Wreck of ex-USAS/USAFS/USNS American Mariner (T-AGM-12)

USA / Maryland / Smith Island /
 military, shipwreck, target (military)
Laid down in 1942 as the merchant ship SS George Calvert, this ship was taken over by the US Government in 1942 and completed as a cadet training ship for the US Coast Guard, renamed TS American Mariner. Following WWII she was given to the Massachusetts Maritime Academy where she continued to serve as a training ship until she was deactivated in 1950.

She was placed into the Reserve Fleet at Jones Point, NY until 1957 when she was reactivated by the US Army and underwent an extensive conversion to a Missile Range Instrumentation Ship and was placed into US Army Service as USAS American Mariner in 1959. She relocated to the Redstone Arsenal and served there as a tracking ship for the DAMP(Downrange Anti-ballistic Missile Program) tests taking place until 1964.

Later that year she relocated to the Atlantic Missile Range and placed into operation with the US Air Force and eventually the Military Sea Transportation Service, now renamed USNS American Mariner. She served in her new location for 2 years before she was deactivated in 1966, stripped of her electronics, towed off Point Lookout for use as a explosives training hulk.

She was sunk in October 1966 by Navy Explosive teams and sank in 20 feet of water, with the majority of her hull visible above the waterline. Her hulk is now used for aerial and maritime target practice.

www.navsource.org/archives/09/53/5312.htm

aka Old Hannibal
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Hannibal_%28AG-1%29
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USAS_American_Mariner
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   38°2'23"N   76°9'17"W

Comments

  • Shame that goole's new imagery no longer shows the ship.
  • Just saw a report about the ship on our local news. Awesome. Next time I get out in the bay, I will check this out down here
This article was last modified 9 years ago