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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

T-AK-272 / T-AGOR-11 Mizar

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Precedence of awards is from left to right
National Defense Service Medal
Eltanin Class (Ice-breaking) Cargo Ship:
  • Laid down, 1 January 1957, as a Maritime Administration type (C1-ME2-13a) hull, under Maritime Administration contract (MA hull 48), at Avondale Marine Ways, Inc., Avondale, LA.
  • Launched, 7 October 1957
  • Acquired by the Navy and placed in service by the Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS) as USNS Mizar (T-AK-272), 7 March 1958
  • Reclassified as Oceanographic Research Vessel (AGOR-11), 15 April 1964
  • Placed out of service, reverted to (AK-272) and struck from the Naval Register, 16 February 1990
  • Transferred to the Maritime Administration, 7 February 1992, for lay up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, James River, Fort Eustis, VA.
  • Final Disposition, contract for scrapping awarded to Bay Bridge Enterprises, Chesapeake, VA., 18 July 2005, removed from the National Defense Reserve Fleet, 16 August 2005
    Specifications:
    Displacement 1,850 t.(lt) 3,886 t.(fl)
    Length 266'
    Beam 52'
    Draft 18'
    Speed 13 kts.
    Complement 18 civilians, 15 scientific party, 6 Navy
    Propulsion diesel electric, two shafts, 3,200hp
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		Size Image Description Source
    Mizar 160k Mizar (T-AK-272), Launching, 7 October 1957, Avondale Marine Ways, Inc.
    Avondale, LA    		 Carl R. Friberg Jr
    Mizar 81k Mizar (T-AGOR-11), middle or later 1960s.
    US Navy photo # NH 79130, from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.    		 US Naval Historical Center
    Mizar 96k Mizar (T-AGOR-11), underway in icy waters, during the middle or later 1960s.US Navy photo # NH 97572, from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center. US Naval Historical Center
    Mizar 72k Mizar (T-AGOR-11), departing Boston, 24 June 1964. Note notch in her stern, a design feature intended to assist pushing by another ship during ice navigation.
    US Navy photo # NH 97573, from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.    		 US Naval Historical Center
    Mizar 139k Mizar (T-AGOR-11), photo circa 1970, by the US Naval Research Laboratory, for which the ship was operated by the Military Sealift Command. The original caption, received with this photograph under date of October 1970, states: "... The ship has been used to investigate the ocean depths and to locate lost ships and, most recently, to find the site of the scuttled Liberty Ship Le Baron Russell Briggs which sank during August 1970 in 16,000 feet of water about 230 miles off the coast of Florida with 418 concrete and steel coffins of nerve-gas rockets aboard."
    US Navy photo # NH 97574, from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.    		 US Naval Historical Center
    Mizar 124k Mizar (T-AGOR-11), photographed by one of her crewmen, while she was moored at NAS Adak, Alaska, during the 1980s. Photographed by Bob Borden, MSCPAC.
    US Navy photo # NH 97575, from the Military Sealift Command Collection at the Naval Historical Center    		 US Naval Historical Center
    Mizar 107k Mizar (T-AGOR-11), circa 1980s.
    US Navy photo # NH 97576-KN, from the Military Sealift Command Collection at the Naval Historical Center    		 US Naval Historical Center
    Mizar 46k Mizar (T-AGOR-11) underway, date and place unknown.
    US Navy photo from DANFS    		 Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret.
    Mizar 93k ex-Mizar (T-AGOR-11) moving up the Elizabeth River at Portsmouth, VA. on 16 August 2005 for the last time as she is being manoeuvered by a tug from the National Defense Reserve Fleet to Bay Bridge Enterprises, Chesapeake, VA. for scrapping. Photo by Mabel Clark
    View the Mizar (T-AK-272 / T-AGOR-11)
    DANFS history entry located at the US Naval Historical Center web site
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S.Navy Memorial Foundation
    Fleet Reserve Association
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    Navy Oceanographic Research Ship (AGOR) Designator Listing
    Back to the Navsource Photo Archives Main Page Back To the Service Force Ship Type Index Back To The Cargo Ship (AK) Photo Index Back To The Oceanographic Research Vessel (AGOR) Photo Index
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
    © 2005 Gary P. Priolo © 1996 - 2008 NavSource Naval History. All Rights Reserved.
    Last Updated 2 September 2005