USNS Sampan Hitch (T-AGM-18)
| Career (USA) |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | USNS Sampan Hitch |
| Namesake: | A name retained |
| Builder: | Walter Butler Shipbuilding Inc., Superior, Wisconsin |
| Laid down: | date unknown, as a type (C1-M-AV1) hull, MC hull 2133 |
| Launched: | 12 July 1945 |
| Completed: | August 1945 |
| Acquired: | by the U.S. Navy in 1964 |
| In service: | circa 1958 |
| Out of service: | date unknown |
| Struck: | date unknown |
| Fate: | sold for scrapping 23 April 1973 to a South Korean steel firm |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | missile range instrumentation ship |
| Tonnage: | 3,366 tons |
| Tons burthen: | 6,090 tons |
| Length: | 338' 9" |
| Beam: | 50' 4" |
| Draft: | 17' 7" |
| Propulsion: | Diesel, single propeller |
| Speed: | 11.5 knots |
| Endurance: | 30 days at sea |
| Complement: | unknown |
| Sensors and processing systems: | telemetry |
| Armament: | none |
USNS Sampan Hitch (T-AGM-18) was a missile range instrumentation ship which earlier operated as the U.S. Air Force Ocean Range Vessel USAFS Sampan Hitch (ORV-1836) on the U.S. Air Force’s Eastern Test Range during the late 1950s and early 1960s. Sampan Hitch operated under an Air Force contract with Pan American Airways Guided Missile Range Division headquartered in Cocoa Beach, Florida.
Sampan Hitch, assigned to the South Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean area, provided the Air Force with metric data on intercontinental ballistic missiles launched from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS) in Florida.
Sampan Hitch operated in the intercontinental ballistic missile re-entry area near Ascension Island, and was home-ported out of South Atlantic Fleet Hqtrs, Chagaramus (Port of Spain) Trinidad, BWI.
Sampan Hitch was acquired from the U.S. Air Force by the U.S. Navy in 1964.
Operational data
Operational data while on U.S. Navy service during post-1964 period on this vessel is lacking.
Inactivation
Sampan Hitch was struck from the Navy list at an unknown date, and was sold for scrapping 23 April 1973 to Dongkuk Steel Mill Company, Ltd., South Korea. Her subsequent fate is not known.
See also
- Missile Range Instrumentation Ship
- United States Air Force ships
- Eastern Test Range
- Pan American Airways Guided Missile Range Division
- Missile Test Project
References
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- Ship infoboxes without an image
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- Type C1-MAV-1 ship
- Ships built in Wisconsin
- 1945 ships
- World War II merchant ships of the United States
- Type C1-MAV-1 ships of the United States Air Force
- Type C1-MAV-1 ships of the United States Navy
- Cold War auxiliary ships of the United States
- Signals intelligence
- Missile range instrumentation ships of the United States Navy
- Research vessels of the United States Navy
- United States naval ship stubs
