USNS Persistent (T-AGOS-6) was a Stalwart-class Modified Tactical Auxiliary General Ocean Surveillance Ship of the United States Navy.
Stalwart-class ships were originally designed to collect underwater acoustical data in support of Cold War anti-submarine warfare operations in the 1980s. Ex-USNS Persistent is now T/S State of Michigan, owned by the U.S. Department of Transportation's Maritime Administration and assigned to the Great Lakes Maritime Academy, Traverse City, Michigan.[1]
The Stalwart-class ocean surveillance ships were succeeded by the longer Victorious-class ocean surveillance ships. Persistent had an overall length of 224feet and a length of 203inchesft6inchesin (ftin) at its waterline. It had a beam of 43feet and a draft of 15feet. The surveillance ship had a displacement of 1600t at light load and 2301t at full load. It was powered by a diesel-electric system of four Caterpillar D-398 diesel-powered generators and two General Electric 550PS electric motors. This produced a total of 3200PS that drove two shafts. It had a gross register tonnage of 1,584 and a deadweight tonnage of 786.[2]
The Stalwart-class ocean surveillance ships had maximum speeds of 11kn. They were built to be fitted with the Surveillance Towed Array Sensor System (SURTASS) system. The ship had an endurance of thirty days. It had a range of 3000miles and a speed of 11kn. Its complement was between thirty-two and forty-seven. Its hull design was similar to that of the Powhatan-class fleet ocean tugs.[2]