USS Lookout (YAGR-2)

USS Lookout (YAGR/AGR-2) 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.

SS Claude B. Kitchin on the building ways at J. A. Jones Construction Co. Inc., Panama City, FL., prior to launching, 24 May 1945.
History
United States
Name: Claude B. Kitchin
Namesake: Claude B. Kitchin
Owner: War Shipping Administration (WSA)
Operator: United Fruit Co.
Ordered: as type (EC2-S-C5) hull, MC hull 3139
Builder: J.A. Jones Construction, Panama City, Florida[1]
Cost: $818,469[2]
Yard number: 99
Way number: 4
Laid down: 5 April 1945
Launched: 24 May 1945
Sponsored by: Mrs. F. D. Burge
Completed: 25 June 1945
Identification:
Fate: Placed in the, National Defense Reserve Fleet
Status: Acquired by US Navy, 13 August 1954
USS Lookout (AGR-2) underway, date and location unknown.
United States
Name: Lookout
Namesake: A careful watching for someone or something
Commissioned: 5 March 1955
Decommissioned: 12 July 1965
Reclassified: Guardian-class radar picket ship
Refit: Charleston Naval Shipyard, Charleston, South Carolina
Stricken: 1 September 1965
Identification:
  • Hull symbol: YAGR-2 (1956–1958)
  • Hull symbol: AGR-2 (1958–1970)
Fate: Placed in National Defense Reserve Fleet, Hudson River Reserve Fleet, Jones Point, New York
Status: Sold for scrapping, scrapped, November 1970
General characteristics [3]
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)[4]
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

Lookout (YAGR-2) was laid down on 5 April 1945, under a Maritime Commission (MARCOM) contract, MC hull 3139, as the Liberty Ship Claude Kitchin, by J.A. Jones Construction, Panama City, Florida. She was launched 24 May 1945; sponsored by Mrs. F. D. Burge; and delivered 25 June 1945, to the United Fruit Company.[5][2]

Service history

She was soon placed into the National Defense Reserve Fleet until 13 August 1954, when she was acquired by the US Navy. She was converted to a radar picket ship at the Charleston Navy Yard, Charleston, South Carolina, and commissioned Lookout (YAGR-2), 5 March 1955, Lieutenant Commander Theodore Emil Kreuger, in command.[5][4]

After shakedown off Newport, Rhode Island, Lookout was assigned to radar picket duty in the 1st Naval District. From 1956 to 1965, she operated on the Atlantic Ocean perimeter of the radar defense net established around the United States to warn of surprise air attack. On 28 September 1958, her classification was changed to AGR-2. Lookout's periods of 20 to 30 days at sea were alternated with inport replenishment at Davisville, Rhode Island.[5]

By the time she completed her 10th year of service in the spring of 1965, Lookout had distinguished herself in the defense of the Nation.[5]

Decommissioning

She arrived Bayonne, New Jersey, 23 June, and decommissioned there 12 July 1965. Her name was struck from the Naval Register 1 September 1965. Lookout was transferred to the National Defense Reserve Fleet, Hudson River Reserve Fleet, Jones Point, New York, where she remained until she was sold for scrap in 1970, to a scrapping firm in Spain.[5][4]

Military awards and honors

Lookout's crew was eligible for the following medals:

See also

References
  1. J.A. Panama City 2010.
  2. MARCOM.
  3. Davies 2004, p. 23.
  4. Navsource 2015.
  5. DANFS.

Bibliography
  • "Lookout". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Navy Department, Naval History and Heritage Command. Retrieved 27 November 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 Claude B. Kitchin". Retrieved 27 November 2019.
  • "USS Lookout (AGR-2)". Navsource.org. 9 October 2015. Retrieved 27 November 2019.



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