The USS Dutton (T-AGS-22) started her life as a Victory ship by the name of Tuskegee Victory in mid-February 1945 but was converted to a Bowditch class oceanographic survey ship in the late 50s. She was placed in service of the Military Sea Transportation Service on the 1st of November 1958. Around the beginning of her career, she was operated by the US Naval Oceanographic Office in support of the Fleet Ballistic Missile Program. January through April 1966, the USS Dutton took part in the recovery effort of a B-52 that crashed near Palomares. In May the same year, the US Navy Oceanographic Detachment attached to the ship was upgraded to unit status, numbering 3 officers and 22 enlisted. However, most of her crew was still civilian, made up of all the usual complement of a ship its size together with oceanographers from the NOC, NASL, as well as a number of private corporations. It is doubtful that any serious measures were taken to remove the asbestos lining parts of the ship during her conversion in 1958, since the Navy only stopped using the dangerous mineral in the 70s, so people who served on the USS Dutton were facing similar risks to their colleagues onboard Victory ships.
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