Missile Range Instrumentation Ship
Encyclopedia
Ship
Since the end of the age of sail a ship has been any large buoyant marine vessel. Ships are generally distinguished from boats based on size and cargo or passenger capacity. Ships are used on lakes, seas, and rivers for a variety of activities, such as the transport of people or goods, fishing,...
s equipped with antennas and electronics to support the launching and tracking of missile
Missile
Though a missile may be any thrown or launched object, it colloquially almost always refers to a self-propelled guided weapon system.-Etymology:The word missile comes from the Latin verb mittere, meaning "to send"...
s and rocket
Rocket
A rocket is a missile, spacecraft, aircraft or other vehicle which obtains thrust from a rocket engine. In all rockets, the exhaust is formed entirely from propellants carried within the rocket before use. Rocket engines work by action and reaction...
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
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
the initial Tracking Ships were constructed by the US Army and then US Air Force to support their Missile Programs. They were generally built on a surplus Liberty ship
Liberty ship
Liberty ships were cargo ships built in the United States during World War II. Though British in conception, they were adapted by the U.S. as they were cheap and quick to build, and came to symbolize U.S. wartime industrial output. Based on vessels ordered by Britain to replace ships torpedoed by...
or Victory ship
Victory ship
The Victory ship was a type of cargo ship produced in large numbers by North American shipyards during World War II to replace shipping losses caused by German submarines...
hull. By 1964 the US Navy took over all the Range Ships and introduced more.
There are currently only two active Instrumentation Ships in the US Navy inventory: and . is due to be delivered in 2010 and is slated to replace USNS Observation Island.
Chinese Navy
The Chinese ships were purpose built vessels for their role in the navy and the space program.- Yuanwang class
- Yuanwang 1 1977-present
- Yuanwang 2 1978-present
- Yuanwang 3 1995-present
- Yuanwang 4 1999-present
- Yuanwang 5 2007-present
- Yuanwang 6 2007-present
French Navy
The Poincaré was a converted tanker, but the Monge was a purpose built ship.Inactive
- Henri Poincaré (A603) 1964-1990? - ex-ItalianItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
oil tanker
Active
- Monge class (A601)Monge (A601)The Monge , named after the 18th century mathematician Gaspard Monge, is specialised unit of the French Navy dedicated to tracking and measuring rocket trajectories, it's a Missile Range Instrumentation Ship...
1992-present
Russian Navy/Soviet Navy
The Soviet and later Russian ships were purpose built vessels for their role.- Kosmonaut Vladimir KomarovKosmonaut Vladimir KomarovKosmonaut Vladimir Komarov was a satellite tracking ship of the Soviet Union.It was named after Vladimir Mikhaylovich Komarov, the cosmonaut who died on Soyuz 1.It was built as an ordinary cargo ship in 1966 and converted in Leningrad in 1967....
1967-1994 (scrapped) - Akademik Sergei KorolevAkademik Sergei KorolevThe Akademik Sergei Korolev was a space control-monitoring ship constructed in 1970 to support the Soviet space program. Named for Sergei Korolev, the head Soviet rocket engineer and designer during the Space Race between the United States and the Soviet Union in the 1950s and 1960s, the ship also...
1970-1996 (scrapped) - Kosmonaut Yuri GagarinKosmonaut Yuri GagarinKosmonavt Yuri Gagarin was a Soviet space control-monitoring ship that was devoted to detecting and receiving satellite communications. Named after cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, she was completed in December 1971 to support the Soviet space program...
1971-1996 (scrapped) - Kosmonaut Viktor Pacaev 1968
- Kosmonaut Georgy Dobrovolsky 1968-2006 (scrapped)
- Soviet command ship SSV-33Soviet command ship SSV-33SSV-33 Ural was a command and control ship operated by the Soviet Navy. SSV-33's hull was derived from that of the nuclear powered Kirov class battlecruisers. SSV-33 served in electronic intelligence, missile tracking, space tracking, and communications relay roles...
1989-2001 (laid up) - Marshal Nedelin 1984-1989 (scrapped), Marshal Krylov 1990, Kosmonaut Georgy Dobrovolsky
United States Navy/United States Air Force
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
.
Inactive
- USNS Range Tracker (T-AGM-1)USNS Range Tracker (T-AGM-1)USNS Range Tracker was an Air Force Systems Command Range Tracker-class missile range instrumentation ship. She was acquired from the National Defense Reserve Fleet in the 1950s and converted into a missile range tracking ship with a civilian crew...
1961-1969 - built as transport/freighter - USNS Range Recoverer (T-AGM-2) 1960-1972 - built for US Army
- USNS Longview (T-AGM-3) 1959-19? - merchant ship
- USNS Richfield (T-AGM-4) 1960-1968 - cargo and passenger ship
- USNS Sunnyvale (T-AGM-5) 1960-1974 - cargo ship
- USNS Watertown (T-AGM-6)USNS Watertown (T-AGM-6)USNS Watertown was a Watertown-class missile range instrumentation ship acquired by the U.S. Navy in 1960 and converted from her 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...
1960-1972 - cargo and passenger ship - USNS Huntsville (T-AGM-7)USNS Huntsville (T-AGM-7)USNS Huntsville was a Watertown-class missile range instrumentation ship acquired by the U.S. Navy in 1960 and converted from her Victory ship cargo configuration to a missile tracking ship, a role she retained for a number of years before being struck from the Navy List in 1974.-Victory ship...
1960-1974 - merchant ship - USNS Wheeling (T-AGM-8)USNS Wheeling (T-AGM-8)USNS Wheeling was a Wheeling-class missile range instrumentation ship acquired by the U.S. Navy in 1962 and converted from her Victory ship cargo configuration to a missile tracking ship, a role she retained for a number of years before being sunk as a target by Harpoon missiles on 12 July...
1962-1990 - cargo ship - USNS General H. H. Arnold (T-AGM-9) 1961-1982 - troop ship
- USNS General Hoyt S. Vandenberg (T-AGM-10) 1963-1983 - troop ship
- USNS Twin Falls (T-AGM-11)USNS Twin Falls (T-AGM-11)SS Twin Falls Victory, named after Twin Falls, Idaho, was a Victory ship built for World War II. Converted to a Missile Range Instrumentation Ship, she was initially operated by the US Air Force as USAF Twin Falls Victory, before coming under US Navy control and being named USNS Twin Falls ...
1964-1972 - merchant ship - USNS American Mariner (T-AGM-12) 1959-1966 - US Coast Guard training ship
- USNS Sword Knot (T-AGM-13)USNS Sword Knot (T-AGM-13)USNS Sword Knot was a missile range instrumentation ship which operated as USAFS Sword Knot on the United States Air Force's Eastern Range during the late 1950s and early 1960s...
1950s-1982 - purpose built ship for US Air Force - USNS Rose Knot (T-AGM-14)USNS Rose Knot (T-AGM-14)USNS Rose Knot was a missile range instrumentation ship which operated as USAFS Rose Knot on the U.S. Air Force's Eastern Test Range during the late 1950s and early 1960s...
1950s-1969 - purpose built ship for US Air Force - USNS Coastal Sentry (T-AGM-15) late 1950s-1972 - USN cargo ship
- USNS Coastal Crusader (T-AGM-16)USNS Coastal Crusader (T-AGM-16)USNS Coastal Crusader was acquired by the United States Navy as a missile range instrumentation ship in 1964. Originally, she was constructed at the end of World War II as USS Wexford and then renamed Coastal Crusader, but she was found to be excess-to-needs, and was sold for commercial use. She...
late 1950s-1976 - merchant ship - USNS Timber Hitch (T-AGM-17)USNS Timber Hitch (T-AGM-17)USNS Timber Hitch was a U.S. Navy missile range instrumentation ship which earlier operated as the U.S. Air Force Ocean Range Vessel USAFS Timber Hitch on the U.S. Air Force's Eastern Test Range during the late 1950s and early 1960s...
1964-1969 - purpose built ship for US Air Force - USNS Sampan Hitch (T-AGM-18)USNS Sampan Hitch (T-AGM-18)USNS Sampan Hitch was a missile range instrumentation ship which earlier operated as the U.S. Air Force Ocean Range Vessel USAFS Sampan Hitch on the U.S. Air Force's Eastern Test Range during the late 1950s and early 1960s...
1964-1973 - purpose built ship for US Air Force - USNS Vanguard (T-AGM-19) 1964-1999 - merchant marine tanker/supplies ship
- USNS Redstone (T-AGM-20)USNS Mission De Pala (AO-114)SS Mission De Pala was a Type T2-SE-A2 tanker built for the United States Maritime Commission during World War II. After the war she was acquired by the United States Navy as USS Mission De Pala . Later the tanker transferred to the Military Sea Transportation Service as USNS Mission De Pala ...
1964-? - merchant marine tanker/supplies ship - USNS Mercury (T‑AGM‑21)USNS Mission San Juan (AO-126)SS Mission San Juan was a Type T2-SE-A2 tanker built for the United States Maritime Commission during World War II. After the war she was acquired by the United States Navy as USS Mission San Juan . Later the tanker transferred to the Military Sea Transportation Service as USNS Mission San Juan ...
1964-1974? - merchant marine tanker/supplies ship - USNS Range Sentinel (T-AGM-22) 1969-1974 - USN Sherburne (APA-205)
Active
- USNS Observation Island (T-AGM-23)USNS Observation Island (T-AGM-23)USNS Observation Island , also known as ex-MA-28, ex-YAG-57, ex-E-AG-154, Empire State Mariner, is the historic naval vessel that in 1969 launched the first Poseidon Fleet Ballstic Missile ever successfully deployed from a vessel at sea, earning the ship and crew the Meritorious Unit Commendation...
1977-present - military merchant ship - USNS Invincible (T-AGM-24)USNS Invincible (T-AGM-24)USNS Invincible , also known as ex-AGOS 10 , is one of two Missile Range Instrumentation Ships operated by the Military Sealift Command. One of the radars it carries is the Cobra Gemini dual band, X band and S band, radar....
2000-present - research ship - USNS Waters (T-AGS-45)USNS Waters (T-AGS-45)USNS Waters is a United States Navy vessel tasked with supporting submarine navigation-system testing and providing ballistic missile flight test support services. In 2011, it was homeported in Port Canaveral, Florida.-Features:...
1991-present - USNS Pathfinder (T-AGS 60) classUSNS Pathfinder (T-AGS-60)USNS Pathfinder is an oceanographic survey ship, and the lead vessel of her class.-External links:*...
Planned
- USNS Howard O. Lorenzen (T-AGM-25)USNS Howard O. Lorenzen (T-AGM-25)USNS Howard O. Lorenzen is a future Missile Range Instrumentation Ship under construction by VT Halter Marine Inc. of Pascagoula, Mississippi. The keel was laid during a ceremony on August 13, 2008....
Due to be delivered in 2010; purpose built to replace Observation Island.
See also
- Eastern Range
- List of ships of the United States Air Force
- Sea-Based X-Band RadarSea-based X-band RadarSea-Based X-Band Radar is a floating, self-propelled, mobile radar station designed to operate in high winds and heavy seas. It is part of the U.S. Defense Department Ballistic Missile Defense System....
- Western Launch and Test RangeWestern Launch and Test RangeThe Western Range is the space launch range that supports the major launch head at Vandenberg Air Force Base. Managed by the 30th Space Wing, the WR extends from the West Coast of the United States to 90 degrees East longitude in the Indian Ocean where it meets the Eastern Range Operations...