- Acquisition by the Navy
- Operational data
- Inactivation
- See also
- References
{{Infobox ship image| Ship image= | Ship caption=
}}{{Infobox ship career | Hide header= | Ship country=United States | 1964}} | Ship name= USNS Sampan Hitch | Ship namesake= A name retained | Ship owner= | Ship operator= | Ship registry= | Ship route= | Ship ordered= | Ship awarded= | Ship builder= Walter Butler Shipbuilding Inc., Superior, Wisconsin | Ship original cost= | Ship yard number= | Ship way number= | Ship laid down= date unknown, as a type (C1-M-AV1) hull, MC hull 2133 | Ship launched=12 July 1945 | Ship sponsor= | Ship christened= | Ship completed=August 1945 | Ship acquired= by the U.S. Navy in 1964 | Ship commissioned= | Ship recommissioned= | Ship decommissioned= | Ship maiden voyage= | Ship in service= c. 1958 | Ship out of service= date unknown | Ship renamed= | Ship reclassified= | Ship refit= | Ship struck= date unknown | Ship reinstated= | Ship homeport= | Ship identification= | Ship motto= | Ship nickname= | Ship honours= | Ship honors= | Ship captured= | Ship fate= sold for scrapping 23 April 1973 to a South Korean steel firm | Ship status= | Ship notes= | Ship badge=
}}{{Infobox ship characteristics | Hide header= | Header caption= | Ship class= | Ship type= missile range instrumentation ship | Ship tonnage= 3,366 tons | Ship displacement= | Ship tons burthen= 6,090 tons | Ship length= 338' 9" | Ship beam= 50' 4" | Ship height= | Ship draught= | Ship draft= 17' 7" | Ship depth= | Ship hold depth= | Ship decks= | Ship deck clearance= | Ship ramps= | Ship ice class= | Ship power= | Ship propulsion= Diesel, single propeller | Ship sail plan= | Ship speed= 11.5 knots | Ship range= | Ship endurance= 30 days at sea | Ship test depth= | Ship boats= | Ship capacity= | Ship troops= | Ship complement= unknown | Ship crew= | Ship time to activate= | Ship sensors= telemetry | Ship EW= | Ship armament= none | Ship armour= | Ship armor= | Ship aircraft= | Ship aircraft facilities= | Ship notes=
}} | USNS Sampan Hitch (T-AGM-18) was a missile range instrumentation ship 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 during the late 1950s and early 1960s. Sampan Hitch operated under an Air Force contract with Pan American Airways Guided Missile Range Division headquartered in Cocoa Beach, Florida. 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 (CCAFS) in Florida. Sampan Hitch operated in the intercontinental ballistic missile re-entry area near Ascension Island, and was home-ported out of South Atlantic Fleet Hqtrs, Chagaramus (Port of Spain) Trinidad, BWI. Acquisition by the NavySampan Hitch was acquired from the U.S. Air Force by the U.S. Navy in 1964. Operational dataOperational data while on U.S. Navy service during post-1964 period on this vessel is lacking. InactivationSampan Hitch was struck from the Navy List at an unknown date, and was sold for scrapping 23 April 1973 to Dongkuk Steel Mill Company, Ltd., South Korea. Her subsequent fate is not known. See also{{Portal|United States Air Force}}- Missile Range Instrumentation Ship
- List of ships of the United States Air Force
- Eastern Test Range
- Pan American Airways Guided Missile Range Division
- Missile Test Project
References- NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive - T-AGM-18 Sampan Hitch
{{Type C1-M ships}}{{DEFAULTSORT:Sampan Hitch (T-Agm-18)}}{{US-mil-ship-stub}} 10 : Type C1-M ships|Ships built in Superior, Wisconsin|1945 ships|World War II merchant ships of the United States|Type C1-M ships of the United States Air Force|Type C1-M ships of the United States Navy|Cold War auxiliary ships of the United States|Signals intelligence|Missile range instrumentation ships of the United States Navy|Research vessels of the United States Navy |