High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! USNS Timber Hitch (T-AGM-17) was a U.S. Navy missile range instrumentation ship which earlier operated as the U.S. Air Force Ocean Range Vessel USAFS Timber Hitch (ORV-17) on the U.S. Air Force`s Eastern Test Range during the late 1950s and early 1960s. Timber Hitch operated under an Air Force contract with Pan American Airways Guided Missile Range Division headquartered in Cocoa Beach, Florida.