USNS Coastal Crusader (T-AGM-16)

USNS Coastal Crusader (AK-220/ORV-16/T-AGM-16/AGS-36) was an Alamosa-class cargo ship that was constructed for the US Navy during the closing period of World War II. She was later acquired by the US Army in 1946 and the US Air Force in 1957 before being reacquired by the USN in 1964 and as a missile range instrumentation ship.

USAFS Coastal Crusader (ORV-16) underway, date and location unknown.
History
United States
Name:
  • Wexford (never received name)
  • Coastal Crusader
Namesake: Wexford County, Michigan
Ordered: as type (C1-M-AV1) hull, MC hull 2174[1]
Builder: Leathem D. Smith Shipbuilding Company, Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin
Yard number: 340[1]
Laid down: 12 April 1945
Launched: 24 June 1945
Completed: 26 July 1945
Commissioned: delivered to the US Maritime Commission (MARCOM) prior to commissioning, July 1945
Renamed: Coastal Crusader
Identification: Hull symbol: AK-220 (never received number)
Fate: delivered to War Shipping Administration (WSA), 31 December 1945
Status: delivered to the US Army, 30 August 1946
History
United States
Name: Pvt. Joe R. Hastings
Namesake: Joe R. Hastings
Operator: US Army
In service: 30 August 1946
Out of service: 27 October 1947
Fate: declared surplus, 12 December 1949, delivered to MARCOM
Status: sent to Reserve Fleet
History
United States
Name: Coastal Crusader
Owner: Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS)
Operator: Coastwise
In service: 12 May 1955
Out of service: 3 November 1955
Fate: transferred to US Air Force, 27 August 1956
Status: sent to Reserve Fleet
History
United States
Name: Coastal Crusader
Operator: US Air Force
In service: 13 March 1957
Out of service: 1964
Reclassified: Ocean Range Vessel (ORV-16)
Fate: transferred to the US Navy, 1964
History
United States
Name: Coastal Crusader
Owner: US Navy
Operator: MSTS
In service: 1964
Reclassified:
  • Missile Range Instrumentation Ship (T-AGM-16), 1964
  • Survey Ship (AGS-36), 1969
Stricken: 30 April 1976
Fate: sold for scrap, 12 April 1977
Status: fate unknown
General characteristics [2]
Class and type:
  • Alamosa-class cargo ship
  • Coastal Crusader-class Missile range instrumentation ship
Type: C1-M-AV1
Tonnage: 5,032 long tons deadweight (DWT)[1]
Displacement:
  • 2,382 long tons (2,420 t) (standard)
  • 7,450 long tons (7,570 t) (full load)
Length: 388 ft 8 in (118.47 m)
Beam: 50 ft (15 m)
Draft: 21 ft 1 in (6.43 m)
Installed power:
Propulsion: 1 × propeller
Speed: 11.5 kn (21.3 km/h; 13.2 mph)
Capacity:
  • 3,945 t (3,883 long tons) DWT
  • 9,830 cu ft (278 m3) (refrigerated)
  • 227,730 cu ft (6,449 m3) (non-refrigerated)
Complement:
  • 15 Officers
  • 70 Enlisted

Construction

Coastal Crusader, a C1-M-AV1 cargo vessel, was laid down under a US Maritime Commission (MARCOM) contract, MC hull 2174, on 12 April 1945 at Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, by the Leathem D. Smith Shipbuilding Company; launched on 24 June 1945; sponsored by Mrs. DeForrest Colburn; and completed on 26 July 1945.[3]

On 25 February 1945, the Navy had assigned the name Wexford and the designation AK-220 to the projected ship; but the contract for her acquisition by the Navy was cancelled in August 1945 because of the cessation of hostilities in the Pacific Ocean and the surrender of Japan. Coastal Crusader thus entered mercantile service, never having borne the name Wexford.[3]

US Army service

The vessel was placed in service 30 August 1946, by the US Army Transportation Service as USAT Private Joe R. Hastings. She was returned to the Reserve Fleet on 27 October 1949.[4]

US Air Force service

Renamed Coastal Sentry, she was acquired by the US Air Force on 13 March 1957, which redesignated her an Ocean Range Vessel, USAFS Coastal Crusader (ORV-16). She operated on the Air Force's Eastern Test Range during the late 1950s and early 1960s.[4]

US Navy service

The US Navy acquired Coastal Crusader from the Air Force in 1964, a placed her in service with the Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS) and redesignated her a Missile Range Instrumentation Ship, USNS Coastal Crusader (T-AGM-16). Navy records indicate Coastal Crusader was redesignated as a Survey Ship, Coastal Crusader (AGS-36) in 1969, and finally struck from the Navy List on 30 April 1976.[4][2]

Inactivation

Coastal Crusader was subsequently sold by the Maritime Administration (MARAD) on 12 April 1977.[4] She was scrapped later that year.[1]

Notes
    Citations
    1. C1 Cargo Ships 2009.
    2. Navsource 2015.
    3. DANFS 2015.
    4. MARAD.

    Bibliography

    Online resources

    • "Wexford". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Naval History and Heritage Command. 18 November 2015. Retrieved 8 December 2016. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
    • "C1 Cargo Ships". www.ShipbuildingHistory.com. 28 August 2009. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
    • "Coastal Crusader (AGS-36)". Navsource.org. 17 April 2015. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
    • "COASTAL CRUSADER (T-AGM-16)". United States Department of Transportation. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
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    • Photo gallery of USS Coastal Crusader (T-AGM-16) at NavSource Naval History


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