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After support of Freedoms, Spica heads home

Military Sealift Command Release

Release Date: 6/30/2003

By PN1(SW) Jon Vercellono Aboard USNS Spica, at sea

Between November 2002 and June 2003, while Military Sealift Command's combat stores ship USNS Spica supported Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom, the ship set new benchmarks for service to the fleet.

Deployed to the Mediterranean and under the operational control of U.S. Navy's Sixth Fleet, Spica coordinated underway support for all ships in the Mediterranean theatre in the days leading to the war.

From November to January, Spica, under master Capt. Gregory Horner, completed 19 underway replenishments -- moving more than 2,800 pallets of supplies and transferring more than 257 thousand gallons of fuel as the sole combat stores ship operating in the Mediterranean.

At one point, Spica conducted two replenishments with USS George Washington and then raced across the Mediterranean to resupply the entire USS Harry S. Truman carrier battle group.

Cmdr. James Shields, USN, officer in charge of the military detachment aboard Spica, reported that in just the first six weeks on station, Spica completed a full trip around the Mediterranean with stops at Rota, Spain; Augusta Bay, Sicily; and Souda Bay, Crete, and serviced customers as far east as Cyprus before meeting Truman just inside the Strait of Gibraltar.

While supporting the Washington and Truman battle groups, Spica had what is believed to be a record day when it supported seven ships of Allied Task Force East.

Lt. Cmdr. Michael Moore, USN, assistant OIC of Spica's Military Detachment, explained the amount of work done by Spica during the hectic seven months.

"Last deployment, Spica moved more than 13,300 pallets of material during a seven-month deployment," said Moore. "Since our load-out in October 2002, Spica has moved more than 19,900 pallets of material." Moore added, "And in one 96-hour period, we delivered over 1,200 pallets of material."

After eight months and 53,000 miles, Spica completed the equivalent of roughly two trips around the world.