In May 2003, Battleship Cove unveiled New England’s
first interpretation of these covert Cold War relics during a premiere that included
a crewmembers reunion, memorial ceremony and 21-gun salute on board USS
Massachusetts. Funded by the national YAGR Association, which donated
$1,000 to the Cove during the ceremony, this exhibit was designed by the Association’s
founder, Harry Miller, and is located on the battleship’s second deck, forward
of Crewmember’s Hall.
“The
YAGRs represented a critical component of this nation’s air defense in the
Cold War,” says Battleship Cove’s chief preservation engineer, Strafford
Morss, who served on board the picket ship Protector during the tumultuous
Bay of Pigs invasion. “Given the events of the last year, one must not underestimate
the importance of the advance warning provided by such surveillance.”
Converted
from mothballed WWII Liberty cargo ships, the YAGR/AGRs were evenly divided into
four ocean stations off the Atlantic coast and four stations off the Pacific.
At sea life was smooth, rough, hot, cold, wet and windy, clear or foggy, but never
dull. Equipped with three massive high power radars, extensive radio communications,
and an airplane homing beacon, YAGRs engaged in mock battles against Strategic
Air Command bombers testing NORAD air defense capabilities with penetration tactics
including electronic jamming and deception.
In
the early 1960s, barely a decade after their inception, land-based and submarine
launched ballistic missiles rendered these venerable vessels obsolete. By 1966,
all the ships were out of commission, replaced by massive shore-based radars,
thus ending an intriguing chapter in American naval history. |
