SS Claude B. Kitchin on the building ways at J. A. Jones Construction Co. Inc., Panama City, FL., prior to launching, 24 May 1945. | |
History | |
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United States | |
Name | Claude B. Kitchin |
Namesake | Claude B. Kitchin |
Owner | War Shipping Administration (WSA) |
Operator | United Fruit Co. |
Ordered | as type (EC2-S-C5) hull, MC hull 3139 |
Builder | J.A. Jones Construction, Panama City, Florida [1] |
Cost | $818,469 [2] |
Yard number | 99 |
Way number | 4 |
Laid down | 5 April 1945 |
Launched | 24 May 1945 |
Sponsored by | Mrs. F. D. Burge |
Completed | 25 June 1945 |
Identification | |
Fate |
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USS Lookout (AGR-2) underway, date and location unknown. | |
United States | |
Name | Lookout |
Namesake | A careful watching for someone or something |
Commissioned | 5 March 1955 |
Decommissioned | 12 July 1965 |
Reclassified | Guardian-class radar picket ship |
Refit | Charleston Naval Shipyard, Charleston, South Carolina |
Stricken | 1 September 1965 |
Identification |
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Fate |
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General characteristics [3] | |
Class and type |
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Tonnage | |
Displacement | |
Length | |
Beam | 57 feet (17 m) |
Draft | 27 ft 9.25 in (8.4646 m) |
Installed power |
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Propulsion |
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Speed | 11.5 knots (21.3 km/h; 13.2 mph) |
Capacity | 490,000 cubic feet (13,875 m3) (bale) |
Complement | |
Armament |
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General characteristics (US Navy refit) [4] | |
Class and type | Guardian-class radar picket ship |
Capacity |
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Complement |
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Armament | 2 × 3 inches (76 mm)/50 caliber guns |
USS Lookout (YAGR/AGR-2) was a Guardian-class radar picket ship, converted from a Liberty Ship, acquired by the US Navy in 1954. She was 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.
Lookout (YAGR-2) was laid down on 5 April 1945, under a Maritime Commission (MARCOM) contract, MC hull 3139, as the Liberty Ship Claude Kitchin, by J.A. Jones Construction, Panama City, Florida. She was launched 24 May 1945; sponsored by Mrs. F. D. Burge; and delivered 25 June 1945, to the United Fruit Company. [5] [2]
She was soon placed into the National Defense Reserve Fleet until 13 August 1954, when she was acquired by the US Navy. She was converted to a radar picket ship at the Charleston Navy Yard, Charleston, South Carolina, and commissioned Lookout (YAGR-2), 5 March 1955. [5] [4]
After shakedown off Newport, Rhode Island, Lookout was assigned to radar picket duty in the 1st Naval District. From 1956 to 1965, she operated on the Atlantic Ocean perimeter of the radar defense net established around the United States to warn of surprise air attack. On 28 September 1958, her classification was changed to AGR-2. Lookout's periods of 20 to 30 days at sea were alternated with inport replenishment at Davisville, Rhode Island. [5]
By the time she completed her 10th year of service in the spring of 1965, Lookout had distinguished herself in the defense of the Nation. [5]
She arrived Bayonne, New Jersey, 23 June, and decommissioned there 12 July 1965. Her name was struck from the Naval Register 1 September 1965. Lookout was transferred to the National Defense Reserve Fleet, Hudson River Reserve Fleet, Jones Point, New York, where she remained until she was sold for scrap in 1970, to a scrapping firm in Spain. [5] [4]
Lookout's crew was eligible for the following medals:
USS Dyess (DD/DDR-880), a Gearing-class destroyer, was a ship of the United States Navy named for Aquilla James Dyess (1909–1944). Dyess was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously for his leadership of his battalion of Marines in the Battle of Kwajalein. The ship was laid down by Consolidated Steel Corporation at Orange, Texas on 17 August 1944, launched on 26 January 1945 and commissioned on 21 May 1945. The vessel spent the majority of her career patrolling the Mediterranean Sea with NATO forces. The ship was decommissioned on 27 January 1981 and sold to Greece the same year for spare parts.
USS Picket (YAGR/AGR-7) was a Guardian-class radar picket ship, converted from a Liberty Ship, acquired by the US Navy in 1955. 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 Pacific Ocean as part of the Distant Early Warning Line.
USS Kirkpatrick (DE-318) was an Edsall-class destroyer escort built for the U.S. Navy during World War II. She served in the Atlantic Ocean the Pacific Ocean and provided destroyer escort protection against submarine and air attack for Navy vessels and convoys. Post-war, she was converted to a radar picket ship to support the DEW Line.
USS Luna (AKS-7) was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was originally named for Harriet Hosmer, a neoclassical sculptor, considered the first female professional sculptor. She was converted shortly after completion to an Acubens-class general stores issue ship and renamed Luna, the latin name for the Moon. She was responsible for delivering and disbursing goods and equipment to locations in the war zone.
USS Guardian (AGR/YAGR-1) was a Guardian-class radar picket ship, converted from a Liberty Ship, acquired by the US Navy in 1954. Her task was to act as part of the radar defenses of the United States in the Cold War, serving until 1965.
USS Skywatcher (YAGR/AGR-3) was a Guardian-class radar picket ship, converted from a Liberty Ship, acquired by the US Navy in 1954. She was converted into a radar picket ship and assigned to radar picket duty in the North Atlantic Ocean as part of the Distant Early Warning Line.
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.
USS Scanner (AGR/YAGR-5) was a Guardian-class radar picket ship, converted from a Liberty Ship, acquired by the US Navy in 1955. 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 Pacific Ocean as part of the Distant Early Warning Line.
USS Locator (AGR/YAGR-6) was a Guardian-class radar picket ship, converted from a Liberty Ship, acquired by the US Navy in 1955. 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 Pacific Ocean as part of the Distant Early Warning Line.
USS Interceptor (AGR-8/YAGR-8) was a Guardian-class radar picket ship acquired by the US Navy in 1955, from the "mothballed" reserve fleet. She was reconfigured as a radar picket ship and assigned to radar picket duty in the North Pacific Ocean as part of the Distant Early Warning Line.
USS Investigator (AGR/YAGR-9) was a Guardian-class radar picket ship, converted from a Liberty Ship, acquired by the US Navy in 1954. She was 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.
USS Outpost (AGR/YAGR-10) was a Guardian-class radar picket ship, converted from a Liberty Ship, acquired by the US Navy in 1956. She was 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.
USS Protector (AGR/YAGR-11) was a Guardian-class radar picket ship of the United States Navy. A Liberty Ship acquired in 1957, she was 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.
USS Vigil (AGR/YAGR-12) was a Guardian-class radar picket ship, converted from a Liberty Ship, acquired by the US Navy in 1956. She was 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.
USS Interdictor (AGR/YAGR-13) was a Guardian-class radar picket ship, converted from a Liberty ship, acquired by the US Navy in 1954. She was reconfigured as a radar picket ship and assigned to radar picket duty in the North Pacific Ocean as part of the Distant Early Warning Line.
USS Interpreter (AGR-14) was a Guardian-class radar picket ship, converted from a Liberty Ship, acquired by the US Navy in 1957. She was reconfigured as a radar picket ship and assigned to radar picket duty in the North Pacific Ocean as part of the Distant Early Warning Line.
USS Tracer (AGR-15) was a Guardian-class radar picket ship, converted from a Liberty Ship, acquired by the US Navy in 1957. She was reconfigured as a radar picket ship and assigned to radar picket duty in the North Pacific Ocean as part of the Distant Early Warning Line.
USS Watchman (AGR-16) was a Guardian-class radar picket ship, converted from a Liberty Ship, acquired by the US Navy in 1958. She was reconfigured as a radar picket ship and assigned to radar picket duty in the North Pacific Ocean as part of the Distant Early Warning Line.
Granville S. Hall was a Liberty ship named after Granville S. Hall. She was built at the J.A. Jones Construction, Panama City, Florida, and launched in 1944, to serve as a civilian cargo ship. In 1953 she was acquired by the United States Navy for use as a miscellaneous auxiliary service craft under the designation YAG-40. As YAG-40 she took part in Operation Castle before being laid up again in 1957. Reactivated in 1962, she was commissioned as Granville S. Hall (YAG-40) and participated in Project SHAD and Project 112. She was scrapped in 1972.
The Guardian-class radar picket ships were a class of ocean radar picket ships, converted 1954–1958 from World War II Liberty ships acquired by the U.S. Navy. Their task was to act as part of the radar defenses of the United States in the Cold War, serving until 1965.