The second ship to be so named by the Navy, Wheeling was laid down on 10 April 1945 as Seton Hall Victory by the Oregon Shipbuilding Corporation under a U.S. Maritime Commission contract (MCV hull 686); launched on 22 May 1945; sponsored by Mrs. Ross Mclntyre; and delivered to the Maritime Commission on 21 June 1945.
Wheeling spent her missile tracking years as a mobile tracking station, recording data on missiles and satellites that were out of range of land-based stations. For a number of years she remained on active service on the Pacific coast.
During the summers of 1972 and 1973, Wheeling spent about three months each year in the South Pacific conducting research and surveillance operations in the vicinity of the French nuclear test site at Mururoa Atoll. The operations were conducted under the control of the Defense Nuclear Agency, with the primary contractor being the Stanford Research Institute[1]
Inactivation and sinking
Wheeling remained in service until (date unknown) and was struck from the Navy List on 31 October 1990. However, during a naval exercise on 12 July 1981 she was assigned as target ship for Harpoon missile testing. She was struck by two Harpoons, one launched from a submarine and one from a P-3 Orion aircraft. A third Harpoon, planned for launch from a ship, was not launched.[citation needed] Details of how and when the ship sank, or was otherwise disposed of, are lacking.
