Prevail (IX-537)

Prevail (IX-537) is a modified Stalwart-class ocean surveillance ship auxiliary general ocean surveillance ship (AGOS) of the United States Navy previously operated by the U.S. Military Sealift Command as T-AGOS 8. Prevail was reclassified as Unclassified Miscellaneous (IX) in October 2003 and is unofficially referred to as TSV-1. In this context, TSV stands for Training Support Vessel, and should not be confused with the U.S. Army's USAV Spearhead Theater Support Vessel initiative.

Prevail is currently assigned to Commander, Carrier Strike Group Four and is operated with a minimal, hybrid crew of civil service and contract mariners. The ship provides a dedicated training support for Strike Group training for U.S. Atlantic Fleet ships, including serving as a platform for training Visit, Board, Search, and Seizure (VBSS) operations.

Stalwart-class ships were originally designed to collect underwater acoustical data in support of Cold War anti-submarine warfare operations in the 1980s.



Design
The Stalwart-class ocean surveillance ships were succeeded by the longer Victorious class. Prevail had an overall length of 224 ft and a length of 203 ft at its waterline. It had a beam of 43 ft and a draft of 15 ft. The surveillance ship had a displacement of 1600 t at light load and 2301 t at full load. It was powered by a diesel-electric system of four Caterpillar D-398 diesel-powered generators and two General Electric 550 PS electric motors. This produced a total of 3200 PS that drove two shafts. It had a gross register tonnage of 1,584 and a deadweight tonnage of 786.

The Stalwart-class ocean surveillance ships had maximum speeds of 11 kn. 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 3000 mi and a speed of 11 kn. Its complement was between thirty-two and forty-seven. Its hull design was similar to that of the Powhatan-class tugboats.