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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive
Contributed by Mike Smolinski

USNS Lynch (T-AGOR-7)

International Radio Call Sign:
November - Echo - Kilo - Foxtrot
 NEKF
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

National Defense Service Medal
Robert D. Conrad Class Oceanographic Research Ship:
  • Laid down, 7 September 1962, at Marietta Mfg. Co., Point Pleasant, W.VA.
  • Launched, 17 March 1964
  • Delivered to the Navy, 23 July 1965
  • Placed in service by the Military Sealift Command (MSC) as USNS Lynch (T-AGOR-7)
  • Placed out of service, struck from the Naval Register, and transferred to the Maritime Administration (MARAD) for lay up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, James River, Fort Eustis, VA; 23 December 1994
  • Final Disposition, scrapped, 29 November 2001, at D&D Steel Co., Brownsville, TX.
    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
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Source
    Lynch 69k
    Namesake

    Thomas Lynch was born in St. James Parish, Berkeley County, S.C., in 1727. He served in the Colonial Legislature of South Carolina and represented the Colony in the Stamp Act Congress, heading the committee which drafted the petition to the House of Commons. Elected to both the First and Second Continental Congresses, Lynch joined Benjamin Franklin and Benjamin Harrison on a committee sent to Cambridge, Mass., to confer with General Washington upon “the most effectual method of continuing, supporting, and regulating the Continental Army.” In the ensuing discussions, Washington told the committee of his plan to arm ships to prey upon British supply lines. The gentlemen from Congress approved of the scheme and recommended it to Congress, thus giving essential political support to the establishment of “George Washington’s Navy,” the first organized naval force of the new Nation.
    William Francis Lynch was born in Norfolk, Va., 1 April 1801. He was appointed a midshipman 26 January 1819, and first saw service in Congress and next in U.S. schooner Shark under Lt. Mathew Perry. Subsequent service included duty with Commodore Porter’s “Mosquito Squadron” in the West Indies and in the Mediterranean. Lieutenant Lynch had his first command, the Poinsett, from 3 March to 30 December 1839. In 1947, he proceeded to the Sea of Galilee, dragging overland two copper hulled boats and sailed down the Jordan River despite both hostile Arab tribesmen and hazardous rapids. His expedition ended with the successful exploration of the Dead Sea. In 1849 he was commissioned commander and in 1850 was promoted to captain. In 1852, he requested permission to explore the interior of Africa for purposes of possible colonization. In his exploration in west central Africa, he caught a fever, and was forced to return to the United States.
    On 21 April 1861, he resigned from the U.S. Navy. He was initially appointed captain in the Virginia Navy and on 10 June 1861, captain in the Confederate States Navy. He commanded naval batteries at Aquia Creek, Va., during their shelling by Union gunboats in May 1861, was in charge of the defense of Roanoke Island in February 1862, and led Confederate naval forces at Vicksburg from March to October 1862. Later in command of ships in North Carolina waters, he commanded southern forces during the Union attack on Fort Fisher, N.C., in December 1864 and January 1865. After the defeat of the Confederacy, he was paroled 3 May 1865 in Richmond. He died in Baltimore on 17 October of the same year.    		 Bill Gonyo
    Lynch 62k USNS Lynch (T-AGOR-7) seen here in foreground with USNS Hayes (T-AGOR-16) in background Bill Valashinas
    Sands 83k USNS Lynch (T-AGOR-7) pierside, with USNS Sands (T-AGOR-6) outboard, date and location unknown.
    US Navy photo from DANFS.    		 Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret.
    Lynch 37k USNS Lynch (T-AGOR-7) tending SPAR (Seagoing Platform for Acoustic Research), June 1966, near Solomons, MD.
    US Navy photo from DANFS.    		 Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret.
    Lynch 112k USNS Lynch (T-AGOR-7) moored pierside at Mobile AL., circa 1978 ©Richard Collins
    Lynch 158k
    Lynch 219k USNS Lynch (T-AGOR-7) moored at Bermuda, 1978. Robert Guttman
    Lynch 284k USNS Lynch (T-AGOR-7) moored pierside at Genoa, Italy, date unknown. Photo by Carlo Martinelli
    USNS Lynch (T-AGOR-7)
    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 20 October 2017