USNS Longview (T-AGM 3) was a Longview-class missile range instrumentation ship which was converted to use as a missile tracking ship operating in the Pacific Ocean.
Longview was originally named SS Haiti Victory (T-AGM 238) and operated as a Greenville-class cargo Victory ship in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans during World War II.
Haiti Victory (T-AK 238) was laid down under U.S. Maritime Commission contract by Permanente Metals Corporation, Richmond, California, on April 22, 1944. The ship was launched on July 20, 1944and delivered to the War Shipping Administration on Sept. 18, 1944.
In 1950, Haiti Victory was assigned to the Military Sea Transportation Service for cargo operations in the Atlantic Ocean, and became the first ship to recover a space vehicle from orbit. On Aug. 11, 1960, a helicopter from the ship retrieved a 300-pound capsule that was launched into orbit the previous day by a Thor-Agena rocket as part of the Central Intelligence Agency’s Corona spy satellite project.
Haiti Victory was renamed Longview and re-classified T-AGM 3 in November 1960, and continued operations in the Pacific supporting the U.S. space program.
(Pictured: USNS Longview underway, May 1970)
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