Technical research ship

Technical research ships were used by the United States Navy during the 1960s to gather intelligence by monitoring, recording and analyzing wireless electronic communications of nations in various parts of the world. At the time these ships were active, the mission of the ships was covert and discussion of the true mission was prohibited ("classified information"). The mission of the ships was publicly given as conducting research into atmospheric and communications phenomena. Their designation was AGTR – Auxiliary, General, Technical Research – but it was more or less an open secret that this was a euphemism and they were commonly referred to as "spy ships".^[1]^[2]

^ Lee, Bill (June 2013). "Spy Ships: Cold War Warriors Created at NNS" (PDF). Explorer Magazin. p. [1], 2. Archived (PDF) from the original on 10 November 2023. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
^ Polmar, Norman; Mathers, Lee J. (2023). Spy Ships: One Hundred Years of Intelligence Collection by Ships and Submarines. Lincoln, NE: Potomac Books, an imprint of the University of Nebraska Press. p. 97. ISBN 9781640124752 – via Google Books.

[1] Lee, Bill (June 2013). "Spy Ships: Cold War Warriors Created at NNS" (PDF). Explorer Magazin. p. [1], 2. Archived (PDF) from the original on 10 November 2023. Retrieved 10 November 2023.

[2] Polmar, Norman; Mathers, Lee J. (2023). Spy Ships: One Hundred Years of Intelligence Collection by Ships and Submarines. Lincoln, NE: Potomac Books, an imprint of the University of Nebraska Press. p. 97. ISBN 9781640124752 – via Google Books.

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