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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

Contributed by Mike Smolinski

USNS Mercury (T-AGM-21)
ex
USNS Flagstaff (T-AGM-21) (1964 - 1965)
USNS Mission San Juan (T-AO-126) (1947 - 1958)

USNS Mercury (T-AGM-21) International Radio Call Sign:
November - Juliet - Delta - Mike
NJDM

USNS Mission San Juan (T-AO-126) International Radio Call Sign:
November - Hotel - Papa - Zulu
NHPZ

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

National Defense Service Medal

Mission Buenaventura Class Fleet Oiler / Vanguard Class Missile Range Instrumentation Ship:

Laid down, 30 July 1943, as a Maritime Commission type (T2-SE-A2) tanker hull, under Maritime Commission contract, (MC 1280) at Marinship Corp., Sausalito, CA.

Launched, 14 October 1943

Delivered to the Maritime Commission, 31 January 1944 upon completion, for charter to Deconhill Shipping Co.

Transferred to the Maritime Commission, 9 April 1946, for lay up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, Mobile, AL.

Acquired by the US Navy, 21 November 1947

Designated Mission San Juan (AO-126), and assigned to the Naval Transportation Service (NTS)

Transferred to the Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS) and placed in service as USNS Mission San Juan (T-AO-126)

Placed out of service, struck from the Naval Register, and transferred to the Maritime Administration for lay up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, Beaumont, TX. 12 February 1958

Reacquired by the Navy, 28 October 1964, for conversion at General Dynamics Shipyard, Quincy, MA., to a Missile Range Instrumentation Ship

Renamed USNS Flagstaff (T-AGM-21), 8 April 1965

Renamed USNS Mercury (T-AGM-21), 1 September 1965

Accepted by (MSTS) for service, 16 September 1965

Placed out of service and laid up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, Suisun Bay, 29 October 1969

Struck from the Naval Register (date unknown)

Sold, 23 June 1970, to Matson Navigation Co. for conversion to a bulk-carrier at Willamette Iron & Steel,,Portland, OR., renamed SS Kopaa

Sold in February 1981 to California & Hawaii Sugar Co.

Final Disposition, sold for scrapping at Taiwan in October 1984

Specifications:

Displacement

(AO) 5,532 t.(lt) 23,350 t.(fl)

(AGM) 13,882 t.(lt) 24,761 t.(fl)

Length

(AO) 523' 6"

(AGM) 595'

Beam

(AO) 68'

(AGM) 75'

Draft 30' (max)

Speed 14 kts.

Complement

(AO) 52 mariners, 17 Navy Armed Guard

(AGM) 49 mariners, 18 scientific staff

Armament

(AO) one single 5"/38 dual purpose gun mount, four single 3"/50 dual purpose gun mounts, four twin 40mm AA gun mounts, 4 twin 20mm AA gun mounts

(AGM) none

Propulsion Turbo-electric, two boilers, eight Westinghouse turbo-generators, single screw, 10,000hp

Click On Image For Full Size Image	Size	Image Description	Source
War Shipping Administration - SS Mission San Juan
09532111	241k	*Namesake* Mission San Juan Capistrano - is a Spanish mission in San Juan Capistrano, Orange County, CA. Founded in 1776 in colonial Las Californias by Spanish Catholic missionaries of the Franciscan Order, it was named for Saint John of Capistrano. The Spanish Colonial Baroque style church was located in the Alta California province of the Viceroyalty of New Spain. The Mission was secularized by the Mexican government in 1833, and returned to the Roman Catholic Church by the American government in 1865. The mission was damaged over the years by a number of natural disasters, but restoration and renovation efforts date from around 1910. (Wikipedia) Photo of the Mission San Juan Capistrano - North Corridor (cropped),28 March 2013. ©Bernard Gagon	Tommy Trampp
	121k	*Mission San Juan* fitting out while moored outboard of an unidentified tanker at Dock D-1, Marinship Corp., Sausalito, CA. 15 days after launching. US Maritime Commission photo by Marinship courtesy Auke Visser's Famous T - Tankers Pages.	Robert Hurst
	116k	*Mission San Juan* fitting out while moored at Dock D-1, Marinship Corp., Sausalito, CA. 43 days after launching. US Maritime Commission photo by Marinship courtesy Auke Visser's Famous T - Tankers Pages.	Robert Hurst
	87k	*Mission San Juan* under way probably in San Francisco Bay during builders trials, circa January 1943. US Maritime Commission photo by Marinship courtesy Auke Visser's Famous T - Tankers Pages.	Robert Hurst
USNS Mercury (T-AGM-21)
	63k	Mercury (T-AGM-21) while berthing at Sydney Harbour, Australia, in 1969. *Mercury* was part of the command and control network for the Apollo 9 and 10 missions while in Sydney.	Photo from the collection of CAPT. William Strain, USNR-R, Chief Engineer USNS Mercury late 1960s. Submitted by his son-in-law CAPT Joe A. Baker USN (Ret).
	70k	Mercury (T-AGM-21) moored pierside at Port Canaveral, circa 1967/68. US Navy photo.	Robert Hurst
	105k	Mercury (T-AGM-21) under way, date and location unknown. NASA photo.	Robert Hurst
	260k	Mercury (T-AGM-21) moored, date and location unknown.	Terje Fjeldheim
	234k	Mercury (T-AGM-21) moored, date and location unknown.	Terje Fjeldheim
095321117	694k	*USNS Mercury* (T-AGM-20)** under way at Pearl Harbor, circa 1966-68 US Navy photo.	Photo by Jerry N. Hogue
Merchant Service Matson Navigation Co.
	83k	Ex-Mercury (T-AGM-21) underway as the Matson Navigation Co.'s SS Kopaa, date and location unknown. ©Ackroyd.	Gerhard Mueller-Debus
	439k	SS Kopaa dry docked at Hunters Point, San Francisco, CA., September 1978.	Photo by Gerhard Mueller-Debus