USNS James M Gilliss (T-AGOR 4) on 14 Dec 1962.
Click on this photograph for links to larger images of this class.
Class: ROBERT D CONRAD (AGOR 3)
Design: SCB Project No. 185
Displacement (tons): 1,280 full
Dimensions (feet): 204' oa x 37' wl x 14.3'
Armament: none
Accommodations: 9 officers and 17 unlicensed (8 and 14 in AGOR 3), 15 scientists
Speed (kts.): 13
Propulsion (HP): 1,200
Machinery: Diesel electric, 1 screw
Construction:
| AGOR | Name | Ord | Builder | Keel | Launch | Svc |
| 3 | ROBERT D CONRAD | 26 May 1960 | Gibbs, Jacksonville | 19 Jan 1961 | 26 May 1962 | 29 Nov 1962 |
| 4 | JAMES M GILLISS | 29 Nov 1960 | Christy, Sturgeon Bay | 31 May 1961 | 19 May 1962 | 5 Nov 1962 |
| 5 | CHARLES H DAVIS | 29 Nov 1960 | Christy, Sturgeon Bay | 15 Jun 1961 | 30 Jun 1962 | 25 Jan 1963 |
Disposition:
| AGOR | Name | T | Inact | Strike | Disposal | Fate | MA Sale/Depart |
| 3 | ROBERT D CONRAD | 26 Jul 1989 | 4 Oct 1989 | 1 May 1999 | MA/T | Nov 2003/D | |
| 4 | JAMES M GILLISS | T | 1970 | 1996? | 15 Jun 1983 | Trf | -- |
| 5 | CHARLES H DAVIS | T | 1970 | 16 Oct 1997 | 10 Aug 1970 | Trf | -- |
Class Notes:
In 1957, prompted by the Office of Naval Research, the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries, and the Atomic Energy Commission, the National Academy of Sciences established a new Committee on Oceanography (NASCO) to identify the national requirements for studies of the ocean and propose a ten-year program for their accomplishment. Before the committee could report, the launch of SPUTNIK later in 1957 and the publicity around the International Geophysical Year of 1957-58 aroused national concern over the need to expand the marine sciences. In response the Navy in 1957 began design work on a purpose-built oceanographic research ship (AGOR), a classification formally established on 15 December 1958 when the reactivated SAN CARLOS (AVP 51) was renamed and reclassified as JOSIAH WILLARD GIBBS (AGOR 1) for use by the Hudson Laboratories of Columbia University. Two World War II salvage vessels (ARS) were then reactivated, CHAIN (ARS 20) in 1959 for use by Woods Hole as R/V CHAIN and SNATCH (ARS 27) in 1960 for use by Scripps as R/V ARGO. (These were belatedly reclassified as AGOR 17-18 on 1 April 1967.) Following NASCO's report in 1959, the Navy produced a Ten Year Program in Oceanography (TENOC) that called for 20 research ships by 1970 (12 of them for institutions) including 9 oceanographic surveying ships and 11 hydrographic surveying ships.
According to a memo on the later SCB 226 design (see the T-AGS 26 class) dated 28 August 1961 and prepared in the Preliminary Design section of BUSHIPS for the Assistant SECNAV (R&D), in 1953 Rear Admiral Charles D. Wheelock, a former ship designer in BUSHIPS and later an associate director of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, had chaired a committee of the various entities interested in oceanographic ships and established the first coordinated statement of requirements for them. The committee had recommended a maximum ship size of 1,000 tons in light of all compromises between functions, the need for low first cost, and subsequent operating costs. The first SCB staff proposal for characteristics for an oceanographic research ship, SCB Project 185, dated 24 April 1957, called for a 1,000-ton ship measuring 181' x 33'. By 27 June 1957 this had grown to a 1,150-ton ship measuring 200' x 37'. According to a hull design history for the similar SCB Project 214 (AGS 25) dated 22 November 1961, the hull form adapted for both Projects 185 and 214 was derived by enlarging one shown in an October 1956 SNAME paper by Kielhorn and Miller which was intended to emphasize sea-kindliness and was similar to conventional designs for tugs and trawlers.
On 31 July 1957 the DCNO for Fleet Operations, Readiness, and R&D wrote to VCNO that an oceanographic research ship to replace a ship then being operated by Woods Hole or the Scripps Institute had been tentatively carried in the FY 1959 Shipbuilding and Conversion Program for some time. It had been placed in the program as a result of a NOBSKA (Committee on Underwater Warfare, for which see the AG 154 page) recommendation. A rise in cost estimates for this ship had led to a re-evaluation of keeping it in the program, and the writer concluded that, although the need for the ship was recognized, it would be better to try to have a private fund like the Rockefeller or Ford Foundation finance it. By 8 August 1957 it had been deleted from the program, and at this time work on SCB Project 185 was put in abeyance since no AGOR was included in the FY 1959 program. Woods Hole with M. Rosenblatt and Son, Inc., as their design agent subsequently completed a study in 1959 of a series of preliminary designs for research ships ranging from 400 to 3,000 tons and in 1963 took delivery of the 2,100 ton ATLANTIS II.
The characteristics for SCB Project 185 were again circulated on 26 February 1958, and approved characteristics for an Oceanographic Research Ship (AGOR), SCB Project No. 185, were promulgated on 25 April 1958 and updated on 30 July 1959 with a final change on 1 August 1962. Two AGORs appeared in June 1958 in the Navy's proposed FY 1960 program. By January 1959 only one AGOR was shown in the proposed FY 1960 shipbuilding program (the other may have been moved to another budget account for private operation) plus two in FY 1961. At this time the goal was to have 18 of these ships by 1972 including 6 in FY 1962. The FY 1960 program as approved by Congress in August 1959 contained the single AGOR, and by this time there was also only one in the proposed FY 1961 program, which received final approval by Congress in July 1960. As of July 1960 one "repeat" FY 1960 Project 185 AGOR (AGOR 4) which had not yet been awarded and one "repeat" FY 1961 ship (AGOR 5) were to be awarded together around 1 November 1960 for delivery in September and November 1962. The prototype, AGOR 3, which was destined for private operation, had been awarded in May 1960.
An unclassified brochure produced by the BUSHIPS Preliminary Design Branch on 15 December 1958 in accordance with a policy instituted by CNO Burke to produce such brochures stated that the tasks for which the ship was designed included the conduct of basic and applied oceanographic research at sea, the effects of the ocean environment on sound transmission, the effects of ocean environment on scientific and naval instruments, and the collection of scientific information necessary for the installation and improvement of ocean surveillance systems. Because the execution of these missions was basically non military in nature the ship was designed for use by civilian scientists and operation by a civilian crew. Scientific organizations, particularly Woods Hole and Scripps, had been closely consulted regarding the design. The principal data of the preliminary design were dimensions of 204'0" oa x 37'0" x 14'3" for a full load displacement of 1,280 tons, 1,000 SHP for 13 knots, an endurance of 12,000 miles at 12 knots, accommodations for 22 crew and 15 scientists, and provisions for 60 days. Change 1 dated 19 August 1960 to the SCB characteristics for Project 185 increased the crew of AGOR 4-5, but not AGOR 3, from 8 officers and 14 men to 9 officers and 17 men and provided them with larger life boats and increased distilling capacity. It also added a passive anti-rolling system. The huge stack, in addition to diesel exhaust pipes, contained in its lower front section a 620 shp gas turbine engine that provided "quiet" power for speeds up to 6.5 knots during experiments in which the main propulsion diesel would be too noisy. A bow propeller pod, driven exclusively by the gas turbine, could propel the ship at up to 4.5 knots in addition to providing precise maneuvering.
On 27 June 1960 an internal BUSHIPS memo recorded that the FY 1960 ship (sic, referring to AGOR 3) had been modified after the initial contract design had been completed to incorporate features desired by Lamont Geological Observatory while the FY 1961 ships (sic, referring to AGOR 4-5) were to be similar to the original contract design which encompassed the needs of several other oceanographic institutions. (These were intended for operation by MSTS.) Taking into consideration the Lamont modifications, it was decided that the 50,000-pound capacity A-frame over the stern in the contract design was to be deleted in favor of a towing davit and a solid bulwark was to be added along with booms and kingposts, but most other contract design features were to be retained in AGOR 4-5. (In the event, all three ships got a large crane in place of booms and kingposts.) Design work on AGOR 4 was declared completed on 25 August 1960. MSTS on 6 October 1960 suggested additional design changes but only those with cost reductions were considered for AGOR 4-5, the rest being deferred for potential FY 1962 ships.
ROBERT D CONRAD (AGOR 3) became the first of several ships operated in the 1960s and 1970s by academic institutions as part of the National Academic Research Fleet and the University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System (UNOLS), later ones being THOMAS G THOMPSON (AGOR 9), THOMAS WASHINGTON (AGOR 10), MELVILLE (AGOR 14), and KNORR (AGOR 15). ROBERT D CONRAD collected gravity and magnetics data on the seafloor, created seismic images of rock layers below the ocean floor, dredged rock samples, took ocean-floor sediment cores, mapped the ocean floor with sonar, and collected water samples to explore ocean currents, temperature, salinity, marine life and other data for a wide range of oceanographic research. Her data supported the early definition of seafloor spreading. As a privately operated part of the national academic research fleet she was commonly referred to as a research vessel (R/V), not a U.S. Naval Ship (USNS). Of her sisters, JAMES M GILLISS (T-AGOR 4) was initially operated by MSTS under the technical control of the Naval Oceanographic Office in its Navy Lab East Coast Pool serving various Navy laboratories and projects in the Atlantic, and CHARLES H DAVIS (T-AGOR 5) was similarly operated by in NAVOCEANO's Navy Lab West Coast Pool.
In September 1969 three 208-ft oceanographic hulls, T-AGOR 4-5 and T-AGS 31 (a variant of the T-AGOR 12 type), were selected by the Oceanographer of the Navy for deactivation and layup by MARAD as part of a Vietnam-era AGOR cutback program. T-AGOR 5 was loaned to New Zealand on 10 August 1970 and T-AGOR 4 was loaned on 22 November 1970 to the University of Miami for further operation as a UNOLS ship from Port Everglades, Fla. T-AGS 31 became a Navy acoustic research vessel (T-AG 192) in 1970 and was transferred to the Coast and Geodetic Survey in 1974.
According to a retrospective published by NAVOCEANO in 1971, Woods Hole's 2,100-ton ATLANTIS II proved to be a more viable research platform than the 1,370-ton AGOR 3 class. ATLANTIS II had more effective maneuverability with her combination of twin screws and bow thruster than did the AGOR 3 type with a single screw and bow thruster (to which AGOR 12-13 added an active rudder). ATLANTIS II's accommodation for 25 scientists and labratory space of about 2,500 square feet was almost double that of the AGOR 3 class. ATLANTIS II also had an internal well, bow observation chamber, a stern ramp, and an aloft observation tower (enclosed crow's nest) like the one that appeared in the AGOR 14 class.
Ship Notes:
| AGOR | Name | MA | Notes |
| 3 | ROBERT D CONRAD | FY 1960. Operated under UNOLS by the Lamont Geological Observatory, Columbia University (renamed the Lamont–Doherty Geological Observatory in 1969). Replaced by MAURICE EWING, ex BERNIER (built 1983) and to MA custody 26 Jul 1989. Sale not reported, moved to Chesapeake, VA, Nov 2003, BU completed 27 Apr 2004. | |
| 4 | JAMES M GILLISS | FY 1960. Scheduled for layup 1969, operated under UNOLS from 1970 TO 1979 by the University of Miami replacing its R/V PILLSBURY. Replaced by a new National Science Foundation ship (probably CAPE FLORIDA, later POINT SUR) and to MA custody 18 Mar 1980. From MA 14 Jun 1983 and to Mexico as ALTAIR (BI 03). Sold to Mexico 4 Dec 1996. Renamed SAYULITA 16 Nov 2022. | |
| 5 | CHARLES H DAVIS | FY 1961. Scheduled for layup 1969, loaned to New Zealand 1970 as TUI. Struck 1997 for BU overseas. Returned to the USN 27 Aug 1998, scuttled 20 Feb 1999 off Tutukaka, New Zealand as a fish reef. |
Page Notes:
Compiled: 19 Oct 2021
© Stephen S. Roberts, 2021
Special sources: NARA: RG 19 Entry P 62 Boxes 72 and 100, RG 19 Entry P 26 Boxes 9-10 and 15; Stewart B. Nelson, Oceanographic Ships Fore and Aft, published by NAVOCEANO in 1971 and reprinted in 1982 (especially pages 154 and 161).