The USNS Worthy (T-AGOS-14) is a modified Stalwart-class ocean surveillance ship that was previously operated by the United States Navy. Since 1995 it has been operated by the United States Army.

Design

The Stalwart-class ocean surveillance ships were succeeded by the longer Victorious-class ocean surveillance ships. Worthy had an overall length of 224 feet (68m) and a length of 203feet 6inches (62.03m) at its waterline. It had a beam of 43 feet (13m) and a draft of 15 feet (4.6m). The surveillance ship had a displacement of 1,600 tonnes (1,600 long tons; 1,800 short tons) at light load and 2,301 tonnes (2,265 long tons; 2,536 short tons) at full load. It was powered by a diesel-electric system of four Caterpillar D-398 diesel-powered generators and two General Electric 550 metric horsepower (540shp; 400kW) electric motors. This produced a total of 3,200 metric horsepower (3,200shp; 2,400kW) that drove two shafts. It had a gross register tonnage of 1,584 and a deadweight tonnage of 786.

The Stalwart-class ocean surveillance ships had maximum speeds of 11 knots (20km/h; 13mph). They were built to be fitted with the Surveillance Towed Array Sensor System (SURTASS) system. The ship had an endurance of thirty days. It had a range of 3,000 miles (2,600nmi; 4,800km) and a speed of 11 knots (20km/h; 13mph). Its complement was between thirty-two and forty-seven. Its hull design was similar to that of the Powhatan-classtugboats.

History

US Army Vessel Worthy as Kwajalein Mobile Range Safety System, October 1995.

Stalwart-class ships were originally designed to collect underwater acoustical data in support of Cold War anti-submarine warfare operations in the 1980s. USNS Worthy was struck from the Navy registry in 1993 and modified to be Kwajalein Mobile Range Safety System (KMRSS) Worthy, a missile range instrumentation ship at Kwajalein Atoll's Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site, operated by the United States Army.

External links

  • of USNSWorthyat NavSource Naval History