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USNS Stalwart | |
Class overview | |
---|---|
Builders | |
Operators | |
Preceded by | None |
Succeeded by | Victorious class |
In service | April 12, 1984 |
Completed | 23 |
Active | 5 not stricken by Naval Vessel Register |
General characteristics | |
Displacement | 1,565 t.(lt) 2,535 t.(fl) |
Length | 224 ft (68 m) |
Beam | 43 ft (13 m) |
Draft | 15 ft (4.6 m) |
Propulsion | diesel-electric, two shafts, 1,600 hp (1,200 kW) |
Speed | 11 knots (20 km/h; 13 mph) |
Complement | 36 |
Stalwart-class auxiliary general ocean surveillance ships (T-AGOS) are a class of United States Naval Ship (USNS) auxiliary support Ocean Surveillance Ships commissioned between April 1984 and October 2000. Their original purpose was to collect underwater acoustical information using the Surveillance Towed Array Sensor System (SURTASS), a towed array passive sonar.
Stalwart, Indomitable, and Capable were modified to support narcotics interdiction by removing SURTASS equipment and adding an air-search radar and tactical data link equipment. [1]
Ship Name | Hull No. | Delivery- Stricken | Fate | Link |
---|---|---|---|---|
Stalwart | 1 | 1984–2002 | State University of New York Maritime College | NVR NavSource |
Contender | 2 | 1984–1992 | T/V General Rudder, flagship and training vessel of the Texas A&M University at Galveston | NVR NavSource |
Vindicator | 3 | 1984–1993 | NOAA Hi'Ialakai (R-334) | NVR NavSource NOAA |
Triumph | 4 | 1985–1995 | Stricken, to be disposed of in support of Fleet training exercise | NVR NavSource |
Assurance | 5 | 1985–1995 | Transferred to Portugal as NRP Almirante Gago Coutinho (A523) | NVR NavSource |
Persistent | 6 | 1985–1995 | T/S State of Michigan, Great Lakes Maritime Academy, Traverse City, Michigan | NVR NavSource NMC |
Indomitable | 7 | 1985–2002 | NOAA McArthur II (R-330) | NVR NavSource NOAA |
Prevail | 8 | 1986– | Reclassified as Unclassified miscellaneous vessel Prevail (IX-537) | NVR NVR NavSource |
Assertive | 9 | 1986–2004 | Transferred to NOAA to be converted FY 2007 and to replace NOAA David Starr Jordan. Damaged during a fire at NOAA's pier in Seattle Washington July 2006, transferred to Seattle Maritime Academy. (R 444) in FY 2008 | NVR NavSource |
Invincible | 10 | 1987– | Converted to T-AGM 24, Missile Range Instrumentation Ship | NVR NavSource MSC |
Audacious | 11 | 1989–1997 | Transferred to Portugal as NRP Dom Carlos I (A522) | NVR NavSource |
Vigorous, renamed Bold | 12 | 1989–2004 | EPA Bold (OSV-224) until ~2013. Converted to R/V Bold Explorer, EGS Group, 2020. [2] | NVR NavSource EPA |
Adventurous | 13 | 1988–1992 | NOAA Oscar Elton Sette (R-335) | NVR NavSource NOAA |
Worthy | 14 | 1988–1993 | Transferred to USGS, then to the US Army. Converted to a Missile Range Instrumentation Ship at Kwajalein Atoll's Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site | NVR NavSource KMRSS |
Titan | 15 | 1989–1993 | NOAA Ka'Imimoana (R-333) until June 18, 2014; Research/Survey Vessel Ocean Titan IMO: 8835231 survey vessel own by Stabbert Maritime | NVR NavSource NOAA |
Capable | 16 | 1989–2004 | NOAA Okeanos Explorer (R-337) | NVR NavSource NOAA |
Tenacious | 17 | 1987–1997 | Transferred to New Zealand as HMNZS Resolution (A14) (1997-2012), then sold into civilian service to EGS Group and renamed RV Geo Resolution | NVR NavSource |
Relentless | 18 | 1990–1993 | NOAA Gordon Gunter (R-336) | NVR NavSource NOAA |
Sound Surveillance System (SOSUS) was the original name for a submarine detection system based on passive sonar developed by the United States Navy to track Soviet submarines. The system's true nature was classified with the name and acronym SOSUS classified as well. The unclassified name Project Caesar was used to cover the installation of the system and a cover story developed regarding the shore stations, identified only as a Naval Facility (NAVFAC), being for oceanographic research. The name changed to Integrated Undersea Surveillance System (IUSS) in 1985, as the fixed bottom arrays were supplemented by the mobile Surveillance Towed Array Sensor System (SURTASS) and other new systems. The commands and personnel were covered by the "oceanographic" term until 1991 when the mission was declassified. As a result, the commands, Oceanographic System Atlantic and Oceanographic System Pacific became Undersea Surveillance Atlantic and Undersea Surveillance Pacific, and personnel were able to wear insignia reflecting the mission.
HMNZS Resolution (A14) was a hydrographic ship of the Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN). Originally the United States Naval Ship USNS Tenacious (T-AGOS-17), the Stalwart-class ocean surveillance ship was used by the United States to locate and track Soviet submarines from 1989 to 1997, when she was transferred to the RNZN for use as a hydrographic survey ship. She served until 27 April 2012. She was subsequently sold to EGS Group, a private surveying company, and renamed RV Geo Resolution.
USNS Stalwart (T-AGOS-1) was a Modified Tactical Auxiliary General Ocean Surveillance Ship and the lead ship of her class.
USNS Invincible (T-AGM-24), also known as ex-AGOS 10, is one of two tracking 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.
The AN/UQQ-2 Surveillance Towed Array Sensor System (SURTASS), colloquially referred to as the ship's "Tail", is a towed array sonar system of the United States Navy.
USNS Contender (T-AGOS-2) was a Stalwart-class Modified Tactical Auxiliary General Ocean Surveillance Ship of the United States Navy. Now known as the T/S General Rudder, the ship serves as the primary training vessel of Texas A&M Maritime Academy. Texas A&M has operated the vessel since 2012.
USNS Vindicator (T-AGOS-3) was a United States Navy Stalwart-class modified tactical auxiliary general ocean surveillance ship that was in service from 1984 to 1993. Vindicator then served in the United States Coast Guard from 1994 to 2001 as the medium endurance cutter USCGC Vindicator (WMEC-3). From 2004 to 2020, she was in commission in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) fleet as the oceanographic research ship NOAAS Hi'ialakai.
USNS Triumph (T-AGOS-4) is a Stalwart-class ocean surveillance ship formerly of the United States Navy. She was struck from the Naval Vessel Register in 1995. On 1 October 2012 the ship was disposed of by Navy title transfer to the Maritime Administration. As of May 2015, Triumph was held as a reserve asset for spare parts for sister ships General Rudder and State of Michigan.
NRP Almirante Gago Coutinho (A523) is a ship of the Portuguese Navy' Dom Carlos I-class survey vessels. Before transfer to the Portuguese Navy, Almirante Gago Coutinho was formerly USNS Assurance (T-AGOS-5) of the United States Navy.
USNS Persistent (T-AGOS-6) was a Stalwart-class Modified Tactical Auxiliary General Ocean Surveillance Ship of the United States Navy.
USNS Indomitable (T-AGOS-7) was a United States Navy Stalwart-class ocean surveillance ship in service from 1985 to 2002. From 2003 until 18 June 2014, she was in commission in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) as the oceanographic research ship NOAAS McArthur II. As of 2018 it serves as a mother ship now named the Deep Submersible Support Vessel (DSSV) Pressure Drop for the crewed deep-ocean research submersible DSV Limiting Factor.
Prevail (IX-537) is a modified Stalwart-class auxiliary general ocean surveillance ship (AGOS) of the United States Navy previously operated by the U.S. Military Sealift Command as T-AGOS 8. Prevail was reclassified as Unclassified Miscellaneous (IX) in October 2003 and is unofficially referred to as TSV-1. In this context, TSV stands for Training Support Vessel, and should not be confused with the U.S. Army's USAV Spearhead Theater Support Vessel initiative.
The USNS Worthy (T-AGOS-14) was a modified Stalwart-class ocean surveillance ship operated by the United States Navy.
USNS Titan (T-AGOS-15) was a Stalwart-class modified tactical auxiliary general ocean surveillance ship in service in the United States Navy from 1989 to 1993. From 1996 to 2014, she was in commission in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) fleet as the oceanographic research ship NOAAS Ka'imimoana.
USNS Capable (T-AGOS-16) was a Stalwart-class modified tactical auxiliary general ocean surveillance ship of the United States Navy in service from 1989 to 2004. In 2008, she was commissioned into service in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration as the oceanographic research ship NOAAS Okeanos Explorer.
USNS Relentless (T-AGOS-18) was a Stalwart-class modified tactical auxiliary general ocean surveillance ship in service in the United States Navy from 1990 to 1993. Since 1998, she has been in commission in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) fleet as the fisheries research ship NOAAS Gordon Gunter.
USNS Able (T-AGOS-20) is a Victorious-class oceanographic survey ship in the service of the United States Navy's Military Sealift Command.
USNS Impeccable (T-AGOS-23) is an Impeccable-class ocean surveillance ship acquired by the U.S. Navy in 2001 and assigned to Military Sealift Command's Special Missions Program.
The Impeccable-class ocean surveillance ship is a single-ship class of United States Navy special mission-support ship. The original intention was to build six undersea ocean-surveillance ships carrying a SURTASS passive towed array and a Low Frequency Active transducer array. Only the lead ship, USNS Impeccable (T-AGOS-23), was built.
JS Hibiki (AOS-5201) is a Hibiki-class ocean surveillance ship of Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force.