mathematics

USNS Kingsport

USNS Kingsport is a mathematics topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand USNS Kingsport rather than just read about it. In short: USNS Kingsport (T-AG-164) was built as SS Kingsport Victory, a United States Maritime Commission VC2-S-AP3 (Victory) type cargo ship. During the closing days of World War II the ship was operated by the American Hawaiian Steamship Company under an agreement with the War Shipping Administration.

Key takeaways

USNS Kingsport belongs to mathematics; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect USNS Kingsport to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of USNS Kingsport from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

USNS Kingsport (T-AG-164) was built as SS Kingsport Victory, a United States Maritime Commission VC2-S-AP3 (Victory) type cargo ship. During the closing days of World War II the ship was operated by the American Hawaiian Steamship Company under an agreement with the War Shipping Administration. After a period of layup the ship was operated as USAT Kingsport Victory by the Army under bareboat charter effective 8 July 1948. When Army transports were transferred to the Navy's Military Sea Transportation Service the ship continued as USNS Kingsport Victory (T-AK-239), a cargo transport . On 14 November 1961, after conversion into the first satellite communication ship, the ship was renamed Kingsport, reclassified as a general auxiliary, and operated as USNS Kingsport (T-AG-164). The ship was sent to Lagos, Nigeria as the control station for Syncom 2 becoming the site of the first two way call by satellite by heads of state. The call was between Nigerian Prime Minister Abubakar Balewa aboard the Kingsport and President John F. Kennedy on 23 August 1963. In 1967 the ship underwent conversion and became a bathymetric and acoustic survey ship for the installation and maintenance of the then classified Sound Surveillance System (SOSUS) under the unclassified name of Project Caesar,

Construction Kingsport Victory, a United States Maritime Commission VC2-S-AP3 (Victory) type cargo ship, was laid down 4 April 1944 with launch on 29 May and completion on 12 July 1944 with delivery to the War Shipping Administration (WSA) on the same day at Los Angeles. She was built under the Emergency Shipbuilding program under cognizance of the U.S. Maritime Commission. Basic dimensions, not counting modifications for satellite communications, were length 436 feet 6 inches (133.0 m) (LBP), 62 feet (18.9 m) beam and 7,653 GRT.

World War II and Army service Kingsport Victory was immediately placed in operation by the American-Hawaiian Steamship Company, under a War Shipping Administration general agency agreement, supplying troops in the Pacific. She made trips between California and Pearl Harbor. On 17 October 1944 she steamed from California, arriving at Milne Bay in New Guinea on 2 November. She carried cargo to US troops and ships at Eniwetok, Iwo Jima, Guam, Ulithi atoll and Okinawa. Kingsport Victory was active delivering support for the Battle of Iwo Jima from 19 February to 26 March 1945. In battle she had to use her deck guns to defend against air attacks. Kingsport Victory received one Battle star for her service. After the war, in December 1945 she steamed from Okinawa to Hong Kong, then Calcutta; through the Suez Canal she arrived at New York City on 27 February 1946. During 1946 she moved cargo from the US east and west coasts. After the war, on 29 September 1947, she was taken out of service and placed in the reserve fleet at Lee Hall, Virginia. On 8 April 1948 the ship was taken out of reserve and bareboat chartered to the War Department for operation as the USAT Kingsport Victory a US Army Transport. During this time the ship was involved in a legal case, Johansen, v. United States, involving rights of an Army civil service employee crew member in personal injury cases. On 1 March 1950 she was removed from US Army Transport and transferred the US Navy.

Navy MSTS service Kingsport Victory was among large Army ships transferred to the Navy's Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS) with Kingsport Victory being transferred effective 1 March 1950. The ship carried military cargo for the next eleven years as USNS Kingsport Victory (T-AK-239) as a Greenville Victory-class cargo ship. Kingsport Victory is seen in an Air Force documentary film on the construction of the Dew Line loading supplies at Norfolk, Virginia and unloading at Halifax, Nova Scotia. Assigned to duty supporting the U.S. Army Satellite Communications Agency USNS Kingsport was further modified and, in August 1963 while in Lagos harbor, transmitted the first satellite voice call between heads of state when John F. Kennedy and Nigerian Prime Minister Abubakar Balewa aboard Kingsport spoke in a two-way call. A demonstration of transmission of oceanographic data was made between a research vessel off Africa via the ship and satellite to Washington. The first air to ship satellite communication took place when Navy aircraft off Virginia established voice communication with Kingsport which was off Morocco. Further satellite communications work took place in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Kingsport then supported Project Gemini into March 1966. After conversion from satellite configuration, particularly removal of the large and very visible dome, Kingsport was engaged in acoustic work for the Navy supporting undersea surveillance programs.

Satellite communications ship Kingsport

On 24 September 1961, she was delivered to the Portland, Oregon facilities of Willamette Iron & Steel Company where she underwent conversion to become the first satellite communications ship. On 14 November 1961 she was renamed Kingsport and reclassified AG-164. Designed for use by the United States Army Satellite Communications Agency in the defense satellite communications programs, Project ADVENT, USNS Kingsport underwent extensive alteration during conversion. A special high frequency radio station was installed for ship-to-shore communications. She received advanced tracking and telemetry equipment and anti-roll stabilization tanks. In addition, a 30-foot, gyro-stabilized, computer-oriented, triaxial, parabolic antenna was installed on her afterdeck. Housed in a 53-foot, plastic, air-pressurized radome, this antenna permitted precision tracking of a high altitude satellite at any angle above the horizon.

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with USNS Kingsport

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what USNS Kingsport claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In mathematics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to USNS Kingsport before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about USNS Kingsport ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of USNS Kingsport

In research: USNS Kingsport appears in mathematics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses USNS Kingsport in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: USNS Kingsport is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1944 ships, Cold War auxiliary ships of the United States, Greenville Victory-class cargo ships, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for USNS Kingsport outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study USNS Kingsport in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what USNS Kingsport means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain USNS Kingsport out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is USNS Kingsport in simple terms?

Why does USNS Kingsport matter?

Because it connects several mathematics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study USNS Kingsport?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on USNS Kingsport.