USNS Sampan Hitch (T-AGM-18) was a missile range instrumentation ship

Missile Range Instrumentation Ship

Missile Range Instrumentation Ships, Range Ships, or Tracking Ships, are ships equipped with antennas and electronics to support the launching and tracking of missiles and rockets...

 which earlier operated as the U.S. Air Force Ocean Range Vessel USAFS Sampan Hitch (ORV-1836) on the U.S. Air Force's Eastern Test Range

Eastern Test Range

The Eastern Range is an American rocket range that supports missile and rocket launches from the two major launch heads located at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and the Kennedy Space Center. The range has also supported Ariane launches from the Guiana Space Centre as well as providing support...

 during the late 1950s and early 1960s. Sampan Hitch operated under an Air Force contract with Pan American Airways Guided Missile Range Division

Pan American Airways Guided Missile Range Division

Pan American Airways Guided Missile Range Division was a distinct division of Pan American World Airways in the period 1950-1980, responsible as prime contractor of the U.S. Air Force Eastern Test Range, based out of Patrick Air Force Base, Florida...

 headquartered in Cocoa Beach, Florida

Cocoa Beach, Florida

Cocoa Beach is a city in Brevard County, Florida, United States. The population was 12,482 at the 2000 census. According to the U.S. Census Bureau estimates of 2008, the city had a population of 11,920...

.

Sampan Hitch, assigned to the South Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean area, provided the Air Force with metric data on intercontinental ballistic missiles launched from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station

Cape Canaveral Air Force Station

Cape Canaveral Air Force Station is an installation of the United States Air Force Space Command's 45th Space Wing, headquartered at nearby Patrick Air Force Base. Located on Cape Canaveral in the state of Florida, CCAFS is the primary launch head of America's Eastern Range with four launch pads...

 (CCAFS) in Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

.

Sampan Hitch operated in the intercontinental ballistic missile re-entry area near Ascension Island

Ascension Island

Ascension Island is an isolated volcanic island in the equatorial waters of the South Atlantic Ocean, around from the coast of Africa and from the coast of South America, which is roughly midway between the horn of South America and Africa...

, and was home-ported out of South Atlantic Fleet Hqtrs, Chagaramus (Port of Spain) Trinidad, BWI.

Acquisition by the Navy

Sampan Hitch was acquired from the U.S. Air Force by the U.S. Navy in 1964.

Operational data

Operational data while on U.S. Navy service during post-1964 period on this vessel is lacking.

Inactivation

Sampan Hitch was struck from the Navy List

Naval Vessel Register

The Naval Vessel Register is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from the time a vessel is authorized through its life cycle and...

 at an unknown date, and was sold for scrapping 23 April 1973 to Dongkuk Steel Mill Company, Ltd., South Korea

South Korea

The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...

. Her subsequent fate is not known.

See also

• Missile Range Instrumentation Ship
  Missile Range Instrumentation Ship
  Missile Range Instrumentation Ships, Range Ships, or Tracking Ships, are ships equipped with antennas and electronics to support the launching and tracking of missiles and rockets...
  
  
• List of ships of the United States Air Force
• Eastern Test Range
  Eastern Test Range
  The Eastern Range is an American rocket range that supports missile and rocket launches from the two major launch heads located at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and the Kennedy Space Center. The range has also supported Ariane launches from the Guiana Space Centre as well as providing support...
  
  
• Pan American Airways Guided Missile Range Division
  Pan American Airways Guided Missile Range Division
  Pan American Airways Guided Missile Range Division was a distinct division of Pan American World Airways in the period 1950-1980, responsible as prime contractor of the U.S. Air Force Eastern Test Range, based out of Patrick Air Force Base, Florida...
  
  
• Missile Test Project
  Missile Test Project
  The Missile Test Project was a U.S. Air Force program operated by RCA Service Company from Patrick Air Force Base, Florida, under the direction of prime contractor Pan American Guided Missiles Research Division during the 1950s and continuing on for several more decades...