USS Investigator (AGR-9)

USS Investigator (AGR/YAGR-9) was a Guardian-class radar picket ship, converted from a Liberty Ship, acquired by the US Navy in 1954. She was reconfigured as a radar picket ship and assigned to radar picket duty in the North Atlantic Ocean as part of the Distant Early Warning Line.

USS Investigator (AGR-9), underway 11 September 1960, location unknown.
History
United States
Name: Charles A. Draper
Namesake: Charles A. Draper
Owner: War Shipping Administration (WSA)
Operator: Polarus Steamship Co. Inc.
Ordered: as type (EC2-S-C5) hull, MC hull 2336
Builder: J.A. Jones Construction, Panama City, Florida[1]
Cost: $1,131,702[2]
Yard number: 77
Way number: 4
Laid down: 28 November 1944
Launched: 9 January 1945
Sponsored by: Mrs. E. L. Cills
Completed: 24 January 1945
Identification:
Fate: Placed in the, National Defense Reserve Fleet, James River Reserve Fleet, Lee Hall, Virginia, 26 October 1945
Status: Acquired by US Navy, 2 July 1956
United States
Name: Investigator
Namesake: One who makes an inquiry or examination
Commissioned: 16 January 1957
Decommissioned: 3 March 1965
Reclassified: Guardian-class radar picket ship
Refit: Charleston Naval Shipyard, Charleston, South Carolina
Stricken: 1 April 1965
Identification:
Fate: Placed in National Defense Reserve Fleet, Hudson River Reserve Fleet, Jones Point, New York, 1 April 1965
Status: Sold for scrapping, 15 May 1971
General characteristics [4]
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)[3]
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:
  • 13 officers
  • 138 enlisted
Armament: 2 × 3 inches (76 mm)/50 caliber guns

Construction

Investigator (YAGR-9) was laid down on 28 November 1944, under a Maritime Commission (MARCOM) contract, MC hull 2336, as the Liberty Ship Charles A. Draper, by J.A. Jones Construction, Panama City, Florida. She was launched 9 January 1945; sponsored by Mrs. E. L. Cills; and delivered 24 January 1945, to the Polarus Steamship Co., Inc.[5][2]

Service history

The ship carried replacement aircraft and cargo until the end of the war. She entered the National Defense Reserve Fleet, James River Reserve Fleet, Lee Hall, Virginia, 26 October 1945.[5]

After a brief period of service in 1947, she entered the Reserve Fleet at Mobile, Alabama, until she was acquired by the US Navy, 2 July 1956. She was converted to a radar picket ship at the Charleston Navy Yard, Charleston, South Carolina, and commissioned Investigator (YAGR-9), 16 January 1957, Lieutenant Commander John Harold Mehus, USN, in command.[5][3]

Equipped with the latest in air search and tracking systems, the ship conducted her shakedown training in the Caribbean, and departed Guantanamo Bay, for her new home port, Davisville, Rhode Island. Investigator began her operational pattern of three- to four-week cruises in the North Atlantic Ocean as the seaward extension of the Continental Air Defense Command's (CONAD) air early warning system. Operating with search aircraft, she could detect, track, and report aircraft at long ranges, and could control high speed US interceptor aircraft and direct them to targets.[5]

The ship was reclassified AGR-9, effective 28 September 1958. She continued radar picket station duties for CONAD, detecting and tracking inbound airborne objects and controlling jet interceptor aircraft until decommissioned 29 March 1965.[5]

Decommissioning

Her name was struck from the Navy List 1 April 1965. She was transferred the same day to the US Maritime Commission (MARCOM) and entered the Hudson River Reserve Fleet, Jones Point, New York, where she remained until sold for scrapping in Spain, 15 May 1971.[5][3]

Military awards and honors

Investigator's crew was eligible for the following medals:

[3]

See also

References
  1. J.A. Panama City 2010.
  2. MARCOM.
  3. Navsource 2019.
  4. Davies 2004, p. 23.
  5. DANFS.

Bibliography
  • "Investigator". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Navy Department, Naval History and Heritage Command. 22 July 2015. Retrieved 3 December 2019. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  • "Jones Construction, Panama City FL". www.ShipbuildingHistory.com. 13 October 2010. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
  • Davies, James (May 2004). "Specifications (As-Built)" (PDF). p. 23. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
  • "SS Charles A. Draper". Retrieved 3 December 2019.
  • "USS Investigator (AGR-9)". Navsource.org. 11 April 2019. Retrieved 3 December 2019.



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