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USNS American Explorer (T-AOT-165)
ex
 USNS American Explorer (T-AO-165) (1959 - 1978)

International Radio Call Sign:
November - Tango - Uniform - Golf
 NTUG
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

National Defense Service Medal
American Explorer Class Oil Transporter:
  • Laid down, 9 July 1957, as a Maritime Administration type (T-5-S-RM2a) tanker hull, under MARAD contract (MA 53) at Ingalls Shipbuilding Inc,, Pascagoula, MS.
  • Launched, 11 April 1958
  • Delivered to the Maritime Administration and turned over to the US Navy, 27 October 1959
  • Placed in service with MSC as USNS American Explorer (T-AO-165) to be operated under contract by a civilian firm
  • Reclassified as Oil Transporter (AOT-165) in September 1978
  • Placed out of service in September 1984, and returned to MARAD for lay up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, Beaumont TX.
  • Final Disposition, sold for scrap to Southern Scrap Material LLC, New Orleans, LA for $1,052,788, announced by MARAD 16 July 2008.
    Specifications:
    Displacement 8,402 t.(lt) 31,300 t.(fl)
    Length 615'
    Beam 80'
    Draft 35' (max.)
    Speed 20+kts.
    Complement 47
    Armament none
    Propulsion two boilers, one steam turbine, single shaft

    Maritime Administration
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    For Full Size Image    		Size Image Description Contributed
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    American Explorer
    091916505     		411k USNS American Explorer (T-AOT-165), Ingalls hull 469, MA hull 53, contract no. MA 1150 (from the sign at the pier head) essentially complete in late 1959 but probably still in the builder's hands.
    U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command. Photo No. Unknown.    		 Robert Hurst
    American Explorer
    091916507     		355k
    American Explorer
    091916508     		184k USNS American Explorer (T-AOT-165) tied up in a Naval Shipyard, date and location unknown. She shows the navy name prefix, USNS, but probably without the MSC seal on the stack. Her upperworks are haze gray, the hull from the tank deck down to the load waterline is black, and the hull below that is red.
    U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command. Photo No. Unknown.    		 Robert Hurst
    American Explorer 58k USNS American Explorer (T-AOT-165) was launched as the world's first nuclear tanker-to-be, but was completed with a conventional steam plant."
    US Navy photo    		 Robert Hurst
    American Explorer 61k USNS American Explorer (T-AOT-165) underway, date and location unknown.
    US Navy photo from "All Hands" magazine, May 1960     		Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret.
    American Explorer 56k USNS American Explorer (T-AOT-165) transiting the Panama Canal, date unknown.
    US Navy photo    		 Robert Hurst
    American Explorer
    091916509     		342k Mathiasen's Far East Rendezvous in Cam Ranh Bay, 22 April 1970, left to right;
    USNS Chattahoochee (T-AOG 82)
    USNS American Explorer (T-AO-165)
    USNS Cowanesque (T-AO-79) and
    USNS Millicoma (T-AO-73). Mathiasen’s Far East Rendezvous refers to the operations of Mathiasen’s Tanker Industries vessels in Vietnam.
    U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command. Photo No. Unknown.    		 Robert Hurst
    American Explorer
    		17k EX-USNS American Explorer (T-AOT-165) laid up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, Beaumont TX., 2008
    Maritime Administration    		 Robert Hurst
    American Explorer
    091916506    		 160k NS American Explorer (MA hull 53). A preliminary George Sharp design for the nuclear powered 20-knot T5 tanker American Explorer that was to follow the 18-knot T5 Maumee (T-AO-149) class. The ship was launched without superstructure and with the design still incomplete before the nuclear power project was canceled. She was completed with steam propulsion and a conventional three-island design.
    Photo No. None. Source: Adapted from "A Pipeline Pipe Dream, Tanker American Explorer," by Captain Terry Tilton, USN, Ret., in PowerShips No. 308 (Winter 2019), page 38    		 Robert Hurst
    USNS American Explorer (T-AO-165 / T-AOT-165)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    MARAD Vessel History Database
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 12 December 3035