- USNS Watertown (T-AGM-6)
USNS "Watertown" (T-AGM-6) was a "Watertown"-class
missile range instrumentation ship acquired by theU.S. Navy in 1960 and converted from herVictory ship cargo configuration to a missile tracking ship, a role she retained for eleven years before being placed out of service in 1971.Victory ship constructed in Oregon
"Niantic Victory" was laid down on 12 February 1944 at
Portland, Oregon , by theOregon Shipbuilding Corporation under aU.S. Maritime Commission contract (MCV hull 100); launched on 25 April 1944; sponsored by Mrs. Marvin Owen; and delivered to the Maritime Commission on 18 May 1944.Maritime service
From 1944 until 1957, "Niantic Victory" was operated for the
U.S. Maritime Commission by a succession of contractor firms, beginning with the American-Hawaiian Steamship Line and ending with the Isbrandtsen Company in 1957.Her activities between 1957 and 1960 are a mystery. She was listed in the "American Bureau of Shipping Record" as still belonging to the Maritime Commission, but no operator was listed. Furthermore, she was dropped from the active list of Maritime Commission ships in the April 1957 issue of "Merchant Vessel Register". All of this suggests that she went out of service early in 1957. This speculation, however, cannot be corroborated, because her name does not appear in any of the lists of ships in
National Defense Reserve Fleet berthing areas.Missile tracking service
In any event, "Niantic Victory" was turned over to the Navy Department in 1960 and assigned to the
Military Sea Transportation Service on11 August for conversion to a range instrumentation ship.On
27 November , she was renamed "Watertown" and designated "AGM-6". For the next 11 years, she served in thePacific Ocean in support of theNational Aeronautics and Space Administration and theU.S. Air Force on the latter service's Western Missile Test Range. She operated as a mobile tracking station, recording test data from missiles and satellites out of range of land-based stations."Watertown" carried instrumentation to track and record flight events for military missile and NASA manned spacecraft, extending the coverage of the tracking network over the
Pacific ocean . She was slated at one time to be part of theApollo 8 recovery team but was dropped from the program. In 1969, she called atPitcairn Island .Inactivation
In February
1972 , the Air Force decided that it no longer required "Watertown's" services. Her name was struck from theNavy list on 16 February 1972, and she was returned to the Maritime Administration at its berthing facility atSuisun Bay ,California , on23 March . She was sold 23 May 1974 and scrapped inPusan .See also
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Missile Range Instrumentation Ship References
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* [http://www.navsource.org/archives/09/53/5306.htm NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive - T-AGM-6 Watertown]See
USS Watertown for other ships of this name.
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