page_title: USNS Redstone
section_title: Apollo tracking/communications ship 1964-1993
hierarchical_section_title: USNS Redstone / Service history / Apollo tracking/communications ship 1964-1993
caption_attribution_description: English: USNS Redstone (T-AGM-20) underway at Pearl Harbor.
context_page_description: USNS Redstone, designated AT‑AGM‑20, was a tracking ship assigned to Apollo space mission support under the control of the Eastern Range. For a brief time during conversion the ship was named Johnstown with the designation AGM‑20.
  The ship was built as Mission De Pala, named for Mission San Antonio de Pala in eastern San Diego County, California, a Type T2-SE-A2 tanker, for the United States Maritime Commission during World War II. After the war the tanker was transferred to the United States Navy for operation by the Naval Transportation Service as Mission De Pala and later the successor Military Sea Transportation Service as USNS Mission De Pala. The tanker was a member of the Mission Buenaventura-class oiler.
context_section_description: On 19 October 1964 the Maritime Commission returned permanent custody of Mission De Pala to the Navy for conversion into a missile‑range instrumentation ship. Converted at General Dynamics Quincy Shipbuilding Division, Quincy, Massachusetts she was "jumboized" by having a 72‑foot section added amidships, an extensive array of electronic equipment was installed and a nest of antennas added topside. Essentially the ship was virtually rebuilt in order to prepare her for her new role. While under conversion, she was renamed and redesignated Johnstown (AGM-20) on 8 April 1965, but she was renamed Redstone on 1 September 1965. Upon completion of conversion, she was accepted on 30 June 1966 by MSTS, for service as USNS Redstone (T-AGM-20).
  Designed for use as a seagoing tracking and communications station for the Apollo program test series and moon shot, into 1969, she continued these duties and played her part in helping fulfill the late President John F. Kennedy's pledge to land a man on the moon before 1970.
caption: USNS Redstone underway, Pearl Harbor (ca. 1966-1968).
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