USNS Sirius: Difference between revisions

{{short description|Cargo ship of the United States Navy}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2017}}

| Ship image= [[File:USNS Sirius;09520816.jpg|300px|Sirius (T-AFS-8) en route to Norfolk, VA. after her AFS conversion, 1983.]]

| Ship flag= [[File:British-Royal-Fleet-Auxiliary-Ensign.svg|60px|border|Royal Fleet Auxiliary Ensign]]

| Ship builder= [[Swan Hunter|Swan, Hunter and Wigham Richardson]]

|Ship commissioned=22 December 1966

|Ship identification={{IMO Number|6706888}}

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|Ship identification={{IMO Number|6706888}}

|Ship fate=Scrapped 2014

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| Ship flag= [[File:Flag of Texas.svg|border|60px|Flag of Texas]]

|Ship identification={{IMO Number|6706888}}

| Ship aircraft= Two [[Boeing Vertol CH-46 Sea Knight|CH-46 Sea Knight]], [[MH-60 Seahawk]] or [[Aerospatiale Super Puma]] [[helicopter]]s (USN service)

[[File:800600 II 35 HMS Lyness A339 Biskaya.jpg|thumb|RFA Lyness (A 339) in PASSEX with HMS Intrepid and Deutschland (A 59) in Bay of Biscay, June 1980]]

'''USNS ''Sirius'' (T-AFS 8)''' was a [[Sirius class combat stores ship|''Sirius''-class]] [[combat stores ship]] of the [[United States Navy]], named for [[Sirius]] {{nowrap|(α Canis Majoris)}}, the brightest [[star]] visible from Earth other than the Sun.

''Sirius'' was built by [[Swan Hunter|Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson]] for the [[Royal Navy]]. Laid down in 1965, she was [[Ship naming and launching|launched]] in 1966 from [[Wallsend]] as '''RFA ''Lyness''''' with the pennant '''A339''' serving in the British [[Royal Fleet Auxiliary]].

On 15 November 1980, the ship was acquired by charter by the [[United States Military Sealift Command]]. She was transferred to the U.S. Navy's [[Military Sealift Command]] in 1981.{{citation needed|date=February 2021}}

''Sirius'' was deactivated and struck from the [[Naval Vessel Register]] in 2005 and given to the [[U.S. Department of Transportation]]'s [[Maritime Administration]] (MARAD), then assigned to [[Texas Maritime Academy]] under an agreement that it can be activated by MARAD at any time. During the fall of 2005, the ''Sirius'' served in [[New Orleans, Louisiana|New Orleans]] for [[Hurricane Katrina|Katrina]] relief, from 10 September until 29 November and at [[Lake Charles, LA]] for [[Hurricane Rita|Rita]] relief until 2 March. Because of its extended relief effort the ''Sirius'' was unable to undergo a refit in 2006 to adapt its new role as a training vessel and comply with [[U.S. Coast Guard]] safety standards. Because the ''Sirius'' had not undergone a refit, it could not be formally commissioned as the USTS ''Texas Clipper III'' nor could it be used for summer training cruises. In the winter of 2009 the US Coast Guard ruled that the ''Sirius'' was unfit for training and was prepared for decommissioning while the school looked for a new training ship. On25 June 2009, the ''Sirius'' was returned to the U.S. Maritime Administration.<ref>[http://www.tamug.edu/news/2009SiriusDeparture.html Sirius Returned to Maritime Admin] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091205070412/http://www.tamug.edu/news/2009SiriusDeparture.html |date=5 December 2009 }}</ref>

''Sirius'' was scrapped at Brownsville on 30 May 2014.<ref>{{csr|register=MSI|id=6706888|shipname=Lyness|accessdate=18 June 2022}}</ref>

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== Citations ==

{{Reflist}}

==References==

* {{cite web | access-date= 2008-01-13

* {{cite web | access-date= 2008-01-13

* {{cite web | access-date= 2008-01-13

| url= {{Naval Vessel Register URL|id=AFS8}}

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{{Ness class combat stores ship}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sirius (T-AFS-8)}}

[[Category:Ships built on the River Tyne]]

[[Category:Ness-class combat stores ships]]

[[Category:Ships built by Swan Hunter]]