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DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER
805 KIDDER BREESE SE -- WASHINGTON NAVY YARD
WASHINGTON DC 20374-5060
Online Library of Selected Images:
-- U.S. NAVY SHIPS --
USNS Mizar (T-AK-272, later T-AGOR-11), 1958-____
USNS Mizar, a 1850-ton Eltanin class ice-breaking
cargo ship, was built at Avondale, Louisiana, for use in Arctic
and Antarctic waters. Placed in service with the Military Sea
Transportation Service (MSTS) in March 1958, she spent the next
several years supporting military construction, base operations
and scientific endeavors in Greenland and northern Canada. In
late 1961, she also made one supply trip to Antarctica.
In 1963, Mizar was converted to an oceanographic research
ship, with a deep-submergence support capability. She was reclassified
T-AGOR-11 in April 1964, and was operated by MSTS on behalf of
the Naval Research Laboratory. During the 1960s she played an
important role in locating and examining the wrecks of the lost
nuclear submarines Thresher
and Scorpion and in
finding and recovering a lost thermonuclear weapon off the coast
of Spain. Later, she helped locate other sunken submarines, including
the French Eurydice and the Soviet "Golf" type
K-129.
Mizar was assigned to the Military Sealift Command Pacific
in 1975 and was heavily modified in about 1980, resulting in a
greatly changed appearance. She continued her research functions
throughout that decade, but left active service in the early 1990s
and was turned over to the U.S. Maritime Administration. Her classification
was subsequently changed back to AK-272. At present, Mizar
is part of the National Defense Reserve Fleet in the James River,
Virginia.
This page features all our views of USNS Mizar (T-AK-272,
later T-AGOR-11).
For photographs of the wreck of USS Scorpion (SSN-589)
taken by USNS Mizar in October 1968, see:
Wreck of USS Scorpion -- Views taken in 1968.
Click on the small photograph to prompt
a larger view of the same image.
Photo #: NH 79130
USNS Mizar (T-AGOR-11)
Photographed on a winter day in the middle or later 1960s.
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.
Online Image: 72KB; 740 x 585 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 97572
USNS Mizar (T-AGOR-11)
Photographed underway in icy waters, during the middle or later
1960s.
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.
Online Image: 85KB; 740 x 630 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 97573
USNS Mizar (T-AGOR-11)
Departing Boston, Massachusetts, 24 June 1964.
Note notch in her stern, a design feature intended to assist
pushing by another ship during ice navigation.
Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the
Naval Historical Center.
Online Image: 64KB; 740 x 520 pixels |
 |
Photo #: NH 97574
USNS Mizar (T-AGOR-11)
Photographed circa 1970, by the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory,
for which the ship was operated by the Military Sealift Command.
The original caption, received with this photograph under date
of October 1970, states: "... The ship has been used to
investigate the ocean depths and to locate lost ships and, most
recently, to find the site of the scuttled Liberty Ship Le
Baron Russell Briggs which sank during August 1970 in 16,000
feet of water about 230 miles off the coast of Florida with 418
concrete and steel coffins of nerve-gas rockets aboard."
Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the
Naval Historical Center.
Online Image: 127KB; 740 x 580 pixels |
 |
Photo #: NH 97575
USNS Mizar (T-AGOR-11)
Is photographed by one of her crewmen, while she was moored at
Naval Air Station, Adak, Alaska, during the 1980s.
Photographed by Bob Borden, MSCPAC.
Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the Military Sealift Command
Collection at the Naval Historical Center.
Online Image: 114KB; 570 x 765 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 97576-KN (Color)
USNS Mizar (T-AGOR-11)
Photographed during the 1980s.
Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the Military Sealift Command
Collection at the Naval Historical Center.
Online Image: 106KB; 740 x 590 pixels |
 |
Photo #: NH 97577
USNS Mizar (T-AGOR-11)
"...... Side view of the towed sled used by the Navy research
ship Mizar in the search for the nuclear submarine USS
Scorpion (SSN-589). Various types of search and detection
equipment can be mounted on this vehicle. Mizar yesterday
located objects identified as portions of the hull of the Scorpion
at a depth of more than 10,000 feet, about 400 miles southwest
of the Azores."
Quoted from the original caption, released with this photograph
under date of 31 October 1968.
Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval
Historical Center.
Online Image: 69KB; 740 x 590 pixels |
 |
Photo #: NH 97578
USNS Mizar (T-AGOR-11)
"...... Bottom view of the towed sled used by the Navy research
ship Mizar in the search for the nuclear submarine USS
Scorpion (SSN-589). Various types of search and detection
equipment can be mounted on this vehicle. Mizar yesterday
located objects identified as portions of the hull of the Scorpion
at a depth of more than 10,000 feet, about 400 miles southwest
of the Azores."
Quoted from the original caption, released with this photograph
under date of 31 October 1968.
Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval
Historical Center.
Online Image: 95KB; 740 x 615 pixels |
 |
For photographs of the wreck of USS Scorpion (SSN-589)
taken by USNS Mizar in October 1968, see:
Wreck of USS Scorpion -- Views taken in 1968.
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Historical Center home page.
Page made 31 March 2001