Guardian-class radar picket ship
History
United States
Name Edward W. Burton
Namesake Edward W. Burton
Owner War Shipping Administration (WSA)
Operator R.A.Nichol & Co.Inc.
Ordered as type (EC2-S-C5) hull, MC hull 3147
Builder J.A. Jones Construction , Panama City , Florida
Cost $850.797
Yard number 107
Way number 4
Laid down 10 July 1945
Launched 12 September 1945
Sponsored by Miss Juanita M. Kaylor
Completed 28 September 1945
Identification
Fate Acquired by US Navy , 28 June 1955
United States
Name Interceptor
Namesake One who intercepts
Commissioned 15 February 1956
Decommissioned 5 July 1965
Reclassified Guardian -class radar picket ship
Refit Charleston Naval Shipyard , Charleston, South Carolina
Stricken 1 September 1965
Homeport San Francisco , California
Identification
Hull symbol : YAGR-8 (1956–1958)
Hull symbol: AGR-8 (1958–1978)
Fate Scrapped, 16 February 1978
General characteristics
Class and type
Tonnage
Displacement
Length
441 feet 6 inches (135 m) oa
416 feet (127 m) pp
427 feet (130 m) lwl
Beam 57 feet (17 m)
Draft 27 ft 9.25 in (8.4646 m)
Installed power
2 × Oil fired 450 °F (232 °C) boilers , operating at 220 psi (1,500 kPa)
2,500 hp (1,900 kW)
Propulsion
Speed 11.5 knots (21.3 km/h ; 13.2 mph )
Capacity 490,000 cubic feet (13,875 m3 ) (bale)
Complement
Armament
General characteristics (US Navy refit)
Class and type Guardian -class radar picket ship
Capacity
443,646 US gallons (1,679,383 L; 369,413 imp gal) (fuel oil)
68,267 US gallons (258,419 L; 56,844 imp gal) (diesel)
15,082 US gallons (57,092 L; 12,558 imp gal) (fresh water)
1,326,657 US gallons (5,021,943 L; 1,104,673 imp gal) (fresh water ballast )
Complement
Armament 2 × 3 inches (76 mm)/50 caliber guns
USS Interceptor (AGR-8/YAGR-8) was a Guardian -class radar picket ship acquired by the US Navy in 1955, from the "mothballed" reserve fleet . 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 .
Construction
Interceptor (YAGR-8) was laid down on 10 July 1945, under a Maritime Commission (MARCOM) contract, MC hull 3147, as the Liberty Ship Edward W. Burton , by J.A. Jones Construction , Panama City, Florida . She was launched 12 September 1945; sponsored by Miss Juanita M. Kaylor; and delivered to T. J. Stevenson & Company, Inc. , 8 November 1945.
Service history
She served several lines as a cargo ship until being placed in the National Defense Reserve Fleet at Wilmington, North Carolina , 20 June 1948.
Acquired by the Navy, 28 June 1955, the ship was converted to a radar picket ship at Charleston Naval Shipyard , Charleston , South Carolina, and commissioned Interceptor (YAGR-8), 15 February 1956.
Interceptor was designed to carry the latest in long-range radar and communications equipment and to act as an ocean radar station ship. Following shakedown training she sailed from Charleston, 17 March 1956, en route to her new home port, San Francisco , California.
Arriving via the Panama Canal , 11 April, the ship began a regular cycle of 3– to 4–week at–sea periods as a picket ship under the Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD). Operating with search aircraft, Interceptor could detect, track, and report aircraft at great distances as well as control interceptor aircraft in the event of an air attack on the United States .
Patrolling off the coast of Canada , she formed an integral part of North America 's air early warning system. Reclassified AGR-8 , radar picket ship, 28 September 1958, Interceptor , for the next 7 years, operated with NORAD , in forming an important link in the nation's defenses.
Decommissioning
Interceptor was struck from the Navy List 1 September 1965, and placed in the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet , Suisun Bay California, where she remained until sold for scrapping, 16 February 1978.
See also
References
Bibliography
External links