Name USS Searcher Launched 23 January 1945 Tons burthen 9.761 million kg | Sponsored by Mrs. R. D. Turnage Length 135 m Builder Panama City | |
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Ordered as a type (Z-EC2-S-C5) hull, MCE hull 2338 Laid down as SS James W. Wheeler, 11 December 1944 Acquired by the U.S. Navy, 19 September 1954, at Wilmington, North Carolina Commissioned 2 April 1955 as USS Searcher (YAGR-4) at Charleston Naval Shipyard, Charleston, South Carolina | ||
USS Searcher (YAGR-4/AGR-4) was a Guardian-class radar picket ship acquired by the U.S. Navy in 1954. She was obtained from the National Defense Reserve Fleet and reconfigured as a radar picket ship and assigned to radar picket duty in the North Atlantic Ocean as part of the Distant Early Warning Line.
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Built in Panama City, Florida
Searcher (YAGR-4) was laid down on 11 December 1944 under U.S. Maritime Commission contract (MC hull E-2338) by the J. A. Jones Construction Co., Panama City, Florida, as Liberty ship James W. Wheeler; launched on 23 January 1945; sponsored by Mrs. R. D. Turnage; and delivered on 5 February 1945 to the Calmar Steamship Company.
Reclassified YAGR-4 in August 1954, she was acquired by the Navy from the Maritime Administration on 15 September 1954; renamed Searcher; converted to a radar picket ship at the Charleston Naval Shipyard, Charleston, South Carolina; and commissioned on 2 April 1955, Lt. Comdr. James A. Paulick in command.
Radar picket duty
Searcher departed Charleston, South Carolina, on 16 May 1955 for Newport, Rhode Island, where, after shakedown, she reported for duty with the seaward extension of America's early warning defense system. She reported on station for her first patrol on 5 July 1955.
Fitted with sophisticated electronic search and tracking equipment, Searcher could detect, track, and report enemy aircraft at great distances, and control high-speed interceptor aircraft in event of attack. She also carried out weather reporting duties during her three-to-four-week-long cruises.
On 13 November 1955, Searcher was damaged by an engine room fire which burned for six and one-half hours before being extinguished with the aid of two other ships. Her patrols were otherwise uneventful. She was reclassified AGR-4 effective 28 September 1958; and, during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, she operated at sea for 60 out of 67 days.
Decommissioning
On 1 July 1965, Searcher was decommissioned, struck from the Navy List and transferred to the Maritime Administration. She was laid up in the Hudson River berthing area of the National Defense Reserve Fleet until sold for scrapping on 7 August 1970 to the North American Smelting Co., Wilmington, Delaware.