USNS ''Redstone'', designated T‑AGM‑20, was a tracking ship assigned to

Apollo Apollo is one of the Twelve Olympians, Olympian deities in Ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek and Ancient Roman religion, Roman religion and Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, mu ...

space mission support under the control of the

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

. For a brief time during conversion the ship was named ''Johnstown'' with the designation AGM‑20. The ship was built as ''Mission De Pala'', named for

Mission San Antonio de Pala The San Antonio de Pala Asistencia, or the Pala Mission, was founded on June 13, 1816, as an Asistencias, asistencia or "sub-mission" to Mission San Luis Rey de Francia, some twenty miles inland upstream from the latter mission on the San Luis Re ...

in eastern

San Diego County, California San Diego County (), officially the County of San Diego, is a county (United States), county in the southwest corner of the U.S. state of California, north to its Mexico-United States border, border with Mexico. As of the 2020 United States Cen ...

, a Type T2-SE-A2 tanker, for the

United States Maritime Commission The United States Maritime Commission 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, 1950. The co ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. After the war the tanker was transferred to the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

for operation by the Naval Transportation Service as ''Mission De Pala'' (AO-114) and later the successor

Military Sea Transportation Service The 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 U ...

as USNS ''Mission De Pala'' (T-AO-114). The tanker was a member of the .

Service history

World War II, 1944-1946

''Mission De Pala'' was laid down on 26 November 1943 under a Maritime Commission contract by

Marinship Marinship Corporation was a shipbuilding company of the United States during World War II, created to build the shipping required for the war effort. Founded in 1942, the shipyard built 93 cargo ships and oil tankers, before ending operations in ...

Corporation,DANFS error on builder's name. There was no "Marine Ship Corporation", Sausalito. The yard there was Marinship Corporation, an emergency yard funded by the Maritime Commission.

Sausalito, California Sausalito ( Spanish for "small willow grove") is a city in Marin County, California, United States, located southeast of Marin City, south-southeast of San Rafael, and about north of San Francisco from the Golden Gate Bridge. Sausalito's ...

. The T2-SE-A2 tanker was launched on 28 February 1944, sponsored by Mrs. Francis D. Malone. The ship, official number 245359, was delivered to the

War Shipping Administration The War Shipping Administration (WSA) was a World War II emergency war agency of the US government, tasked to purchase and operate the civilian shipping tonnage the United States needed for fighting the war. Both shipbuilding under the Maritime C ...

for operation by Pacific Tankers Inc. under a general agency agreement on 22 April 1944. The tanker spent the remainder of the war carrying oil and fuel to allied forces overseas, in the

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...

(during which time she was three times awarded the

Navy Battle "E" Ribbon A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations ...

as well as the

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 was awarded to every member of the U.S. Armed Forces who served during any one of four s ...

). Returned to the Maritime Commission on 28 May 1946, she was laid up in the Maritime Reserve Fleet at

Mobile, Alabama Mobile ( , ) is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population was 187,041 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. After a successful vote to annex areas west of the city limits in July 2023, Mobil ...

Navy tanker 1947—1958

The Maritime Commission transferred custody of the ship to the Navy on 22 October 1947 upon which the Navy applied the designation AO-114 for service with

Naval Transportation Service The 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 U ...

(NTS). NTS was merged into the Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS) and on 1 October 1949 the ship was designated USNS ''Mission De Pala'' (T-AO-114). Her service with MSTS was brief and on 23 December 1949 the ship was laid up in the Reserve Fleet at

Orange, Texas Orange is a city in and the county seat of Orange County, Texas, United States. The population was 19,324 at the 2020 census. It is the easternmost city in Texas, located on the Sabine River at the border with Louisiana, and is from Houston. ...

. The Navy reactivated ''Mission De Pala'' on 21 July 1950 for service with MSTS when the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

created an urgent need for logistics support vessels, especially tankers. The tanker spent most of the war shuttling between

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Reci ...

, and the west coast of the United States carrying fuel overseas. The Navy declared the ship surplus on 15 November 1954 returning it to Maritime Commission custody for up in the Maritime Reserve Fleet at

James River The James River is a river in Virginia that begins in the Appalachian Mountains and flows from the confluence of the Cowpasture and Jackson Rivers in Botetourt County U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowli ...

, Virginia. She was struck from the

Naval Vessel Register The ''Naval Vessel Register'' (NVR) is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from t ...

on 22 June 1955. The Navy reactivated the ship, taking custody on 6 July 1956, for service with MSTS to be operated, under charter, by Marine Transport Lines, Incorporated. On 13 March 1958 the Maritime Administration took permanent custody of the ship for lay up in the Maritime Reserve Fleet at Orange. She was struck from the

on the same date. USS Redstone in Pearl Harbor

Apollo tracking/communications ship 1964-1993

On 19 October 1964 the Maritime Commission returned permanent custody of ''Mission De Pala'' to the Navy for conversion into a missile‑range instrumentation ship.DANFS has the date exactly one month earlier. MARAD records are precise. DANFS may be the date on which the decision was made or simply an error by the writers. Converted at

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. I ...

Quincy, Massachusetts Quincy ( ) is a city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the largest city in the county. Quincy is part of the Greater Boston area as one of Boston's immediate southern suburbs. Its population in ...

she was "jumboized" by having a 72‑foot section added amidships, an extensive array of electronic equipment was installed and a nest of antennas added topside. Essentially the ship was virtually rebuilt in order to prepare her for her new role. While under conversion, she was renamed and redesignate
''Johnstown''
(AGM-20) on 8 April 1965, but she was renamed ''Redstone'' on 1 September 1965. Upon completion of conversion, she was accepted on 30 June 1966 by MSTS, for service as USNS ''Redstone'' (T-AGM-20). Designed for use as a seagoing tracking and communications station for the Apollo program test series and moon shot, into 1969, she continued these duties and played her part in helping fulfill the late President

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), also known as JFK, was the 35th president of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. He was the first Roman Catholic and youngest person elected p ...

's pledge to land a man on the

moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It Orbit of the Moon, orbits around Earth at Lunar distance, an average distance of (; about 30 times Earth diameter, Earth's diameter). The Moon rotation, rotates, with a rotation period (lunar ...

before 1970.

Deactivation and disposal

The ship was removed from service on 6 August 1993. She was struck from the Naval Register on 7 December 1993. On 6 August 1993 the ship was placed in the James River reserve fleet until withdrawn briefly 23 June through 31 August 1994 for stripping before sale and scrapping. After being sold for scrapping the ship finally left the fleet on 30 January 1995.

Footnotes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Redstone) Type T2-SE-A2 tankers Ships built in Sausalito, California 1944 ships World War II tankers of the United States De Pala Type T2-SE-A2 tankers of the United States Navy Missile range instrumentation ships of the United States Navy Maritime vessels related to spaceflight