Military Sealift Command (MSC) is an organization that controls the replenishment and military transport ships of the United States Navy. Military Sealift Command has the responsibility for providing sealift and ocean transportation for all US military services as well as for other government agencies. It first came into existence on 9 July 1949 when the Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS) became solely responsible for the Department of Defense's ocean transport needs. The MSTS was renamed the Military Sealift Command in 1970.
USNS Observation Island (T-AGM-23) was built as the Mariner-class merchant ship Empire State Mariner for the United States Maritime Commission, launched 15 August 1953, and operated by United States Lines upon delivery on 24 February 1954, making voyages for the Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS) until going into reserve at Mobile, Alabama on 9 November 1954.
The Naval Oceanographic Office (NAVOCEANO), located at John C. Stennis Space Center in south Mississippi, comprises approximately 1,000 civilian, military and contract personnel responsible for providing oceanographic products and services to all elements within the Department of Defense.
The Pathfinder-class survey ships are owned by the United States Navy and operated by Military Sealift Command for the Naval Oceanographic Office ("NAVOCEANO"). They have mostly civilian crews, including scientists from NAVOCEANO.
USNS Bowditch (T-AGS-21) was the lead ship of her class of oceanographic survey ships for the United States Navy. Launched as the SS South Bend Victory in 1945, Maritime Commission hull number MCV 694, a type VC2-S-AP3 Victory ship, she was named for Nathaniel Bowditch, the second U.S. Navy vessel named in his honor. The ship was acquired by the Navy in August 1957 and converted to an AGS at Charleston Naval Shipyard. Named Bowditch on 8 August 1957 and placed in service 8 October 1958 for operation by the Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS).
NOAAS Thomas Jefferson is a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) hydrographic survey vessel in service since 2003. The ship was built for the United States Navy as USNS Littlehales (T-AGS-52) serving as one of two new coastal hydrographic survey vessels from 1992 until transfer to NOAA in 2003 when it was named after Founding Father and third U.S. president, Thomas Jefferson.
USNS Wyman (T-AGS-34) was an oceanographic survey vessel laid down on 18 July 1968 by the Defoe Shipbuilding Company of Bay City, Michigan. Launched on 30 October 1969, sponsored by Mrs. Francis J. Blouin, wife of the Deputy Chief of Naval Operations, Vice Admiral Francis J. Blouin; she was accepted by the Military Sealift Command (MSC) on 19 November 1971 at the Boston Naval Shipyard.
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 Sgt. George D. Keathley, was a World War II United States cargo vessel that was used for troop transport and later converted to a survey vessel. She was laid down and launched as MS Alexander R. Nininger, Jr., then renamed MS Acorn Knot. She was put into US Army service as USAT Acorn Knot, then renamed USAT Sgt. George D. Keathley. She was transferred to the US Navy and became USNS Sgt. George D. Keathley (T-APC-117), but was later re-designated T-AGS-35. She was leased to the Republic of China, where she served as Chu Hwa (AGS-564). Both Nininger and Keathley were posthumous Medal of Honor recipients.
USNS Sands (T-AGOR-6) was a Robert D. Conrad-class oceanographic research ship operated by the Military Sealift Command (MSC) for the Naval Oceanographic Office from 1965 to 1973. During that period she provided ocean-bottom information and underwater test data to the U.S. Navy and other U.S. agencies. The ship was the second naval vessel to be named for Rear Admiral Benjamin F. Sands and his son Rear Admiral James H. Sands, the first being the destroyer Sands (DD-243). The ship operated in the Atlantic on oceanographic and geophysical assignments for the Oceanographic Office and other agencies.
Silas Bent III was a naval officer in the United States Navy prior to the American Civil War. Silas Bent sailed both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and was recognized by the Navy for his contributions to oceanography which were published by the Navy. At the outset of the American Civil War, Silas Bent resigned his commission, as his sympathy was for the Southern cause.
USNS Silas Bent (T-AGS-26) was a Silas Bent class survey ship acquired by the United States Navy in 1964 and delivered to the Military Sealift Command in 1965. Silas Bent spent her career in the Pacific Ocean performing oceanographic surveys. The ship was equipped with the Oceanographic Data Acquisition System (ODAS) as were the later oceanographic survey ships USNS Kane (T-AGS-27) and USNS Wilkes (T-AGS-33).
USNS S. P. Lee was laid down on 27 June 1966 by the Defoe Shipbuilding Co., Bay City, Michigan as yard hull number 441. The ship, sponsored by Mrs. David Scull, great-granddaughter of Admiral Lee, was launched on 19 October 1967 and delivered to the navy on 2 December 1968.
USNS Bowditch has been the name of more than one United States Navy ship, and may refer to:
The Silas Bent class is frequently found applied to four ships though the Naval Vessel Register and some sources officially break them into the subclasses of AGS-26 and AGS-33. Silas Bent was the first of the first four purpose built ships for U.S. Navy surveys. Previous ships had been modifications of various naval types.
USNS Waters (T-AGS-45) 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.
USNS Zeus (T-ARC-7) is the first cable ship specifically built for the United States Navy. Though planned to be the first of two ships of her class, the second ship was not built, leaving Zeus as the only ship of her class. She is capable of laying 1,000 miles (1,600 km) of cable at depths of up to 9,000 feet (2,700 m).
USNS Marie Tharp (T-AGS-66) is a Pathfinder-class oceanographic survey ship operated by the Military Sealift Command of the United States Navy. The seventh ship in her class, Marie Tharp is named for oceanographer Marie Tharp; the ship was renamed in 2023 from Maury.
USNS John McDonnell (T-AGS-51) was a hydrographic survey ship operated by the Military Sealift Command (MSC) with a contract crew for the Naval Oceanographic Office which assigned a military and civilian hydrographic detachment to conduct coastal surveys. The ship and its sister, USNS Littlehales (T-AGS-52), were replacements for the coastal hydrographic survey vessels USNS Chauvenet (T-AGS-29) and USNS Harkness (T-AGS-32).
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