The USS Georgetown (AGTR-2/AG-165) was an Oxford-class technical research ship, purchased by the U.S. Navy to maintain a seaborne platform for global eavesdropping on behalf of the National Security Agency. The ship was laid down on 14 May 1945 as SS Robert W. Hart under a Maritime Commission contract by New England Shipbuilding Corporation, South Portland, Maine, and launched on 10 July 1945. She was placed in commission on 9 November 1963, at Norfolk, VA., with CDR W. A. Gleason in command. Composed of six different naturally occurring minerals, asbestos was a staple across various industry usages, including the shipbuilding industry. Navy veterans are now at risk due to the heightened possibility of asbestos exposure during their military service. In 1946 after World War II, the USS Georgetown (AG-165) was converted to a livestock ship, also called a cowboy ship. She returned to the National Defense Reserve Fleet, James River, Lee Hall, VA, on 29 October 1947. On 24 July 1970, she was sold for scrapping, to N. V. Intershitra, Netherlands, and scrapped one year later.
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