Editing Operation Argus (section)

==Task Force 88==
[[File:Task Force 88 track chart during Operation Argus 1958.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Path of TF-88 during August and September 1958.]]

The [[United States Navy]] Task Force 88 (or TF-88), was formed 28 April 1958. TF-88 was organized solely to conduct ''Operation Argus''. Once ''Argus'' was completed, the task force was dissolved, and its records dispersed. Some of these records have been destroyed or lost during the time period intervening. Of particular note among the missing documents were the film records (which recorded radiation levels during the ''Argus'' tests). This has proved contentious due to the greater-than-normal number of [[leukemia]] claims among TF-88 participants to the [[United States Department of Veterans Affairs|Veterans Administration]]. Because of this, it has been difficult to resolve to how much radiation the participants were exposed.

===USS ''Norton Sound''===
{{USS|Norton Sound|AVM-1}} was a [[United States Navy]]-guided missile ship responsible for missile-launching functions. It also served as a training facility for crews involved in the testing. The [[Lockheed X-17|X-17A missiles]] to be used in the test were unfamiliar to those conducting the tests. Exercises including assembly and repair of dummy missiles were performed aboard ''Norton Sound''. It also carried a 27-MHz [[COZI]] radar, which was operated by the [[Air Force Cambridge Research Center]], which was used to monitor effects of the shots. It was responsible for the launching of three low-yield nuclear warheads into the high [[atmosphere]].<ref name=":0" /> Its commanding officer, Captain [[Arthur R. Gralla]], commanded Task Force 88.<ref>{{cite book |author-first=Cliff |author-last=Lawson |title=The Station Comes of Age: Satellites, Submarines, and Special Operations in the Final Years of the Naval Ordnance Test Station, 1959–1967 |publisher=Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division |year=2017 |page=43}}</ref> Gralla would later receive the [[Legion of Merit]] for his role conducting the tests expeditiously.<ref>{{cite web |author=Hall of Valor Project |title=Arthur R. Gralla |url=https://valor.militarytimes.com/hero/300454 |publisher=Military Times |access-date=30 December 2018 |archive-date=31 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181231092654/https://valor.militarytimes.com/hero/300454 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===USS ''Albemarle''===
[[USS Albemarle (AV-5)|USS ''Albemarle'']], fresh out of an [[wikt:overhaul|overhaul]], was not listed on the TF-88 order. It set out to the [[Atlantic Ocean]], supposedly as a shakedown cruise. It, too, had a COZI radar and other instrumentation for detecting man-made [[ionization]]. This instrumentation included [[International Geophysical Year]] (IGY) [[radiometer]]s, [[Receiver (radio)|receiver]]s, [[radar]], and optical equipment. After the IGY
equipment was added, it sailed to the ocean around the area of the Azores to record data at the [[Earth's magnetic field|geomagnetic]] [[Conjugate points|conjugate point]] of the South Atlantic test site, as the rest of task force 88 headed to the South Atlantic to perform the tests.<ref name=":0" />

===USS ''Tarawa''===
[[USS Tarawa (CV-40)|USS ''Tarawa'']] served as overall command of the operation, with her commander serving as Task Group Commander. It carried an [[United States Air Force|Air Force]] [[Reeves AN/MSQ-1 Close Support Control Set|MSQ-1A]] radar and communication system for missile tracking. It also housed [[VS-32]] aircraft for search and security operations as well as scientific measurement, photographic, and observer missions for each test. [[HS-5]] was also aboard and provided intra-task-force transportation for personnel and cargo.

===USS ''Warrington''===
[[USS Warrington (DD-843)|USS ''Warrington'']], in conjunction with [[USS Bearss (DD-654)|''Bearss'']], [[USS Hammerberg (DE-1015)|''Hammerberg'']], and [[USS Courtney (DE-1021)|''Courtney'']], maintained a weather [[Picket (military)|picket]] 463&nbsp;km west of the task force, provided an airplane guard for ''Tarawa'' during [[Flight operations quality assurance|flight operations]], and performed standard destroyer functions (such as surface security and search and rescue). ''Warrington'' also carried equipment for launching [[Loki (rocket)#Sounding rockets|Loki Dart]] [[sounding rocket]]s.

===Task Group 88.3===
[[USS Neosho (AO-143)|USS ''Neosho'']] refueled task force ships during the operation. It was also outfitted with Air Force MSQ-1A radar and communication vans. ''Neosho'' also served as the [[flagship]] for TG 88.3, the Mobile Logistics Group, which consisted of ''Neosho'', USS ''Salamonie'' (AO-26), and assigned destroyers.

[[USS Salamonie (AO-26)|USS ''Salamonie'']] returned to the United States upon arrival at TF-88, and did not participate with any tests.