USNS Sampan Hitch

USNS Sampan Hitch (T-AGM-18) was a missile range instrumentation ship which earlier operated as the U.S. Air Force Ocean Range Vessel USAFS Sampan Hitch (ORV-1836) on the U.S. Air Force's Eastern Test Range during the late 1950s and early 1960s. Sampan Hitch operated under an Air Force contract with Pan American Airways Guided Missile Range Division headquartered in Cocoa Beach, Florida.

History
United States
Name	Sampan Hitch
Namesake	A name retained
Builder	Walter Butler Shipbuilding Inc., Superior, Wisconsin
Laid down	date unknown, as a type (C1-M-AV1) hull, MC hull 2133
Launched	12 July 1945
Completed	August 1945
Acquired	by the U.S. Navy in 1964
In service	c. 1958
Out of service	date unknown
Stricken	date unknown
Fate	sold for scrapping 23 April 1973 to a South Korean steel firm
General characteristics
Type	missile range instrumentation ship
Displacement	3,366 tons light 6,090 tons full load
Length	338 ft 9 in (103.25 m)
Beam	50 ft 4 in (15.34 m)
Draft	17 ft 7 in (5.36 m)
Propulsion	Diesel, single propeller
Speed	11.5 knots
Endurance	30 days at sea
Complement	unknown
Sensors and processing systems	telemetry
Armament	none

Sampan Hitch, assigned to the South Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean area, provided the Air Force with metric data on intercontinental ballistic missiles launched from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS) in Florida.

Sampan Hitch operated in the intercontinental ballistic missile re-entry area near Ascension Island, and was home-ported out of South Atlantic Fleet Hqtrs, Chagaramus (Port of Spain) Trinidad, BWI.

Acquisition by the Navy

Sampan Hitch was acquired from the U.S. Air Force by the U.S. Navy in 1964.

Operational data

Operational data while on U.S. Navy service during post-1964 period on this vessel is lacking.

Inactivation

Sampan Hitch was struck from the Navy List at an unknown date, and was sold for scrapping 23 April 1973 to Dongkuk Steel Mill Company, Ltd., South Korea. Her subsequent fate is not known.

See also

• Missile Range Instrumentation Ship
• List of ships of the United States Air Force
• Eastern Test Range
• Pan American Airways Guided Missile Range Division
• Missile Test Project

References

• NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive - T-AGM-18 Sampan Hitch