Starting in 1957 the

US Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

began operating a small fleet of

Missile Range Instrumentation Ship A tracking ship, also called a missile range instrumentation ship or range ship, is a ship equipped with antennas and electronics to support the launching and tracking of missiles and rockets. Since many missile ranges launch over ocean areas for ...

s to support missile test ranges. They were designated "ORV" for Ocean Range Vessel. They used the ship name prefix "USAF" (''e.g.'': USAF ''Coastal Crusader'' (ORV-16)). Other ships would use the prefix "USAFS", for "United States Air Force Ship". The initial twelve

Atlantic Missile Range The Eastern Range (ER) is an American rocket range (Spaceport) that supports missile and rocket launches from the two major launch heads located at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and the Kennedy Space Center (KSC), Florida. The range ha ...

ships were modified

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

cargo vessels. Six were FS-type ships and six were C1-M-AV-1 vessels. All were equipped with

telemetry Telemetry is the in situ data collection, collection of measurements or other data at remote points and their automatic data transmission, transmission to receiving equipment (telecommunication) for monitoring. The word is derived from the Gr ...

systems. Two of the C1-M-AV-1 types, ''Coastal Sentry'' and ''Rose Knot'', were equipped with command/control transmitters. The smaller FS types were retired by 1960. On 1 July 1964 the USAF tracking ships were transferred to the custody of the Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS) for operation. (In 1970, the MSTS changed its name to Military Sealift Command (MSC).) The ships were redesignated from USAFS to

USNS United States Naval Ship (USNS) is the prefix designation given to non- commissioned ships that are property of the United States Navy (USN). Definition United States Naval Ships are unarmed auxiliary support vessels owned by the U.S. Navy ...

, along with the

hull code The United States Navy, United States Coast Guard, and United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) use a hull classification symbol (sometimes called hull code or hull number) to identify their ships by type and by ind ...

"AGM", eg: USAFS ''Sword Knot'' (E-45-1852) became USNS ''Rose Knot'' (T-AGM-14). MSTS had administrative control of the ships and operational control when the ships were in port. The US Air Force

Eastern Test Range The Eastern Range (ER) is an American rocket range ( Spaceport) that supports missile and rocket launches from the two major launch heads located at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and the Kennedy Space Center (KSC), Florida. The range h ...

had operational control when the ships were at sea. The larger C1-M-AV-1 type ships were redesignated by the Navy as AGM. The original larger ORV were out of service on the Eastern Test Range by 1969. The US Air Force still operates a small fleet of drone recovery vessels nicknamed the "Tyndall Navy". These ships recover pieces of wreckage from drones and aerial targets from the waters of the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an oceanic basin, ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of ...

. The largest of these vessels are three 120-foot ships operated by the

82nd Aerial Targets Squadron The 82nd Aerial Targets Squadron is a United States Air Force unit. It is assigned to the 53rd Weapons Evaluation Group and stationed at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida. The squadron was first activated as the 82nd Pursuit Squadron in 1942. F ...

, which is based at

Tyndall AFB, Florida Tyndall Air Force Base is a United States Air Force Base located east of Panama City, Florida. The base was named in honor of World War I pilot 1st Lt. Frank Benjamin Tyndall. The base operating unit and host wing is the 325th Fighter Wing (325 ...

US Air Force ship list

Active

* Thule AB ** ''Rising Star'' tugboat (''active as of Aug 2020'') * Tyndall AFB ** 82nd ATRS drone recovery watercraft (x3 120ft recovery vessels, x2 smaller boats)

Inactive

* US Army Freight and Supply (FS) Type (all retired) ** None of the FS type were formally named but were given phonetic call signs and numbers one being E-42-1836. ** USAF ''Echo'' ** USAF ''Foxtrot'' ** USAF ''Golf'' ** USAF ''Hotel'' ** USAF ''India'' ** USAF ''Kilo'' * C1-M-AV1 Type ** USAFS ''Sword Knot'' (E-45-1852) (''scrapped'') ** USAFS ''Rose Knot'' (E-45-1850) (''disposed'') ** USAFS ''Coastal Sentry'' (E-45-1849) (''disposed'') ** USAFS ''Coastal Crusader'' (E-45-1851, later ORV-16) (''disposed'') ** USAFS ''Timber Hitch'' (E-45-1848, later ORV-17) (''disposed'') ** USAFS ''Sampan Hitch'' (E-45-1861, later ORV-18) (''scrapped'') * VC2-S-AP3 Type ** USAF ''Twin Falls Victory'' (''scrapped'') * C4-S-A1 Type ** USAFS ''General Hoyt S. Vandenberg'' (''sunk as artificial reef'') ** USAFS ''General H. H. Arnold'' (''struck'') * EC2-S-C1 Type ** USAFS ''American Mariner'' (''sunk as target'')

External links

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ships of the United States Air Force * Research vessels of the United States

Ships A ship is a large watercraft that travels the world's oceans and other sufficiently deep waterways, carrying cargo or passengers, or in support of specialized missions, such as defense, research, and fishing. Ships are generally distinguished ...

US Air Force ship list

Active

Inactive

See also

External links

References