{{other ships|USS Sands}} {{Infobox ship |section1={{Infobox ship/image |image=USNS Sands (T-AGOR-6).jpg |image_caption=USNS ''Sands'' pierside, outboard of {{USNS|Lynch|T-AGOR-7|6}} }}
|section2={{Infobox ship/career |country=United States |flag={{USN flag|1973}} |name=''Sands'' |namesake=Rear Admiral Benjamin F. Sands and his son Rear Admiral James H. Sands |ordered= |awarded= |builder=Marietta Manufacturing. Company, Point Pleasant, West Virginia |original_cost= |yard_number=911 |way_number= |laid_down=23 August 1962 |launched=14 September 1963 |sponsor=Miss Priscilla G. Sands |christened= |completed= |acquired=2 February 1965 |commissioned= |recommissioned= |decommissioned= |in_service=2 February 1965 |out_of_service=1973 |identification=T-AGOR-6 |struck= |honors= |fate=transferred to Brazil, 5 December 1990 }}
|section3={{Infobox ship/image |image=Navio Oceanográfico Almirante Câmara H-41 (48954408207).jpg |image_caption=''Almirante Câmara'' in 1974 }}
|section4={{Infobox ship/career |hide_header=title |country=Brazil |flag={{shipboxflag|Brazil|naval}} |name=''Almirante Camara'' |namesake=Admiral Antônio Alves Câmara Junior |acquired=*1 July 1974 (Lease) *5 December 1990 (Purchase) |commissioned=1 July 1974 |decommissioned=7 August 2003 |struck= |identification=* Pennant number: H41 * {{IMO Number|8332112}} |fate=Sold at auction 2004 }}
|section5={{Infobox ship/characteristics |hide_header= |header_caption= |class={{sclass|Robert D. Conrad|oceanographic research ship}} |displacement =* 1,200 tons * 1,370 tons |length={{convert|209|ft|m|abbr=on|1}} |beam={{convert|40|ft|m|abbr=on|1}} |height= |draft= {{convert|16|ft|m|abbr=on|1}} |depth= |hold_depth= |decks= |deck_clearance= |ramps= |ice_class= |power= |propulsion= Diesel-electric, single propeller, {{convert|2,500|shp|lk=on|abbr=on}}, retractable azimuth-compensating bow thruster |sail_plan= |speed={{convert|12|kn|lk=in}} |range= |endurance= |test_depth= |boats= |capacity= |troops= |complement=23 civilian mariners, 38 scientists |crew= |time_to_activate= |sensors= |EW= |armament= |armour= |armor= |aircraft= |aircraft_facilities= |notes= }} }} '''USNS ''Sands'' (T-AGOR-6)''' was a {{sclass|Robert D. Conrad|oceanographic research ship}} operated by the Military Sealift Command (MSC) for the Naval Oceanographic Office from 1965 to 1973. During that period she provided ocean-bottom information and underwater test data to the U.S. Navy and other U.S. agencies. The ship was the second naval vessel to be named for Rear Admiral Benjamin F. Sands and his son Rear Admiral James H. Sands, the first being the destroyer {{USS|Sands|DD-243|3}}. The ship operated in the Atlantic on oceanographic and geophysical assignments for the Oceanographic Office and other agencies.
In 1974 the ship was leased to Brazil, renamed '''''Almirante Camara''''' and in 1990 Brazil purchased the ship under the Security Assistance Program. ''Almirante Camara'' was engaged in oceanographic work for Brazil in the South Atlantic until retirement in 2003.
==Construction== ''Sands'' was laid down on 23 August 1962 by the Marietta Manufacturing Co. of Point Pleasant, West Virginia as hull number 911, the first of three such vessels built for the United States Navy by the builder.<ref name=DANFS>{{cite DANFS |url=https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/s/sands-agor-6-ii.html |title=Sands II (AGOR-6) |author=Naval History And Heritage Command |date= |work=Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships |publisher=Naval History And Heritage Command |accessdate=7 September 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Colton |first=Tim |title=Marietta Manufacturing, Point Pleasant WV |publisher=ShipbuildingHistory |date=June 26, 2019 |url=http://shipbuildinghistory.com/shipyards/large/marietta.htm |access-date=7 September 2019}}</ref><ref group=note>Hull 912 was {{ship|USNS|Lynch|T-AGOR-7|6}} and hull 913 was {{ship|USNS|Kellar|T-AGS-25|6}}.</ref> The ship was launched on 14 September 1963; sponsored by Miss Priscilla G. Sands; and accepted by the Navy and placed in service with the then Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS) on 2 February 1965, Capt. George W. Fladerer, Master.<ref name=DANFS/>
==Naval Oceanographic Office service== Manned by a Civil Service crew, the United States Naval Ship ''Sands'' was operated in the Atlantic Ocean by the Military Sealift Command (formerly MSTS) for the Naval Oceanographic Office.<ref name=DANFS/> The ship was operated by that office as one of the "Navy Pool" vessels for which the office coordinated use by Navy laboratories, universities and research organizations with Navy contracts for varied projects.<ref>{{cite report |last1=Tidrick |first1=D.E. |last2=Morris |first2=R.E. |date=April 1970 |title=A Bibliography of Reports, Articles and Data References Resulting From Scientific Operations Aboard the Navy Pool (T-AGOR) Ships: 1963 Through 1969 |journal=Naval Oceanographic Office Informal Report Number 70-25 |pages=1–2 |location=Washington, D.C. |publisher=Naval Oceanographic Office |url=https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/872187.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191116131747/https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/872187.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=November 16, 2019 |access-date=7 September 2019}}</ref><ref group=note>The referenced report lists the organizations using the Navy Pool T-AGORs during the covered period and the pool ships: {{ship|USNS|James M. Gilliss|T-AGOR-4|2}}, {{ship|USNS|Charles H. Davis|T-AGOR-5|2}}, ''Sands'', {{ship|USNS|Lynch|T-AGOR-7|2}}, {{ship|USNS|De Steiguer|T-AGOR-12|2}}, and {{ship|USNS|Bartlett|T-AGOR-13|2}}.</ref>
Until being placed out of service, in reserve, in April 1973, ''Sands'' performed oceanographic and marine geophysical research and conducted experiments in underwater sound propagation.<ref name=DANFS/> For example, in the early 1970s ''Sands'' planted large vertical subsurface acoustic arrays in the tropical Atlantic. These arrays were unique for having long term recording capabilities enabling months' long acoustic data to be collected; and for the first use of the then new material Kevlar as the strength member of the arrays. Kevlar, created by DuPont for use as cords in vehicular tires, was found to have stretch characteristics that matched those of the conductive copper wires embedded in an array. (Whereas a material like dacron can stretch upwards 50% before breaking, kevlar limits stretch to 2% before failure. This greatly reduced longitudinal stresses on the copper wires and permitted precise vertical positioning of hydrophones in the vertical string.) ''Sands'', during this period, also conducted acoustic data collection voyages in the area around Malta and the lower Adriatic Sea.
''Sands'' was placed out of service in 1973.
==Transfer to Brazil == On 1 July 1974 the ship was leased by Brazil, renamed ''Almirante Camara'', after a major supporter of Brazilian hydrography, Admiral Antônio Alves Câmara Junior, and placed in service under the command of Captain-de-frigate Fernando Carlos Catta Preta Baumeir.<ref>{{cite web |last=American Embassy, Brasilia |title=State Dept cable 1974-98363 |publisher=U.S. Department of State |date=6 May 1974 |url=https://archive.org/details/State-Dept-cable-1974-98363 |access-date=6 September 2019}}</ref><ref name=H41>{{cite web |title=NOc Almirante Câmara - H 41 (Portuguese)|url=http://www.naval.com.br/ngb/A/A035/A035.htm |access-date=6 September 2019}}</ref> In 1990 an agreement was signed for purchase of the ship by Brazil at the end of the lease.<ref>{{cite web |last=Collins |first=Harold H. |title=The United States and Brazil: A Naval Partnership for the Twenty-First Century? (Appendix C) |publisher=Naval Postgraduate School |date=28 March 1991 |url=https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a242430.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191116131746/https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a242430.pdf |url-status=live |archive-date=November 16, 2019 |access-date=6 September 2019}}</ref> The purchase was effective under the Security Assistance Program 5 December 1990.<ref>{{cite web |title=USNS Sands (T-AGOR-6) |website=NavSource |date=28 November 2014 |url=http://www.navsource.net/archives/09/57/5706.htm |access-date=6 September 2019}}</ref> ''Almirante Camara'' engaged in survey work in the South Atlantic for Brazil, including international operations with U.S. Naval research and hydrographic vessels such as {{ship|USNS|Hayes|T-AGOR-16|2}} and {{ship|USNS|Robert D. Conrad|T-AGOR-3|2}} and in support of the Brazilian Antarctic Program.<ref name=H41/><ref>{{cite web |last=Erskine |first=Fred T. III |title=A History of the Acoustics Division of the Naval Research Laboratory |date=August 2013 |url=https://pingpdf.com/pdf-a-history-of-the-acoustics-division-of-the-naval-research-laboratory.html |access-date=6 September 2019}}</ref>
''Almirante Camara'' decommissioned 7 August 2003 at a ceremony at the Naval Base, Rio de Janeiro and sold at auction in 2004.<ref name=H41/>
== Footnotes == {{reflist|group=note}}
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * {{navsource|09/57/5706}} * [http://www.naval.com.br/ngb/A/A035/A035.htm NOc ''Almirante Câmara'' - H 41] (Ship history, in Portuguese, with photos.)
{{Robert D. Conrad class oceanographic research ships}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sands}} Category:Robert D. Conrad-class oceanographic research ships Category:Research vessels of the United States Navy Category:Ships built in Point Pleasant, West Virginia Category:1963 ships Category:Ships transferred from the United States Navy to the Brazilian Navy Category:Auxiliary ships of the Brazilian Navy