USS Oxford (AG-159)
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Class overview | |
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Name | Oxford class |
Builders | New England Shipbuilding Corporation |
Operators | United States Navy |
Succeeded by | Belmont class |
Built | 1945 |
In commission | 1945–1969 |
Completed | 3 |
Retired | 3 |
General characteristics | |
Type | Type Z-EC2-S-C5 technical research ship |
Displacement |
|
Length | 441 ft 6 in (134.6 m) |
Beam | 56 ft 11 in (17.3 m) |
Draft | 22 ft 9 in (6.9 m) |
Propulsion |
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Speed | 11 knots (20 km/h; 13 mph) |
Complement | 213 |
Armament | 4 × .50 caliber machine guns |
The Oxford class of technical research ships were a class of three World War II Liberty ships converted in the early 1960s to provide a seaborne platform for global eavesdropping on behalf of the National Security Agency. The ships of this class were similar to the Belmont-class ships of the same era with the difference being that they were adapted from Victory ships.