![]() USS Watchman (AGR-16) entering San Francisco Bay
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History | |
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Name | Vernon S. Hood |
Namesake | Vernon S. Hood |
Owner | War Shipping Administration (WSA) |
Operator | Overlakes Freight Co. |
Ordered | as type (EC2-S-C5) hull, MC hull 2343 |
Builder | J.A. Jones Construction, Panama City, Florida[2] |
Cost | $1,061,814[1] |
Yard number | 84 |
Way number | 6 |
Laid down | 17 January 1945 |
Launched | 20 February 1945 |
Sponsored by | Mrs. Inez Bulifant |
Completed | 7 March 1945 |
Identification | |
Fate |
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Name | Watchman |
Namesake | One who watches |
Commissioned | 5 January 1959 |
Decommissioned | 7 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 [4] | |
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)[3] | |
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 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.
Watchman (YAGR-16) was laid down on 17 January 1945, under a Maritime Commission (MARCOM) contract, MC hull 2343, as the Liberty Ship Vernon S. Hood, by J.A. Jones Construction, Panama City, Florida. She was launched 20 February 1945; sponsored by Mrs. Inez Bulifant; and delivered 7 March 1945, to MARCOM.[3][5]
Following a shakedown cruise in the Gulf of Mexico, the freighter was turned over to the Overlakes Freight Corporation, to be operated by that firm under a contract with the MARCOM. During her brief period of active operations with MARCOM, 1945 to 1947, she also served under contract with the Moore-McCormack Lines. Later that year, she was placed out of service and was berthed with the James River Reserve Fleet, Lee Hall, Virginia.[5]
Her name was struck from the Navy List 1 September 1965, and she was returned to the Maritime Administration (MARAD) for lay up with the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet, Suisun Bay, California. She remained there until 3 October 1974, when she was sold to American Ship Dismantlers for scrapping.[5]
Watchman's crew was eligible for the following medals: