USNS Melville (T-AGOR-14) underway off Bay City, Michigan, 9 July 1969 | |
History | |
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United States | |
Name | Melville (1968-2016) |
Namesake | George Wallace Melville, a noted Arctic explorer and Chief of the Bureau of Steam Engineering from 1887 to 1903 |
Builder | Defoe Shipbuilding Company, Bay City, Michigan |
Laid down | 12 July 1967 |
Launched | 10 July 1968 |
Sponsored by | Mrs. Elford A. Cederberg |
Acquired | by the U.S. Navy 1 August 1969, as USNS Melville (T-AGOR-14) |
In service | 1969, for operation as R/V Melville by Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, California |
Homeport | La Jolla, California |
Fate | Transferred to Philippines 29 April 2016 |
Notes |
|
History | |
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Philippines | |
Name | Gregorio Velasquez (2016-present) |
Namesake | Gregorio Velasquez |
Acquired | by the Philippine Navy 28 April 2016 |
Recommissioned | 28 April 2016 |
Identification |
|
General characteristics | |
Type | Robert D. Conrad-class oceanographic research ship |
Tonnage | 2,516 tons (7,125 m³) |
Displacement | 2,944 long tons (2,991 t) |
Length | 279 feet (85 m) |
Beam | 46 feet (14 m) |
Draft | 16 feet 6 inches (5.03 m) (maximum) |
Propulsion | two 1,385 hp Propulsion General Electric motors, Bow Thruster: 900 hp retractable Azimuth-compensating bow thruster, Two 1385 hp Z-Drive Lips propellers |
Speed | Cruising: 11.7 knots (21.7 km/h); Maximum: 14 knots (26 km/h); Minimum: variable to 0, any direction |
Range | Range: 10,061 nmi (18,633 km; 11,578 mi) at 11.7 knots (fuel) |
Endurance | 40 days at 11.7 knots (fuel) |
Capacity | Water Capacity: 15,900 gallons (60,200 L) |
Complement | 23 civilian mariners, 38 scientists |
Armament | none |
Notes | Fuel consumption: 3,600 gallons per day (13,600 L/d) (transit) |
BRP Gregorio Velasquez is Philippine Navy's first oceanographic research vessel. [1] It was built by the United States Navy as USNS Melville (T-AGOR-14) for university support of Navy programs. The ship was operated as the research vessel R/V Melville by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography for oceanographic research. As the R/V Melville, it was the oldest active vessel in the academic research fleet, collectively known as the University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System (UNOLS) [2] (UNOLS). [3] The US Government confirmed on 17 November 2015 that the Melville was to be transferred to the Philippine Navy as Excess Defense Articles (EDA)s. [4] The vessel was officially transferred to the Philippines on 28 April 2016 and was commissioned into active service at the same time with the Philippine Navy. [5]
Melville (AGOR 14) was laid down on 12 July 1967 by the Defoe Shipbuilding Company in Bay City, Michigan, launched on 10 July 1968 sponsored by Marguerite "Peg" Kletchka Cederberg, wife of Congressman Elford Cederberg. The ship, second given the name by the Navy, was completed and delivered to the Navy on 1 August 1969 then placed in service with the Military Sea Transportation Service as USNS Melville (T-AGOR 14). Melville was chartered to the Scripps Institution of Oceanography for operation by the Office of Naval Research as part of the UNOLS fleet. [6] [7]
Though often listed as a Robert D. Conrad-class oceanographic research ship the ship is of an entirely different appearance, design and size as evidenced by Melville's [8] 2,944 vs. Conrad's [9] 1,370 loaded displacement, dimensions of 279' X 46' X 16.6' as opposed to Conrad's 208'10" X 37'5" X 15'2", general appearance and layout and, most distinctly, completely different propulsion systems and capabilities. Melville's original system was a cycloidal system with propulsion later modified to an advanced system of twin 1,385 hp diesel electric engines driving 1,385 hp Z-Drive Lips [8] [10] with a 900 hp Retractable Azimuthing Thruster allowing the ship to move 360° under main engines while Conrad's was single screw 2,500shp diesel-electric with a retractable azmuthing bow thruster. [11]
Melville's sister ship is the R/V Knorr, best known as the ship which located the wreck of the RMS Titanic in 1985, which was also launched in 1968.
Melville was named for George Melville, a pioneer arctic explorer and Rear Admiral in the United States Navy, who was Chief of the Bureau of Steam Engineering from 1887 to 1903.
A crew of 23 keeps the ship operational, and up to 38 scientists can be accommodated for the purposes of the scientific expedition.
Melville was configured as a general purpose oceanographic vessel of the Global Class operating world wide. The ship sailed over 1.5 million miles and crossed the Equator more than 90 times. With an expected useful life of 30 years the ship underwent a service life extension in 1992 to give the additional years service before retirement after 45 years of service. [7] In that overhaul the hull was lengthened, increasing her displacement to 2670 tons (full-load), and a new propulsion system was installed.
The Melville was used in the 1976 movie King Kong , starring Jessica Lange and Jeff Bridges. It was used specifically because of its cycloid propulsion drive (at that time), which allowed it to move sideways. This type of drive is used, on research vessels, for station keeping in the ocean over drill and coring sites.
In 1979 the Melville was the lead ship of the RISE oceanographic expedition to the crest of the East Pacific Rise at 21° N off the west coast of Mexico. It was this expedition that discovered deep sea high temperature hydrothermal vents using the submersible Alvin and other oceanographic instruments.
In September 2014 the ship reached the end of the life cycle extension of the 1992 service life extension. After 45 years of service Melville Scripps hosted a farewell for the ship on 21 February 2015 at San Diego. [7] The White House confirmed on 17 November 2015 that the Melville and USCGC Boutwell (WHEC-719) would be transferred to the Philippine Navy as Excess Defense Articles (EDA)s. [4] On 29 April 2016, the ship was formally turned over and commissioned to the Philippine Navy at a ceremony held in San Diego, California. The ship was renamed BRP Gregorio Velasquez, after a Filipino National Scientist, and assigned the pennant number AGR-702. The ship is expected to provide the Philippine Navy with hydrographic survey and maritime research capabilities. [1]
The Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) is the center for oceanography and Earth science at the University of California, San Diego. Its main campus is located in La Jolla, with additional facilities in Point Loma.
R/P FLIP was an open ocean research platform owned by the U.S. Office of Naval Research (ONR) and operated by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. The platform was 108 meters (355 ft) long and was designed to partially flood and pitch backward 90°, resulting in only the front 17 meters (55 ft) of the platform pointing up out of the water, with bulkheads becoming decks. When flipped, most of the buoyancy for the platform was provided by water at depths below the influence of surface waves, hence FLIP was stable and mostly immune to wave action, similar to a spar buoy. At the end of a mission, compressed air was pumped into the ballast tanks in the flooded section and the platform, which had no propulsion, returned to its horizontal position so it could be towed to a new location. The platform was frequently mistaken for a capsized ocean transport ship.
RV Atlantis is a Thomas G. Thompson-class oceanographic research ship, owned by the US Navy and operated by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution as part of the University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System (UNOLS) fleet. She is the host vessel of DSV Alvin. She is named for the first research vessel operated by WHOI, the sailboat RV Atlantis, for which the Space ShuttleAtlantis is also named.
RV Knorr was a research vessel formerly owned by the U.S. Navy and operated by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution for the U.S. research community in coordination with and as a part of the University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System (UNOLS) fleet. On March 14, 2016, Knorr was officially transferred to the Mexican Navy and renamed Rio Tecolutla. She was replaced at Woods Hole by the RV Neil Armstrong. Knorr is best known as the ship that supported researchers as they discovered the wreck of the RMS Titanic in 1985. R/V Knorr (AGOR-15) has traveled more than a million miles—the rough equivalent of two round trips to the Moon or forty trips around the Earth. Her sister ship is the RV Melville.
RV Roger Revelle is a Thomas G. Thompson-class oceanographic research ship operated by Scripps Institution of Oceanography under charter agreement with Office of Naval Research as part of the University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System (UNOLS) fleet. The ship is named after Roger Randall Dougan Revelle, who was essential to the incorporation of Scripps into the University of California San Diego.
RV Thomas G. Thompson (AGOR-23) is an oceanographic research vessel and lead ship of her class, owned by the United States Office of Naval Research and operated under a bareboat charterparty agreement by the University of Washington as part of the University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System (UNOLS) fleet.
USNS Titan (T-AGOS-15) was a Stalwart-class modified tactical auxiliary general ocean surveillance ship in service in the United States Navy from 1989 to 1993. From 1996 to 2014, she was in commission in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) fleet as the oceanographic research ship NOAAS Ka'imimoana.
USS Chain (ARS-20/T-AGOR-17) was a Diver-class rescue and salvage ship commissioned by the U.S. Navy during World War II. Her task was to come to the aid of stricken vessels.
USS Snatch (ARS-27), well known as Scripps RV Argo after conversion to scientific research, was a Diver-class rescue and salvage ship commissioned by the U.S. Navy during World War II and in service from 11 December 1944 through 23 December 1946. Her task was to come to the aid of stricken vessels. The ship is better known from her scientific research role as the Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) research vessel RV Argo. It is that name, apparently not formally recognized by Navy that maintained title to the vessel, found in the scientific literature and public releases about her wide ranging research voyages.
Robert D. Conrad (T-AGOR-3) was a Robert D. Conrad-class oceanographic research ship that operated from 1962 to 1989. The ship, while Navy owned, was operated as the R/V Robert D. Conrad by the Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University from delivery to inactivation. The ship provided valuable ocean-bottom, particularly seismic profile, information and underwater test data to the U.S. Navy and other U.S. agencies.
USNS James M. Gilliss (T-AGOR-4) was a Robert D. Conrad-class oceanographic research ship acquired by the U.S. Navy in 1962. The ship was operated by the Military Sea Transportation Service and managed by the Naval Oceanographic Office as one of the "Navy Pool" vessels serving various Navy laboratories and projects in the Atlantic Ocean. After active Navy pool service the ship was assigned to the University of Miami to operate as part of the University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System (UNOLS) fleet until 1979.
USNS Sands (T-AGOR-6) was a Robert D. Conrad-class oceanographic research ship operated by the Military Sealift Command (MSC) for the Naval Oceanographic Office from 1965 to 1973. During that period she provided ocean-bottom information and underwater test data to the U.S. Navy and other U.S. agencies. The ship was the second naval vessel to be named for Rear Admiral Benjamin F. Sands and his son Rear Admiral James H. Sands, the first being the destroyer Sands (DD-243). The ship operated in the Atlantic on oceanographic and geophysical assignments for the Oceanographic Office and other agencies.
Thomas G. Thompson (T-AGOR-9) was a Robert D. Conrad-class oceanographic research ship acquired by the U.S. Navy in 1965. The ship was transferred to the University of Washington for operation as part of the University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System (UNOLS) fleet on 21 September 1965. In 1988 the ship went out of UNOLS service. The ship, retaining the previous name, was designated by the Navy as IX-517 assigned to the Mare Island Naval Shipyard for general naval research. Thomas G. Thompson was later renamed Pacific Escort II with the same designation. On 7 May 1997 the Navy renamed the ship Gosport and transferred the ship to the Norfolk Naval Shipyard available for hire as a multi purpose platform from the shipyard. The ship, placed out of service and struck from the register on 27 February 2004, was sunk as part of a NATO exercise 14 November 2004.
Thomas Washington (T-AGOR-10) was a Robert D. Conrad-class oceanographic research ship delivered to the U.S. Navy in 1965. The ship was owned by the Navy but assigned to the Scripps Institute of Oceanography, University of California, La Jolla, California and operated as R/VThomas Washington from delivery to inactivation.
USNS De Steiguer (T-AGOR-12) was a Robert D. Conrad-class oceanographic research ship acquired by the U.S. Navy in 1966. She was a Navy pool vessel assigned to Naval laboratories until she was transferred to the Tunisian Navy in 1992.
USNS Bartlett (T-AGOR-13) was a Robert D. Conrad-class oceanographic research ship acquired by the U.S. Navy (USN) in 1969. She was named after oceanographer Captain John R. Bartlett of the USN. Bartlett was one of the ships under the technical direction of the Naval Oceanographic Office (NAVOCEANO) operating as an Auxiliary General Oceanographic Research (AGOR) program "pool" ship for support of Navy laboratories on each coast as well as NAVOCEANO projects. The ship was first assigned to support laboratories on the West Coast with last operations in similar support on the East Coast and Atlantic.
Gyre (T-AGOR-21), best known as RV Gyre, was the lead ship of her class of oceanographic research ships acquired by the U.S. Navy in 1973 for assignment to the University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System (UNOLS) fleet of Navy owned ships. Gyre was operated by the Texas A&M University School of Oceanography as part of the Navy owned UNOLS fleet until stricken 17 August 1992 and transferred to the university under a program transferring ships to states, schools and other public institutions. The university operated the ship until sale in December 2005.
The University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System (UNOLS) is a group of academic institutions and National Laboratories organized in the United States to coordinate research vessel use for federally funded ocean research.
RV Neil Armstrong (AGOR-27) is the designation for a new oceanographic research ship, first of the Neil Armstrong-class research vessels, to be owned by the United States Navy and operated by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus announced on September 24, 2012, that the research vessel was to be named after Neil Armstrong, the first person to walk on the Moon and a former naval aviator who served in the Korean War.
RV Robert Gordon Sproul, sometimes shortened to Sproul, is a research vessel operated by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) as part of the University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System (UNOLS) fleet. The ship is named after Robert Gordon Sproul, the first system-wide president of the University of California.