![]() USS Protector (AGR-11), underway, 12 October 1960, place unknown. | |
History | |
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Name | Warren P. Marks |
Namesake | Warren P. Marks |
Owner | War Shipping Administration (WSA) |
Operator | Shepard Steamship Company |
Ordered | as type (EC2-S-C5) hull, MC hull 2346 |
Builder | J.A. Jones Construction, Panama City, Florida [1] |
Cost | $1,006,824 [2] |
Yard number | 87 |
Way number | 5 |
Laid down | 31 January 1945 |
Launched | 15 March 1945 |
Sponsored by | Mrs. E. M. Hinson |
Completed | 29 March 1945 |
Identification | |
Fate | Acquired by US Navy, 1957 |
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Name | Protector |
Namesake | A guard or guardian |
Commissioned | 20 February 1957 |
Decommissioned | 28 July 1965 |
Reclassified | Guardian-class radar picket ship |
Refit | Charleston Naval Shipyard, Charleston, South Carolina |
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 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.
The third ship to be so named by the Navy, Protector (YAGR–11) was laid down on 31 January 1945, under a Maritime Commission (MARCOM) contract, MC hull 2346, as the Liberty Ship Warren P. Marks, by J.A. Jones Construction, Panama City, Florida. She was launched 15 March 1945; sponsored by Mrs. E. M. Hinson; and delivered 29 March 1945, to the Shepard Steamship Company. [5] [4]
Operated by the Shepard Steamship Co., from 1945 to 1957, Warren P. Marks was converted Charleston Navy Yard, Charleston, South Carolina, and commissioned Protector (YAGR–11), 20 February 1957. [5] [4]
After shakedown off Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Protector, homeported at Davisville, Rhode Island, reported to Commandant, 1st Naval District for administrative control and to Commander YAGR Division 21 for duty and was assigned as an Ocean Station Radar Picket Ship in the seaward extension of the Eastern Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD)'s Contiguous Radar Coverage System. [5]
Continuing her duties off the US East Coast, Protector was redesignated AGR-11 on 28 October 1958. She continued her radar picket duty until 1965. During the Cuban invasion in the spring of 1962, and the Cuban Missile Crisis in the fall, Protector operated in the Florida Straits and established a new radar picket station. [5]
On 10 February 1965, Protector terminated picket duty as the last picket ship to man Radar Picket Station No. 15 of NORAD Contiguous Radar Coverage System. [5]
On 28 July 1965, she decommissioned at Bayonne, New Jersey, and was placed in the US Maritime Administration (MARAD) National Defense Reserve Fleet, Hudson River Reserve Fleet, Jones Point, New York, as an Emergency Relocation Center Ship, where she remained until she was towed to the Norfolk Naval Shipyard where her engine was removed. She was then placed for sale as scrap, with scrapping completed 30 November 2005. [5] [4]
Protector's crew was eligible for the following medals:
A radar picket is a radar-equipped station, ship, submarine, aircraft, or vehicle used to increase the radar detection range around a nation or military force to protect it from surprise attack, typically air attack, or from criminal activities such as smuggling. By definition a radar picket must be some distance removed from the anticipated targets to be capable of providing early warning. Often several detached radar units would be placed in a ring to encircle a target to provide increased cover in all directions; another approach is to position units to form a barrier line.
USS Baham (AK-122/AG-71) was a Basilan-class auxiliary ship, converted from a Liberty ship, commissioned by the United States Navy for service in World War II. She was first named after former Florida resident Elizabeth C. Bellamy, the daughter of General William Croom, and wife of Doctor Samuel C. Bellamy. She was renamed and commissioned after Baham, a star in constellation Pegasus. She was responsible for delivering troops, goods and equipment to locations in the war zone.
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 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 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.
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 United States 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 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.