USS Compass Island (AG-153)

USS Compass Island (AG-153) was a United States Navy auxiliary vessel commissioned in 1956, originally converted from the Liberty ship SS Garden Mariner. Designed as a navigational research ship, she played a crucial role in developing and testing the shipboard inertial navigation systems that would later be used in the Navy’s ballistic missile submarine fleet. Compass Island was instrumental in supporting the Polaris missile program by providing a stable platform for cutting-edge navigation experiments. She was decommissioned in 1971, after making significant contributions to naval navigation and missile guidance technologies.