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USNS Sirius (T-AFS-8) underway, date unknown
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| History | |
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| Name: | RFA Lyness |
| Ordered: | 7 December 1964 |
| Builder: | Swan Hunter |
| Yard number: | 2016 |
| Laid down: | 7 July 1965 |
| Launched: | 7 April 1966 |
| Commissioned: | 22 December 1966 |
| Identification: | Pennant number: A339 |
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| Name: | USNS Sirius |
| Acquired: | 1 March 1982 |
| Renamed: | Texas Clipper III, 2005 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Ness-class combat stores ship |
| Displacement: | 16,792 long tons (17,061 t) full load |
| Length: | 573 ft (175 m) |
| Beam: | 72 ft (22 m) |
| Draft: | 26 ft (7.9 m) |
| Propulsion: | 1 × 8-cylinder Sulzer diesel |
| Speed: | 17 knots (31 km/h) |
| Complement: | 110 RFA + 50 Stores Working Party (RFA service); 130 civil mariners + 30 US Navy active duty + 30 aviation detachment (US service) |
| Sensors and processing systems: |
Furuno navigation and surface search radar |
| Armament: | 2 12.7×99mm NATO heavy MG, 2 7.62×51mm NATO GPMG when security detachment is embarked (US service) |
| Aircraft carried: | 2 CH-46 Sea Knight or MH-60S Seahawk (US service) |
| Aviation facilities: | Fitted with a flight deck but no hangar facilities until purchased by USMSC |
RFA Lyness was a fleet stores ship of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary.
On 15 November 1980, the ship was acquired by charter by the United States Military Sealift Command and renamed USNS Sirius (T-AFS 8). She was purchased outright on 1 March 1982. On 1 July 2005, she was renamed Texas Clipper III and was transferred to the United States Maritime Administration to become the Texas Maritime Academy's new training ship.