USNS Waters

History
United States
NameUSNS Waters
Awarded4 April 1990
BuilderAvondale Industries, Inc., New Orleans, Louisiana
Laid down21 May 1991
Launched6 June 1992
In service26 May 1993
Refit1998
Identification
StatusIn active service
General characteristics
Displacement12,250 t.(fl)
Length457 ft (139 m)
Beam69 ft (21 m)
Draft26 ft 10 in (8.18 m) (max)
Propulsiondiesel-electric drive, twin shafts 7,400 shaft horsepower
Speed14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph)
Complement32 civilians and 68 sponsors

USNS Waters (T-AGS-45) is a United States Navy vessel tasked with supporting submarine navigation-system testing and providing ballistic missile flight test support services. In 2011, it was homeported in Port Canaveral, Florida.

Features

Waters is operated by Military Sealift Command under the Naval Oceanographic Office (NAVO) to provide an operating platform and services for unique U.S. military and federal government missions. The Waters primarily serves the Navy Special Systems Program (SSP) Office, but also works with Naval Sea Systems Command, Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command and the Oceanographer of the Navy.

The Waters carries the Navy Mobile Instrumentation System (NMIS), designed to obtain all necessary terminal area reentry flight test data. This capability allows flight tests to be conducted in remote portions of the oceans without needing instrumentation aircraft for support. This system's portable instrumentation provides C-band and X-band radar tracking, telemetry, optics, meteorology, and impact scoring systems. The NMIS prototype was first deployed in 1999 to support scheduled flight tests and evaluate performance. NMIS was declared fully operational by the US Navy Strategic Systems Program (SSP) in April 2003.

Background

Waters was originally an oceanographic survey ship, built by the Avondale Shipyard and delivered to the US Navy in 1993. Under the sponsorship of the Strategic Systems Program Office, Waters was converted in 1998 by Norfolk Shipyard to support submarine navigation system testing and ballistic missile flight test support services. Waters began operating in the fall of 1999, replacing USNS Vanguard (T-AG 194), a submarine navigation system test platform ship, deactivated in 1998; and USNS Range Sentinel (T-AGM 22), a flight test navigation support ship deactivated in 1997.

References

  1. ↑ Moody, R. Norman (17 September 2011). "Navy support ship sails back to port". Florida Today. Melbourne, Florida. p. 6B.
  2. ↑ "Our Commands: Naval Oceanographic Office". Commander, US Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command website. Retrieved 12 October 2026.
  3. ↑ "Navigation Test Support". Navigation Test Support Office website. Retrieved 12 October 2026.
  4. ↑ "Strategic Systems Support Program". JHU Applied Physics Laboratory website. Retrieved 10 May 2004.