USNS Wheeling (T-AGM-8) was a Wheeling-class 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...

 acquired by the U.S. Navy in 1962 and converted from her Victory ship

Victory ship

The Victory ship was a type of cargo ship produced in large numbers by North American shipyards during World War II to replace shipping losses caused by German submarines...

 cargo configuration to a missile tracking ship, a role she retained for a number of years before being sunk as a target by Harpoon missiles on 12 July 1981.

Victory ship built in Oregon

The second ship to be so named by the Navy, Wheeling was laid down on 10 April 1945 as Seton Hall Victory by the Oregon Shipbuilding Corporation

Oregon Shipbuilding Corporation

Oregon Shipbuilding Corporation was a World War II emergency shipyard located in Portland, Oregon, United States, that built over 1000 Liberty and Victory ships between 1941 and 1945. It was closed after the war ended....

 under a U.S. Maritime Commission contract (MCV hull 686); launched on 22 May 1945; sponsored by Mrs. Ross Mclntyre; and delivered to the Maritime Commission on 21 June 1945.

World War II-related service

From July 1945 to September 1957, Seton Hall Victory was operated for the U.S. Maritime Commission by a succession of civilian contractors, beginning with the Olympic Steamship Line and ending with Pope & Talbot, Inc. In September 1957, she was placed out of service and was berthed in Virginia

Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

's James River

James River (Virginia)

The James River is a river in the U.S. state of Virginia. It is long, extending to if one includes the Jackson River, the longer of its two source tributaries. The James River drains a catchment comprising . The watershed includes about 4% open water and an area with a population of 2.5 million...

 with the National Defense Reserve Fleet

National Defense Reserve Fleet

The National Defense Reserve Fleet consists of "mothballed" ships, mostly merchant vessels, that can be activated within 20 to 120 days to provide shipping for the United States of America during national emergencies, either military or non-military, such as commercial shipping crises.The NDRF is...

.

Conversion to missile tracker

Late in 1962, she was turned over to the Navy Department for conversion to 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...

. On 19 March 1963, she was renamed Wheeling and designated AGM-8. On 28 May 1964, Wheeling was assigned to the Military Sea Transportation Service to be operated by a civil service crew in support of operations on the Navy's Pacific Missile Range

Pacific Missile Range

Pacific Missile Range may refer to:* The Western Range, a currently active missile range supporting launches from Vandenberg Air Force Base and elsewhere.* Western Launch and Test Range, a missile range active in the 1960s for tracking ballistic missiles....

.

Wheeling spent her missile tracking years as a mobile tracking station, recording data on missiles and satellites that were out of range of land-based stations. For a number of years she remained on active service on the Pacific coast.

Inactivation and sinking

Wheeling remained in service until (date unknown) and 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...

on 31 October 1990. However, during a Naval exercise on 12 July 1981 she was assigned as target ship for Harpoon missile testing. She was struck by three Harpoons, two of which were launched by ship, one by submarine and one by air. Details of how and when the ship sank, or was otherwise disposed of, are lacking.