List of ships of the United States Air Force

U.S. Air Force ships of the "Tyndall Navy"

Starting in 1957 the US Air Force began operating a small fleet of Missile Range Instrumentation Ships to support missile test ranges. They were designated "ORV" for Ocean Range Vessel. They used the ship name prefix "USAF" (e.g.: USAF Coastal Crusader (ORV-16)).

The initial twelve Atlantic Missile Range ships were modified World War II cargo vessels. Six were FS-type ships and six were C1-M-AV-1 vessels. All were equipped with telemetry systems. Two of the C1-M-AV-1 types, Coastal Sentry and Rose Knot, were equipped with command/control transmitters.[1]

The smaller FS types were retired by 1960.[1] In 1964 the US Navy took over operation of the larger C1-M-AV-1 type, and redesignated them as AGM.[2] The original larger ORV were out of service on the Eastern Test Range by 1969.[1]

The U.S. Air Force still operates a small fleet of drone recovery vessels nicknamed the "Tyndall Navy". These ships recover pieces of wreckage from drones and aerial targets from the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. The largest of these vessels are three 120-foot ships operated by the 82nd Aerial Targets Squadron, which is based at Tyndall AFB, Florida.[3][4]

US Air Force ship list

Active

Inactive

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "DEVELOPMENT OF THE 45SW EASTERN RANGE". Archived from the original on August 25, 2010. Retrieved April 27, 2007.
  2. ↑ "USAT PVT. Joe R. Hastings/USAF Coastal Crusader (ORV-16)/AGM-16 / AGS-36 Coastal Crusader". Retrieved August 19, 2006.
  3. ↑ EIA - FY2003 Archived October 28, 2008, at the Wayback Machine.
  4. ↑ "Air Force armada all about the ammo".
  5. ↑ Silverstone, Paul (April 6, 2011). "The Navy of the Nuclear Age, 1947–2007". Routledge – via Google Books.
  6. ↑ "USS General Harry Taylor (AP-145) / USAT General Harry Taylor / USNS General Harry Taylor (T-AP-145) / USAFS General Hoyt S. Vandenberg / USNS General Hoyt S. Vandenberg (T-AGM-10)". Retrieved April 27, 2006.
  7. ↑ "AP-139 / USAT / T-AP-139 General R. E. Callan USAF / T-AGM-9 H. H. Arnold". Retrieved April 27, 2007.
  8. ↑ "NavSource: USAS American Mariner/USAFS American Mariner/USNS American Mariner (T-AGM-12)". Retrieved April 27, 2007.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.