USS ''Guardian'' (AGR/YAGR-1) was a , converted from a

Liberty Ship Liberty ships were a class of cargo ship built in the United States during World War II under the Emergency Shipbuilding Program. Though British in concept, the design was adopted by the United States for its simple, low-cost construction. Ma ...

, acquired by the

US 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 ...

in 1954. Her task was to act as part of the radar defenses of the United States in the Cold War, serving until 1965.

Construction

''Guardian'' (YAGR-1) was laid down on 20 March 1945, under a

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 ...

(MARCOM) contract, MC hull 3137, as the

''James G. Squires'', by

J.A. Jones Construction J.A. Jones Construction was a heavy construction company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. Operating internationally since the 1950s, it merged with Germany's Philipp Holzmann AG in 1979. In 2003 the company ceased operations due to the ...

Panama City, Florida Panama City is a city in and the county seat of Bay County, Florida, United States. Located along U.S. Highway 98 (US 98), it is the largest city between Tallahassee and Pensacola. It is the more populated city of the Panama City–Lynn ...

. She was launched 8 May 1945; sponsored by Mrs. Elisa Broome; and delivered 31 May, to

Waterman Steamship Corporation Waterman is an American deep sea ocean carrier, specializing in liner services and time charter contracts. It is owned by SEACOR Holdings. History Waterman was founded in 1919 in Mobile, Alabama by John Barnett Waterman, Henry Crawford Slaton, ...

Service history

She served until 5 October 1945, when she was placed in the

National Defense Reserve Fleet The National Defense Reserve Fleet (NDRF) consists of ships of the United States of America, mostly merchant vessels, that have been "mothballed" but can be activated within 20 to 120 days to provide shipping during national military emergencies ...

James River, Virginia The James River is a river in the U.S. state of Virginia that begins in the Appalachian Mountains and flows U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed April 1, 2011 to Chesapea ...

. Acquired by the

, she was taken out of reserve in 1954, she was converted to a

radar picket ship A radar picket is a radar-equipped station, ship, submarine, aircraft, or vehicle used to increase the radar detection range around a nation or military (including naval) force to protect it from surprise attack, typically air attack, or from cr ...

at the

Charleston Navy Yard Charleston Naval Shipyard (formerly known as the Charleston Navy Yard) was a U.S. Navy ship building and repair facility located along the west bank of the Cooper River, in North Charleston, South Carolina and part of Naval Base Charleston. H ...

, Charleston, South Carolina, and commissioned ''Guardian'' (YAGR-1), at Norfolk, Virginia, 1 February 1955. The first ocean radar station ship put into service by the Navy, ''Guardian'' conducted shakedown in Roosevelt Roads,

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...

, and surrounding waters, reporting to Newport, Rhode Island, her home port, 2 June 1955. In 1958 the Atlantic Ocean radar picket force relocated to

Davisville, Rhode Island Davisville, Rhode Island is a village in the town of North Kingstown in the U.S. state of Rhode Island that was formerly the home of the Davisville Naval Construction Battalion Center, which housed the United States Navy's SeaBees. Village descr ...

. Equipped with highly sensitive radar gear to enable her to detect, track, and report any aircraft penetrating the continental United States, ''Guardian'' was attached to the Eastern Continental Air Defense Command. She and her

sister ships A sister ship is a ship of the same class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They often share a ...

spent 3 or 4 weeks at a time off the US East Coast and West Coast on radar picket duty, even in the heaviest winter weather in the North Atlantic Ocean. In addition to radar picket duty, ''Guardian'' participated in ASW exercises with both American and Canadian naval units and in local operations out of Newport and Key West, Florida. Her designation was changed to ''AGR-1'' on 28 September 1958.

Decommissioning

''Guardian'' was decommissioned 28 July 1965. She was returned to the

(MARCOM) for lay up in the

. She was sold for scrapping, 23 November 1970, and withdrawn from fleet, 21 December 1970. She was scrapped in

Bilbao ) , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = 275 px , map_caption = Interactive map outlining Bilbao , pushpin_map = Spain Basque Country#Spain#Europe , pushpin_map_caption ...

, Spain, September 1971.

Military awards and honors

''Guardian''s crew was eligible for the following medals: *

Navy Expeditionary Medal The Navy Expeditionary Medal is a military award of the United States Navy which was established in August 1936. Award criteria The General Orders of the Department of the Navy which established the medal states, "The medal will be awarded, to ...

(2 awards) *

National Defense Service Medal The National Defense Service Medal (NDSM) is a service award of the United States Armed Forces established by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1953. It is awarded to every member of the US Armed Forces who has served during any one of four ...

References

Bibliography

* * * * *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Guardian (YAGR-1) Liberty ships Ships built in Panama City, Florida 1945 ships World War II merchant ships of the United States Guardian-class radar picket ships Cold War auxiliary ships of the United States James River Reserve Fleet