USNS Kingsport (T-AG-164) was built as SS Kingsport Victory, a United States Maritime Commission VC2-S-AP3 (Victory) type cargo ship. During the closing days of World War II the ship was operated by the American Hawaiian Steamship Company under an agreement with the War Shipping Administration. After a period of layup the ship was operated as USAT Kingsport Victory by the Army under bareboat charter effective 8 July 1948. When Army transports were transferred to the Navy's Military Sea Transportation Service the ship continued as USNS Kingsport Victory (T-AK-239), a cargo transport . On 14 November 1961, after conversion into the first satellite communication ship, the ship was renamed Kingsport, reclassified as a general auxiliary, and operated as USNS Kingsport (T-AG-164).
The ship was sent to Lagos, Nigeria as the control station for Syncom 2 becoming the site of the first two way call by satellite by heads of state. The call was between Nigerian Prime Minister Abubakar Balewa aboard the Kingsport and President John F. Kennedy on 23 August 1963. In 1967 the ship underwent conversion and became a bathymetric and acoustic survey ship for the installation and maintenance of the then classified Sound Surveillance System (SOSUS) under the unclassified name of Project Caesar,
^ abcdDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships: Kingsport Victory.
USNSKingsport (T-AG-164) was built as SS Kingsport Victory, a United States Maritime Commission VC2-S-AP3 (Victory) type cargo ship. During the closing...
Balewa aboard USNSKingsport docked in Lagos Harbor—the first live two-way call between heads of government by satellite. The Kingsport acted as a control...
tenders: USNS Norwalk, built as SS Norwalk Victory USNS Furman, built as SS Furman Victory USNS Victoria, built as SS Ethiopia Victory USNS Marshfield...
NASA program, allowing him to phone for President Kennedy from the USNSKingsport docked at Lagos Harbor via the SYNCOM satellite on 23 August 1963. It...
to phone Nigerian prime minister Abubakar Tafawa Balewa aboard the USNSKingsport docked in Lagos on August 23, 1963. The first satellite placed in a...
1944 20 Kingsport VictorySS Kingsport Victory VC2-S-AP3 April 4, 1944 May 29, 1944 July 12, 1944 Became USNSKingsport (T-AG-164), a satellite communications...
acquired by the U.S. Navy in 1950 and renamed the USNS Dalton Victory (T-AK-256). In 1960 she was renamed USNS Sunnyvale (T-AGM-5) and rebuilt and placed in...
USAT Greenville Victory. She was acquired by the U.S. Navy in 1950, renamed USNS Greenville Victory (T-AK-237) and assigned to the Military Sea Transportation...
into service with Military Sealift Command (MSC) as USNS Furman (T-AK-280) on 30 December 1963. USNS Furman regular assignment into the 1970s was the transportation...
mariners-l.co.uk. "T-AK 282 USNS Marshfield, United States Navy, Coulport, 25 January 1989". May 2, 2010 – via Flickr. "USNS Marshfield". Ships Nostalgia...
ship, two other ships followed in this new class the USNS Private Joe E. Mann (T-AK-253) and the USNS Dalton Victory (T-AK-256). Longview was transferred...
USNS Victoria (T-AK-281) was a Norwalk-class fleet ballistic missile cargo ship, which was launched as a World War II commercial Victory cargo ship SS...
USNS Rollins (T-AG-189) was one of 12 ships scheduled to be acquired by the United States Navy in February 1966 and converted into forward depot ships...
cargo-carrying service during the Vietnam War, she was assigned the name USNS Bessemer and the designation T-AG-186 on 1 February 1966 (though the ship...
placed into service with Military Sealift Command as USNS Norwalk (T-AK-279) on 30 December 1963. USNS Norwalk made her first voyage early in 1964 to Holy...
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