RANGE SENTINEL (AGM-22)

This ship was originally a Haskell class amphibious assault ship, specifically the USS Sherburne (APA-205), commissioned in September 1944. This ship participated in the last raids of WWII in the Pacific, transporting troops to the Marshall Islands, Okinawa or Luzon. She was present during the signing of the Japanese surrender in Tokyo Bay. After helping in the repatriation of the American troops after the end of the WWII, it was placed in reserve in 1946. There she continued until 1969 when the ship was re-enlisted to perform tracking and control of missiles during the development of the Poseidon, Polaris and Trident ballistic missiles.  After the 1971 conversion, the ship was renamed as USS Range Sentinel (AGM-22) and was placed under control of the Military Sealift Command. From this date, the vessel was manned by civilian and military personnel in command of a “master”, or civil captain. USS Range Sentinel was based in Port Canaveral, Florida, where she was deactivated in July 1997 and sold for scrap in November 2012.

RANGE SENTINEL gallery and more info