{{Short description|US vehicle landing ship}} {{other ships|USS Comet}} {{Use American English|date=November 2024}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2024}} {{Infobox ship |section1={{Infobox ship/image |image=Comet T-AK-269.jpg |image_caption=USNS ''Comet'' underway, date and place unknown. }}
|section2={{Infobox ship/career |hide_header= |country=United States |flag={{USN flag|1960}} |name=*USNS ''Comet'' (T-AK-269) *USNS ''Comet'' (T-LSV-7) *USNS ''Comet'' (T-AKR-7) *SS ''Comet'' (T-AKR-7) |namesake= |ordered= |builder= Sun Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company |laid_down= |launched=31 July 1957 |acquired= |commissioned= |decommissioned= |in_service= |out_of_service= |struck= |reinstated= |identification={{IMO Number|8450665}} |honours= |fate=Scrapped 28 September 2015 |notes= }}
|section3={{Infobox ship/characteristics |hide_header= |header_caption= |class= |displacement=*{{convert|8175|LT|abbr=on|lk=in}} light *{{convert|18286|LT|abbr=on}} full |length={{convert|467|ft|abbr=on}} |beam={{convert|78|ft|abbr=on}} |draft={{convert|27|ft|abbr=on}} |propulsion=Two steam turbines, twin shafts |speed= average {{convert|25|kn}} |range= |complement= |sensors= |EW= |armament= M16 rifles, and M2 50caliber machine gun pintle mounts welded to the railing by Marines of 4th Landing Support Battalion. |armour= |armor= |aircraft= |aircraft_facilities= |notes= }} }} '''USNS ''Comet'' (T-AK-269)''', later '''T-LSV-7''', later '''T-AKR-7''', later '''SS ''Comet''''', was a vehicle landing ship built for the United States Navy. The lone ship of her class, she was named for the comet, and was the fourth U.S. Naval vessel to bear the name.
''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).<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Ready Reserve Force (RRF) |url=https://www.maritime.dot.gov/national-defense-reserve-fleet/ndrf/maritime-administration%E2%80%99s-ready-reserve-force |website=www.maritime.dot.gov}}</ref>
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.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2014/04/23/2014-07673/ship-disposal-ex-usns-comet|title = Ship Disposal: Ex-USNS COMET|date = 23 April 2014}}</ref>
<gallery widths="250px" heights="220px"> File:Comet T-LSV-7.jpg|USNS ''Comet'' moored pierside at Bremerhaven, Germany, April 1976. File:SS Comet (T-AKR-1).jpg|USNS ''Comet'' at sea, date and location unknown. </gallery>
==References== {{Reflist}} {{DANFS}} * {{cite web|title=''Comet''|work=Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships|url=http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/c11/comet-iv.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040302223554/http://history.navy.mil/danfs/c11/comet-iv.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=2 March 2004|access-date=1 May 2007}} * {{cite web|title=T-AK-269 / T-LSV-7 / T-AKR-7 ''Comet''|website=NavSource |url=http://www.navsource.net/archives/10/17/1707.htm|access-date=1 May 2007}}
==External links== *{{HAER |survey=CA-348 |id=ca3465 |title=USNS Comet, Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet, Benicia, Solano County, CA |photos=53 |color=4 |dwgs=8 |data=22 |cap=5}}
{{US Vehicle Landing Ships}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Comet}} Category:Vehicle landing ships of the United States Navy Category:Ships built by the Sun Shipbuilding & Drydock Company Category:1957 ships Category:Historic American Engineering Record in California