USNS Comet (T-AK 269) early in her career.
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Class: COMET (T-AK 269/T-LSV 7/T-AKR 7)
Design: MA C3-ST-14a
Displacement (tons): 8,175 light, 16,150 at 27' draft, 18,286 full
Dimensions (feet): 499' oa, 465' wl x 78' e/wl x 27' max nav
Armament: none
Accommodations: 60 officers, 53 others including ship's complement of 16 officers and 35 others
Speed (kts.): 18
Propulsion (HP): 12,000
Machinery: Geared steam turbines, 2 boilers (615psi/850deg), 2 screws
Construction:
| LSV | Name | Ord | Builder | Keel | Launch | Svc |
| 7 | COMET | 28 Jun 1955 | Sun SB & DD | 15 May 1956 | 31 Jul 1957 | 27 Jan 1958 |
Disposition:
| LSV | Name | T | Inact | Strike | Disposal | Fate | MA Sale |
| 7 | COMET | T | 22 Apr 1984 | None? | ca 1995 | MA/T | 24 Jun 2015 |
Class Notes:
In late 1953 the Chief of Staff or the Army recommended that one prototype roll-on, roll-off (ro-ro) cargo ship be procured. The Army felt that ro-ro ships could introduce a new and faster logistics service with cargo pre-loaded in truck trailers for the large U.S. force stationed in Germany. This ship could load and unload cargo by rolling vehicles on and off the ship instead of lifting it out of holds with booms and thereby speed up cargo deliveries. By September 1953 MSTS, which had not previously needed to build a ship, had instituted a Long-Range Ship Construction Program for ships of highly specialized types that were not available either directly or by conversion from the U.S. merchant marine, the NDRF, or the Navy, and initiated the program with one ro-ro (T-AK 269, later T-LSV 7 and T-AKR 7). By January 1954 six specialized ice-strengthened ships (T-AKD 1, T-AK 270-272, and T-AOG 81-82) had been added to the program to support construction of the Distant Early Warning (DEW) Line in the Canadian Arctic. On 30 June 1954 Congress included in the Defense Department Appropriation Act of 1955 a special appropriation of $50 million dollars separate from the Navy's shipbuilding program for the construction of the seven ships in the MSTS program.
On 9 November 1953 the Army Chief of Transportation provided comments on a letter dated 21 September 1953 from BUSHIPS to CNO concerning a prototype Vehicle Cargo Ship to be operated by MSTS. The Army needed ships able to load or discharge a full cargo of wheeled and tracked vehicles in a maximum of 8 hours, and the BUSHIPS letter included a preliminary design, PD 2342, that attempted to respond to this requirement. The Army liked the 22.5 foot draft of the design, which was very desirable for the secondary shallow water ports that might have to be used in an emergency, but the length and beam of the ship might prove too large for entrance into those ports. (The letter mentioned ports consisting of basins entered through locks, like several in the English Channel.) The design also depended on special shoreside cargo working facilities which might not be available, and the Army wanted it to include conventional cargo handling equipment with large hatch openings in addition to ramps and side ports. These and other comments led to further studies by MSTS, BUSHIPS, and the Army, resulting in agreed basic characteristics of cost and construction for the prototype roll-on roll-off vessel that was now in the DoD request for FY 1955 funds. These characteristics, summarized by MSTS on 23 February 1954, were a length of 475’ pp, a loaded draft of 22', a sustained sea speed fully loaded of 18 knots, a light displacement of 7,500 tons, and a cost of $18,500,000. The original conception of a larger ship was still considered sound but was deferred, MSTS noting that a survey of foreign ports conducted by the Army indicated that the proposed ship had be as short as practicable and under no circumstances should exceed 500 feet overall.
On 13 April 1954 John C. Niedermair of the BUSHIPS Preliminary Design Branch (Code 420) recorded the results of the preliminary design study for the MSTS Vehicle Cargo Ship (Roll-on Roll-off), and on 8 June 1954 he recorded the design as modified in accordance with MSTS requests. The primary task of the ship as modified was to provide point-to-point sea transportation for wheeled and tracked vehicles of the Department of Defense and to provide for the rapid loading and discharge of such vehicles, under their own power insofar as possible, to and from piers, lighters, and landing craft in ports where dockside and floating crane facilities were not available, using ramps internal and external to the ship. The principal dimensions of the design were a length of 495.5' oa, 475’wl at 21.0875’ draft, 78’ beam, with a full load displacement as a vehicle carrier of 14,150 tons at 22' draft and a full load displacement with general cargo of 18,050t at 27’ draft. Propulsion characteristics were 16,000 SHP (continuous), 2 screws, 18 knots sustained speed, and endurance as a vehicle carrier of 13,000 miles at 18 knots. The length was limited to 500’ by the memo of 23 February 1954 and the beam of 78’ was dictated by damage stability requirements and the desirability of providing great width in the holds for the maneuvering of vehicles. The holds were nearly rectangular, requiring them to be located amidships with the machinery aft. The design had a forward bridge and a long poop. The draft of 22’ with a full load of vehicles, while less than might be desired from a seakindliness viewpoint, was the result of low cargo density. This draft also required making the design twin screw. Geared turbine propulsion was provided with steam conditions of about 600 psi and 850 degrees, in part because skilled operators were not available for the diesel plant preferred in April by Preliminary Design. The Preliminary Design Branch (Code 420) reported on 14 June 1954 that the preliminary design was considered complete and was forwarded to the Hull Design Branch (Code 440) for the development of the contract design.
On 15 April 1954 the Ship Design Division (Code 410) recommended assigning the contract for preparing the contract design of the vehicle cargo ship to George G. Sharp, Inc., of New York, who had done a great deal of design work on roll on – roll off types. In late April Sharp was authorized to prepare “alternative preliminary design studies.” In a 23 June 1954 conference at BUSHIPS Sharp stated that because of hold lengths the BUSHIPS preliminary design of 10 June 1954 could not fill the requirements for driving vehicles within the ship. It also identified eight other shortcomings in the design. Sharp presented seven alternative designs of their own, A-G, on the premise that “Long holds are an essential characteristic of vehicle carriers.” To lengthen the holds while maintaining satisfactory floodable length characteristics (one-compartment subdivision) the freeboard had to be increased by two feet and the lines above the design waterline had to be filled out. In Sharp’s scheme D the machinery was located just aft of amidships and there were two vehicle holds, one forward and one aft of the machinery space. Sharp also offered a scheme G with machinery aft and a single large vehicle hold forward of it, but recommended Scheme D because, in the event of one or two compartments flooding, one vehicle hold would remain intact and ship survivability was superior. In this meeting the BUSHIPS design was abandoned and Sharp’s scheme D was adopted. The design was then refined in a series of conferences beginning on 9 July 1954. The Preliminary design phase was completed about 25 August 1954 and preparation of the contract design began. On 10 Jan 1955 Sharp submitted tracings of all plans with all changes requested to date. On 15 February 1955 the Navy completed arrangements with MARAD for the transfer of funds for construction of the ship. The MARAD design designation C3-ST-14a for T-AK 269 was first mentioned on 18 February 1955. BUSHIPS received approval of the design of T-AK 269 from MSTS on 18 February 1955 and authorized release of this design for shipbuilding purposes. On 10 March 1955 the Ship Design Division (Code 410) reported that specifications and contract plans had been completed and delivered to Code 527 (Auxiliary vessels) and to the Office of Ship Construction at MARAD, and it transferred technical control to the Ship Technical Division. The MARAD invitation for bids on MA Design C3-ST-14a was dated 10 March 1955 with a bid opening date of 14 June 1955. There were seven bids, Sun’s being the lowest, and two other firms did not bid.
In the meantime, on 26 August 1954 Congress approved Public Law 83-663 making supplemental appropriations for FY 1955 which authorized DoD to "acquire ... not to exceed six vessels capable of transporting, loading and unloading railroad rolling stock on rails by the roll-on, roll-off method, as well as wheeled and tracked military equipment to be loaded and discharged under their own power." No one in DoD testified in favor of this authorization and Congress did not fund the ships, but the Army later recommended its immediate implementation, at least in part, arguing that it had a requirement for up to 13 of these specialized vessels and a mobilization requirement of 39. An interservice conference on 6 January 1955 concluded that there was no way to add the acquisition of more ro-ro ships to the DOD FY 1956 budget and that in the near term it would be necessary to resort to build/charter arrangements with private industry for more ships.
On 8 August 1956 the prototype MSTS ro-ro was given the number AK 269 and the name COMET, which a MSTS officer recommended because it suggested to him perpetual motion. USNS COMET is generally considered to have been the first purpose-built ocean-going ro-ro vessel (although technically LSTs could also be considered ro-ro's). BUSHIPS completed the contract plans and specifications for T-AK 269 in January 1955 and then handed them over to MARAD to handle the contracting process. COMET was delivered by her builder to MARAD and by MARAD to MSTS on 24 Jan 1958. On 26 April 1963 effective 1 June 1963 COMET was reclassified from T-AK 269 to T-LSV 7, and on 25 September 1968 effective 1 January 1969 she was reclassified to T-AKR 7.
On 15 June 1961 the U.S. Army rear services command in Europe reported to the Army Chief of Transportation in Washington that for the past 18 month a portion of the critical supplies for the European theater had been shipped in trailer-van services via the two roll-on, roll-off vessels then in service (COMET and the acquired TAURUS, T-AK 273). This had resulted in a reduction in the average time from CONUS to USAREUR from 60-90 days to 25 days and a reduction in the Army's air movement requirement. In October 1961 Defense Secretary Robert McNamara projected that construction of five COMET-class ro-ro ships would begin in fiscal year 1963 but only one (SEA LIFT, T-LSV 9) materialized, McNamara having then turned his attention to the abortive FDL (itself an enhanced ro-ro) program.
COMET was among a number of MSC cargo vessels assigned to the Ready Reserve Force (RRF) in Fiscal Year 1984, with administrative control transferred to the Maritime Administration. She was transferred from MSC to MARAD custody (RRF) on 15 March 1985 (September 1985 according to the Naval Vessel Register). Full title transfer came in the early 1990s. COMET was stationed as a RRF ship at various locations on the West Coast starting with Portland, Ore., in 1986 and participated in Operations DESERT SHIELD, DESERT STORM, and IRAQI FREEDOM. In 2003 COMET was placed in reduced operating status in Alameda, California. She was later moved to the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet and was downgraded from RRF to NDRF retention status in July 2006 and to non-retention status in January 2008.
Ship Notes:
| LSV | Name | MA | Notes |
| 7 | COMET | 42 | FY 1955 (MSTS). Departed SBRF 5 Aug 2015 for Marine Metals Inc., Brownsville. BU completed 26 May 2016. |
Page Notes:
Compiled: 13 Aug 2021
© Stephen S. Roberts, 2021
Special sources: NARA: RG 19 Entry P 62 boxes 25-26 and 28; RG 19 Entry P 52 box 121; Norman Friedman, U.S. Amphibious Ships and Craft, (Annapolis, 2002).