U.S. Navy Fact Sheet

Ocean Surveillance Ships - T-AGOS

Description
Ocean surveillance ships gather underwater acoustical data. The T-AGOS ships are operated by Military Sealift Command to support the anti-submarine warfare mission of the commanders of the Atlantic and Pacific Fleets.

Features
The two classes of surveillance ships use surveillance towed-array sensor system (SURTASS) equipment to gather undersea acoustic data. The ships also carry electronic equipment to process and transmit that data via satellite to shore stations for evaluation. Victorious-class ocean surveillance ships are built on a small-waterplane, twin-hull, or SWATH, design for greater stability at slow speeds in high latitudes under adverse weather conditions. Impeccable has a hull form based on that of Victorious, but has a more powerful propulsion plant and is designed specifically for deploying an additional active towed-array system.

Background
The ships are operated and maintained by civilian contractors for the Military Sealift Command. A contract for the first SWATH ship, T-AGOS 19, was awarded in November 1986, and options for the next three were exercised in October 1988. The keel for the first Impeccable class was laid down Feb. 2, 1993. Ship was more than 60 percent completed when the shipyard encountered difficulties. The contract was sublet to Halter Marine on April 20, 1995 to complete the ship. Impeccable finally entered MSC service in October 2001.