USS Guardian (YAGR-1)

	USS Guardian (AGR-1), moored pierside, Boston, July 1960.
History
United States
Name	James G. Squires
Namesake	James G. Squires
Owner	War Shipping Administration (WSA)
Operator	Waterman Steamship Corp.
Ordered	as type (EC2-S-C5) hull, MC hull 3137
Builder	J.A. Jones Construction, Panama City, Florida
Cost	$857,562
Yard number	97
Way number	5
Laid down	20 March 1945
Launched	8 May 1945
Sponsored by	Mrs. Elisa Broome
Completed	31 May 1945
Identification	Call sign: ANZI; ;
Fate	Placed in the, James River Reserve Fleet, Lee Hall, Virginia, 5 October 1945; Acquired by US Navy, 1954;
United States
Name	Guardian
Namesake	One who guards or protects
Commissioned	1 February 1955
Decommissioned	28 July 1965
Reclassified	Guardian-class radar picket ship
Refit	Charleston Naval Shipyard, Charleston, South Carolina
Homeport	Newport, Rhode Island
Identification	Hull symbol: YAGR-1 (1956–1958); Hull symbol: AGR-1 (1958–1970);
Fate	Placed in National Defense Reserve Fleet; Sold for scrapping, 23 November 1970, withdrawn from fleet, 21 December 1970, scrapped, September 1971;
General characteristics
Class and type	Liberty ship; type EC2-S-C5, boxed aircraft transport;
Tonnage	10,600 LT DWT; 7,200 GRT;
Displacement	3,380 long tons (3,434 t) (light); 14,245 long tons (14,474 t) (max);
Length	441 feet 6 inches (135 m) oa; 416 feet (127 m) pp; 427 feet (130 m) lwl;
Beam	57 feet (17 m)
Draft	27 ft 9.25 in (8.4646 m)
Installed power	2 × Oil fired 450 °F (232 °C) boilers, operating at 220 psi (1,500 kPa); 2,500 hp (1,900 kW);
Propulsion	1 × triple-expansion steam engine, (manufactured by Joshua Hendy Iron Works, Sunnyvale, California); 1 × screw propeller;
Speed	11.5 knots (21.3 km/h; 13.2 mph)
Capacity	490,000 cubic feet (13,875 m3) (bale)
Complement	38–62 USMM; 21–40 USNAG;
Armament	Varied by ship; Bow-mounted 3-inch (76 mm)/50-caliber gun; Stern-mounted 4-inch (102 mm)/50-caliber gun; 2–8 × single 20-millimeter (0.79 in) Oerlikon anti-aircraft (AA) cannons and/or,; 2–8 × 37-millimeter (1.46 in) M1 AA guns;
General characteristics (US Navy refit)
Class and type	Guardian-class radar picket ship
Capacity	443,646 US gallons (1,679,383 L; 369,413 imp gal) (fuel oil); 68,267 US gallons (258,419 L; 56,844 imp gal) (diesel); 15,082 US gallons (57,092 L; 12,558 imp gal) (fresh water); 1,326,657 US gallons (5,021,943 L; 1,104,673 imp gal) (fresh water ballast);
Complement	13 officers; 138 enlisted;
Armament	2 × 3 inches (76 mm)/50 caliber guns

USS Guardian (AGR/YAGR-1) was a Guardian-class radar picket ship, converted from a Liberty Ship, acquired by the US Navy in 1954. Her task was to act as part of the radar defenses of the United States in the Cold War, serving until 1965.

Construction

Guardian (YAGR-1) was laid down on 20 March 1945, under a Maritime Commission (MARCOM) contract, MC hull 3137, as the Liberty Ship James G. Squires, by J.A. Jones Construction, Panama City, Florida. She was launched 8 May 1945; sponsored by Mrs. Elisa Broome; and delivered 31 May, to Waterman Steamship Corporation.^[5]^[4]

Service history

She served until 5 October 1945, when she was placed in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, James River, Virginia.^[5]

Acquired by the US Navy, she was taken out of reserve in 1954, she was converted to a radar picket ship at the Charleston Navy Yard, Charleston, South Carolina, and commissioned Guardian (YAGR-1), at Norfolk, Virginia, 1 February 1955.^[5]^[4]

The first ocean radar station ship put into service by the Navy, Guardian conducted shakedown in Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico, and surrounding waters, reporting to Newport, Rhode Island, her home port, 2 June 1955.^[5] In 1958 the Atlantic Ocean radar picket force relocated to Davisville, Rhode Island.

Equipped with highly sensitive radar gear to enable her to detect, track, and report any aircraft penetrating the continental United States, Guardian was attached to the Eastern Continental Air Defense Command. She and her sister ships spent 3 or 4 weeks at a time off the US East Coast and West Coast on radar picket duty, even in the heaviest winter weather in the North Atlantic Ocean.^[5]

In addition to radar picket duty, Guardian participated in ASW exercises with both American and Canadian naval units and in local operations out of Newport and Key West, Florida. Her designation was changed to AGR-1 on 28 September 1958.^[5]

Decommissioning

Guardian was decommissioned 28 July 1965. She was returned to the Maritime Commission (MARCOM) for lay up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet. She was sold for scrapping, 23 November 1970, and withdrawn from fleet, 21 December 1970. She was scrapped in Bilbao, Spain, September 1971.^[4]

Military awards and honors

Guardian's crew was eligible for the following medals:

Navy Expeditionary Medal (2 awards)
National Defense Service Medal

References

^ J.A. Panama City 2010.
^ ^a ^b MARCOM.
^ Davies 2004, p. 23.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Navsource 2015.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f DANFS.

Bibliography

"Guardian". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Navy Department, Naval History and Heritage Command. Retrieved 26 November 2019. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
"Jones Construction, Panama City FL". www.ShipbuildingHistory.com. 13 October 2010. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
Davies, James (May 2004). "Specifications (As-Built)" (PDF). p. 23. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
"SS James G. Squires". Retrieved 26 November 2019.
"USS Guardian (AGR-1)". Navsource.org. 30 October 2015. Retrieved 26 November 2019.

External links

Photo gallery of USS Guardian at NavSource Naval History

[FOOTNOTEJ.A._Panama_City2010-1] J.A. Panama City 2010.

[FOOTNOTEMARCOM-2] MARCOM.

[FOOTNOTEDavies200423-3] Davies 2004, p. 23.

[FOOTNOTENavsource2015-4] Navsource 2015.

[FOOTNOTEDANFS-5] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f DANFS.

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v t e MARCOM ships built by Jones Construction, Wainwright Shipyards, Panama City, Florida, during World War II
Type EC2-S-C1 ships "Liberty Ships"	E. Kirby Smith Newton D. Baker John Bascom William J. Bryan Joseph M. Medill Elihu Root John Hay Dwight L. Moody Peter Zenger Harriet Hosmer Duncan U. Fletcher Dolly Madison Robert Lansing Victor Herbert Julius Rosenwald Walter L. Fleming Salvador Brau Harold T. Andrews Russell Sage William W. Loring Minnie M. Fiske John W. Griffiths Augustus Saint-Gaudens John M. Brooke Rebecca Lukens Alanson B. Houghton Samuel G. French Thomas LeValley Josephine Shaw Lowell Richard V. Oulahan James H. Kimball Stephen Furdek Jean Ribaut LeBaron Russell Briggs Howard Gray H. H. Raymond T. A. Johnston M. Michael Edelstein William D. Bloxham Nick Stoner William E. Dodd J. H. Drummond William L. Watson John R. McQuigg Carl E. Ladd Pedro Menendez George Ade Edward K. Collins C. Francis Jenkins Raymond V. Ingersoll Benjamin F. Coston William P. Duval Stepas Darius Alexander E. Brown Chief Osceola Richard Halliburton Samuel G. Howe Granville S. Hall Stephen Smith Charles D. Walcott Art Young Charles H. Marshall Ransom A. Moore Soter Ortynsky Bjarne A. Lia Wendell L. Willkie
Type Z-EC2-S-C2 ships "Army tank transports"	Mary Ball John Barton Payne Frederic C. Howe William B. Wilson Sarah J. Hale Nathan B. Forrest Stephen R. Mallory Edgar E Clark
Type Z-EC2-S-C5 ships "Boxed aircraft transports"	Frederick E. Williamson Michael James Monohan Charles A. Draper Rafael R. Rivera James W. Wheeler Raymond Van Brogan William J. Riddle Dudley H. Thomas John L. McCarley Vernon S. Hood Edwin D. Howard Wesley W. Barrett Warren P. Marks Frank O. Peterson Barney Kirschbaum Mary Cullom Kimbro James G. Squires James F. Harrell Claude Kitchin Francis J. O'Gara Frank Flowers Edwin H. Duff Joseph V. Connolly Walter W. Schwenk Charles H. Cugle Robert F. Burns Edward Burton Ora Ellis
Type T1-M-BT2 ships Tonti-class gasoline tankers	Tancred Tandora Tannadice Tantallon Tanova Tannaquil