SS ''Mission San Fernando'' was a Type T2-SE-A2 tanker built 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. After the war she was acquired by 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 ...

as USS ''Mission San Fernando'' (AO-122). Later the tanker transferred to the

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 San Fernando'' (T-AO-122). She was a member of the and was named for

Mission San Fernando Rey de España Mission San Fernando Rey de España is a Spanish missions in California, Spanish mission in the Mission Hills, Los Angeles, Mission Hills community of Los Angeles, California. The mission was founded on September 8, 1797 at the site of Achooyko ...

in Los Angeles. She was later renamed USNS ''Muscle Shoals'' (T-AGM-19) (after

Muscle Shoals, Alabama Muscle Shoals is the largest city in Colbert County, Alabama, United States. It is located on the left bank of the Tennessee River in the northern part of the state and, as of the 2010 census, its population was 13,146. The estimated popula ...

), and, later, USNS ''Vanguard'' (T-AG-194).

Service history

As oiler, 1943–1957

''Mission San Fernando'' was laid down on 26 August 1943 under a Maritime Commission contract by Marine Ship Corporation,

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 ...

; launched on 25 November 1943; sponsored by Mrs. Ruth B. Krohn; and delivered on 29 February 1944. Chartered to Pacific Tankers Inc., for operations, she served the remainder of the War carrying fuel to Allied forces in the western

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 twice awarded the

Battle Efficiency Award The Battle Effectiveness Award (formerly the Battle Efficiency Award, commonly known as the Battle "E"), is awarded annually to the small number of United States Navy ships, submarines, aviation, and other deployable combat coded units that win the ...

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 ...

). She remained in service until 10 May 1946 when she was returned to the Maritime Commission and laid up in the Reserve Fleet at

Olympia, Washington Olympia is the capital city of the U.S. state of Washington. It had a population of 55,605 at the 2020 census, making it the state of Washington's 23rd-most populous city. Olympia is the county seat of Thurston County, and the central city ...

. Acquired by the Navy on 21 October 1947 she was chartered to the Union Oil Company for operations and placed in service under the operational control of the Naval Transportation Service as ''Mission San Fernando'' (AO-122). Transferred to the operational control of the newly created Military Sea Transportation Service on 1 October 1949 she was redesignated USNS ''Mission San Fernando'' (T-AO-122). She served in MSTS until 24 May 1955 when she was returned to the Maritime Administration and laid up in the Maritime Reserve Fleet at Olympia. 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. Reacquired by the Navy on 21 June 1956 she was placed in service with MSTS and operated, under charter, by Marine Transportation Lines. She served with MSTS until she was returned to the Maritime Administration on 4 September 1957 and laid 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.

As tracking and navigational test ship, 1964–1999

Reacquired by the Navy on 28 September 1964 she was taken in hand by

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 ...

for extensive modernization and rebuilding at its

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 ...

yard. This included adding to her length. While under conversion to a missile-range instrumentation ship, she was renamed for

, and reclassified, becoming ''Muscle Shoals'' (AGM-19). Renamed ''Vanguard'' on 1 September 1965, she was placed in service with MSTS on 28 February 1966 as USNS ''Vanguard'' (T-AGM-19). Designed to be a seagoing missile tracking station, she participated in the

Apollo Project The Apollo program, also known as Project Apollo, was the United States human spaceflight program led by NASA, which Moon landing, landed the first humans on the Moon in 1969. Apollo followed Project Mercury that put the first Americans in sp ...

test series and into 1969 had continued in these duties. She then participated in the

Skylab Skylab was the United States' first space station, launched by NASA, occupied for about 24 weeks between May 1973 and February 1974. It was operated by three trios of astronaut crews: Skylab 2, Skylab 3, and Skylab 4. Skylab was constructe ...

program and the joint US/Soviet

Apollo–Soyuz Test Project Apollo–Soyuz was the first crewed international space mission, carried out jointly by the United States and the Soviet Union in July 1975. Millions of people around the world watched on television as an American Apollo spacecraft docked wit ...

. In September 1980, she was reconfigured and the large missile tracking antennas were removed. She replaced the and reclassified as T-AG-194. Her role became that of a Navigational Test Ship and she was used to check submarine navigation systems. She steamed over 250,000 miles in support of

Poseidon Poseidon (; ) is one of the twelve Olympians in ancient Greek religion and mythology, presiding over the sea, storms, earthquakes and horses.Burkert 1985pp. 136–139 He was the protector of seafarers and the guardian of many Hellenic cit ...

and Trident I navigation subsystems and in development of the

Trident II The UGM-133A Trident II, or Trident D5 is a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM), built by Lockheed Martin Space in Sunnyvale, California, and deployed with the United States Navy and Royal Navy. It was first deployed in March 1990, and ...

navigation subsystem. She was stricken again on 12 December 1999 after being replaced by USNS ''Waters'' (T-AGS-45).

Disposal

On 29 November 2001 she was transferred to the

United States Maritime Administration The United States Maritime Administration (MARAD) is an Government agency#United States, agency of the United States Department of Transportation. MARAD administers financial programs to develop, promote, and operate the United States Maritime ...

(MARAD). On 16 March 2005 MARAD issued a "Request for Comments" for public input on the historical significance of the ''Vanguard''. Following historical review, the vessel was cleared for disposal by the Virginia State Historic Preservation Office on 15 November 2006. The ship was scrapped on 5 November 2013 at Marine Metal Inc. recycle slip in Brownsville, Texas.

Gallery

Image:Muscle Shoals AGM-19.jpg, ''Muscle Shoals'' (AGM-19) nearing completion, in dry dock at Quincy.

References

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mission San Fernando (T-Ao-122) 1943 ships Type T2-SE-A2 tankers Ships built in Sausalito, California World War II tankers of the United States

San Fernando San Fernando may refer to: People *Ferdinand III of Castile (c. 1200–1252), called ''San Fernando'' (Spanish) or ''Saint Ferdinand'', King of Castile, León, and Galicia Places Argentina *San Fernando de la Buena Vista, city of Greater Buenos ...

Type T2-SE-A2 tankers of the United States Navy Cold War auxiliary ships of the United States Missile range instrumentation ships of the United States Navy Apollo program Maritime vessels related to spaceflight