Radar Picket Ships (AGR)

Converted Liberty ships stationed at fixed ocean positions across the Atlantic and Pacific, serving as floating radar stations in the Continental Air Defense network. From 1955 to 1965, sixteen Guardian-class ships endured weeks-long patrols in open ocean - watching for Soviet bombers that they hoped would never come. Miserable duty on worn-out hulls, manned by crews who understood that their job was to detect, report, and accept whatever came next. Replaced by over-the-horizon radar and airborne early warning aircraft, the picket fleet was scrapped and largely forgotten.