The TAGS Ship Web Site

























https://tags-ship.com

IN MEMORY OF THE SHIPS AND THE CREWS
 Oceanographic Unit One, USNS Bowditch T-AGS-21
Oceanographic Unit Two, USNS Dutton T-AGS-22
Oceanographic Unit Three, USNS Michelson T-AGS=23
Oceanographic Unit Three, USNS H. H. Hess T-AGS-38

OCEANOGRAPHIC UNIT ONE

The US Navy Crew of USNS Bowditch T-AGS-21 in 1968.
No, we did not look like this every day!
Photo by Earl Adams.

USNS Dutton T-AGS-22

Dutton Arrives in New York in February 1975.
Photo by Roger Gilfert.

USNS Bowditch T-AGS-21

Bowditch in Heavy Seas.
North Atlantic c. 1971-72.
Photo by Jim Bohnsack.

USNS Michelson T-AGS-23

Michelson at Sea c. 1970-71.
Photo by Earl Adams.

USNS Bowditch T-AGS-21

Bowditch in dry dock at Hoboken, winter 1968-69
Photo by Peter Hellman.

Ship's Inertial Navigation System (SINS)

Computer at left, binnacle suspended from overhead on right.
SINS Mark 3 Mod 3 as installed on Bowditch.
Photo by Roger Gilfert c. 1974-75.

USNS H. H. Hess T-AGS-38

H. H. Hess was a a C4 hull, ex. SS Canada Mail.
Replaced Michelson for Oceanographic Unit Three c. 1977-92.
Photo contributed by Bennett Scharf.

USNS Dutton T-AGS-22

Postcard image of Dutton at sea.
Photo probably taken in mid 1980s.

Enlisted Mess USNS MICHELSON T-AGS-23

Treated as passengers aboard MSTS, ordered from menus,
served by stewards. Photo by George Meier 1967.

USNS BOWDITCH T-AGS-21

Bowditch at night, docked at Port Canaveral.
Photo by John Livingston c. 1978-79.

USNS DUTTON T-AGS-22

Dutton at sunset in the Med c. 1962-63.
Photo by Jack Keenan.

USNS H.H. Hess T-AGS-38

Probably at Port Canaveral, date unknown.

USNS MICHELSON IN PANAMA

In Miraflores Locks, Panama Canal September, 1964.
Photo by Jeff Lawrence.

BOWDITCH LIFEBOAT DRILL

In the Med c. 1967-68.
Photo by John Prough.

OCEANOGRAPHIC UNIT THREE

How Michelson's Navy crew looked in January 1973.
Photo from Keith Oppegard.

USNS MICHELSON T-AGS-23

Michelson at sea c. 1972-73.
Photo from Steve Campbell.

USNS DUTTON T-AGS-22

Off Hampton Roads May 18, 1976.
Photo from National Archives.

TRACKLINE SURVEY USING LORAC

Lorac A/B radio navigation system.
Seismograph Service Corp. advertisement c. 1962.

USNS DUTTON T-AGS-22

Dutton at Bergen April 1962.
Photo from Jack Keenan.

USNS MICHELSON T-AGS-23

Michelson at Port Canaveral April 1964.
Kodachrome by unknown photographer.

SS TUSKEGEE VICTORY

Converted to survey ship USNS Dutton in 1958.
Photo at Antwerp by unknown photographer.

USNS H. H. Hess T-AGS-38

Postcard photo date unknown.

LORAN C RECEIVER WPN-3

Advertisement from 1962.
International Hydrographic Review (Monaco).

USNS BOWDITCH T-AGS-21

At sea in 1965.
Photo by ship's photographer, contributed by David Crestin.


Oceanographic Unit One
USNS Bowditch T-AGS-21
1968
 






About this web site ...

The TAGS Ship website contains the collected contributions of dozens of persons associated with the Ocean Survey Program, carried out by the US Navy's Oceanographic Office.

Reminiscences, technical descriptions, photos and sea stories are from US Navy sailors, merchant mariners, oceanographers and tech reps associated with survey ships USNS Bowditch, USNS Dutton and USNS Michelson as well as USNS H. H. Hess, Michelson's successor.

Originally at tags-21.info, the TAGS website content (21,000 files, 3.0 gigabytes) is now located here at tags-ship.com. This "legacy site" was designed to be seen in a PC web browser. It is not "dumbed down" for viewing on phones. 

This non-commercial, non-political, informational site continues to be an important historical document and memorial of these ships, crews and for Earl Adams, who originated the site in 2007 and passed away in 2014.   

The Guest Log was added to the site in 2008 by Phil Brooks. More than 200 TAGS veterans and other website guests have left comments on this message board.

Photos, videos, commentaries and sea stories are accepted. These can be uploaded here. Also, additions and corrections are being made to the crew roster.

Please send comments and suggestions or reports of errors, omissions, broken links and things adrift to site administrator John Hansen. Mahalo!

Contact Admin



SASS Array Sonar CP-677 Computer Boot Tape Marked "UTILITY LOADER OLHP BOWDITCH 3/10/66"
Mouseover (hover) to stop the tape's movement. More about this here.

This site was intended to be viewed on devices with wide screen widths. Go to https://tags-ship.com on a desktop PC, laptop or tablet (iPad) in horizontal mode.

The TAGS Ship website contains the collected contributions of dozens of persons associated with the Ocean Survey Program, carried out by the US Navy's Oceanographic Office.

Reminiscences, technical descriptions, photos and sea stories came from US Navy sailors, merchant mariners,  oceanographers and tech reps associated with survey ships USNS Bowditch, USNS Dutton and USNS Michelson as well as USNS H. H. Hess, Michelson's successor.

Originally at tags-21.info, the TAGS website content (21,000 files, 3.0 gigabytes) is now located here at tags-ship.com. This "legacy site" was designed to be seen in a PC web browser. It is not "dumbed down" for viewing on phones. 

The TAGS website continues to be an important historical document and memorial of these ships, crews and for website originator Earl Adams, who originated the site in 2007 and passed away in 2014.   
Site last updated June 12, 2021