List of ships of the United States Air Force

U.S. Air Force ships of the "Tyndall Navy"

Starting in 1957 the US Air Force began operating a small fleet of Missile Range Instrumentation Ships to support missile test ranges. They were designated "ORV" for Ocean Range Vessel. They used the ship name prefix "USAF" (e.g.: USAF Coastal Crusader (ORV-16)).

The initial twelve Atlantic Missile Range ships were modified World War II cargo vessels. Six were FS-type ships and six were C1-M-AV-1 vessels. All were equipped with telemetry systems. Two of the C1-M-AV-1 types, Coastal Sentry and Rose Knot, were equipped with command/control transmitters.^[1]

The smaller FS types were retired by 1960.^[1] In 1964 the US Navy took over operation of the larger C1-M-AV-1 type, and redisgnated them as AGM.^[2] The original larger ORV were out of service on the Eastern Test Range by 1969.^[1]

The U.S. Air Force still operates a small fleet of drone recovery vessels nicknamed the "Tyndall Navy". These ships recover pieces of wreckage from drones and aerial targets from the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. The largest of these vessels are three 120-foot ships operated by the 82nd Aerial Targets Squadron, which is based at Tyndall AFB, Florida.^[3]

US Air Force ship list

• FS Type
  • USAF Echo
  • USAF Foxtrot
  • USAF Golf
  • USAF Hotel
  • USAF India
  • USAF Kilo
• C1-M-AV-1 Type
  • USAFS Sword Knot (scrapped)
  • USAFS Rose Knot (disposed)
  • USAFS Coastal Sentry(disposed)
  • USAFS Coastal Crusader (ORV-16) (disposed)
  • USAFS Timber Hitch (ORV-17) (disposed)
  • USAFS Sampan Hitch (ORV-1836) (scrapped)
• VC2-S-AP3 Type
  • USAF Twin Falls Victory (scrapped)
• C4-S-A1 Type
  • USAFS General Hoyt S. Vandenberg ^[4] (sunk as artificial reef)
  • USAFS General H. H. Arnold^[5] (struck)
• EC2-S-C1 Type
  • USAFS American Mariner ^[6] (sunk as target)
• Thule AFB tugboat
  • Rising Star (active as of Feb 2014)

See also

• Eastern Test Range
• Pan American Airways Guided Missile Range Division
• Missile Test Project
• RAF Marine Branch

External links

• Navsource photos the ships (except FS types)

References

United States Air Force
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