USNS Wyman

USNS Wyman (T-AGS-34) was an oceanographic survey vessel laid down on 18 July 1968 by the Defoe Shipbuilding Company of Bay City, Michigan. Launched on 30 October 1969, sponsored by Mrs. Francis J. Blouin, wife of the Deputy Chief of Naval Operations, Vice Admiral Francis J. Blouin; she was accepted by the Military Sealift Command (MSC) on 19 November 1971 at the Boston Naval Shipyard. Wyman, designed and built to conduct hydrographic and oceanographic studies and operated by a civilian crew, served with MSC under the technical direction of the Oceanographer of the Navy. In addition to the MSC crew, who operated and maintained the ship, there was a complement of civilian technicians and scientists aboard who were part of Naval Oceanographic Office (NAVOCEANO). Initially assigned to MSC Atlantic, the Wyman made several cruises in the North Atlantic, visiting such ports as Reykjavik, Tromso, Bergen, Rota, Lisbon, and Glasgow during the early 1970s. One of the first women to serve MSC at sea came aboard as the ship's Medical Officer in early 1974. The Wyman was transferred to MSC Pacific on 16 November 1974 for a brief tour of duty that lasted into the summer of 1975. She was returned to MSC Atlantic at Port Canaveral, Florida, on 21 August 1975 and remained active with that fleet into 1979.