USNS Timber Hitch (T-AGM-17)
USNS Timber Hitch (T-AGM-17) was a U.S. Navy missile range instrumentation ship which earlier operated as the U.S. Air Force Ocean Range Vessel USAFS Timber Hitch (ORV-17) on the U.S. Air Force's Eastern Test Range during the late 1950s and early 1960s. Timber Hitch operated under an Air Force contract with Pan American Airways Guided Missile Range Division headquartered in Cocoa Beach, Florida.
 Timber Hitch receiving fresh water from the USAS American Mariner, Clarence Bay, Ascension Island, in December 1961. | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Name: | USNS Timber Hitch |
| Namesake: | A name retained |
| Builder: | Consolidated Steel Corporation, Ltd., Wilmington, California |
| Laid down: | date unknown, as a type (C1-M-AV1) hull, MC hull 2466 |
| Launched: | 12 October 1944 |
| Completed: | January 1945 |
| Acquired: | by the U.S. Navy in 1964 |
| In service: | c. 1958 as a missile tracker |
| Out of service: | date unknown |
| Stricken: | 9 October 1969 |
| Fate: | disposed of by MARAD, 27 July 1977, fate unknown |
| 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 |
Timber 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.
Timber Hitch operated in the intercontinental ballistic missile re-entry area near Ascension Island, and was home-ported out of Recife, Brazil.
Acquisition by the Navy
Timber 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
Timber Hitch was struck from the Navy List 9 October 1969, and was scrapped by MARAD, 27 July 1977. Her subsequent fate is not known.
See also
- Missile Range Instrumentation Ship
- List of ships of the United States Air Force
- Eastern Test Range
- Pan American Airways Guided Missile Range Division
- Missile Test Project