SS ''Mission San Fernando'' was a Type T2-SE-A2 tanker built for the

United States Maritime Commission The United States Maritime Commission (MARCOM) was an independent executive agency of the U.S. federal government that was created by the Merchant Marine Act of 1936, which was passed by Congress on June 29, 1936, and was abolished on May 24, 195 ...

during World War II. After the war she was acquired by the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

as USS ''Mission San Fernando'' (AO-122). Later the tanker transferred to the

Military Sea Transportation Service Military Sealift Command (MSC) is an organization that controls the replenishment and military transport ships of the United States Navy. Military Sealift Command has the responsibility for providing sealift and ocean transportation for all US m ...

as USNS ''Mission San Fernando'' (T-AO-122). She was a member of the and was named for Mission San Fernando Rey de España in Los Angeles. She was later renamed USNS ''Muscle Shoals'' (T-AGM-19) (after

Muscle Shoals, Alabama Muscle Shoals is the largest city in Colbert County, Alabama, Colbert County, Alabama, United States. It is located along the Tennessee River in the northern part of the state and, as of the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, the populati ...

), and, later, USNS ''Vanguard'' (T-AG-194).

Service history

As oiler, 1943–1957

''Mission San Fernando'' was laid down on 26 August 1943 under a Maritime Commission contract by Marine Ship Corporation,

Sausalito, California Sausalito (Spanish language, Spanish for "small willow grove") is a city in Marin County, California, Marin County, California, United States, located southeast of Marin City, California, Marin City, south-southeast of San Rafael, California ...

; launched on 25 November 1943; sponsored by Mrs. Ruth B. Krohn; and delivered on 29 February 1944. Chartered to

Pacific Tankers Inc. Pacific Tankers, Inc. of San Francisco, California was founded in 1943 as a division of Joshua Hendy Corporation to operate Fleet Oilers for the United States Navy to support World War II efforts. Pacific Tankers, Inc. operated Mission Buenaven ...

, for operations, she served the remainder of the War carrying fuel to Allied forces in the western Pacific (during which time she was twice awarded the Battle Efficiency Award as well as the National Defense Service Medal). She remained in service until 10 May 1946 when she was returned to the Maritime Commission and laid up in the Reserve Fleet at

Olympia, Washington Olympia is the capital of the U.S. state of Washington and the county seat and largest city of Thurston County. It is southwest of the state's most populous city, Seattle, and is a cultural center of the southern Puget Sound region. European ...

. Acquired by the Navy on 21 October 1947 she was chartered to the

Union Oil Company Union Oil Company of California, and its holding company Unocal Corporation, together known as Unocal was a major petroleum explorer and marketer in the late 19th century, through the 20th century, and into the early 21st century. It was headqu ...

for operations and placed in service under the operational control of the Naval Transportation Service as ''Mission San Fernando'' (AO-122). Transferred to the operational control of the newly created Military Sea Transportation Service on 1 October 1949 she was redesignated USNS ''Mission San Fernando'' (T-AO-122). She served in MSTS until 24 May 1955 when she was returned to the Maritime Administration and laid up in the Maritime Reserve Fleet at Olympia. She was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 22 June 1955. Reacquired by the Navy on 21 June 1956 she was placed in service with MSTS and operated, under charter, by Marine Transportation Lines. She served with MSTS until she was returned to the Maritime Administration on 4 September 1957 and laid up in the Maritime Reserve Fleet at James River, Virginia.

As tracking and navigational test ship, 1964–1999

Reacquired by the Navy on 28 September 1964 she was taken in hand by

General Dynamics Quincy Shipbuilding Division Fore River Shipyard was a shipyard owned by General Dynamics Corporation located on Weymouth Fore River in Braintree and Quincy, Massachusetts. It began operations in 1883 in Braintree, and moved to its final location on Quincy Point in 1901. In ...

for extensive modernization and rebuilding at its

Quincy, Massachusetts Quincy ( ) is a coastal U.S. city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the largest city in the county and a part of Greater Boston, Metropolitan Boston as one of Boston's immediate southern suburbs. Its population in 2020 was 1 ...

yard. This included adding 80 feet to her length. While under conversion to a missile-range instrumentation ship, she was renamed for

, and reclassified, becoming ''Muscle Shoals'' (AGM-19). Renamed ''Vanguard'' on 1 September 1965, she was placed in service with MSTS on 28 February 1966 as USNS ''Vanguard'' (T-AGM-19). Designed to be a seagoing missile tracking station, she participated in the Apollo Project test series and into 1969 had continued in these duties. She then participated in the

Skylab Skylab was the first United States space station, launched by NASA, occupied for about 24 weeks between May 1973 and February 1974. It was operated by three separate three-astronaut crews: Skylab 2, Skylab 3, and Skylab 4. Major operations in ...

program and the joint US/Soviet

Apollo–Soyuz Test Project Apollo–Soyuz was the first crewed international space mission, carried out jointly by the United States and the Soviet Union in July 1975. Millions of people around the world watched on television as a United States Apollo spacecraft docked ...

. In September 1980, she was reconfigured and the large missile tracking antennas were removed. She replaced the and reclassified as T-AG-194. Her role became that of a Navigational Test Ship and she was used to check submarine navigation systems. She steamed over 250,000 miles in support of

Poseidon Poseidon (; grc-gre, Ποσειδῶν) was one of the Twelve Olympians in ancient Greek religion and myth, god of the sea, storms, earthquakes and horses.Burkert 1985pp. 136–139 In pre-Olympian Bronze Age Greece, he was venerated as a ch ...

and

Trident I The UGM-96 Trident I, or Trident C4, was an American submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM), built by Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Sunnyvale, California. First deployed in 1979, the Trident I replaced the UGM-73 Poseidon, Poseidon missi ...

navigation subsystems and in development of the

Trident II A trident is a three- pronged spear. It is used for spear fishing and historically as a polearm. The trident is the weapon of Poseidon, or Neptune, the God of the Sea in classical mythology. The trident may occasionally be held by other marine ...

navigation subsystem. She was stricken again on 12 December 1999 after being replaced by USNS ''Waters'' (T-AGS-45).

Disposal

On 29 November 2001 she was transferred to the United States Maritime Administration (MARAD). On 16 March 2005 MARAD issued a "Request for Comments" for public input on the historical significance of the ''Vanguard''. Following historical review, the vessel was cleared for disposal by the Virginia State Historic Preservation Office on 15 November 2006. The ship was scrapped on 5 November 2013 at Marine Metal Inc. recycle slip in Brownsville, Texas.

Gallery

Image:Muscle Shoals AGM-19.jpg, ''Muscle Shoals'' (AGM-19) nearing completion, in dry dock at Quincy.

References

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mission San Fernando (T-Ao-122) 1943 ships Type T2-SE-A2 tankers Ships built in Sausalito, California World War II tankers of the United States

San Fernando San Fernando may refer to: People *Ferdinand III of Castile (c. 1200–1252), called ''San Fernando'' (Spanish) or ''Saint Ferdinand'', King of Castile, León, and Galicia Places Argentina *San Fernando de la Buena Vista, city of Greater Buenos ...

Type T2-SE-A2 tankers of the United States Navy Cold War auxiliary ships of the United States Missile range instrumentation ships of the United States Navy Apollo program Maritime vessels related to spaceflight