were decommissioned and stricken by 1970. One of these ships' crew received a Presidential Unit Citation for heroism in combat. was attacked, severely damaged and 34 crew members killed by shelling, napalm bombing and torpedoing from Israeli jet fighter aircraft and motor torpedo boats on June 8, 1967. was awarded a Meritorious Unit Commendation along with . The citation reads (in part) "For meritorious service from 1 November 1965 to 30 June 1969 while participating in combat support operations in Southeast Asia. Through research and the compilation of extremely valuable technical data, USS Jamestown and USS Oxford contributed most significantly to the overall security of the United States and other Free World forces operating in support of the Republic of Vietnam. Signed E.R. Zumwalt, Admiral, USN, Chief of Naval Operations." For specifications of these ships, see Liberty ship and Victory ship. Ships of the AGTR type (dates of commissioning–decommissioning) (Liberty ship type) • 1961–1969 • 1963–1969 • 1963–1969 Belmont class (Victory ship type) • 1964–1970 • 1964–1968 Environmental research ship (AGER) Three smaller ships, former Army Freight Supply (FS) ships converted by Navy to Light Cargo Ship (AKL) vessels and then to Banner-class environmental research ships(AGER) had a similar mission. In contrast to the high freeboard of the AGTR Liberty and Victory hulls, the AGER decks were low and vulnerable to boarding from small craft. , technically still in commission, has been held by North Korea since its attack and capture by on January 23, 1968. Ships of the AGER type (redesignated from AKL-25/T-AKL-25, ex Army FS-345) (redesignated from AKL-44, ex Army FS-344) (redesignated from AKL-45, ex U.S. Army FS-217) Auxiliary General (AG) USNS ships Three technical research ships were operated as USNS ships with a Military Sea Transportation Service civilian crew and a Navy detachment conducting the mission operations. Two ships were Maritime Commission C1-M-AV1 types. One, , was a VC2-S-AP2 (Victory) type that operated in this role December 1962-April 1964 before being reclassified AK‑274 and resuming cargo operations. (Maritime Commission C1-M-AV1 type) (Maritime Commission VC2-S-AP2 (Victory) type) (Maritime Commission C1-M-AV1 type) See also Spy ship and , nuclear submarines modified or designed for intelligence gathering. , modified for electronic surveillance in El Salvador and Nicaragua area (1985-1987). List of research vessels – United States Naval trawler References External links The "Special Project Fleet" 1961-69, 1985-89 in America's Cold War Infrastructure by Al Grobmeier Unofficial ship pages: USS Oxford