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USS White Sands (AGDS 1) in August 1972 after releasing the bathyscaph Trieste II for a dive.
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Class: WHITE SANDS (AGDS 1)
Design: Navy ARD
Displacement (tons): 5,200. Lifting capacity (tons): 3,500
Dimensions (feet): 491.7' oa x 81' oa x 33.25' when submerged, 5.7' light
Armament: none
Accommodations: unk.
Speed (kts.): n/a
Propulsion (HP): n/a
Machinery: none
Construction:
AGDS | Name | Reclas | Builder | Keel | Launch | Comm |
1 | WHITE SANDS | 1 Aug 1973 | Pacific Bridge, Alameda CA | 20 Dec 1943 | ca Jan 1944 | COMM |
Disposition:
AGDS | Name | T | Decomm | Strike | Disposal | Fate | MA Sale |
1 | WHITE SANDS | | DECOM | 1 Apr 1974 | 14 Aug 1974 | Navy sale |
Class Notes:
Designed for docking DD, SS, and LST types, rated as a service craft as were all floating dry docks. Support vessel for the bathyscaphe TRIESTE II (DSV 1). From 1969 to 1974 the non-self propelled WHITE SANDS (ARD 20), the fleet tug APACHE (ATF 67) which gave her mobility, and TRIESTE II formed the "Integral Operating Unit" (IOU). On 6 September 1973 SECNAV reclassified WHITE SANDS (ARD 20) to AGDS 1 effective (retroactively) on 1 August 1973. The classification AGDS was officially established on 3 January 1974 in the service craft category, the nomenclature being Auxiliary Deep Submergence Support Vehicle. With the replacement of WHITE SANDS by POINT BARROW (AGDS 2 ex AKD 1) imminent, this AGDS classification was cancelled on 8 March 1974 and a new AGDS classification was established on the same date in the Auxiliary Ships category with the nomenclature changed from Vehicle to Ship.
Ship Notes:
AGDS | Name | MA | Notes |
1 | WHITE SANDS | | (ex ARD 20, compl. Mar 1944). [WHITE SANDS sale 1 Sep 1974 PHS] Resold to Marine Power and Equipment of Seattle for use as building dock for SWOBs. |
Page Notes:
Compiled: 18 Oct 2021
© Stephen S. Roberts, 2021
Sources: DB, Maroon