USS Interceptor (AGR-8)

History
United States
Name: USS Interceptor
Namesake: One who intercepts
Ordered: as type (Z-EC2-S-C5) hull, MCE hull 3147
Builder: J. A. Jones Construction Co. Inc., Panama City, Florida
Laid down: date unknown, as Liberty ship Edward W. Burton
Launched: 12 September 1945
Sponsored by: Miss Juanita M. Kaylor
Acquired: by the U.S. Navy, 28 June 1955
Commissioned: 15 February 1956 as USS Interceptor (YAGR-8) at Charleston Naval Shipyard, Charleston, South Carolina
Decommissioned: 1 September 1965
Renamed: Interceptor 15 February 1956
Reclassified: AGR-8, 28 September 1958
Refit: converted to a Radar Picket Ship at Charleston Naval Shipyard, Charleston, South Carolina
Struck: 1 September 1965
Homeport: San Francisco, California
Honors and
awards:		 National Defense Service Medal
Fate: scrapped, 16 February 1978
General characteristics
Type: Guardian-class radar picket ship
Tons burthen: 10,760 tons
Length: 441' 6"
Beam: 56' 11"
Draft: 24'
Installed power: two Electric Generators
Propulsion: two 220 PSI boilers; one 3 cylinder triple-expansion reciprocating engine; one 4 blade, 18' 6" propeller; Shaft Horsepower 2,500
Speed: 11 knots
Capacity: Fuel Oil, 443,646 gals; Diesel, 68,267 gals; Fresh Water, 15,082 gals; Ballast, 1,326,657 gals fresh water
Complement: 13 officers, 138 enlisted
Armament: two 3"/50 guns

USS Interceptor (AGR-8/YAGR-8) was a Guardian-class radar picket ship acquired by the U.S. Navy in 1955 from the “mothballed” reserve fleet. She was reconfigured as a radar picket ship and assigned to radar picket duty in the North Pacific Ocean as part of the Distant Early Warning Line.

Liberty ship built in Panama City, Florida

Intercepter (YAGR-8) was launched as Liberty Ship Edward W, Burton by J. A. Jones Construction Co., Inc., Panama City, Florida, 12 September 1945; sponsored by Miss Juanita M. Kaylor; and delivered to T..J. Stevenson & Co. 8 November 1945.

She served several lines as a cargo ship until being placed in the National Defense Reserve Fleet at Wilmington, North Carolina, 20 June 1948. Acquired by the Navy 28 June 1955, the ship was converted to Navy use at Charleston Naval Shipyard and commissioned Interceptor 15 February 1956, Lieutenant Commander (LCDR) Boyd Lorenzo Hall in command. Boyd L. Hall

Radar picket duty

Interceptor was designed to carry the latest in long-range radar and communications equipment and to act as an ocean radar station ship. Following shakedown training she sailed from Charleston, South Carolina, 17 March en route to her new home port, San Francisco, California.

Arriving via the Panama Canal 11 April, the ship began a regular cycle of 3- to 4-week at-sea periods as a picket ship under the Continental Air Defense Command. Operating with search aircraft, Interceptor could detect, track, and report aircraft at great distances as well as control interceptor aircraft in the event of an air attack on the United States.

Patrolling off the coast of Canada she formed an integral part of North America's air early warning system. Reclassified AGR-8, radar picket ship, 28 September 1958, Interceptor for the next 7 years operated with NORAD in forming an important link in the nation's defenses.

Decommissioning

Interceptor was struck from the Navy List 1 September 1965 and placed in the National Defense Reserve Fleet at Suisun Bay, California, where she remained until sold for scrapping, 16 February 1978.

See also

References

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