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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

Coastal Crusader (AGS-36)
ex
 USNS Coastal Crusader (T-AGM-16)
 USAFS Coastal Crusader (ORV-16)
 USAT PVT. Joe R. Hastings


USNS Coastal Crusader (T-AGM-16)
 International Radio Call Sign:
November - Mike - Foxtrot - Golf
NMFG
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Precedence of awards is from left to right
National Defense Service Medal
Coastal Crusader Missile Range Instrumentation Ship:
  • Projected by the Navy as Wexford (AK-220), 25 February 1945
  • Laid down, date unknown, as MV Wexford, a Maritime Commission type (C1-M-AV1) hull, under Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 2174) at Leathem D. Smith Shipbuilders, Sturgeon Bay, WI.
  • Contract canceled in August 1945 due to cessation of hostilities
  • Renamed MV Coastal Crusader by the Maritime Commission, date unknown
  • Launched, date unknown
  • Delivered to the Maritime Commission in July 1945
  • Acquired by the US Army, date unknown, and placed in service by the US Army Transportation Service as USAT Pvt. Joe R. Hastings
  • Acquired by the US Air Force for conversion to a missile tracking ship, date unknown
  • Placed in service as Ocean Range Vessel USAFS Coastal Crusader (ORV-16) to be operated in support of the Air Force Eastern Test Range
  • Acquired by the US Navy in 1964 and placed in service with the Military Sea Transportation Service as a Special Mission Ship on the Eastern Test Range, USNS Coastal Crusader (T-AGM-16)
  • Placed out of service, date unknown
  • Laid up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet
  • Reclassified Survey Ship (AGS-36) in 1969
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 30 April 1976
  • Returned to the Maritime Administration, 9 February 1970, for lay up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, Suisun Bay, Benecia, CA.
  • Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 12 April 1977, General Metals of Tacoma, Inc., (PD-X-1016 dated 28 February 1977), for $56,671.00, withdrawn, 2 May 1977
    Specifications:
    Displacement 3,366 t.(lt) 6,090 t.(fl)
    Length 338' 9"
    Beam 50' 4"
    Draft 17' 7"
    Speed 11.5 kts.
    Complement unknown
    Armament none
    Propulsion Diesel, single propeller
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Source
    USAF Coastal Crusader (ORV-16)
    Coastal Crusader 54k USAFS Coastal Crusader (ORV-16) under way, date and location unknown.
    US Navy photo    		 Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret.
    Coastal Crusader
    09531611    		 222k The nose cone of a U.S. inter-continental ballistic missile is towed toward the Air Force Missile Test Center’s ocean range vessel Coastal Crusader after landing in the South Atlantic Ocean near Ascension Island, 5,000 miles from its launching site at Cape Canaveral, Florida. Aboard the Atlas RVX-2 nose cone, which was launched at 4:35 a.m., October 13, 1960, were three black mice contained in a water and air-tight sealed capsule.
    National Museum of the U.S. Navy photo # 330-PSA-254-60 (164493 AC), 9 September 2015.    		 Robert Hurst
    Coastal Crusader
    09531612    		 205k The nose cone of a U.S. inter-continental ballistic missile is brought onboard the Air Force Missile Test Center’s ocean range vessel Coastal Crusader after landing in the South Atlantic Ocean near Ascension Island, 5,000 miles, at 18,000 mph, from its launching site at Cape Canaveral, Florida. The three “Astromics” carried in a “space capsule” onboard the nose cone were returned to Patrick Air Force Base, Florida, alive and well, on Monday, 17 October 1960. The mice, riding on a space available basis, comprised one of numerous experiments which were added to the flight.
    National Museum of the U.S. Navy photo # 330-PSA-254-60 (164494 AC), 9 September 2015.    		 Robert Hurst
    Coastal Crusader
    09531613    		 215k The nose cone of a U.S. inter-continental ballistic missile is on board the Air Force Missile Test Center’s ocean range vessel Coastal Crusader after landing in the South Atlantic Ocean near Ascension Island, 5,000 miles, at 18,000 mph, from its launching site at Cape Canaveral, Florida. The nose cone reached a height of 700 miles.
    National Museum of the U.S. Navy photo # 330-PSA-254-60 (164495 AC), 9 September 2015.    		 Robert Hurst
    USNS Coastal Crusader (T-AGM-16)
    Coastal Crusader 25k USNS Coastal Crusader (T-AGM-16) under way, date and location unknown. Gunter Krebs
    Coastal Crusader 200k USNS Coastal Crusader(T-AGM-16) under way, date and place unknown.
    Photo by C. M. Neale Route 3 Box 106 Charleston, SC    		 William Zarkas, Retired MSC Boatswain
    President, MSC Retiree Association
    Coastal Crusader 85k USNS Coastal Crusader (T-AGM-16) entering San Juan, passing Morro Castle, circa 1967 Bill McQueen
    Coastal Crusader 93k USNS Coastal Crusader (T-AGM-16) pierside, Port Canaveral, FL., date unknown. Photo by James W. Holloway, Jr. (deceased), submitted by Jim Holloway
    Coastal Crusader 88k USNS Coastal Crusader (T-AGM-16) pierside, Port Canaveral, FL., date unknown. Photo by James W. Holloway, Jr. (deceased), submitted by Jim Holloway
    Coastal Crusader 96k USNS Coastal Crusader (T-AGM-16) pierside, Port Canaveral, FL., view of foredeck, date unknown. Photo by James W. Holloway, Jr. (deceased), submitted by Jim Holloway
    Coastal Crusader 86k USNS Coastal Crusader (T-AGM-16) moored portside to and Sword Knot (T-AGM-13) moored starboard side to at Naval Facility Trinidad, circa 1967 Anonymous
    Coastal Crusader 110k USNS Coastal Crusader (T-AGM-16) moored pierside at Naval Facility Trinidad, circa 1967 Anonymous
    Coastal Crusader 55k USNS Coastal Crusader (T-AGM-16) moored pierside at Naval Facility Trinidad, circa 1967 Anonymous
    Sword Knot 64k USNS Sword Knot (T-AGM-13) moored starboard side to and USNS Coastal Crusader (T-AGM-16) moored port side to at Naval Facility Trinidad, circa 1967 Anonymous
    ARD-18
    US Navy photo # 1572-005-075    		 374k USNS Coastal Crusader (T-AGM-16) at Norfolk Shipbuilding and Drydock Corp. shipyard, circa 1967-68. ARD-18 (center) was undergoing conversion to Medium Auxiliary Repair Dry Dock Endurance (ARDM-3).
    US Navy Bureau of Ships photos now in the collections of the US National Archives.    		 Ron Reeves
    ARD-18
    US Navy photo # 1572-002-039    		 364k
    USNS Coastal Crusader (T-AGM-16)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    MARAD Vessel History Database
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    Last Updated 24 May 2024