USS Lyra (AK-101)

USS Lyra (AK-101) (broadside view) at anchor in San Francisco Bay, 4 August 1943.
History
United States
Name:	Cyrus Hamlin Lyra
Namesake:	Cyrus Hamlin Lyra
Ordered:	as a type (EC2-S-C1) hull, MCE hull 1555, SS Cyrus Hamlin
Builder:	Permanente Metals Corporation, Richmond, California
Laid down:	25 April 1943
Launched:	28 May 1943
Sponsored by:	Mrs. Harry N. Nelson
Acquired:	10 June 1943
Commissioned:	22 July 1943
Decommissioned:	3 May 1946
Refit:	converted for Naval service at General Engineering & Drydock Co., San Francisco, CA.
Identification:	Hull symbol:AK-101
Fate:	sold in 1947 to A. G. Pappadakis of Piraeus Greece, renamed SS Virginia sold in 1951 to Freighters & Tankers Agency Corp, New York, name retained sold in 1953 to J. J. Culucundis, Piraeus and Freighters & Tankers Agency Corp, New York, name retained sold in 1954 to J. J. Culucundis, Piraeus and A G Pappadakis & Co Ltd, London, name retained sold in 1964 to Amedeo - Marfrontera Cia Nav. SA, Panama RP - Greek flag, (managed Carpanayoti & Co Ltd, London)
Status:	sold to Taiwan breakers, arrived Kaohsiung 3 April 1967
General characteristics [1]
Class & type:	Crater-class cargo ship
Displacement:	4,023 long tons (4,088 t) (standard) 14,550 long tons (14,780 t) (full load)
Length:	441 ft 6 in (134.57 m)
Beam:	56 ft 11 in (17.35 m)
Draft:	28 ft 4 in (8.64 m)
Installed power:	2,500 shp (1,900 kW)
Propulsion:	2 × Babcock & Wilcox header-type boilers, 220psi 450° 1 × Joshua Hendy vertical triple-expansion reciprocating steam engine 1 × shaft
Speed:	12.5 kn (14.4 mph; 23.2 km/h)
Complement:	255
Armament:	1 × 5 in (130 mm)/38 caliber dual purpose gun 1 × 3 in (76 mm)/50 caliber dual purpose gun 2 × 40 mm (1.6 in) 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft gun mounts 6 × 20 mm (0.79 in) Oerlikon cannons anti-aircraft gun mounts

The USS Lyra (AK-101) was a Crater-class cargo ship in the service of the United States Navy in World War II. It was the only ship of the Navy to have borne this name. It is named after the constellation Lyra.

Lyra was laid down 25 April 1943 as liberty ship SS Cyrus Hamlin (MCE hull 1555) by Permanente Metals Corporation, Richmond, California, under a Maritime Commission contract; renamed Lyra 27 May 1943; launched 28 May 1943; sponsored by Mrs. Harry N. Nelson; acquired by the Navy 10 June 1943; converted by General Engineering & Drydock Co., San Francisco, California, completed 22 July 1943; and commissioned 22 July 1943, Lt. Comdr. J. H. Henderson in command.

Lyra departed San Francisco 28 August 1943 with 8,000 tons of lend-lease cargo for New Zealand. En route she towed one unit of a sectional dock to Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides, and arrived Wellington, New Zealand, 19 October. The cargo ship returned to San Francisco 24 November. On 17 December she began a 3-day experimental run to help perfect towing techniques.

Two days after Christmas, she again departed for Espiritu Santo towing Auxiliary Repair Dry Dock ARD-12. The ship then proceeded to Tulagi and Munda, Solomon Islands, embarking 200 troops from the latter for transport to Guadalcanal, which she reached 29 February 1944. Lyra returned to Tulagi and Guadalcanal, and was back in San Francisco 2 April after steaming 13,567 miles. From 29 April to 30 June, she made two short voyages between the west coast and Pearl Harbor.

The cargo ship’s next assignment was a towing operation to Manus, Admiralty Islands, between 21 August and 15 January 1945. On 26 February she voyaged to Samar, Philippine Islands, and returned to home port 1 June. Her seventh voyage, 17 June to 24 August, took her to Honolulu and Saipan. She sailed from San Francisco 26 September to Samar for her last assignment before decommissioning in Norfolk 3 May 1946. Lyra was redelivered to WSA 5 days later. She was sold in 1947 to A. G. Pappadakis and operated out of Piraeus, Greece, as Virginia.

References

• This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.

External links

• Photo gallery of Lyra at NavSource Naval History