USNS Watertown

American tracking ship

Oregon Shipbuilding Corporation, SS Niantic Victory with her sister ships 1944

History
United States
Name| Niantic Victory
Namesake| Niantic, Connecticut
Owner| War Shipping Administration
Operator| American-Hawaiian Steamship Company
Ordered| as type (VC2-S-AP3) hull, MCV hull 100
Builder| Oregon Shipbuilding Corporation, Portland, Oregon
Laid down| 12 February 1944
Launched| 25 April 1944
Completed| 18 May 1944
Out of service| 1948, Laid up Wilmington, then transferred to Suisun Bay.
Fate| Transferred to US Navy in 1960
United States
Name| Watertown
Namesake| Cities and towns in the states of Watertown, Massachusetts, Watertown, New York, Watertown, South Dakota, Watertown, Wisconsin, and Watertown, Connecticut
Acquired| by the Navy in 1960
In service| 11 August 1960 as USNS Watertown (T-AGM-6)
Out of service| 1971
Stricken| 16 February 1971
Fate| Sold for scrapping, 23 May 1974
General characteristics
Class and type|

* Victory ship type VC2-S-AP2, standard
* Watertown-class missile range instrumentation ship

Tonnage|

* 10,750 DWT
* 7,612 GRT

Displacement| 15,200 long tons (15,444 t) (standard)
Length|

* 455 feet 3 inches (139 m) oa
* 436 feet 6 inches (133 m) pp
* 444 feet (135 m) lwl

Beam| 62 feet (19 m)
Draft| 28 ft (8.5 m)
Installed power|

* 2 × Oil fired boilers
* 6,000 hp (4,500 kW)

Propulsion|

* 2 × steam turbines
* 1 × screw propeller

Speed| 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Capacity|

* 523,740 cubic feet (14,831 m3) (grain)
* 453,210 cubic feet (12,833 m3) (bale)

Complement|

* 38–62 USMM
* 21–40 USNAG

Armament|

* Varied by ship
* Bow-mounted 3 inches (76 mm)/50 caliber gun
* Stern-mounted 5 inches (127 mm)/50 caliber gun
* 8 × single 20 millimeters (0.79 in) Oerlikon anti-aircraft (AA) cannons and/or,

USNS Watertown (T-AGM-6) was a Watertown-class missile range instrumentation ship acquired by the United States Navy in 1960 and converted from her SS Niantic Victory Victory 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[edit]

Niantic Victory was laid down on 12 February 1944 at Portland, Oregon, by the Oregon Shipbuilding Corporation under a U.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. She was built in just 96 days under the Emergency Shipbuilding program by the War Shipping Administration.

## Maritime service[edit]

### World War II[edit]

From 1944 until 1957, Niantic Victory was operated for the U.S. Maritime Commission by a succession of contractor firms. Her first operator was the American-Hawaiian Steamship Company for service during World War II starting on 18 May 1944. She supplied cargo in the Pacific Ocean for the Pacific War. After the war on 6 November 1946 she was operated by Waterman SS Corporation as part of the Marshall Plan. On 30 May 1948 after completing her relief efforts she was removed from service and placed in the National Defense Reserve Fleet in Wilmington, N.C. She was laid up till 24 August 1950, but with a new war starting in the Far East she was remove cleaned up and chartered to Union Sulphur and Oil Company.

### Korean War[edit]

During the Korean War she was operated by the Union Sulphur and Oil Company. SS Niantic Victory served as merchant marine naval supplying goods for the Korean War. About 75 percent of the personnel taking to Korean from the Korean War came by the merchant marine. SS Niantic Victory transported goods, mail, food and other supplies. About 90 percent of the cargo was moved by merchant marine naval to the war zone. SS Niantic Victory made trip between 18 November 1950 and 23 December 1952 helping American forces engaged against Communist aggression in South Korea.[1][2] At the end of the war on 8 April 1955 her operator was changed to Pope and Talbot SS Company. On 11 December 1956 operator was changed to Isbrandtsen Company till 1957. She was laid up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet in Suisun Bay, Benicia, Calif., on 24 January 1958.

## US Navy[edit]

On 11 August 1960 she was transferred to the US Navy. She was reassigned to the Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS) for conversion to a Missile Range Instrumentation Ship. Conversion was completed 27 November 1960 and she was renamed the USNS Watertown (T-AGM-6). She was lead ship of three ships in her class.[3]

## Missile tracking service[edit]

Niantic Victory was now the Navy Department Military Sea Transportation Service range instrumentation ship, USNS Watertown (T-AGM-6). For the next 11 years, she served in the Pacific Ocean in support of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the U.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 crewed spacecraft, extending the coverage of the tracking network over the Pacific Ocean. She was slated at one time to be part of the Apollo 8 recovery team but was dropped from the program. In 1969, she called at Pitcairn Island.[4][page needed]

Two other ships were reconfigured in to this new class, Watertown-class missile range instrumentation ship, the USNS Huntsville (T-AGM-7) and the USNS Wheeling (T-AGM-8).

## Inactivation[edit]

In February 1971, the Air Force decided that it no longer required Watertown's services and she was removed from service. Her name was struck from the Navy Directory on 16 February 1972, and she was returned to the Maritime Administration at its berthing facility at Suisun Bay, California, on 23 May 1974.[citation needed] She was sold to Dongkuk Steel Mill Co., Ltd on 23 May 1974 and scrapped in Pusan, South Korea.[citation needed] She arrived in South Korea on 16 July 1974.[citation needed]

## References[edit]

1. ^ Korean War Educator, Merchant Marine, Accounts of the Korean War
2. ^ Paul M. Edwards, Small United States and United Nations Warships in the Korean War, p. 118,
3. ^ USNS Watertown (T-AGM-6), NavSource Online.
4. ^ Paul Silverstone, The Navy of the Nuclear Age, 1947–2007

## Further reading[edit]

* This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
* Service Ship Photo Archive – T-AGM-6 Watertown, NavSource Online
* [1] According to NavSource Online, Niantic Victory was laid up on 24 January 1958, in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, Suisun Bay, Benicia, Calif.

* v
* t
* e

Watertown-class missile instrumentation ships

* Watertown
* Huntsville
* Wheeling

* Preceded by: Longview class
* Followed by: USNS General H. H. Arnold

* List of auxiliaries of the United States Navy

* v
* t
* e

United States Navy/United States Air Force Missile Range Instrumentation Ship (T-AGM)

* Range Tracker
* Range Recoverer
* Longview
* Richfield
* Sunnyvale
* Watertown
* Huntsville
* Wheeling
* General H. H. Arnold
* General Hoyt S. Vandenberg
* Twin Falls
* American Mariner
* Sword Knot
* Rose Knot
* Coastal Sentry
* Coastal Crusader
* Timber Hitch
* Sampan Hitch
* Vanguard
* Redstone
* Mercury
* Range Sentinel
* Observation Island
* Invincible
* Howard O. Lorenzen

* List of auxiliaries of the United States Navy
* List of ships of the United States Army
* List of Military Sealift Command ships

* v
* t
* e

World War II Maritime Commission ship designs

Cargo designs|

* Type C1
* Type C2
* Type C3
* Type C4
* Type C5
* (Type C6)
* (Type C7)
* (Type C8)
* (Type C9)
* Type N3

Emergency cargo|

* Liberty ship ("EC2-S-C1")
* Victory ship ("VC2-S-AP1")

Tanker|

* T1 tanker
* T2 tanker
* T3 tanker
* Liberty ship ("Z-ET1-S-C3")

Special-purpose|

* Type S2 ("Tacoma-class frigate")
* Type S3-S2-BP ("Landing Ship, Tank")
* Type S3-S2-BP1 ("Neptune-class cable layer")
* Type S4-S2-BB3 ("Casablanca-class escort carrier")
* Type S4-SE2-BD1 ("Gilliam-class attack transport")
* Type S4-SE2-BE1 ("Artemis-class attack cargo ship")
* "Crane vessel-Derrick Barge"

Miscellaneous-cargo|

* Type L6 ("Lakers")
* Type N ("Coastal Cargo")
* Type P1 ("Passenger")
* Type P2 ("Passenger")
* Type R ("Refrigerated")
* Type B ("Barge")

Tugs|

* Type V ("Tugs")

See also:- Empire ship, Fort ship, Park ship, Ocean ship.

* v
* t
* e

Victory ships

Lists|

* List of Victory ships

Subtypes|

* Haskell-class attack transport
* Kingsport-class telemetry ship
* Range Sentinel-class telemetry ship
* List of Subtypes

Museum ships|

* SS American Victory
* SS Lane Victory
* SS Red Oak Victory

Other|

* Port Chicago disaster
* Attack on the SS Baton Rouge Victory
* SS Columbia Eagle incident

Sunk in action|

* SS Canada Victory
* SS Hobbs Victory
* SS Logan Victory

Damaged in action|

* SS Bozeman Victory
* SS Brown Victory
* SS Bucknell Victory
* USS Colbert
* SS Elmira Victory
* USS Hinsdale
* USS La Grange
* SS Minot Victory
* SS Oshkosh Victory
* SS Pratt Victory
* SS Swarthmore Victory
* USS Telfair
* SS United Victory

Sunk in service|

* SS Clarksdale Victory
* SS Drexel Victory
* SS Escanaba Victory
* SS Georgetown Victory
* SS Luray Victory
* SS Middlebury Victory
* SS Northeastern Victory
* SS Park Victory
* SS Quinault Victory

Damaged in service|

* SS Attleboro Victory
* SS Baton Rouge Victory
* SS Baylor Victory
* SS Colombia Victory
* SS Berea Victory
* SS Cuba Victory
* SS Enid Victory
* SS Frontenac Victory
* SS Morgantown Victory
* SS St. Lawrence Victory

Sank in private use|

* SS Alamo Victory
* SS Augustana Victory
* SS Brainerd Victory
* SS Cody Victory
* SS Hagerstown Victory
* SS Lewiston Victory
* SS Lincoln Victory
* SS Luxembourg Victory
* SS India Victory
* SS New Bern Victory
* SS Mandan Victory
* SS Philippines Victory
* SS Rushville Victory
* SS Rutland Victory
* SS Skagway Victory
* SS Smith Victory
* SS St. Albans Victory
* SS Tufts Victory
* SS U.S.S.R. Victory

Seagoing cowboys ships|

* SS Adrian Victory
* SS Attleboro Victory
* SS Battle Creek Victory
* SS Beloit Victory
* SS Blue Island Victory
* SS Boulder Victory
* SS Bucknell Victory
* SS Calvin Victory
* SS Carroll Victory
* SS Cedar Rapids Victory
* SS Clarksville Victory
* SS Creighton Victory
* SS DePauw Victory
* SS Earlham Victory
* SS Flagstaff Victory
* SS Frontenac Victory
* SS Gainesville Victory
* SS Harvard Victory
* SS Hattiesburg Victory
* SS Jefferson City Victory
* SS Lahaina Victory
* SS Lanaina Victory
* SS Lindenwood Victory
* SS Mercer Victory
* SS Moline Victory
* SS Morgantown Victory
* SS Norwalk Victory
* SS Occidental Victory
* SS Ouachita Victory
* SS Park Victory
* SS Pass Christian Victory
* SS Pierre Victory
* SS Plymouth Victory
* SS Queens Victory
* SS Rock Hill Victory
* SS Rockland Victory
* SS Roswell Victory
* SS Saginaw Victory
* SS Santa ClaraVictory
* SS South Bend Victory
* SS Spartanburg Victory
* SS Villanova Victory
* SS Virginia City Victory
* SS Wesleyan Victory
* SS Woodstock Victory
* SS Yugoslavia Victory

See also|

* Liberty ship (predecessor)

* Article
* Category
* List

See also, similar role:- Empire ship, Fort ship, Park ship, Ocean ship.
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