- Missile Range Instrumentation Ship
Missile Range Instrumentations Ships, Range Ships, or Tracking Ships, are
ship s equipped with antennas and electronics to support the launching and tracking ofmissile s androcket s. Since many missile ranges launch over ocean areas for safety reasons, the Range Ships extend the range of shore based tracking facilities.In the
United States the initial Tracking Ships were constructed by theUS Army and thenUS Air Force to support their Missile Programs. They were generally built on a surplusLiberty ship orVictory ship hull. By1964 theUS Navy took over all the Range Ships and introduced more.There are currently only two active Instrumentation Ships in the US Navy inventory: USNS "Observation Island" (T-AGM-23) and USNS "Invincible"(T-AGM-24). [cite web |url=http://www.msc.navy.mil/factsheet/t-agm.htm |title=Military Sealift Command Fact Sheet |accessdate=2008-02-10 |format=htm |work= ]
Missile range instrumentation ships
Chinese Navy
*
Yuanwang classFrench Navy
* Monge class (A601)
Russian / Soviet Navy
*
Akademik Sergei Korolev
*Kosmonaut Yuri Gagarin United States Navy
* USNS "Range Tracker" (T-AGM-1)
* USNS "Range Recoverer" (T-AGM-2)
* USNS "Longview" (T-AGM-3)
* USNS "Richfield" (T-AGM-4)
* USNS "Sunnyvale" (T-AGM-5)
* USNS "Watertown" (T-AGM-6)
* USNS "Huntsville" (T-AGM-7)
* USNS Wheeling (T-AGM-8)
* USNS "General H. H. Arnold" (T-AGM-9)
* USNS "General Hoyt S. Vandenberg" (T-AGM-10)
* USNS "Twin Falls" (T-AGM-11)
* USNS "American Mariner" (T-AGM-12)
* USNS "Sword Knot" (T-AGM-13)
* USNS "Rose Knot" (T-AGM-14)
* USNS "Coastal Sentry" (T-AGM-15)
* USNS "Coastal Crusader" (T-AGM-16)
* USNS "Timber Hitch" (T-AGM-17)
* USNS Sampan Hitch (T-AGM-18)
* USNS "Vanguard" (T-AGM-19)
* USNS "Redstone" (T-AGM-20)
* USNS "Mercury" (T‑AGM‑21)
* USNS "Range Sentinel" (T-AGM-22)
* USNS "Observation Island" (T-AGM-23)
* USNS "Invincible"(T-AGM-24)See also
*
Eastern Range
*Western Launch and Test Range
*US Air Force ships References
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