USNS Twin Falls (T-AGM 11) on 23 March 1966.
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Class: TWIN FALLS (T-AGM 11, VC2-S-AP3)
Design: MC VC2-S-AP3
Displacement (tons): 4,512 light, 15,200 full
Dimensions (feet): 455' oa, 444' wl x 62' e/wl x 28.5'
Armament: none
Accommodations: 14 officers, 75 unlicensed
Speed (kts.): 17
Propulsion (HP): 8,500
Machinery: Geared steam turbines, 2 boilers (465psi/750deg), 1 screw
Construction:
| AGM | Name | Acq | Builder | Keel | Launch | Svc |
| 11 | TWIN FALLS | 1 Jul 1964 | Oregon SB | 27 Dec 1944 | 6 Feb 1945 | 1 Jul 1964 |
Disposition:
| AGM | Name | T | Inact | Strike | Disposal | Fate | MA Sale |
| 11 | TWIN FALLS | T | 1977 | 1 Sep 1972 | 6 Nov 1972 | Trf | 8 Jun 1982 |
Class Notes:
On 11 March 1960 a contract was awarded to convert the inactive Victory ship TWIN FALLS VICTORY to a precision radar tracking ship to support the Pershing medium range ballistic missile program on the Atlantic Missile Range (Air Force Eastern Test Range). Her main feature was the RCA AN/FPS-16 radar, which was in worldwide use on land stations for missile tracking but which had not previously been installed on a ship. An afloat tracking capability was needed for the Pershing MRBM, a small, mobile ballistic missile with a range of only a few hundred miles, because no land station was available to provide terminal trajectory data as Antigua and Ascension Islands did for the longer-range IRBMs and ICBMs. On 24 March 1960 the ship was transferred by MARAD to the Air Force. After a $10 million conversion at the Alabama DD & SB Co. in Mobile, Ala., USAFS TWIN FALLS VICTORY (E-23-1886), arrived at Port Canaveral at the end of 1960. In addition to the AN/FPS-16 monopulse missile tracking radar she carried telemetry receiving equipment, AN/SPN-8 splash detection radar, AN/GMD-1A Rawinsonde tracking equipment, and a balloon hangar to house a Kytoon tethered blimp and to serve as a weather balloon inflation shelter. She transmitted trajectory data, weather, and telemetry in real time. She was operated by merchant marine crewmen and contractor technical staff, with Pan American World Airways and its subcontractor RCA MTP operating the radar, telemetry, navigation and weather instrumentation. She also supported the Ranger moon-photographing flights in 1961-65, the Mariner Venus shots in 1962, and the Mercury program's Faith 7 flight in May 1963.
TWIN FALLS VICTORY was one of ten Air Force Atlantic Missile Range ships reassigned from the Air Force to MSTS by the Secretary of Defense on 16 November 1963 and directed on 1 May 1964 to be instated or reinstated in the Naval Vessel Register (NVR) as T-AGM 9 to T-AGM 18 effective the first day of the month following the date of their acceptance by the Navy. TWIN FALLS VICTORY had not previously been on the NVR and was instated on 1 July 1964 as T-AGM 11 with her name shortened to TWIN FALLS. She remained on the Eastern Test Range, and her Air Force commercial manning arrangements lasted until MARAD was directed as of January 1968, despite opposition from Congressional supporters of the merchant marine including L. Mendell Rivers, to man all range instrumentation ships with its own civil service personnel instead of merchant marine crews. She was scheduled to change crews in February 1968. On 14 October 1969 Commander MSTS reported to CNO that the Air Force had advised that TWIN FALLS would become in excess of its needs in the near future and requested transfer of the ship to the NDRF, noting that there were plans to convert her to a down range support ship approximately 18 months after layup. She was deactivated on 14 November 1969 and transferred to temporary MA custody in the JRRF 15 Nov 1969 and permanent custody there on 22 May 1970.
TWIN FALLS was scheduled to be struck from the NVR on 20 October 1970 but the action was not taken. Instead she was returned to Navy custody in the JRRF on 26 April 1971 for conversion to AGS 37 under FY 1972. On 7 May 1971 Commander, Naval Ship Systems Command advised the Supervisor of Shipbuilding in Brooklyn, NY that for planning purposes the hull designation T-AGS 37 had been reserved for the conversion of TWIN FALLS to a Deep Ocean Survey Ship, T-AGS(DO). He added that the designation could be used on plans and other design documentation but should not be used on official correspondence until authorized by NAVSHIPSYSCOM. Approved characteristics for a T-AGS(DO), SAIC Project No. 735.72, were promulgated on 11 May 1971, probably for this ship. The Fiscal Year 1972 shipbuilding program as of 15 June 1971 included the conversion of one deep ocean survey ship "to provide for support of the new submarine fleet," probably referring to SSBNs armed with the new POSEIDON missile, but ultimately the project was deferred.
After her conversion to AGS 37 fell through a Congressional hearing was held on 18 August 1972 on a proposed transfer of TWIN FALLS to New York City, and on the same day CNO asked SECNAV to authorize the transfer if approved by Congress. TWIN FALLS was struck effective 1 September 1972 and title was transferred to MA on 2 November 1972. MA permamently transferred the ship on 30 November 1972 to the Board of Education, City of New York for training use as part of the City’s vocational high school system. She was intended to replace the Liberty ship JOHN W BROWN, but the conversion was cancelled due to the large amount of asbestos insulation in TWIN FALLS. On 22 May 1973 TWIN FALLS was loaned to NYC as a training facility for that city's Food and Maritime Trade High School, renamed JOHN W BROWN II, and moored alongside the BROWN. The school on JOHN W BROWN moved ashore after graduation on 25 June 1982 and that Liberty ship is now an operating museum ship at Baltimore. JOHN W BROWN II was sold for scrapping on 8 June 1982 under the MA Ship Exchange Program.
Ship Notes:
| AGM | Name | MCV | Notes |
| 11 | TWIN FALLS | 167 | (ex-TWIN FALLS VICTORY, compl. 4 Apr 1945). Permanent transfer from MA to USAF 24 Mar 1960. To USN (MSTS) from USAF 1 Jul 1964 under FY 1964. Deactivated 14 November 1969 and transferred to MA for layup the next day. Conversion to T-AGS 37 deferred 1971-72 and instead became the training ship JOHN W BROWN II at New York City. Sold by MA to BU 8 June 1982. |
Page Notes:
Compiled: 18 Oct 2021
© Stephen S. Roberts, 2021
Special sources: Electronic Age, Autumn 1966, pages 26-29