USNS ''Spica'' (T-AFS-9), was a

combat stores ship Combat stores ships, or storeships, are ships used to store naval supplies. They are used to deliver supplies such as provisions and fuel to combat ships on extended deployments. The United States Navy operated the and es and the Royal Navy oper ...

acquired by the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...

from the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

in 1981. She participated in Operation Fiery Vigil to evacuate

Clark Air Base Clark Air Base is a Philippine Air Force base in Luzon, located west of Angeles City, and about northwest of Metro Manila. It was previously operated by the U.S. Air Force and, before that, the U.S. Army, from 1903 to 1991. The base cov ...

personnel following the

Mount Pinatubo Mount Pinatubo is an active stratovolcano in the Zambales Mountains in Luzon in the Philippines. Located on the tripoint of Zambales, Tarlac and Pampanga provinces, most people were unaware of its eruptive history before the pre-eruption volc ...

Eruption in 1991. She served as part of the

Military Sealift Command The Military Sealift Command (MSC) is an organization that controls the replenishment and military transport ships of the United States Navy. Military Sealift Command has the responsibility for providing sealift and ocean transportation for all U ...

until she was deactivated in 2008. Before her U.S. Navy career, ''Spica'' served the

Royal Fleet Auxiliary The Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) is a naval auxiliary fleet owned by the UK's Ministry of Defence. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service and provides logistical and operational support to the Royal Navy and Royal Marines. The RF ...

as RFA ''Tarbatness'' (A345).

Built in England

RFA ''Tarbatness'' (A345) was built at Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson Ltd., Wallsend-On-Tyne,

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, for the

. She was laid down on 1 April 1965 and was launched on 1 February 1967.

Purchased by the U.S. Navy

''Spica'' was purchased by the U.S. Navy and placed into non-commissioned service as a

on 1 November 1981 as the USNS ''Spica'' (T-AFS-9), a unit of the

(MSC) Naval Auxiliary Force Atlantic.

Mission

''Spica’s'' mission was to provide

underway replenishment Underway replenishment (UNREP) (United States Navy, U.S. Navy) or replenishment at sea (RAS) (North Atlantic Treaty Organization/Commonwealth of Nations) is a method of transferring fuel, munitions, and stores from one ship to another while unde ...

in support of naval forces by providing refrigerated supplies, dry supplies, spare parts, general supplies, fleet freight, mail, and replacement personnel by alongside or by vertical replenishment processes.

Honors and awards

''Spica '' was authorized the following awards:

Disposal

''Spica'' was inactivated on 26 January 2008 and turned over to the Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility at

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, for disposal.NavSource USNS Spica (T-AFS-9) ex RFA Tarbatness (A-345) (1967 - 1981)
/ref> She was sunk as a target on 6 May 2009.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Spica Cold War auxiliary ships of the United States Ships built on the River Tyne 1967 ships Sirius-class combat stores ships Ships sunk as targets