USS ''Skywatcher'' (YAGR/AGR-3) was a , converted from a

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

, acquired by the

US 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 ...

in 1954. She was converted into a radar picket ship and assigned to radar picket duty in the North

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

as part of the

Distant Early Warning Line The Distant Early Warning Line, also known as the DEW Line or Early Warning Line, was a system of radar stations in the northern Arctic region of Canada, with additional stations along the north coast and Aleutian Islands of Alaska (see List o ...

Construction

''Skywatcher'' (YAGR-3) was laid down on 30 November 1944, under a

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 c ...

(MARCOM) contract, MC hull 2337, as the

''Rafael R. Rivera'', 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 th ...

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

. She was launched on 16 January 1945; sponsored by Mrs. Evelyn Anderson; and delivered 25 June 1945, to the States Marine Corporation.

Service history

Seacowboys

In 1946, after World War II, ''Rafael R. Rivera'' was converted to a

livestock Livestock are the Domestication, domesticated animals that are raised in an Agriculture, agricultural setting to provide labour and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, Egg as food, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The t ...

ship, also called a cowboy ship. From 1945 to 1947, the

United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA, pronounced ) was an international relief agency founded in November 1943 on the joint initiative of the United States, United Kingdom, USSR, and the Republic of China. Its purpose ...

and the Brethren Service Committee of the

Church of the Brethren The Church of the Brethren is an Anabaptist Christian denomination in the Schwarzenau Brethren tradition ( "Schwarzenau New Baptists") that was organized in 1708 by Alexander Mack in Schwarzenau, Germany during the Radical Pietist revival. ...

sent livestock to war-torn countries. These "seagoing cowboys" made about 360 trips on 73 different ships. The ''Heifers for Relief project'' was started by the Church of the Brethren in 1942; in 1953, this became ''Heifer International''. ''Rafael R Rivera'' was one of these ships, known as cowboy ships, as she moved livestock across the Atlantic Ocean. ''Rafael R Rivera'' moved horses, heifers, and mules, as well as a some chicks, rabbits, and goats.Seacowboys report
/ref>

U.S. Navy service

She was acquired by the U.S. Navy on 20 September 1954, and converted at the

Portsmouth Naval Shipyard The Portsmouth Naval Shipyard (PNS), often called the Portsmouth Navy Yard, is a United States Navy shipyard on Seavey's Island in Kittery, Maine, bordering Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The naval yard lies along the southern boundary of Maine on ...

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

, Virginia, into an ocean station radar ship. She was commissioned on 29 March 1955. In July 1955, she assumed her first duties in the Contiguous Radar Coverage System of the United States while operating out of

Newport, Rhode Island Newport is a seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Rhode Island, United States. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, and nort ...

. In September 1958, the ship's designation was changed from ''YAGR-3'' to radar picket ship ''AGR-3''. Her home port was changed to

Davisville, Rhode Island Davisville is a village in the town of North Kingstown and county of Washington County in the U.S. state of Rhode Island. It was formerly the home of the Davisville Naval Construction Battalion Center, which housed the United States Navy's Sea ...

, and she operated from there until early 1965, with Radar Picket Squadron 2, spending over 50 percent of her time on her assigned picket station.

Decommissioning

In March 1965, ''Skywatcher'' was placed in reserve, out of commission, and struck from the

Navy List A Navy Directory, Navy List or Naval Register is an official list of naval officers, their ranks and seniority, the ships which they command or to which they are appointed, etc., that is published by the government or naval authorities of a co ...

on 1 April 1965. She was sold on 23 December 1970, to Daewood Corp., Ltd., of

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

, Pakistan. She was resold again for scrapping and in December 1971, she arrived at Santander, Spain, to be scrapped.

References

Bibliography

* * * * *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Skywatcher (AGR-3) 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