US NAVY USS OXFORD AG-159 Coffee Cup NAUTICAL USN

Description

Coffee Cup from the USS OXFORD AG-159
USS
Oxford
(AGTR-1/AG-159)
was an
Oxford
-class
technical research ship
(a class of US
spy ships
of the early Cold War), acquired by the
U.S. Navy
in 1960 and converted for the task of conducting "research in the reception of
electromagnetic propagations
" (electronic
signals intelligence
gathering). She was originally built during
World War II
as a
Liberty
-type cargo ship originally named the
Samuel R. Aitken
.
Samuel R. Aitken
's civilian life
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]
The second ship eventually to be named
Oxford
by the Navy,
AGTR-1
, a
Liberty ship
, was laid down 23 June 1945 under
Maritime Commission
contract by the New England Shipbuilding Corp. of
Portland, Maine
as a merchant marine naval
cargo ship
; launched 31 July 1945 as
Samuel R. Aitken
(MCE–3127); sponsored by Mrs. Margaret C. Aitken; and delivered to the Maritime Commission 25 August 1945.
As
Samuel R. Aitken
she served the merchant fleet, first with the
Moore-McCormack
Steam Ship Lines and then with the
Arnold Bernstein Line
. She was laid up 10 April 1948 in the
National Defense Reserve Fleet
, in
Wilmington, North Carolina
.
Conversion to technical research ship
Oxford
AG-159
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]
In October 1960, the
Samuel R. Aitken
was towed to the
New York Naval Shipyard
,
Brooklyn, New York
, for conversion to an electronic spy ship. Renamed
USS
Oxford
(
AG–159
) on 25 November 1960, she was commissioned at
New York
on 8 July 1961, Commander Howard R. Lund in command. She reported to
Norfolk, Virginia
, 11 September 1961 for duty with the
Service Force, Atlantic Fleet
, and shortly thereafter conducted shakedown out of
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba
.
Oxford
was designed to conduct research in the reception of
electromagnetic
propagations, an
open secret
phrase for gathering electronic signals
military intelligence
(
SIGINT
). Equipped with the latest antenna systems and measuring devices, she was a highly sophisticated and mobile station which could steam to various parts of the world to participate in the Navy's "comprehensive program of research and development projects in communications" (electronic spying). Because of the immediate or potential military applications of her work, much of
Oxford's
employment was classified.
Cold War Service
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Cuban Missile Crisis
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]
In the fall of 1962, the
Oxford
had been making slow figure-eight patterns in the waters just off the coast of
Havana, Cuba
. Its mission had been to eavesdrop on Cuban
microwave
communications throughout the island. The workings of the microwave system in Cuba were well known to the Americans since they had acquired the design documents from the
Radio Corporation of America
which had installed the system during the
Batista
era. The
Oxford
had been able to listen in on the Cuban secret police, the Cuban navy, air defences, and civil aviation. On 15 September 1962, radar technicians on board the
Oxford
were able to detect the presence of
Soviet
P-12 radar
known to
NATO
as "Spoon Rest". This suggested that the Soviets had secretly upgraded the target tracking and acquisition systems in Cuba. On 27 October 1962, "Black Saturday", the
Oxford
discovered a breakthrough in the Soviet defenses on the island when it detected radar signals from
SAM
missile sites near
Mariel
. This discovery would soon alter both low flying
F-8 Crusader
photo missions and high altitude
U-2 spy plane
reconnaissance flights over the island.
[1]
A "first" in moon bounce communications
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One of
Oxford's
publicized operations took place 15 December 1961 when she became the first ship to receive a message from a shore based facility via the
moon
successfully. Next she departed
Norfolk, Virginia
, 4 January 1962 for a South
Atlantic Ocean
deployment, returning four months later. Another four month South Atlantic deployment followed in May 1963, after which
Oxford
underwent overhaul at
Norfolk Naval Shipyard
,
Portsmouth, Virginia
.
January 1964 brought refresher training at Guantanamo Bay, and from 22 February until 10 June 1964
Oxford
conducted further "research operations" in South Atlantic and
Pacific Ocean
waters.
Redesignated AGTR-1
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]
USS Oxford (AGTR-1)
Oxford
(
AG-159
) was redesignated
technical research ship
(
AGTR–1
) on 1 April 1964. She departed 4 August on yet another South Atlantic cruise, conducting research not only in electromagnetic reception, but also in
oceanography
and related areas. She returned to Norfolk 1 December.
Oxford
steamed for
Africa
3 February 1965, calling at
Las Palmas, Canary Islands
,
Lagos, Nigeria
, and
Durban, South Africa
. A message arrived 26 May reassigning the ship to the
U.S. Pacific Fleet
, with a new homeport at
San Diego, California
. She stood out of
Subic Bay
,
Philippine Islands
, 16 June for a one-month deployment to the
South China Sea
, and thus set the pattern for her operations into 1969.
Decommissioning
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]
Oxford
decommissioned and was struck from the
Naval Vessel Register
19 December 1969 at
Yokosuka
,
Japan
.