USS Protector (AGR-11)

USS Protector (AGR/YAGR-11) was a Guardian-class radar picket ship of the United States Navy. A Liberty Ship acquired in 1957, 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.

For other ships with the same name, see USS Protector.
USS Protector (AGR-11), underway, 12 October 1960, place unknown.
History
United States
NameWarren P. Marks
NamesakeWarren P. Marks
OwnerWar Shipping Administration (WSA)
OperatorShepard Steamship Company
Orderedas type (EC2-S-C5) hull, MC hull 2346
BuilderJ.A. Jones Construction, Panama City, Florida[1]
Cost$1,006,824[2]
Yard number87
Way number5
Laid down31 January 1945
Launched15 March 1945
Sponsored byMrs. E. M. Hinson
Completed29 March 1945
Identification
FateAcquired by US Navy, 1957
United States
NameProtector
NamesakeA guard or guardian
Commissioned20 February 1957
Decommissioned28 July 1965
ReclassifiedGuardian-class radar picket ship
RefitCharleston Naval Shipyard, Charleston, South Carolina
Identification
Fate
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
Beam57 feet (17 m)
Draft27 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
Speed11.5 knots (21.3 km/h; 13.2 mph)
Capacity490,000 cubic feet (13,875 m3) (bale)
Complement
Armament
General characteristics (US Navy refit)[4]
Class and typeGuardian-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
Armament2 × 3 inches (76 mm)/50 caliber guns

Construction

The third ship to be so named by the Navy, Protector (YAGR–11) was laid down on 31 January 1945, under a Maritime Commission (MARCOM) contract, MC hull 2346, as the Liberty Ship Warren P. Marks, by J.A. Jones Construction, Panama City, Florida. She was launched 15 March 1945; sponsored by Mrs. E. M. Hinson; and delivered 29 March 1945, to the Shepard Steamship Company.[5][4]

Service history

Operated by the Shepard Steamship Co., from 1945 to 1957, Warren P. Marks was converted Charleston Navy Yard, Charleston, South Carolina, and commissioned Protector (YAGR–11), 20 February 1957.[5][4]

After shakedown off Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Protector, homeported at Davisville, Rhode Island, reported to Commandant, 1st Naval District for administrative control and to Commander YAGR Division 21 for duty and was assigned as an Ocean Station Radar Picket Ship in the seaward extension of the Eastern Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD)'s Contiguous Radar Coverage System.[5]

Continuing her duties off the US East Coast, Protector was redesignated AGR-11 on 28 October 1958. She continued her radar picket duty until 1965. During the Cuban invasion in the spring of 1962, and the Cuban Missile Crisis in the fall, Protector operated in the Florida Straits and established a new radar picket station.[5]

On 10 February 1965, Protector terminated picket duty as the last picket ship to man Radar Picket Station No. 15 of NORAD Contiguous Radar Coverage System.[5]

Decommissioning

On 28 July 1965, she decommissioned at Bayonne, New Jersey, and was placed in the US Maritime Administration (MARAD) National Defense Reserve Fleet, Hudson River Reserve Fleet, Jones Point, New York, as an Emergency Relocation Center Ship, where she remained until she was towed to the Norfolk Naval Shipyard where her engine was removed. She was then placed for sale as scrap, with scrapping completed 30 November 2005.[5][4]

Military awards and honors

Protector's crew was eligible for the following medals:

[4]

See also

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

Bibliography
  • "Protector II (YAGR-11)". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Navy Department, Naval History and Heritage Command. 25 August 2015. Retrieved 4 December 2019.Public Domain 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 4 December 2019.
  • Davies, James (May 2004). "Specifications (As-Built)" (PDF). p. 23. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
  • "SS Warren P. Marks". Retrieved 4 December 2019.
  • "USS Protector (AGR-11)". Navsource.org. 11 April 2019. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
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