USNS BOWDITCH T-AGS-21, OCEANOGRAPHIC DETACHMENT/UNIT ONE
USNS DUTTON T-AGS-22, OCEANOGRAPHIC DETACHMENT/UNIT TWO
USNS MICHELSON T-AGS-23, OCEANOGRAPHIC DETACHMENT/UNIT THREE
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The ships were operated by the Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS), later Military Sealift Command (MSC)
for the U.S. Naval Oceanographic Office in the Ocean Survey Program (OSP) under direction of the U.S. Navy Office of Special Projects
in support of the U.S. Navy Fleet Ballistic Missile Program. |
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The combined crew roster lists over 1600 shipmates who served aboard the TAGS ships USNS Bowditch, USNS Dutton, USNS Michelson and USNS H. H. Hess, Michelson's successor. |
Simplified plans for Victory Ships VC2-S-AP3, the type of vessels from which Bowditch, Dutton and Michelson were converted.
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American shipyards built 531 Victory class vessels toward the end of WW II. Survey ships Bowditch, Dutton and Michelson were VC2-S-AP3 class vessels originally named SS South Bend Victory, SS Tuskegee Victory and SS Joliet Victory respectively. |
Booklet Of General Plans AGS-22, a set of drawings of the ships as converted in 1958-59. These blueprints and some additional drawings are rendered here in black and white.
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The number two and three cargo holds were converted to serve as working and berthing spaces for the embarked Oceanographic Detachments (later, Units). These spaces varied slightly between ships, and varied over the ships' lifetimes.
The ships were manned by four distinct groups: