USNS Michelson

History
United States
Name	SS Joliet Victory
Builder	Oregon Shipbuilding Corporation, Portland, Oregon
Laid down	5 May 1944
Launched	14 June 1944
In service	7 July 1944
Out of service	1 July 1948
In service	27 July 1950
Out of service	31 October 1953
United States
Name	USNS Michelson (T-AGS-23)
Namesake	Albert Abraham Michelson
Acquired	8 February 1958
In service	15 December 1958
Stricken	15 April 1975
Fate	Sold, 22 September 1977
General characteristics (as built)[1]
Type	Type VC-2-AP2 Victory ship
Displacement	4,420 long tons (4,491 t) light 13,050 long tons (13,259 t) full load
Length	455 ft (139 m)
Beam	62 ft (19 m)
Draft	23 ft (7.0 m)
Propulsion	Cross compound steam turbine, 6,000–8,500 hp (4,474–6,338 kW)
Speed	16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph)

USNS Michelson (T-AGS-23) was a Bowditch class oceanographic survey ship of the United States Navy. Launched as the SS Joliet Victory in 1944, Maritime Commission hull number MCV 114, a type VC2-S-AP3 Victory ship, she was named after Albert Abraham Michelson. The ship was reactivated from the James River Maritime Administration Reserve Fleet on 8 February 1958, delivered to the Navy Department at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard on 8 August 1957 and converted to an AGS by the Charleston Naval Shipyard. USNS Michelson (AGS‑23) was placed in service on 15 December 1958 under the operational control of MSTS Atlantic.^[2]