USNS Kingsport

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A starboard bow view of the hydrographic research ship USNS Kingsport (T-AG-164) at anchor.
History
United States
NameKingsport Victory
NamesakeKingsport, Tennessee[1]
Orderedas type (VC2-S-AP2) hull,
MCV
hull 20
Builder
Los Angeles, California
Laid down4 April 1944, as SS Kingsport Victory
Launched29 May 1944
Sponsored byMrs. George O'Brien
Completed12 July 1944
Acquired12 July 1944
In service
  • WSA: 12 July 1944
  • Army: 8 July 1948
Renamed14 November 1961, Kingsport
IdentificationHull symbol:T-AK-239
Honors and
awards		1 x
battle star
for World War II service
FateTransferred to US Navy 1961
United States
NameKingsport
NamesakeKingsport, Tennessee
In serviceNavy: 1 March 1950
Out of service31 January 1984
Renamed14 November 1961, Kingsport
RefitPhiladelphia Naval Shipyard, Philadelphia, PA. from 1 June 1962 to 1 December 1962
Stricken31 January 1984
Identification
FateWithdrawn from the reserve fleet on 21 January 1992 for scrapping in India
General characteristics
Class and typeas T-AK-239:
Greenville Victory-class cargo ship
TypeMARAD VC2-S-AP3
Tonnage7,653 GRT[2]
Displacement
  • 4,420 metric tons (4,350 long tons) (standard)
  • 10,680 metric tons (10,510 long tons) (full load)[1]
Length455 ft 3 in (138.76 m) LOA[1]
Beam62 ft (19 m)
Draft28 ft 6 in (8.69 m)[1]
Installed power8,500 shp (6,300 kW)
Propulsion
  • 1 × Cross compound steam turbine
  • 1 × shaft
Speed16.5 knots (30.6 km/h; 19.0 mph)
Complement52
Armament
  • 1 ×
    5 inch (127 mm)/38 caliber gun
    (Kingsport Victory only)
  • 1 ×
    3 inch (76 mm)/50 caliber gun
    (Kingsport Victory only)
  • 8 × 20 mm Oerlikon (Kingsport Victory only)
  • None for (USNS Kingsport)
Aviation facilitiesHelicopter deck added 1961

USNS Kingsport (T-AG-164) was built as SS Kingsport Victory, a

Military Sea Transportation Service
the ship continued as USNS Kingsport Victory (T-AK-239), a cargo transport . On 14 November 1961, after conversion into the first satellite communication ship, the ship was renamed Kingsport, reclassified as a general auxiliary, and operated as USNS Kingsport (T-AG-164).

The ship was sent to

Abubakar Balewa aboard the Kingsport and President John F. Kennedy on 23 August 1963. In 1967 the ship underwent conversion and became a bathymetric and acoustic survey ship for the installation and maintenance of the then classified Sound Surveillance System
(SOSUS) under the unclassified name of Project Caesar,

Construction

Kingsport Victory, a United States Maritime Commission VC2-S-AP3 (Victory) type cargo ship, was laid down 4 April 1944 with launch on 29 May and completion on 12 July 1944 with delivery to the

U.S. Maritime Commission. [3][4] Basic dimensions, not counting modifications for satellite communications, were length 436 feet 6 inches (133.0 m) (LBP), 62 feet (18.9 m) beam and 7,653 GRT.[2]

World War II and Army service

Kingsport Victory was immediately placed in operation by the

Calcutta; through the Suez Canal she arrived at New York City on 27 February 1946. During 1946 she moved cargo from the US east and west coasts.[5][6][7]

After the war, on 29 September 1947, she was taken out of service and placed in the reserve fleet at

US Army Transport. During this time the ship was involved in a legal case, Johansen, v. United States, involving rights of an Army civil service employee crew member in personal injury cases.[8] On 1 March 1950 she was removed from US Army Transport and transferred the US Navy.[9]

Navy MSTS service

Kingsport Victory was among large Army ships transferred to the Navy's

Dew Line loading supplies at Norfolk, Virginia and unloading at Halifax, Nova Scotia.[10]

Assigned to duty supporting the U.S. Army Satellite Communications Agency USNS Kingsport was further modified and, in August 1963 while in

Abubakar Balewa aboard Kingsport spoke in a two-way call. A demonstration of transmission of oceanographic data was made between a research vessel off Africa via the ship and satellite to Washington. The first air to ship satellite communication took place when Navy aircraft off Virginia established voice communication with Kingsport which was off Morocco. Further satellite communications work took place in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Kingsport then supported Project Gemini
into March 1966. After conversion from satellite configuration, particularly removal of the large and very visible dome, Kingsport was engaged in acoustic work for the Navy supporting undersea surveillance programs.

Satellite communications ship Kingsport

USNS Kingsport (T-AG 164) under way, 29 January 1963. The photo shows the 53-foot white plastic dome that protects the 30-foot stabilized parabolic antenna.

On 24 September 1961, she was delivered to the

Willamette Iron & Steel Company where she underwent conversion to become the first satellite communications ship.[1][11] On 14 November 1961 she was renamed Kingsport and reclassified AG-164.[1]

Designed for use by the United States Army Satellite Communications Agency in the defense satellite communications programs, Project ADVENT, USNS Kingsport underwent extensive alteration during conversion. A special high frequency radio station was installed for ship-to-shore communications. She received advanced tracking and telemetry equipment and anti-roll stabilization tanks. In addition, a 30-foot, gyro-stabilized, computer-oriented, triaxial, parabolic antenna was installed on her afterdeck. Housed in a 53-foot, plastic, air-pressurized radome, this antenna permitted precision tracking of a high altitude satellite at any angle above the horizon.[1]

Prime Minister Balewa (2nd from right) talks to the late President John F. Kennedy on the first live broadcast via the SYNCOM satellite from USNS Kingsport in Lagos, Nigeria.

Kingsport sailed to

Syncom 2, the first geosynchronous communication satellite. It was the first live two-way call between heads of state by satellite.[11][12] Syncom 2 and Relay 1 linked Nigeria, Brazil and the United States with Kingsport transmitting through Syncom 2 to New Jersey and New Jersey via Relay 1 to Rio de Janeiro.[13] During this period Gulf of Guinea oceanographic data, composed of depths temperature and salinity from a 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) station, were transmitted from the RV Geronimo to the National Oceanographic Data Center via Kingsport and Syncom 2.[14]

Kingsport departed Lagos 23 September and during transit off Morocco on 2 October demonstrated the first satellite communications between an aircraft in flight when a Navy aircraft off the Virginia coast made voice contact with the ship via satellite.

Leghorn, Italy and Beirut, Lebanon during the voyage.[1] After arriving in Rota 26 October and completing additional experiments she sailed for Norfolk 9 November and arrived 21 November.[1]

Kingsport departed for the Pacific 17 February 1964 via Puerto Rico and the Panama Canal stopping at San Diego 13 March and reaching Pearl Harbor on 25 March 1964. For the next ten months the ship operated between Pearl Harbor and Guam supporting further communication experiments including those related to the evaluation of SYNCOM 3 after its launching 19 August 1964. Further experiments extended throughout the Western Pacific and into the Indian Ocean until July 1965.[1]

She then provided support for NASA's Gemini manned space shots serving as on station communications ship between Okinawa and the Philippines for Gemini 5 from 21 to 29 August. She supported three more Gemini flights between 4 December and 16 March 1966 before returning to the West Coast in April. She remained at San Francisco from 18 April to 27 October in a ready reserve status. During November she steamed to the East Coast, and in early 1967 was at New York undergoing repairs and alterations.[1]

Survey ship

After completion of her communications support role the USNS Kingsport became a bathymetric and acoustic survey ship supporting Project Caesar, the installation and maintenance of the Sound Surveillance System (SOSUS), and undersea surveillance development.[16][17][18] The ship was part of the "Caeasr fleet" under the technical control of the project's Program Manager, then Naval Electronics Systems Command (NAVELEX PME-124).[19] Among the now published reports, declassified in 2006, of the ship's work is a description of the Indian Ocean exercise code named BEARING STAKE that took place from January to April 1977.[20]

Disposal

Kingsport was placed out of service on 31 Jan 1984, transferred to the Maritime Administration for layup on 29 August 1984 then transferred back to the Military Sealift Command for scientific research on 1 March 1990.[21] The ship was withdrawn from the reserve fleet on 21 January 1992 for scrapping in India.[2]

Honors

Crew of Naval Armed Guard on the SS Kingsport Victory' earned "

Battle Stars" in World War II for war action during the assault occupation of Assault occupation of Iwo Jima from 13 March 1945 to 16 March 1945.[22]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships: Kingsport Victory.
  2. ^ a b c MARAD Vessel Status Card: Kingsport (AG-164).
  3. ^ a b c MARAD Vessel Status Card: Kingsport Victory.
  4. ^ Colton: California Shipbuilding, Los Angeles CA.
  5. ^ Marines, List of Ships At The Battle of Iwo Jima
  6. ^ US Navy History, Amphibious Operations Capture of Iwo Jima
  7. ^ Navy History Kingsport Victory
  8. ^ United States Court of Appeals Second Circuit.
  9. ^ navalcovermuseum, Kingsport Victory
  10. ^ National Archives: Dew Line: Documentary synopsis.
  11. ^ a b U.S. Fleet Forces Command: August 23.
  12. ^ Uhlig, Sellmaier & Schmidhuber.
  13. ^ Williamson, p. 185.
  14. ^ ICO Report #6lP-64.
  15. ^ Applied Research Laboratory, p. 49.
  16. ^ Hanish, Rollins & Cybulski.
  17. ^ Fenner & Cronin, p. 3.
  18. ^ Integrated Undersea Surveillance System (IUSS) History.
  19. ^ Committee on Armed Services (1978), p. 4245.
  20. ^ Fenner & Cronin, p. Foreword.
  21. ^ NavSource.
  22. ^ usmm.org, "Battle Stars" in World War II.

Bibliography

  • Applied Research Laboratory, The Pennsylvania State University (2010). From the Sea to the Stars: A Chronicle of the U.S. Navy's Space and Space-related Activities, 1944-2009 (PDF). Retrieved 5 June 2015.
  • Colton, T. (October 13, 2010). "California Shipbuilding, Los Angeles CA". ShipbuildingHistory. T. Colton. Retrieved 5 June 2015.
  • Committee on Armed Services (U.S. Senate) (1978). Department of Defense Authorization for Appropriations for Fiscal Year 1979. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office. pp. 4244–4246. Retrieved 22 February 2020.
  • Fenner, Don F.; Cronin, William J. Jr. (1978). Bearing Stake Exercise: Sound Speed and Other Environmental Variability (PDF). New York: Naval Oceanographic Laboratory. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved 7 June 2015.
  • Hanish, S.; Rollins, C. R.; Cybulski, J. (February 1978), Acoustic Fluctuation Workshop (Technical paper) (PDF), Washington: Naval Research Laboratory, archived from the original (PDF) on June 4, 2011, retrieved 5 June 2015
  • Interagency Committee On Oceanography (June 1964). "United States participation in the International Indian Ocean Expedition and the International Cooperative Investigations of the Tropical Atlantic". ICO Report #6lP-64. Interagency Committee On Oceanography. Retrieved 5 June 2015.
  • "Integrated Undersea Surveillance System (IUSS) History 1950 - 2010". IUSS/CAESAR Alumni Association. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  • Maritime Administration. "Kingsport Victory". Ship History Database Vessel Status Card. U.S. Department of Transportation, Maritime Administration. Retrieved 5 June 2015.
  • Maritime Administration. "Kingsport (AG-164)". Ship History Database Vessel Status Card. U.S. Department of Transportation, Maritime Administration. Retrieved 5 June 2015.
  • National Archives. Dew Line: Documentary Construction Footage (film). Series: Moving Images Relating to Military Aviation Activities, 1900 - 2003. National Archives. Retrieved 7 June 2015. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  • Naval History And Heritage Command. "Kingsport Victory". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Naval History And Heritage Command.*NavSource. "USNS Kingsport (T-AG-164)". NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive. NavSource. Retrieved 5 June 2015.
  • Uhlig, Thomas; Sellmaier, Florian; Schmidhuber, Michael (2014). Spacecraft Operations. New York: Springer.
    LCCN 2014945749
    . Retrieved 5 June 2015.
  • United States Court of Appeals Second Circuit. "191 F.2d 162 JOHANSEN, v. UNITED STATES No. 275, Docket 22012". Retrieved 5 June 2015.
  • U.S. Fleet Forces Command. "The Month of August in American Naval History". U.S. Fleet Forces Command. Retrieved 5 June 2015.
  • Williamson, Mark (2006). Spacecraft Technology: the early years. London: Institution of Electrical Engineers.
    LCCN 2008530215
    . Retrieved 5 June 2015.

External links


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