USS Searcher (AGR-4)

United States radar picket ship

USS Searcher (AGR-4), underway, 9 September 1960, location unknown.

History
United States
Name| James W. Wheeler
Namesake| James W. Wheeler
Owner| War Shipping Administration (WSA)
Operator| Calmar Steamship Company
Ordered| as type (EC2-S-C5) hull, MC hull 2338
Builder| J.A. Jones Construction, Panama City, Florida[2]
Cost| $1,127,547[1]
Yard number| 79
Way number| 1
Laid down| 11 December 1944
Launched| 23 January 1945
Sponsored by| Mrs. R. D. Turnage
Completed| 5 February 1945
Identification|

* Call sign: ANFD
* [1]

Fate|

* Placed in the, James River Reserve Fleet, Lee Hall, Virginia, 29 October 1945
* Withdrawn from reserve fleet and leased to Grace Lines Inc., 4 February 1947

Fate|

* Placed in the, National Defense Reserve Fleet, Wilmington, North Carolina, 1 October 1947
* Acquired by US Navy, 15 September 1954

United States
Name| Searcher
Commissioned| 2 April 1955
Decommissioned| 1 July 1965
Reclassified|  Guardian-class radar picket ship
Refit| Charleston Naval Shipyard, Charleston, South Carolina
Stricken| 1 July 1965
Identification|

* Hull symbol: YAGR-4 (1956–1958)
* Hull symbol: AGR-4 (1958–1970)

Fate|

* Placed in National Defense Reserve Fleet, Hudson River Reserve Fleet, Jones Point, New York
* Sold for scrapping, delivered, 31 May 1970

General characteristics [3]
Class and type|

* Liberty ship
* type EC2-S-C5, boxed aircraft transport

Tonnage|

* 10,600 LT DWT
* 7,200 GRT

Displacement|

* 3,380 long tons (3,434 t) (light)
* 14,245 long tons (14,474 t) (max)

Length|

* 441 feet 6 inches (135 m) oa
* 416 feet (127 m) pp
* 427 feet (130 m) lwl

Beam| 57 feet (17 m)
Draft| 27 ft 9.25 in (8.4646 m)
Installed power|

* 2 × Oil fired 450 °F (232 °C) boilers, operating at 220 psi (1,500 kPa)
* 2,500 hp (1,900 kW)

Propulsion|

* 1 × triple-expansion steam engine,  (manufactured by Joshua Hendy Iron Works, Sunnyvale, California)
* 1 × screw propeller

Speed| 11.5 knots (21.3 km/h; 13.2 mph)
Capacity| 490,000 cubic feet (13,875 m3) (bale)
Complement|

* 38–62 USMM
* 21–40 USNAG

Armament|

* Varied by ship
* Bow-mounted 3 inches (76 mm)/50 caliber gun
* Stern-mounted 4 inches (102 mm)/50 caliber gun
* 2–8 × single 20 millimeters (0.79 in) Oerlikon anti-aircraft (AA) cannons and/or,
* 2–8 × 37 millimeters (1.46 in) M1 AA guns

General characteristics (US Navy refit)[4]
Class and type|  Guardian-class radar picket ship
Capacity|

* 443,646 US gallons (1,679,383 l; 369,413 imp gal) (fuel oil)
* 68,267 US gallons (258,419 l; 56,844 imp gal) (diesel)
* 15,082 US gallons (57,092 l; 12,558 imp gal) (fresh water)
* 1,326,657 US gallons (5,021,943 l; 1,104,673 imp gal) (fresh water ballast)

Complement|

* 13 officers
* 138 enlisted

Armament| 2 × 3 inches (76 mm)/50 caliber guns

USS Searcher (YAGR/AGR-4) was a  Guardian-class radar picket ship, converted from a Liberty Ship, acquired by the US Navy in 1954. She was obtained from the National Defense Reserve Fleet and reconfigured as a radar picket ship and assigned to radar picket duty in the North Atlantic Ocean as part of the Distant Early Warning Line.

## Construction[edit]

Searcher (YAGR-4) was laid down on 11 December 1944, under a Maritime Commission (MARCOM) contract, MC hull 2338, as the Liberty Ship James W. Wheeler, by J.A. Jones Construction, Panama City, Florida. She was launched on 23 January 1945; sponsored by Mrs. R. D. Turnage; and delivered on 5 February 1945 to the Calmar Steamship Company.[5][1]

## Service history[edit]

She was acquired by the Navy from the Maritime Administration on 15 September 1954 and reclassified YAGR-4 in August 1954. She was converted to a radar picket ship at the Charleston Naval Shipyard, Charleston, South Carolina, and commissioned Searcher on 2 April 1955.[5][4]

Searcher departed Charleston, 16 May 1955, for Newport, Rhode Island, where, after shakedown, she reported for duty with the seaward extension of America's early warning defense system. She reported on station for her first patrol on 5 July 1955.[5]

Fitted with sophisticated electronic search and tracking equipment, Searcher could locate, track, and report enemy aircraft at great distances, and control high-speed interceptor aircraft in event of an attack. She also carried out weather reporting duties during her three-to-four-week-long cruises.[5]

On 13 November 1955, Searcher was damaged by an engine room fire which burned for six and a half hours before being extinguished with the aid of two other ships. Her patrols were otherwise uneventful. She was reclassified AGR-4 effective 28 September 1958; and, during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, she operated at sea for 60 out of 67 days.[5]

In March 1964 she lost her screw at sea while steaming in a heavy gale 450 miles ESE of Cape Cod and was later taken in tow first by the US Coast Guard Cutter Yakutat and then by a US Navy tug.[6]

## Decommissioning[edit]

On 1 July 1965, Searcher was decommissioned, struck from the Navy List and transferred to the Maritime Administration (MARAD). She was laid up in the Hudson River Reserve Fleet until sold for scrapping on 7 August 1970, to the North American Smelting Co., Wilmington, Delaware.[5]

## Military awards and honors[edit]

Searcher's crew was eligible for the following medals:

* National Defense Service Medal
* Navy Expeditionary Medal (2 awards)[4]

## See also[edit]

* United States Navy
* Radar picket

## References[edit]

1. ^ a b c MARCOM.
2. ^ J.A. Panama City 2010.
3. ^ Davies 2004, p. 23.
4. ^ a b c Navsource 2018.
5. ^ a b c d e f DANFS.
6. ^ "USS Searcher".

## Bibliography[edit]

* "Searcher". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Navy Department, Naval History and Heritage Command. 8 September 2015. Retrieved 27 November 2019. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
* "Jones Construction, Panama City FL". www.ShipbuildingHistory.com. 13 October 2010. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
* Davies, James (May 2004). "Specifications (As-Built)" (PDF). p. 23. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
* "SS James W. Wheeler". Retrieved 27 November 2019.
* "USS Searcher (AGR-4)". Navsource.org. 2 February 2018. Retrieved 27 November 2019.

## External links[edit]

* Photo gallery of USS Searcher at NavSource Naval History
* Official website

* v
* t
* e

Liberty ships, names beginning with "J"

* Jack London
* Jack Singer
* Jacob A. Westervelt
* Jacob Chandler Harper
* Jacob H. Gallinger
* Jacob H. Schiff
* Jacob Perkins
* Jacob Riis
* Jacob S. Mansfield
* Jacob Sloat Fassett
* Jacob Thompson
* Jacques Cartier
* Jacques Laramie
* Jacques Phillippe Villere
* Jagger Seam
* James A. Bayard
* James A. Butts
* James A. Drain
* James A. Farrell
* James A. Wetmore
* James A. Wilder
* James B. Aswell
* James B. Bonham
* James B. Duke
* James B. Eads
* James B. Francis
* James B. Hickok
* James B. McPherson
* James B. Miller
* James B. Richardson
* James B. Stephens
* James B. Weaver
* James Barbour
* James Bennett Moore
* James Blair
* James Bowdoin
* James Bowie
* James Buchanan
* James C. Cameron
* James Caldwell
* James Carroll
* James Cook
* James D. Doty
* James D. Phelan
* James D. Trask
* James De Wolf
* James Devereux
* James Duncan
* James E. Haviland
* James E. Howard
* James Eagan Layne
* James Fenimore Cooper
* James Fergus
* James F. Harrell
* James Ford Rhodes
* James G. Birney
* James G. Blaine
* James G. Maguire
* James G. Squires
* James Gordon Bennett
* James Gunn
* James Guthrie
* James Harlan
* James Harrod
* James H. Breasted
* James H. Couper
* James H. Courts
* James H. Kimball
* James H. Lane
* James H. McClintock
* James H. Price
* James H. Robinson
* James Hoban
* James I. McKay
* James Iredell
* James Ives
* James J. Corbett
* James J. Hill
* James J. O'Kelly
* James J. Pettigrew
* James Jackson
* James Kerney
* James King
* James K. Kelly
* James K. Paulding
* James K. Polk
* James Kyron Walker
* James L. Ackerson
* James L. Breck
* James Lick
* James Longstreet
* James M. Clements
* James M. Gilliss
* James M. Goodhue
* James M. Porter
* James M. Wayne
* James Madison
* James Manning
* James McCosh
* James McHenry
* James McNeill Whistler
* James Monroe
* James Moore
* James Oglethorpe
* James Oliver
* James Oliver Curwood
* James Otis
* James R. Randall
* James Robertson
* James Rolph
* James Rowan
* James Roy Wells
* James Rumsey
* James Russell Lowell
* James S. Hogg
* James S. Lawson
* James Schureman
* James Screven
* James Shields
* James Smith
* Sames Sprunt
* James Sullivan
* James Swan
* James T. Earle
* James T. Fields
* James W. Cannon
* James W. Denver
* James W. Fannin
* James W. Grimes
* James W. Johnson
* James W. Marshall
* James W. Nesmith
* James W. Nye
* James W. Wheeler
* James Whitcomb Riley
* James Wilson
* James Withycombe
* James Woodrow
* Jan Pieterszoon Coen
* Jane Addams
* Jane A. Delano
* Jane G. Swissheim
* Jane Long
* Janet Lord Roper
* Jared Ingersoll
* Jason Lee
* Jasper F. Cropsey
* Jay Cooke
* J. C. Osgood
* J. C. W. Beckham
* J. D. Ross
* J. D. Yaeger
* Jean Baptiste LeMoyne
* Jean Louis
* Jean Nicolet
* Jean P. Chouteau
* Jean Ribaut
* J. E. B. Stuart
* Jedediah S. Smith
* Jefferson Davis
* Jellico Seam
* Jeremiah L. Chaplin
* Jeremiah M. Daily
* Jeremiah M. Rusk
* Jeremiah O'Brien
* Jeremiah S. Black
* Jeremiah Van Rensselaer
* Jeremiah Wadsworth
* Jerome K. Jones
* Jerry S. Foley
* Jesse Applegate
* Jesse Billingsley
* Jesse De Forest
* Jesse H. Medcalf
* Jewell Seam
* J. Frank Cooper
* J. Fred Essary
* J. H. Drummond
* J. H. Kinkaid
* J. Howland Gardner
* Jim Bridger
* J. L. M. Curry
* J. Maurice Thompson
* Joaquin Miller
* Joe C. S. Blackburn
* Joe Fellows
* Joe Harris
* Joel Chandler Harris
* Joel Palmer
* Joel R. Poinsett
* Johan Printz
* John A. Campbell
* John A. Dix
* John A. Donald
* John A. Johnson
* John A. Logan
* John A. Poor
* John A. Quitman
* John A. Rawlins
* John A. Roebling
* John A. Sutter
* John A. Treuthlen
* John Adams
* John Alden
* John Armstrong
* John B. Ashe
* John B. Floyd
* John B. Gordon
* John B. Hamilton
* John B. Hood
* John B. Kendrick
* John B. Lennon
* John Ball
* John Banvard
* John Barry
* John Barton Payne
* John Bartram
* John Bascom
* John Bell
* John Bidwell
* John Blair
* John Branch
* John Burke
* John Burroughs
* John C. Ainsworth
* John C. Breckinridge
* John C. Calhoun
* John C. Fremont
* John C. Preston
* John C. Spencer
* John Cabot
* John Carroll
* John Carter Rose
* John Carver
* John Catron
* John Chandler
* John Chester Kendall
* John Clarke
* John Colter
* John Constantine
* John Cropper
* john Davenport
* John Davey
* John Deere
* John Dickinson
* John Dockweiler
* John Drake Sloat
* John Drayton
* John Drew
* John Einig
* John E. Schmeltzer
* John E. Sweet
* John E. Ward
* John E. Wilkie
* John Evans
* John F. Appleby
* John F. Goucher
* John F. Myers
* John F. Shafroth
* John F. Steffen
* John Fairfield
* John Fiske
* John Fitch
* John Gallup
* John G. Brady
* John G. Carlisle
* John G. Nicolay
* John G. Tod
* John G. Whittier
* John G. North
* John Gibbon
* John Goode
* John Gorrie
* John Grier Hibben
* John Hancock
* John Hanson
* John Hart
* John Harvard
* John Harvey
* John Hathorn
* John Hay
* John H. B. Latrobe
* John H. Couch
* John H. Eaton
* John H. Hammond
* John H. Hatton
* John H. Marion
* John H. McIntosh
* John H. Murphy
* John H. Quick
* John H. Reagan
* John H. Rosseter
* John H. Thomas
* John Henry
* John Holmes
* John Hope
* John Howard Payne
* John Howland
* John I. Nolan
* John Ireland
* John Isaacson
* John J. Abel
* John J. Crittenden
* John J. Ingalls
* John J. McGraw
* John Jacob Astor
* John James Audubon
* John Jay
* John L. Elliott
* John L. McCarley
* John L. Motley
* John L. Stoddard
* John L. Sullivan
* John LaFarge
* John Langdon
* John Laurance
* John Lawson
* John Lind
* John M. Bozeman
* John M. Brooke
* John M. Clayton
* John M. Harlan
* John M. Morehead
* John M. Palmer
* John M. Parker
* John M. Schofield
* John M. T. Finney
* John Marshall
* John Martin Miller
* John Mary Odin
* John Mason
* John McDonogh
* John McKinley
* John McLean
* John McLoughlin
* John Merrick
* John Milledge
* John Miller
* John Minto
* John Mitchell
* John Morgan
* John Morton
* John Muir
* John Murray Forbes
* John N. Maffitt
* Johnny Appleseed
* John N. Robins
* John Owen
* John Page
* John P. Altgeld
* John P. Gaines
* John P. Harris
* John P. Holland
* John P. Mitchel
* John P. Poe
* John Paul Jones
* John Penn
* John Philip Sousa
* John Randolph
* John Reed
* John Ringling
* John R. McQuigg
* John R. Park
* John Roach
* John Robert Gordon
* John Ross
* John Russell Pope
* John Rutledge
* John S. Bassett
* John S. Casement
* John S. Copley
* John S. Mosby
* John S. Pillsbury
* John S. Sargeant
* John Sedgwick
* John Sergeant
* John Sevier
* John Sharp Williams
* John Sherman
* Johns Hopkins
* John Stagg
* John Steele
* John Stevens
* John Stevenson
* John Straub
* John Sullivan
* John Swett
* John T. Clark
* John T. Holt
* John T. McMillan
* John Tipton
* John Trumbull
* John Vining
* John Walker
* John Wanamaker
* John W. Brown
* John W. Burgess
* John W. Cullen
* John W. Davis
* John W. Draper
* John W. Foster
* John W. Garrett
* John W. Gates
* John W. Griffiths
* John White
* John Whiteaker
* John W. Hoyt
* John W. Mackay
* John W. Meldrum
* John W. Powell
* John W. Searles
* John W. Troy
* John W. Weekes
* John Winthrop
* John Wise
* John Witherspoon
* John Wooman
* John Wright Stanly
* Jonas Lie
* Jonathan Edwards
* Jonathan Elmer
* Jonathan Grout
* Jonathan Harrington
* Jonathan Jennings
* Jonathan P. Dolliver
* Jonathan Sturges
* Jonathan Trumbull
* Jonathan Worth
* Jose Artigas
* Jose Bonifacio
* Jose C. Barbarosa
* Jose G. Benitez
* Jose J. Acosta
* Jose Marti
* Jose M. Morelos
* Jose Navarro
* Jose Pedro Varela
* Jose Sepulveda
* Joseph A. Brown
* Joseph A. Holmes
* Joseph Alston
* Joseph Augustin Chevalier
* Joseph B. Eastman
* Joseph C. Avery
* Joseph C. Lincoln
* Joseph E. Brown
* Joseph E. Johnston
* Joseph E. Wing
* Joseph Francis
* Joseph G. Cannon
* Joseph Gale
* Joseph Goldberger
* Joseph Habersham
* Joseph Henry
* Joseph Hewes
* Joseph H. Hollister
* Joseph H. Kibbey
* Joseph H. Martin
* Joseph H. Nicolson
* Joseph Holt
* Joseph Hooker
* Joseph I. Kemp
* Josephine Shaw Lowell
* Joseph Jefferson
* Joseph J. Kinyoun
* Joseph K. Toole
* Joseph Lane
* Joseph LeConte
* Joseph Lee
* Joseph Leidy
* Joseph L. Meek
* Joseph M. Carey
* Joseph M. Medill
* Joseph M. Terrell
* Joseph McKenna
* Joseph Murgas
* Joseph N. Dinand
* Joseph N. Nicollet
* Joseph N. Teal
* Joseph P. Bradley
* Joseph Priestley
* Joseph Pulitzer
* Joseph R. Lamar
* Joseph Reynolds
* Joseph Rodman Drake
* Joseph S. Emery
* Joseph S. McDonagh
* Joseph Simon
* Joseph Smith
* Joseph Squires
* Joseph Stanton
* Joseph Story
* Joseph T. Robinson
* Joseph V. Connolly
* Joseph Warren
* Joseph Watt
* Joseph Weydemeyer
* Joseph W. Folk
* Joseph Wheeler
* Joshua A. Leach
* Joshua B. Lippincott
* Joshua Hendy
* Joshua L. Chamberlain
* Joshua Seney
* Joshua Slocum
* Joshua Thomas
* Joshua W. Alexander
* Josiah B. Grinnell
* Josiah Bartlett
* Josiah Cohen
* Josiah D. Whitney
* Josiah Earl
* Josiah G. Holland
* Josiah Nelson Cushing
* Josiah Parker
* Josiah Quincy
* Josiah Royce
* Josiah Snelling
* Josiah Tatnall
* Joyce Kilmer
* J. Pinckney Henderson
* J. Rufino Barrios
* J. S. Cullinan
* J. S. Hutchinson
* J. Sterling Morton
* Juan Bautista de Anza
* Juan Cabrillo
* Juan de Fuca
* Juan Flaco Brown
* Juan N. Seguin
* Juan Pablo Duarte
* Jubal A. Early
* Judah P. Benjamin
* Judah Touro
* Julia L. Dumont
* Julia P. Shaw
* Julian W. Mack
* Julia Ward Howe
* Julien Dubuque
* Julien Poydras
* Juliette Low
* Julius Olsen
* Julius Rosenwald
* Junipero Serra
* Junius Smith
* Justin S. Morrill
* Justo Arosemena
* J. Warren Keifer
* J. Whitridge Williams
* J. Willard Gibbs

* v
* t
* e

MARCOM ships built by Jones Construction, Wainwright Shipyards, Panama City, Florida, during World War II

Type EC2-S-C1 ships
"Liberty Ships"|

* E. Kirby Smith
* Newton D. Baker
* John Bascom
* William J. Bryan
* Joseph M. Medill
* Elihu Root
* John Hay
* Dwight L. Moody
* Peter Zenger
* Harriet Hosmer
* Duncan U. Fletcher
* Dolly Madison
* Robert Lansing
* Victor Herbert
* Julius Rosenwald
* Walter L. Fleming
* Salvador Brau
* Harold T. Andrews
* Russell Sage
* William W. Loring
* Minnie M. Fiske
* John W. Griffiths
* Augustus Saint-Gaudens
* John M. Brooke
* Rebecca Lukens
* Alanson B. Houghton
* Samuel G. French
* Thomas LeValley
* Josephine Shaw Lowell
* Richard V. Oulahan
* James H. Kimball
* Stephen Furdek
* Jean Ribaut
* LeBaron Russell Briggs
* Howard Gray
* H. H. Raymond
* T. A. Johnston
* M. Michael Edelstein
* William D. Bloxham
* Nick Stoner
* William E. Dodd
* J. H. Drummond
* William L. Watson
* John R. McQuigg
* Carl E. Ladd
* Pedro Menendez
* George Ade
* Edward K. Collins
* C. Francis Jenkins
* Raymond V. Ingersoll
* Benjamin F. Coston
* William P. Duval
* Stepas Darius
* Alexander E. Brown
* Chief Osceola
* Richard Halliburton
* Samuel G. Howe
* Granville S. Hall
* Stephen Smith
* Charles D. Walcott
* Art Young
* Charles H. Marshall
* Ransom A. Moore
* Soter Ortynsky
* Bjarne A. Lia
* Wendell L. Willkie

Type Z-EC2-S-C2 ships
"Army tank transports"|

* Mary Ball
* John Barton Payne
* Frederic C. Howe
* William B. Wilson
* Sarah J. Hale
* Nathan B. Forrest
* Stephen R. Mallory
* Edgar E Clark

Type Z-EC2-S-C5 ships
"Boxed aircraft transports"|

* Frederick E. Williamson
* Michael James Monohan
* Charles A. Draper
* Rafael R. Rivera
* James W. Wheeler
* Raymond Van Brogan
* William J. Riddle
* Dudley H. Thomas
* John L. McCarley
* Vernon S. Hood
* Edwin D. Howard
* Wesley W. Barrett
* Warren P. Marks
* Frank O. Peterson
* Barney Kirschbaum
* Mary Cullom Kimbro
* James G. Squires
* James F. Harrell
* Claude Kitchin
* Francis J. O'Gara
* Frank Flowers
* Edwin H. Duff
* Joseph V. Connolly
* Walter W. Schwenk
* Charles H. Cugle
* Robert F. Burns
* Edward Burton
* Ora Ellis

Type T1-M-BT2 ships
Tonti-class gasoline tankers|

* Tancred
* Tandora
* Tannadice
* Tantallon
* Tanova
* Tannaquil

* v
* t
* e

Guardian-class radar picket ships

* Guardian
* Lookout
* Skywatcher
* Searcher
* Scanner
* Locator
* Picket
* Interceptor
* Investigator
* Outpost
* Protector
* Vigil
* Interdictor
* Interpreter
* Interrupter / Tracer
* Watchman

List of auxiliaries of the United States Navy
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template