It was originally a Greenville Victory Class Cargo ship. Maritime Commission type (VC2-S-AP2)
Maritime Commission contract (MCV 21)
built at California Shipbuilding Corp., Los Angeles, CA.
Launched (date unknown) and delivered to the War Shipping Administration in 1944
Acquired by the US Navy, 9 August 1950 and placed in service by MSTS as USNS Dalton Victory (T-AK-256)
Redesignated a Missile Range Instrumentation Ship and renamed USNS Sunnyvale (T-AGM-5), 27 October 1960 Placed out of service (date unknown) and struck from the Naval Register, 15 December 1974
Decommissioned 1 January 1975
Transferred to the Maritime Administration (MARAD) for lay up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet
Final Disposition, disposed of by MARAD exchange
17 July 1975
In April 1965 Donald C. Rattenne was assigned First Engineer.
It was the last of the Air Force Western Test Range instrument ships. (Navy drove the ship, Air Force ran the mission.)
Took part in the atomic tests in the Pacific in the mid 1960s. Crews exposed to radiation from testing. (Lookup Atomic Vets)
Was used as a satellite recovery vessel at Pitcairn Island. The USNS Sunnyvale a satellite recovery vessel, was the mission support vessel. There is a stamp commemorating this event.
On February 1, 1965, Vandenberg's AFWTR was given full responsibility for ICBM and space support functions, previously assigned to the Navy's Pacific Missile Range. The transfer involved taking over fixed and mobile range sites at Point Arguello, California; Pillar Point (San Mateo County), California; Kokee Park (Kauai County), Hawaii; South Point (Hawaii County), Hawaii; Canton, Midway, and Wake Islands in the mid-Pacific; Eniwetok and Bikini Atolls in the Marshall Islands; and six range instrumented ships (Huntsville, Longview, Range Tracker, Richfield, SUNNYVALE, and Watertown).
That should give you a good start to collect more info on your own.
2007-08-28 15:08:11
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answer #1
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answered by forgivebutdonotforget911 6
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She wasn't in any campaigns. She was built in 1944, acvquired by the Navy in 1950 as the USNS Dalton and re-named Sunnyvale in 1960. I checked the DANFS history at the Navy Historical Center. She served mainly as a missile range tracking ship for the Pacific Missile Range based in Point Mugu, California. Any work in or near Eniwetok would have been in connection with missile tests of rockets launched from Mugu or Vandenberg Air Base.
2007-08-28 21:33:15
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answer #2
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answered by desertviking_00 7
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