USS Lookout

	SS Claude B. Kitchin on the building ways at J. A. Jones Construction Co. Inc., Panama City, FL., prior to launching, 24 May 1945.
History
United States
Name	Claude B. Kitchin
Namesake	Claude B. Kitchin
Owner	War Shipping Administration (WSA)
Operator	United Fruit Co.
Ordered	as type (EC2-S-C5) hull, MC hull 3139
Builder	J.A. Jones Construction, Panama City, Florida
Cost	$818,469
Yard number	99
Way number	4
Laid down	5 April 1945
Launched	24 May 1945
Sponsored by	Mrs. F. D. Burge
Completed	25 June 1945
Identification	Call sign: ANZJ; ;
Fate	Placed in the, National Defense Reserve Fleet; Acquired by US Navy, 13 August 1954;
	USS Lookout (AGR-2) underway, date and location unknown.
United States
Name	Lookout
Namesake	A careful watching for someone or something
Commissioned	5 March 1955
Decommissioned	12 July 1965
Reclassified	Guardian-class radar picket ship
Refit	Charleston Naval Shipyard, Charleston, South Carolina
Stricken	1 September 1965
Identification	Hull symbol: YAGR-2 (1956–1958); Hull symbol: AGR-2 (1958–1970);
Fate	Placed in National Defense Reserve Fleet, Hudson River Reserve Fleet, Jones Point, New York; Sold for scrapping, scrapped, November 1970;
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 Filer and Stowell, Milwaukee, Wisconsin); 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 Lookout (YAGR/AGR-2) was a Guardian-class radar picket ship, converted from a Liberty Ship, acquired by the US Navy in 1954. She was reconfigured as a radar picket ship and assigned to radar picket duty in the North Atlantic Ocean as part of the Distant Early Warning Line.

Construction

Lookout (YAGR-2) was laid down on 5 April 1945, under a Maritime Commission (MARCOM) contract, MC hull 3139, as the Liberty Ship Claude Kitchin, by J.A. Jones Construction, Panama City, Florida. She was launched 24 May 1945; sponsored by Mrs. F. D. Burge; and delivered 25 June 1945, to the United Fruit Company.^[5]^[2]

Service history

She was soon placed into the National Defense Reserve Fleet until 13 August 1954, when she was acquired by the US Navy. She was converted to a radar picket ship at the Charleston Navy Yard, Charleston, South Carolina, and commissioned Lookout (YAGR-2), 5 March 1955.^[5]^[4]

After shakedown off Newport, Rhode Island, Lookout was assigned to radar picket duty in the 1st Naval District. From 1956 to 1965, she operated on the Atlantic Ocean perimeter of the radar defense net established around the United States to warn of surprise air attack. On 28 September 1958, her classification was changed to AGR-2. Lookout's periods of 20 to 30 days at sea were alternated with inport replenishment at Davisville, Rhode Island.^[5]

By the time she completed her 10th year of service in the spring of 1965, Lookout had distinguished herself in the defense of the Nation.^[5]

Decommissioning

She arrived Bayonne, New Jersey, 23 June, and decommissioned there 12 July 1965. Her name was struck from the Naval Register 1 September 1965. Lookout was transferred to the National Defense Reserve Fleet, Hudson River Reserve Fleet, Jones Point, New York, where she remained until she was sold for scrap in 1970, to a scrapping firm in Spain.^[5]^[4]

Military awards and honors

Lookout's crew was eligible for the following medals:

National Defense Service Medal
Navy Expeditionary Medal (2 awards)

References

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

Bibliography

"Lookout". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Navy Department, Naval History and Heritage Command. Retrieved 27 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 27 November 2019.
Davies, James (May 2004). "Specifications (As-Built)" (PDF). p. 23. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
"SS Claude B. Kitchin". Retrieved 27 November 2019.
"USS Lookout (AGR-2)". Navsource.org. 9 October 2015. Retrieved 27 November 2019.

External links

Photo gallery of USS Lookout 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] 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