7, later T-AKR-7, later SS Comet, is a vehicle landing ship built for the United States Navy. The lone ship of her class, she is named for the comet, and is the fourth U.S. Naval vessel to bear the name.

For other ships with the same name, see USS Comet.
USNS Comet (T-AK-269)
USNS Comet underway, date and place unknown.
History
United States
Name
  • USNS Comet (T-AK-269)
  • USNS Comet (T-LSV-7)
  • USNS Comet (T-AKR-7)
  • SS Comet (T-AKR-7)
BuilderSun Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company
Launched31 July 1957
IdentificationIMO number: 8450665
FateScrapped 28 September 2015
General characteristics
Displacement
  • 8,175 long tons (8,306 t) light
  • 18,286 long tons (18,579 t) full
Length467 ft (142 m)
Beam78 ft (24 m)
Draft27 ft (8.2 m)
PropulsionTwo steam turbines, twin shafts
Speedaverage 25 knots (46 km/h; 29 mph)
ArmamentM14 rifles, and M2 50caliber machine gun pintle mounts welded to the railing by Marines of 4th Landing Support Battalion.

Comet was laid down 31 July 1957 under Maritime Administration contract (MA hull 42) at Sun Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company of Chester, Pennsylvania; launched 31 July 1957; delivered to the Navy 27 January 1958; and placed in service under control of the Military Sealift Command (MSC) as cargo ship USNS Comet (T-AK-269).

Redesignated vehicle landing ship T-LSV-7 on 1 January 1963; further redesignated vehicle cargo ship /Roll-on/roll-off ship AKR-7 (date unknown), as such becoming one of the first ship in the world to be specifically designed for loading, shipping and discharge of Roll-on/roll-off cargoes.

Her title was transferred to MARAD, she was redesignated SS Comet and laid up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, Suisun Bay, Benicia, California as a member of the MARAD Ready Reserve Force (RRF).[1]

Reactivated in 2003 to ferry US Marine Engineers (12 Marines) and equipment from San Diego to Kuwait, with stops in Guam and Dubai/UAE in preparation for the Iraqi conflict (2003–present).

Removed from MSC control, withdrawn from the RRF by reassignment to the National Defense Reserve Fleet 28 July 2006. In 2014, the Maritime Administration submitted a docket for disposing of the ship from the National Defense Reserve Fleet.[2]

  • USNS Comet moored pierside at Bremerhaven, Germany, April 1976.
    USNS Comet moored pierside at Bremerhaven, Germany, April 1976.
  • USNS Comet at sea, date and location unknown.
    USNS Comet at sea, date and location unknown.

References
  1. https://www.maritime.dot.gov/national-defense-reserve-fleet/ndrf/maritime-administration%E2%80%99s-ready-reserve-force
  2. "Ship Disposal: Ex-USNS COMET". 23 April 2014.

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.

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