USNS Sands pierside, outboard of USNS Lynch
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History | |
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United States | |
Name | Sands |
Namesake | Rear Admiral Benjamin F. Sands and his son Rear Admiral James H. Sands |
Builder | Marietta Manufacturing. Company, Point Pleasant, West Virginia |
Yard number | 911 |
Laid down | 23 August 1962 |
Launched | 14 September 1963 |
Sponsored by | Miss Priscilla G. Sands |
Acquired | 2 February 1965 |
In service | 2 February 1965 |
Out of service | 1973 |
Identification | T-AGOR-6 |
Fate | transferred to Brazil, 5 December 1990 |
Almirante Câmara in 1974
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Brazil | |
Name | Almirante Camara |
Namesake | Admiral Antônio Alves Câmara Junior |
Acquired |
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Commissioned | 1 July 1974 |
Decommissioned | 7 August 2003 |
Identification |
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Fate | Sold at auction 2004 |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Robert D. Conrad-class oceanographic research ship |
Displacement |
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Length | 209 ft (63.7 m) |
Beam | 40 ft (12.2 m) |
Draft | 16 ft (4.9 m) |
Propulsion | Diesel-electric, single propeller, 2,500 shp (1,900 kW), retractable azimuth-compensating bow thruster |
Speed | 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph) |
Complement | 23 civilian mariners, 38 scientists |
USNS Sands (T-AGOR-6) was a Robert D. Conrad-class oceanographic research ship operated by the Military Sealift Command (MSC) for the Naval Oceanographic Office from 1965 to 1973. During that period she provided ocean-bottom information and underwater test data to the U.S. Navy and other U.S. agencies. The ship was the second naval vessel to be named for Rear Admiral Benjamin F. Sands and his son Rear Admiral James H. Sands, the first being the destroyer Sands (DD-243). The ship operated in the Atlantic on oceanographic and geophysical assignments for the Oceanographic Office and other agencies.
In 1974 the ship was leased to Brazil, renamed Almirante Camara and in 1990 Brazil purchased the ship under the Security Assistance Program. Almirante Camara was engaged in oceanographic work for Brazil in the South Atlantic until retirement in 2003.
Sands was laid down on 23 August 1962 by the Marietta Manufacturing Co. of Point Pleasant, West Virginia as hull number 911, the first of three such vessels built for the United States Navy by the builder.[1][2][note 1] The ship was launched on 14 September 1963; sponsored by Miss Priscilla G. Sands; and accepted by the Navy and placed in service with the then Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS) on 2 February 1965, Capt. George W. Fladerer, Master.[1]
On 1 July 1974 the ship was leased by Brazil, renamed Almirante Camara, after a major supporter of Brazilian hydrography, Admiral Antônio Alves Câmara Junior, and placed in service under the command of Captain-de-frigate Fernando Carlos Catta Preta Baumeir.[4][5] In 1990 an agreement was signed for purchase of the ship by Brazil at the end of the lease.[6] The purchase was effective under the Security Assistance Program 5 December 1990.[7] Almirante Camara engaged in survey work in the South Atlantic for Brazil, including international operations with U.S. Naval research and hydrographic vessels such as Hayes and Robert D. Conrad and in support of the Brazilian Antarctic Program.[5][8]
Almirante Camara decommissioned 7 August 2003 at a ceremony at the Naval Base, Rio de Janeiro and sold at auction in 2004.[5]