Radar picket
Encyclopedia
A radar picket is a radar
-equipped ship, submarine, aircraft, or vehicle used to increase the radar detection range around a force to protect it from surprise attack. Often several detached radar units encircle a force to provide increased cover in all directions.
to aid in the Allied
advance to Japan. As they were the nearest ships to the Japanese airfields, and hence the first seen, they were often heavily attacked by kamikaze
aircraft.
From 1943 the German Navy (Kriegsmarine
) operated several radar-equipped night fighter
guide ships (Nachtjagdleitschiffe), including NJL Togo
. which was equipped with a FuMG A1 Freya radar
for early warning and Würzburg-Riese gun laying radar
, plus night fighter communications equipment.
From October 1943 the NJL Togo cruised the Baltic Sea
under the operational control of the Luftwaffe
. In March 1944, after the three great Soviet bombing raids on Helsinki, she arrived in the Gulf of Finland
to provide night fighter cover for Tallinn
and Helsinki
.
employed radar picket ships converted from the former Boxed Aircraft Transport version of the Liberty ship
to extend the DEW Line seaward. During the period between 1955 and 1965, sixteen Liberty ships converted into Radar Picket Ships were stationed on the East Coast and West Coast, eight stationed at Treasure Island, California and eight stationed at Davisville, Rhode Island
. Ship names matched the mission: Outpost AGR 10, Guardian, Lookout, Skywatcher, Searcher, Scanner, Locator, Picket and the Interceptor on the East Coast and Investigator, Protector, Vigil, Interdictor, Interpreter, Tracer and Watchman on the West Coast. The designation of the ships was YAGR, later changed to AGR.
Picket stations were spotted about 400-500 miles out and provided an overlapping radar or electronic barrier against approaching aircraft. While on station, the ships shifted operational control from the Navy to the Air Force
and NORAD
. Each ship while on station stayed within a specific radius of its assigned Picket Station, reporting and tracking all aircraft contacts. Each ship carried qualified Air Controllers to direct intercept aircraft sent out to engage contacts. While on station other duties such as Search and Rescue, weather reporting, and miscellaneous duties were assigned. The National Marine Fisheries Service
even provided fishing gear so that the crew could fish for tuna during season, and the ships sent daily reports of fish caught for research purposes.
The standard crew consisted of 13 Officers, eight Chief Petty Officers, and 125 enlisted. Typical station duty was about 30-45 days out and 15 days in port. By 1965, the development of Over-the-Horizon radar made the Radar Ships obsolete. Ground based systems then had the capability to see beyond their once state-of-the-art radar systems. The Gulf of Tonkin
PIRAZ
station expanded the radar picket role during the Vietnam War
.
During the Cold War
, the United States Navy advanced to radar picket submarines which had the option of diving when under attack. The radar equipment of these diesel submarines took the place of torpedoes and their tubes in the rear torpedo rooms. The largest, most capable, and most expensive of these submarines was the nuclear-powered USS Triton
. With the introduction of lighter radar sets that required less power and could be carried aboard aircraft, the radar picket submarine became obsolete; the Triton serving in her design role as radar picket for only two years before being converted into an attack submarine.
Radar
Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...
-equipped ship, submarine, aircraft, or vehicle used to increase the radar detection range around a force to protect it from surprise attack. Often several detached radar units encircle a force to provide increased cover in all directions.
World War II
Radar picket ships first came into being during World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
to aid in the Allied
Allies of World War II
The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...
advance to Japan. As they were the nearest ships to the Japanese airfields, and hence the first seen, they were often heavily attacked by kamikaze
Kamikaze
The were suicide attacks by military aviators from the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, designed to destroy as many warships as possible....
aircraft.
From 1943 the German Navy (Kriegsmarine
Kriegsmarine
The Kriegsmarine was the name of the German Navy during the Nazi regime . It superseded the Kaiserliche Marine of World War I and the post-war Reichsmarine. The Kriegsmarine was one of three official branches of the Wehrmacht, the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany.The Kriegsmarine grew rapidly...
) operated several radar-equipped night fighter
Night fighter
A night fighter is a fighter aircraft adapted for use at night or in other times of bad visibility...
guide ships (Nachtjagdleitschiffe), including NJL Togo
German night fighter direction vessel Togo
Launched in 1938, the MS Togo was a German merchant ship. At the outbreak of World War II in early September 1939, she was in the French port of Douala in Africa, but avoiding internment and running the Allied blockade, she successfully returned to Hamburg...
. which was equipped with a FuMG A1 Freya radar
Freya radar
Freya was an early warning radar deployed by Germany during World War II, named after the Norse Goddess Freyja. During the war over a thousand stations were built. A naval version operating on a slightly different wavelength was also developed as Seetakt...
for early warning and Würzburg-Riese gun laying radar
Würzburg radar
The Würzburg radar was the primary ground-based gun laying radar for both the Luftwaffe and the German Army during World War II. Initial development took place before the war, entering service in 1940. Eventually over 4,000 Würzburgs of various models were produced...
, plus night fighter communications equipment.
From October 1943 the NJL Togo cruised the Baltic Sea
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
under the operational control of the Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
. In March 1944, after the three great Soviet bombing raids on Helsinki, she arrived in the Gulf of Finland
Gulf of Finland
The Gulf of Finland is the easternmost arm of the Baltic Sea. It extends between Finland and Estonia all the way to Saint Petersburg in Russia, where the river Neva drains into it. Other major cities around the gulf include Helsinki and Tallinn...
to provide night fighter cover for Tallinn
Tallinn
Tallinn is the capital and largest city of Estonia. It occupies an area of with a population of 414,940. It is situated on the northern coast of the country, on the banks of the Gulf of Finland, south of Helsinki, east of Stockholm and west of Saint Petersburg. Tallinn's Old Town is in the list...
and Helsinki
Helsinki
Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...
.
Cold War
Formerly, the United States NavyUnited States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
employed radar picket ships converted from the former Boxed Aircraft Transport version of the Liberty ship
Liberty ship
Liberty ships were cargo ships built in the United States during World War II. Though British in conception, they were adapted by the U.S. as they were cheap and quick to build, and came to symbolize U.S. wartime industrial output. Based on vessels ordered by Britain to replace ships torpedoed by...
to extend the DEW Line seaward. During the period between 1955 and 1965, sixteen Liberty ships converted into Radar Picket Ships were stationed on the East Coast and West Coast, eight stationed at Treasure Island, California and eight stationed at Davisville, Rhode Island
Davisville, Rhode Island
Davisville, Rhode Island was the former home of the U.S. Navy SeaBees. It was located at Quonset Point on Narragansett Bay, an area now included in the town of North Kingstown. The Navy acquired the property in 1939 and built Naval Air Station Quonset Point...
. Ship names matched the mission: Outpost AGR 10, Guardian, Lookout, Skywatcher, Searcher, Scanner, Locator, Picket and the Interceptor on the East Coast and Investigator, Protector, Vigil, Interdictor, Interpreter, Tracer and Watchman on the West Coast. The designation of the ships was YAGR, later changed to AGR.
Picket stations were spotted about 400-500 miles out and provided an overlapping radar or electronic barrier against approaching aircraft. While on station, the ships shifted operational control from the Navy to the Air Force
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
and NORAD
North American Aerospace Defense Command
North American Aerospace Defense Command is a joint organization of Canada and the United States that provides aerospace warning, air sovereignty, and defense for the two countries. Headquarters NORAD is located at Peterson AFB, Colorado Springs, Colorado...
. Each ship while on station stayed within a specific radius of its assigned Picket Station, reporting and tracking all aircraft contacts. Each ship carried qualified Air Controllers to direct intercept aircraft sent out to engage contacts. While on station other duties such as Search and Rescue, weather reporting, and miscellaneous duties were assigned. The National Marine Fisheries Service
National Marine Fisheries Service
The National Marine Fisheries Service is a United States federal agency. A division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Department of Commerce, NMFS is responsible for the stewardship and management of the nation's living marine resources and their habitat within the...
even provided fishing gear so that the crew could fish for tuna during season, and the ships sent daily reports of fish caught for research purposes.
The standard crew consisted of 13 Officers, eight Chief Petty Officers, and 125 enlisted. Typical station duty was about 30-45 days out and 15 days in port. By 1965, the development of Over-the-Horizon radar made the Radar Ships obsolete. Ground based systems then had the capability to see beyond their once state-of-the-art radar systems. The Gulf of Tonkin
Gulf of Tonkin
The Gulf of Tonkin is an arm of the South China Sea, lying off the coast of northeastern Vietnam.-Etymology:The name Tonkin, written "東京" in Hán tự and Đông Kinh in romanised Vietnamese, means "Eastern Capital", and is the former toponym for Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam...
PIRAZ
PIRAZ
PIRAZ is a United States Navy acronym for Positive Identification RADAR Advisory Zone. The zone is defined by the air search RADAR coverage of a ship patrolling a designated PIRAZ station...
station expanded the radar picket role during the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
.
During the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
, the United States Navy advanced to radar picket submarines which had the option of diving when under attack. The radar equipment of these diesel submarines took the place of torpedoes and their tubes in the rear torpedo rooms. The largest, most capable, and most expensive of these submarines was the nuclear-powered USS Triton
USS Triton (SSRN-586)
USS Triton , a United States Navy nuclear-powered radar picket submarine, was the first vessel to execute a submerged circumnavigation of the Earth , doing so in early 1960. Triton accomplished this objective during her shakedown cruise while under the command of Captain Edward L. "Ned" Beach, Jr...
. With the introduction of lighter radar sets that required less power and could be carried aboard aircraft, the radar picket submarine became obsolete; the Triton serving in her design role as radar picket for only two years before being converted into an attack submarine.