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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

USNS Albert J. Myer (T-ARC-6)
ex
 USACS Albert J. Myer (1952 - 1966)


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Zulu - Romeo - Mike
 NZRM
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Precedence of awards is from left to right
Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation - Navy Battle "E" Ribbon - National Defense Service Medal
Neptune Class Cable Laying and Repair Ship:
  • Laid down, 14 April 1945, as a Maritime Commission type (S3-S2-BP1) hull under Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 2668) at Pusey and Jones Corp., Wilmington, DL.
  • Delivered to the Maritime Commission, 17 May 1946 for lay up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, James River Group, Lee Hall, VA.
  • Custody assumed by the US Army, 7 February 1952 commissioned as USACS Albert J. Myer
  • Returned to the Maritime Administration (MARAD), 13 June 1966, and simultaneously transferred to the US Navy
  • Converted to a Cable Laying/Repair Ship and assigned to the Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS) and placed in service as USNS Albert J. Myer (T-ARC-6), date unknown
  • Placed out of service and struck from the Naval Register, 7 November 1994
  • Transferred to MARAD, 1 April 1998, for lay up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, James River, Fort Eustis, VA.
  • Final Disposition, returned to Navy custody, removed from the National Defense Reserve Fleet James River Group by towing, for scrapping 24 August 2005 and subsequently scrapped at International Shipbreaking, Brownsville TX.
    Specifications:
    Displacement 4,410 t.
    Length 362'
    Beam 47'
    Draft 25'
    Speed 13kts
    Complement 155
    Armament none
    Propulsion two Skinner Uniflow Reciprocating Steam Engines replaced with diesel engines, twin shafts
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Source
    Albert J Myer 191k
    Namesake

     Albert James Myer—born on 20 September 1829 at Newburgh, N.Y.—received his bachelor's degree from Hobart College in 1847, graduated from Buffalo Medical College in 1851, and became an assistant surgeon in the Army on 18 September 1854. Already an accomplished telegrapher, he became an enthusiastic proponent of visual signaling while serving in Texas. In the late 1850s, Myer lobbied vigorously for the adoption of his method of signaling and for the establishment of an organization within the Army responsible for communication. In 1860, Congress created a major's billet on the Army staff for a signal officer, and Myer was appointed to fill the new slot. Between the summer of 1860 and the spring of 1861, he employed his system successfully during General Canby's campaign against the Navajo Indians.
    In June of 1861, Maj. Myer received orders to Washington, D.C., to organize and command a signal corps. Through the first two years of the Civil War, Myer carried out both administrative and operational responsibilities while also proselytizing in Washington for the establishment of the Signal Corps as a permanent entity in the Army. Brevetted a lieutenant colonel on 27 May 1862 for his service on the staff of the Army of the Potomac, he received a full colonelcy as a result of the formal establishment of the Signal Corps on 3 March 1863. However, conflict between Myer and the assistant secretary of war under whose supervision military telegraphy fell, resulted in his removal as chief signal officer in -November 1863 and his assignment to the Military Division of the West Mississippi in which he served the remainder of the remainder of the Civil War.
    Following the war, Myer received the brevet rank of brigadier general; but he did not really come into his own until July of 1866 when Congress reorganized the Signal Corps and, with the permanent rank of colonel, he again became chief signal officer. Myer headed the Signal Corps from 21 August 1867 until his death at Buffalo, N.Y., on 24 August 1880. During that time, he played a dominant role in the resumption of a storm warning service that previously had been provided by the Smithsonian Institution and its subsequent incorporation in 1870 as the United States Weather Bureau under the direction of the Signal Corps. Myer became a permanent brigadier general on 16 June 1880, a little over two months before his death. Fort Myer—in Arlington, Va.—is also named in his honor.
    Digital ID: cph 3c10271 Source: Library of Congress    		 Bill Gonyo
    Albert J Myer 67k USNS Albert J. Myer (T-ARC-6) underway, circa 1987-88, location unknown. Joel Osterberg RMCS USN Ret. Mil Det USNS Albert J. Myer, 1987-99
    Albert J Myer 43k USNS Albert J. Myer (T-ARC-6) at anchor, date and location unknown. © Ramon Jackson
    Albert J Myer 69k USNS Albert J. Myer (T-ARC-6) at anchor, date and location unknown. © Ramon Jackson
    View the USNS Albert J Myer (T-ARC-6)
    DANFS history entry located at the US Naval Historical Center web site.
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log
    Fleet Reserve Association
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    No Information Available
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 16 May 2008