USS Belmont (AGTR-4)
_underway_in_the_later_1960s_(NH_86791).jpg) USS Belmont underway in the late 1960s
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
| Name | SS Iran Victory |
| Namesake | Iran |
| Owner | War Shipping Administration |
| Operator | Pacific-Atlantic Steamship Company |
| Port of registry |  Portland, Oregon |
| Builder | Oregon Shipbuilding Company, Portland, Oregon |
| Yard number | 1010 |
| Laid down | 25 January 1944 |
| Launched | 24 March 1944 |
| Completed | 4 May 1944 |
| Fate | Transferred to U.S. Navy February 1963, as USS Belmont |
 United States | |
| Name | USS Belmont |
| Acquired | February 1963 |
| Commissioned | 2 November 1964 |
| Decommissioned | 16 January 1970 |
| Stricken | 16 January 1970 |
| Homeport | Norfolk, Virginia |
| Identification | AGTR-4 |
| Fate | Scrapped, 24 June 1970 |
| Badge | _insignia,_1964.png) |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | VC2-S-AP3 Victory ship |
| Tonnage | |
| Displacement | 15,200 tons |
| Length | 455 ft (139 m) |
| Beam | 62 ft (19 m) |
| Draught | 28 ft (8.5 m) |
| Installed power | 8,500 shp (6,300 kW) |
| Propulsion | HP & LP turbines geared to a single 20.5-foot (6.2 m) propeller |
| Speed | 16.5 knots (30.6 km/h; 19.0 mph) |
| Boats & landing craft carried | 4 lifeboats |
| Complement |
|
| Armament |
|
| Notes | [1] |
USS Belmont (AGTR-4/AG-167) was the first of two
Design and construction
Iran Victory was
The ship was
Service as Iran Victory
On 20 October 1944 SS Iran Victory had job of delivering
On SS Iran Victory's third voyage she loaded at Port Chicago and traveled to Finchaven,
During the Korean War Iran Victory transported ammunition, mail, food and other supplies as part of the merchant marine support that moved about 90 percent of supplies to the war zone.[12] She was subsequently laid up at Astoria, Oregon, with the National Defense Reserve Fleet some time between April 1954 and April 1955.
Service as USS Belmont
In February 1963, Iran Victory was acquired by the U.S. Navy and entered the Willamette Iron and Steel Co. yard at Portland, Oregon for conversion to a spy ship, the first in her class of larger electronic spy vessels. On 8 June 1963, she was renamed USS Belmont, the second naval vessel of that name, and designated a miscellaneous auxiliary AG-167. She was redesignated a technical research ship AGTR-4 on 1 April 1964, and was commissioned at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard on 2 November 1964.[13]
Belmont completed outfitting at
Deployment in Atlantic and South American waters
On 26 April, Belmont passed between the
New Year's Day 1966 found her at anchor in Callao. Two days later she weighed anchor to return to the Panama Canal Zone. Belmont retransited the canal on 21 January 1966 and moored in Norfolk on the 28th, where she remained for almost seven weeks for upkeep and shipyard availability. On 16 March 1966, the ship embarked upon another deployment to the western coast of South America. She transited the Panama Canal on 28 and 29 March 1966 and, for the next eight weeks, cruised along the coasts of Peru and Chile. Belmont returned to the Panama Canal Zone for a five-day visit between 23 and 28 May 1966. On the latter day, she departed Panama and embarked upon five weeks of operations in order to spy on French atomic tests in French Polynesia (12 June 1966). The ship arrived back in the Panama Canal Zone on 13 July 1966, transited the canal the next day, and reentered Norfolk on 20 July.
After seven weeks of upkeep in her homeport, Belmont stood out to sea on 7 September 1966, bound for her third assignment in the Pacific coastal waters of South America. She transited the Panama Canal again on 19 September 1966, and two days later shaped a course for her zone of operations. At the conclusion of that assignment, the ship returned to the Canal Zone on 4 November 1966. She proceeded through the canal on 8 November 1966 and then set course for Norfolk. Belmont reentered her homeport on 14 November 1966, and spent the remainder of the year in the Norfolk Naval Shipyard installing communication gear.
The spy ship spent the first month of 1967 completing the installation of her new communications equipment and testing it. On 1 February 1967, Belmont loosed her mooring lines to begin an extended cruise to the Southern Hemisphere, one that included a circumnavigation of the South American continent. Hydrographic and communications research highlighted the five-month voyage as did visits to sundry South American ports. Belmont completed her circuit of the South American continent on 3 June 1967 when she transited the Panama Canal and laid in a course for Norfolk. The technical research ship pulled into her homeport on 9 June 1967 and commenced a repair period. Her hull and various items of equipment received repairs over the next two months.
On 14 August 1967, she stood out of the
Indian Ocean operations
January 1968 found Belmont still at Norfolk. On 26 January, she began regular overhaul at the
Operating with the U.S. Sixth Fleet
During the first half of 1969, Belmont stayed in or, infrequently, operated near Norfolk. A restricted availability followed by sea trials occupied the first three months of the year. Early in April 1969, she began installation of additional equipment. May 1969 brought tests and type training in the
Fate
Belmont arrived back in Norfolk on 3 November 1969. Three weeks later, the ship received the close scrutiny of a
Notes
- ^ She was named for the country of Iran. Initially neutral, Iran became a major conduit for British and American aid to the Soviet Union throughout the war; later, the 1943 Tehran Conference between the Allied "Big Three" (Joseph Stalin, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill), gave post-war independence and set the boundaries of Iran.[5]
References
- ^ Babcock & Wilcox (April 1944). "Victory Ships". Marine Engineering and Shipping Review.
- ^ Colton, Tim. "Oregon Shipbuilding, Portland OR". Shipbuilding History. Retrieved 1 March 2018.
- ^ a b c "Victory Ship Design". GlobalSecurity.org. Retrieved 1 March 2018.
- ^ a b c d "Register of Ships 1945" (PDF). Plimsoll Ship Data. London: Lloyd's Register of Shipping. Retrieved 1 March 2018.
- ISBN 978-0-8444-1187-3.
- ^ The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia, Victory class
- ^ Rep of Ops in the Philippine Is Area 10/24-28/44
- ^ US Central Philippine Attack Force, 20 October 1944
- ^ Chapter XX, The Philippines Campaign, Forces and Vessels—Logistic Support of the Seventh Fleet—Battle of Leyte Gulf
- ^ Naval War College, THE BATTLE FOR LEYTE GULF, OCTOBER 1944 STRATEGICAL AND TACTICAL ANALYSIS, VOL III
- ^ usmm.org, SS Iran Victory – Aug.30,1944 to May 25,1945
- ^ Korean War Educator, Merchant Marine, Accounts of the Korean War
- ^ navycthistory.com, USS Belmont AGTR-4 .. 1964–1968
This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.
External links
- Navy History – USS Belmont AGTR-4 – 1964–1968
- USS Belmont
- NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive – AG-167 / AGTR-4 Belmont
