USS Tracer

USS Tracer (AGR-15) underway, date and location unknown.
History
United States
Name	William J. Riddle
Namesake	William J. Riddle
Owner	War Shipping Administration (WSA)
Operator	Moore McCormack Lines, Inc.
Ordered	as type (EC2-S-C5) hull, MC hull 2340
Builder	J.A. Jones Construction, Panama City, Florida[1]
Cost	$1,068,836[2]
Yard number	81
Way number	5
Laid down	24 December 1944
Launched	31 January 1945
Sponsored by	Mrs. Marion Harders
Completed	15 February 1945
Identification	Call sign: ANIJ [2]
Fate	Placed in the, National Defense Reserve Fleet, Wilmington, North Carolina, 16 December 1946 Acquired by US Navy, 21 May 1957
United States
Name	Interrupter (1958) Tracer (1959–1965)
Namesake	One who breaks in upon some action, hinders, or obstructs One that traces, tracks down, or searches out
Commissioned	16 October 1958
Decommissioned	7 July 1965
Renamed	4 September 1959
Reclassified	Guardian-class radar picket ship
Refit	Charleston Naval Shipyard, Charleston, South Carolina
Stricken	1 September 1965
Identification	Hull symbol: AGR-15 Call sign: NNTS [3]
Fate	Placed in National Defense Reserve Fleet, Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet, Suisun Bay, California, 4 February 1966 Sold for non-transportation use, 15 July 1974
United States
Name	Unisea
Fate	Placed in commercial service as a fish processing plant at Unalaska, Alaska Sold for scrapping, 2000
General characteristics [4]
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 inches (76 mm)/50 caliber gun Stern-mounted 4 inches (102 mm)/50 caliber gun 2–8 × single 20 millimeters (0.79 in) Oerlikon anti-aircraft (AA) cannons and/or, 2–8 × 37 millimeters (1.46 in) M1 AA guns
General characteristics (US Navy refit)[3]
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 Tracer (AGR-15) was a Guardian-class radar picket ship, converted from a Liberty Ship, acquired by the US Navy in 1957. She was reconfigured as a radar picket ship and assigned to radar picket duty in the North Pacific Ocean as part of the Distant Early Warning Line.

Because of the closeness of the sound of names issued for radar picket ships at the time, Interrupter had her name changed by the Navy to Tracer so as not to confuse her with USS Interdictor (AGR-13) and USS Interpreter (AGR-14)