USNS Wheeling

For other ships with the same name, see USS Wheeling.

History
United States
Name	USNS Wheeling
Namesake	A city on the Ohio border of West Virginia's panhandle. Wheeling is the seat of government for Ohio County
Builder	Oregon Shipbuilding Corporation, Portland, Oregon
Laid down	10 April 1945, as Seton Hall Victory, type (VC2-S-AP3), hull, MCV hull 686
Sponsored by	Mrs. Ross Mclntyre
Acquired	by the Navy in 1962
In service	28 May 1964 as USNS Wheeling (T-AGM-8)
Out of service	date unknown
Stricken	31 October 1990
Fate	assumed sunk from a 1981 Harpoon missile exercise attack
General characteristics
Type	Wheeling-class missile range instrumentation ship
Tonnage	4,512 tons
Tons burthen	11,500 tons
Length	455' 3"
Beam	62' 2"
Draft	28' 6"
Propulsion	cross compound steam turbine, single screw, 8,500shp
Speed	15.5 knots
Complement	56 personnel
Armament	none

USNS Wheeling (T-AGM-8) was a Wheeling-class missile range instrumentation ship acquired by the U.S. Navy in 1962 and converted from her Victory ship cargo configuration to a missile tracking ship, a role she retained for a number of years before being sunk as a target by Harpoon missiles on 12 July 1981.

Victory ship built in Oregon

The second ship to be so named by the Navy, Wheeling was laid down on 10 April 1945 as Seton Hall Victory by the Oregon Shipbuilding Corporation under a U.S. Maritime Commission contract (MCV hull 686); launched on 22 May 1945; sponsored by Mrs. Ross Mclntyre; and delivered to the Maritime Commission on 21 June 1945.

World War II-related service

From July 1945 to September 1957, Seton Hall Victory was operated for the U.S. Maritime Commission by a succession of civilian contractors, beginning with the Olympic Steamship Line and ending with Pope & Talbot, Inc. In September 1957, she was placed out of service and was berthed in Virginia's James River with the National Defense Reserve Fleet.

Conversion to missile tracker

Late in 1962, she was turned over to the Navy Department for conversion to a missile range instrumentation ship. On 19 March 1963, she was renamed Wheeling and designated AGM-8. On 28 May 1964, Wheeling was assigned to the Military Sea Transportation Service to be operated by a civil service crew in support of operations on the Navy's Pacific Missile Range.

Wheeling spent her missile tracking years as a mobile tracking station, recording data on missiles and satellites that were out of range of land-based stations. For a number of years she remained on active service on the Pacific coast.

Two other ships were reconfigured in to this new class, Watertown-class missile range instrumentation ship, the USNS Watertown (T-AGM-6) and the USNS Huntsville (T-AGM-7).

Surveillance of French Nuclear Tests

During the summers of 1972 and 1973, Wheeling spent about three months each year in the South Pacific conducting research and surveillance operations in the vicinity of the French nuclear test site at Mururoa Atoll. The operations were conducted under the control of the Defense Nuclear Agency and the primary contractor was the Stanford Research Institute

Inactivation and sinking

Wheeling remained in service until (date unknown) and was struck from the Navy List on 31 October 1990. However, during a naval exercise on 12 July 1981 she was assigned as target ship for Harpoon missile testing. She was struck by two Harpoons, one launched from a submarine and one from a P-3 Orion aircraft. A third Harpoon, planned for launch from a ship, was not launched. Details of how and when the ship sank, or was otherwise disposed of, are lacking.

References

•  This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
• NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive - T-AGM-8 Wheeling

1. https://archive.sri.com/sites/default/files/brochures/apr-10.pdf