USNS Comet (T-AK-269)

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 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)
Builder: Sun Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company
Launched: 31 July 1957
Identification: IMO number: 6124518
Status: in reserve
General characteristics
Displacement:
  • 8,175 long tons (8,306 t) light
  • 18,286 long tons (18,579 t) full
Length: 467 ft (142 m)
Beam: 78 ft (24 m)
Draft: 27 ft (8.2 m)
Propulsion: Two steam turbines, twin shafts
Speed: average 25 knots (46 km/h; 29 mph)
Armament: M14 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Removed from MSC control, withdrawn from the RRF by reassignment to the National Defense Reserve Fleet 28 July 2006.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]

References
  1. https://www.maritime.dot.gov/national-defense-reserve-fleet/ndrf/maritime-administration%E2%80%99s-ready-reserve-force
  2. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2014/04/23/2014-07673/ship-disposal-ex-usns-comet

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

  • "Comet". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Retrieved May 1, 2007.
  • "T-AK-269 / T-LSV-7 / T-AKR-7 Comet". Amphibious Photo Archive. Retrieved May 1, 2007.


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


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