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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

USNS Sands (T-AGOR-6)


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Golf - Kilo - Golf
NGKG
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Precedence of awards is from left to right
National Defense Service Medal



USNS Sands (T-AGOR-6) was transferred to Brazil, renamed NOc Almirante Cāmara (H-41)
Robert D. Conrad Class Oceanographic Research Ship:
  • Laid down, 23 August 1962, at Marietta Mfg. Co., Point Pleasant, W.VA.
  • Launched, 14 September 1963
  • Delivered to the Navy, 2 February 1965
  • Placed in service by the Military Sealift Command (MSC) as USNS Sands (T-AGOR-6)
  • Placed out of service in 1973
  • Laid up in the Reserve Fleet
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 25 May 1970
  • Sold under terms of the Security Assistance Program to Brazil, 5 December 1990, renamed NOc Almirante Cāmara (H-41)
  • Sold out of Brazil naval service in 2004
  • Decommissioned by Brazil navy, 7 August 2003
  • Final Disposition, in 2019 the hulk of ex-Sands was moored at Itajai Brazil after a failed attempt to convert her into a yacht
    Specifications:
    Displacement 1,200 t.(lt) 1,370 t.(fl)
    Length 209'
    Beam 40'
    Draft 16'
    Speed 12 kts.
    Complement 23 civilian mariners, 38 scientists
    Propulsion diesel-electric, single propeller, 2,500shp, retractable azmuthing bow thruster

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    For Full Size Image
    Size Image Description Source
    USNS Sands (T-AGOR-6)
    Sands 136k
    Namesakes
    Benjamin F. Sands, born in Baltimore on 11 February 1811, was appointed Midshipman in the United States Navy on 1 April 1828. By 1834, he had served on the Brazil Station and in the West Indies and Mediterranean squadrons. From 1834 to 1841, he was engaged in coastal survey work and during the mid-40's was attached to the Bureau of Charts and Instruments at the Naval Observatory. During hostilities between the United States and Mexico, he was attached to the Home Squadron and served off Tabasco and Tuxpan. In the 1850's, he commanded the steamer Walker in the Gulf of Mexico on coast survey duty and invented a deep sea sounding apparatus and other hydrographic instruments. Commissioned Captain in 1862, he served off the west coast on survey duty until 1863, then joined the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron as commander of Dacotah. In February of that year, he participated in the engagement at Fort Caswell. He remained off the Carolinas for another two years, commanding the steamer Fort Jackson during the attacks on Fort Fisher. In February 1865, he was transferred to the West Gulf Blockading Squadron and assigned to duty off the Texas coast. Through the end of the Civil War, he commanded a division off that coast; and, on 2 June 1865, took formal possession of Galveston for the Union. After the war, Sands, appointed Commodore in July 1866, served at the Boston Navy Yard until returning to Washington as Superintendent of the Naval Observatory. Commissioned Rear Admiral on 27 April 1871, he remained at the Observatory until he retired in 1874. Rear Admiral Sands died in Washington, D.C., on 30 June 1883.

    James H. Sands, son of Rear Admiral Benjamin F. Sands, was born in Washington, D.C., on 12 July 1845 and was appointed Acting Midshipman in the United States Navy on 25 November 1859. During the Civil War, he served in Tuscarora, Juniata, and Shenandoah and, in the years which followed, in Hartford and Richmond. Ordered to the Naval Observatory in 1869, he returned to sea duty, on the Asiatic Station, a year and a half later. From October 1873 to April 1875, he served in the Hydrographic Office. Duty in Minnesota and Iroquois followed; and, in 1884, he returned to Washington, D.C., for duty at the Navy Yard. During the 1890's, he commanded Monongahela; served as equipment officer at the Boston Navy Yard; commanded Columbia and Minneapolis; and served as Governor of the Naval Home at Philadelphia. Detached from the latter in 1901, he became a member of the Retirement Board and assumed its presidency in 1902. Commissioned Rear Admiral the same year, he served as Commandant of the Navy Yard, League Island, Philadelphia, from May 1902 to April 1903; commanded the Coast Squadron until 1905; then assumed duty as Superintendent of the Naval Academy. Further duty on the Retirement Board and as President, Naval Examining Board, followed; and, in July 1907, he transferred to the Retired List. Rear Admiral Sands died in Washington, D.C., on 27 October 1911.

    Photo: Admiral Benjamin F. Sands

    Bill Gonyo
    Sands
    09570606
    207k Sands (AGOR-6) under construction at Marietta Mfg. Co., Point Pleasant, W.VA. in 1962.
    U.S. National Archives Identifier 6930507 a U.S. Navy Bureau of Ships photo.
    Robert Hurst
    Sands 178k USNS Sands (T-AGOR-6) underway, date and location unknown.
    US Navy (MSTS) photo.
    Robert Hurst
    Sands 83k USNS Sands (T-AGOR-6) pierside, outboard of Lynch (T-AGOR-7), date and location unknown.
    US Navy photo from DANFS.
    Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret.
    NOc Almirante Cāmara (H-41)
    Sands 54k Ex USNS Sands (T-AGOR-6) in Brazilian service as Noc Almirante Cāmara (H-41), date and location unknown Brazilian Navy web site
    Sands
    09570605
    171k NOc Almirante Cāmara (H-41) sailors man the rails while entering/leaving port, date and location unknown.
    Marinha do Brasil photo
    Robert Hurst
    Sands
    09570607
    191k Aerial photos of the hulk of ex-NOc Almirante Cāmara (H-41) tied up at Itajai, Brazil, 14 January 2024. Photos by Luiz Cordova
    Sands
    09570608
    230k
    Sands
    09570609
    228k
    Sands
    09570610
    95k

    USNS Sands (T-AGOR-6)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)

    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log

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    Last Updated 19 January 2024