A
radar picket is a
radarRadar is an object detection system that uses electromagnetic waves to identify the range, altitude, direction, or speed of both moving and fixed objects such as aircraft, ships, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The term RADAR was coined in 1941 as an acronym for RAdio Detection And...
-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.
Radar picket ships first came into being during
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
to aid in the advance to Japan. As they were the nearest ships to the Japanese airfields, and hence the first seen, they were often heavily attacked by
kamikazeThe 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.
Formerly, the
United States NavyThe United States Navy is the sea branch of the U.S. Armed Forces. It is one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. As of 31 December 2008, the U.S. Navy had about 331,682 personnel on active duty and 124,000 in the Navy Reserve. It operates 283 ships in active service and more than...
employed radar picket ships converted from the former Boxed Aircraft Transport version of the
Liberty shipLiberty 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.
A
radar picket is a
radarRadar is an object detection system that uses electromagnetic waves to identify the range, altitude, direction, or speed of both moving and fixed objects such as aircraft, ships, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The term RADAR was coined in 1941 as an acronym for RAdio Detection And...
-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.
Radar picket ships first came into being during
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
to aid in the advance to Japan. As they were the nearest ships to the Japanese airfields, and hence the first seen, they were often heavily attacked by
kamikazeThe 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.
Formerly, the
United States NavyThe United States Navy is the sea branch of the U.S. Armed Forces. It is one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. As of 31 December 2008, the U.S. Navy had about 331,682 personnel on active duty and 124,000 in the Navy Reserve. It operates 283 ships in active service and more than...
employed radar picket ships converted from the former Boxed Aircraft Transport version of the
Liberty shipLiberty 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 (16) 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 IslandDavisville, 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:
Guardian, Lookout, Skywatcher, Searcher, Scanner, Locator, Picket and the
Interceptor on the West Coast and
Investigator, Outpost, Protector, Vigil, Interdictor, Interpreter, Tracer and
Watchman on the East 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 ForceThe United States Air Force is the aerial warfare branch of the U.S. 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 18 September 1947 under the National Security Act of 1947 - 80 P.L....
and
NORADNorth 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. It was founded on May 12, 1958 as a joint command between the governments of Canada and the United States, as the...
. 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 ServiceThe U.S. 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...
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 TonkinThe Gulf of Tonkin, in Vietnamese: Vịnh Bắc Bộ or in Chinese: Beibu Wan is an arm of the South China Sea. Covering an area of 126,250 km², the gulf borders Vietnam on the northwest, west and southwest. China lies to the north with the Island of Hainan forms the eastern limits of the gulf. The gulf...
PIRAZPIRAZ 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 WarThe Vietnam War or the Second Indochina War was a Cold War military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1959 to 30 April 1975...
.
During the
Cold WarThe Cold War was the continuing state of political conflict, military tension, and economic competition existing after World War II , primarily between the USSR and its satellite states, and the powers of the Western world, including 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 TritonUSS Triton , a U.S. Navy nuclear-powered radar picket submarine, was the first vessel to execute a submerged circumnavigation of the Earth, accomplishing this during her shakedown cruise in early 1960 while under the command of Captain Edward L. 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; in fact, the Triton was considered a
boondoggleThe term boondoggle, in the sense of a project that wastes time and money, first appeared during the Great Depression in the 1930s, referring to the millions of jobs given to unemployed men and women to try to get the economy moving again, as part of the New Deal...
.
Sources