ROBERT D CONRAD (AGOR 3) Class

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USNS James M Gilliss (AGOR 4) on 14 Dec 1962.
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Class: ROBERT D CONRAD (AGOR 3)
Design: SCB Project No. 185
Displacement (tons): 1,200 light, 1,370 full (1,362 for AGOR 6-7)
Dimensions (feet): 209' oa, 196' wl x 40' e, 37' wl x 16' max nav, 15' lim
Armament: none
Accommodations: 9 officers, 17 unlicensed, 15 scientists
Speed (kts.): 13
Propulsion (HP): 1,200 (1,330 for AGOR 6-7)
Machinery: Diesel electric, 1 screw

Construction:

AGOR	Name	Ord/Acq	Builder	Keel	Launch	Comm/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	31 May 1961	19 May 1962	5 Nov 1962
5	CHARLES H DAVIS	29 Nov 1960	Christy	15 Jun 1961	30 Jun 1962	25 Jan 1963
6	SANDS	13 Dec 1961	Marietta Mfg., Pt. Pleasant, WVa.	23 Aug 1962	14 Sep 1963	13 Nov 1964
7	LYNCH	13 Dec 1961	Marietta Mfg., Pt. Pleasant, WVa.	7 Sep 1962	17 Mar 1964	27 Mar 1965

Disposition:

AGOR	Name	T	Decomm/Cust	Strike	Disposal	Fate	MA Sale/Depart
3	ROBERT D CONRAD	T	26 Jul 1989	4 Oct 1989	1 May 1999	MA/T	Nov 2003
4	JAMES M GILLISS	T	1970	1996?	15 Jun 1983	Trf	--
5	CHARLES H DAVIS	T	1970	16 Oct 1997	10 Aug 1970	Trf	--
6	SANDS	T	Apr 1973	25 May 1990	1 Jul 1974	Trf	--
7	LYNCH	T	24 Sep 1991	6 Nov 1991	23 Dec 1994	MA/T	4 Jun 2001

Class Notes:
On 31 July 1957 the DCNO for Fleet Operations, Readines, 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, see also AG 154) recommendation. A rise in cost estimates for this ship 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. 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.

According to a memo on the SCB 226 design dated 28 August 1961 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, chaired a committee of the various entities interested in oceanographic ships and established the first coordinated statement of requirements for them. The committee 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. These deliberations formed the basis for the characteristics and design of the AGOR-3 class which came out at 1,400 tons. Approved characteristics for an Oceanographic Research Ship (AGS), SCB Project No. 185, were promulgated on 25 April 1958 and updated on 30 July 1959 with a final change on 1 August 1962. The large stack contained a small diesel exhaust funnel and a small 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 could propel the ship at up to 4.5 knots in addition to providing precise maneuvering. Two of these small, single-screw AGOR's were included in the Navy's FY 1960 program.

SANDS and LYNCH (T-AGOR 6-7) were essentially repeats of the AGOR 3 class (still SCB 185) in which the front end of the stack was cut down but the mast remained free-standing in its original position. KELLAR (AGS 25) was a variant of the AGOR 6 type. T-AGOR 6-7 were ordered on 13 December 1961 from the Marietta Manufacturing Co. of Point Pleasant, W. Va., which also won the contract for KELLAR a month later. This yard, located on the Ohio River, had built over 800 small vessels since 1920, mostly barges but also a class of Army mine planters during World War II. During her construction KELLAR experienced a series of floods, freezes, shipyard strikes, labor-management disputes a flu epidemic, extended construction delays, and finally a Navy decision in 1964 to terminate the contract. After KELLAR was launched in July 1964 the Navy had her moved to New Orleans for completion at another yard. SANDS may have been completed by Marietta, but LYNCH was towed to New Orleans on 4 Apr 1965 for completion and trials, with the Navy accepting custody of the ship there from Marietta on 23 July 1965. Unlike KELLAR, she successfully rode out Hurricane Betsy at New Orleans on 9-10 September 1965, and she was delivered to MSTS by the Commander of the Eighth Naval District on 22 October 1965.

In September 1969 three 208-ft oceanographic hulls, T-AGOR 4-5 and T-AGS 31, were selected by the Oceanographer of the Navy for deactivation and layup by MA as part of an AGOR cutback program. T-AGOR 5 was loaned to New Zealand on 10 August 1970 and T-AGOR 4 was transferred on 22 November 1970 to the University of Miami for further operation from Port Everglades, Fla.

Ship Notes:

AGOR	Name	MA	Notes
3	ROBERT D CONRAD		FY 1960. Operated by Lamont Geological Observatory, Columbia University. To MA custody 26 Jul 1989. Sale not reported, to Chesapeake, VA, Nov 2003, BU completed 27 Apr 2004.
4	JAMES M GILLISS		FY 1960. Operated by MSTS for Navy Labs. Scheduled for layup 1969. Later operated by University of Miami. To MA custody 18 Mar 1980. From MA 14 Jun 1983 and to Mexico as ALTAIR (BI 03). Sold to Mexico 4 Dec 1996. Based at Veracruz 2022.
5	CHARLES H DAVIS		FY 1961. Operated by MSTS for Navy Labs. Scheduled for layup 1969. Loaned to New Zealand as TUI. Struck 1997 for BU overseas. Returned to the USN 27 Aug 1998, scuttled 20 Feb 1999 off Tutukaka, New Zealand as fish reef.
6	SANDS		FY 1962. Operated by MSTS for Navy Labs. Loaned to Brazil as ALMIRANTE CAMARA. Sold to Brazil 5 Dec 1990 at end of lease.
7	LYNCH		FY 1962. Named and classified 10 Jan 1963. Operated by MSTS for Navy Labs. To MA custody in JRRF 21 Oct 1991. Departed JRRF for Brownsville Aug 2001. BU completed 29 Nov 2001.