Project 112 and Project SHAD
Reactivated in 1962, YAG-39 commissioned at San Francisco, California, on 20 October, with Lt. Comdr. William G. Sternberg in command. With her sister ship, YAG-40, she departed San Francisco, California, on 15 November for Pearl Harbor, where she arrived 24 November for underway training. Assigned to Service Squadron 5, she operated off Hawaii and carried out extensive experimental tests in the fields of ship protection systems and scientific warfare analysis. On 3 July 1963 she was assigned her former merchant name, George Eastman.
From 1963, USS George Eastman operated as a research ship between the Hawaiian Sea Frontier and the equatorial area of the mid-Pacific, providing valuable support for various scientific research and defense projects of the Department of Defense. She sailed to the West Coast in April 1966 for a three-month overhaul; and, following her return to Pearl Harbor on 18 August, she resumed research cruises in Hawaiian waters. Her support activities continued through 1966 into 1967.
This ship participated in the U. S. Navy's Top Secret biological and chemical warfare testing program. Project SHAD, an acronym for Shipboard Hazard and Defense, was part of a larger effort called Project 112, which was conducted during the 1960s. Project SHAD encompassed tests designed to identify U.S. warships' vulnerabilities to attacks with chemical or biological warfare agents and to develop procedures to respond to such attacks while maintaining a war-fighting capability.from 1962 until 1972 when President Nixon officially discontinued the program. The USS George Eastman's sister ship, the USS Granville S. Hall (YAG-40) also participated as a floating laboratory and administrative command ship in Project SHAD along with 5 L.T. Tugboats, a submarine and aircraft. Sarin and VX nerve gas were sprayed on the USS George Eastman by the tugs and aircraft as well as ecoli, simulants for biological and chemical agents such as anthrax and a number of other diseases, tracers and mosquitoes.
USS George Eastman directly participated in the following Project 112/ Project SHAD tests:
- 63-1 Eager Belle I
- 63-1 Eager Belle II
- 64-2 Flower Drum I
- 65-4 Magic Sword
- 65-17 Fearless Johnny
- 66-13 Half Note
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