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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

White Sands (AGDS-1)
ex
 White Sands (ARD-20) (1968 - 1973)
 ARD(BS)-20 (1966 - 1968)
 ARD-20 (1944 - 1966)

International Radio Call Sign:
November - India - Tango - Charlie
 NITC
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - American Campaign Medal
Bottom Row - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal - World War II Victory Medal - National Defense Service Medal
ARD-12 Class Auxiliary Repair Dock:
  • Laid down, 20 December 1943, at Pacific Bridge Co., Alameda, CA.
  • Launched in early-1944
  • Placed in service as USS ARD-20, 31 March 1944, LCDR. Gutav Jones, USNR, Officer-in-Charge
  • During World War II ARD-20 served at:
    Seeadler Harbor, at Manus in the Admiralty Islands, 12 August 1944 to 16 April 1945
    Morotai from 29 April 1945 to 24 July 1945 and
    Manicani Island in the Philippines from July 1945 to 25 February 1947
    Towed to San Pedro, via Guam and Pearl Harbor, placed out of service, 7 October 1947
  • Laid up in the Pacific Reserve Fleet, San Pedro, Group
  • Withdrawn from reserve in October 1965
  • Modernized and converted to a Bathyscaph Support Auxiliary Repair Dock at Long Beach Naval Shipyard
  • Placed in service as ARD(BS)-20, 14 September 1966, assigned to Submarine Force, Pacific Fleet
  • Named White Sands (ARD-20), 9 March 1968
  • From 1968 White Sands supported the deep submergence vehicle Trieste, at Undersea Weapons Center near San Clemente Island, CA.
  • White Sands with Trieste participated in the search for the nuclear submarine USS Scorpion (SSN-589) lost near the Azores
  • Returned to San Diego, 7 October 1969
  • Reclassified Auxiliary Deep Submergence Support Ship AGDS-1, 1 August 1973
  • Placed out of service in the summer of 1974
  • Struck from the Naval Register in September 1974
  • Final Disposition, sold for scrapping in 1974
    Specifications:
    Displacement 5,200 t.
    Length 291' 8"
    Beam 81'
    Draft 6', 32' 10" (submerged)
    Complement 112
    Armament unknown
    Propulsion none
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    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    Apache 107k White Sands (ARD-20) and USS Apache (ATF-67) moored at either Naval Station Rodman or Balboa, Panama Canal Zone, circa 28 February 1969. Apache and White Sands, with the deep submergence vehicle Trieste on board, where enroute to an area near the Azores to search for the nuclear submarine USS Scorpion (SSN-589) which was lost in May 1968. Apache towed White Sands which was the support ship for the deep submergence vehicle Trieste which search for the missing Scorpion Gary Ragsdale, EN3/2class Diver USS Apache
    View the White Sands (ARD-20 / ARD(BS)-20 / AGDS-1)
    DANFS history entry located at the US Navy History and Heritage Command
    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
    Deep Submergence Support Ship (AGDS
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
    © 2005 Gary P. Priolo © 1996 - 2009 NavSource Naval History. All Rights Reserved.
    Last Updated 17 July 2009