NOAAS Oceanographer (R 101)

Last updated
USC&GS Oceanographer (OSS O1) off Seattle c1974.jpg
NOAAS Oceanographer (R 101) off Seattle, Washington
History
Flag of the United States.svg Flag of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey.svg United States
NameUSC&GS Oceanographer (OSS 01)
Namesake Oceanographer, a scientist who studies the ocean
Builder Aerojet General Shipyards, Jacksonville, Florida
Laid down22 July 1963
Launched18 April 1964
Completed20 April 1966
Commissioned13 July 1966
FateTransferred to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 3 October 1970
Flag of the United States.svg NOAA Flag.svg United States
NameNOAAS Oceanographer (R 101)
NamesakePrevious name retained
AcquiredTransferred from U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 3 October 1970
DecommissionedJuly 1981
Recommissioned8 April 1986
Decommissioned1989
Recommissioned?
Decommissioned1996
Homeport Seattle, Washington
Identification
Fate
  • Sold 1996;
  • Served as breakwater MV Protector 1997–2005;
  • Sold for conversion to cruise ship Sahara 2005
  • Scrapped 2019
General characteristics
Class and type Oceanographer-class oceanographic research ship
Tonnage
Displacement4,033 tons (full load)
Length92.4 m (303 ft 2 in)
Beam15.8 m (51 ft 10 in)
Draft6.0 m (19 ft 8 in)
Installed power5,000  shp (3,700 kW)
Propulsion Diesel-electric: Two Westinghouse 1150 diesel generator sets, two Westinghouse electric motors, two screws; 400 hp (300 kW) bow thruster; 937 tons fuel
Speed15.8 knots (29.3 km/h; 18.2 mph) (sustained)
Range12,250 nmi (22,690 km; 14,100 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Endurance34 days (150 days provisions)
Complement79 (13 NOAA Corps officers, six licensed civilian officers, 60 crewmen) plus up to 24 scientists
Sensors and
processing systems		One weather radar, two navigational radars; additional sensors installed before 1986 reactivation (see text)
Notes1.2 MW electrical power

NOAAS Oceanographer (R 101), originally USC&GS Oceanographer (OSS O1), was an American Oceanographer-class oceanographic research vessel in service in the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey from 1966 to 1970 and in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) from 1970 to 1996. She was the second Coast and Geodetic Survey ship and first NOAA ship to bear the name Oceanographer. She served as flagship of both the Coast and Geodetic Survey and NOAA fleets.

Contents

Construction

Designed by the U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD), Oceanographer was laid down on 22 July 1963 [1] by Gibbs Shipyards [1] at Jacksonville, Florida, under contract to Aerojet General Shipyards and launched on 18 April 1964. [2] Constructed under MARAD's supervision, she was completed on 20 April 1966, [2] at 303 feet (92 meters) in length the largest vessel constructed for research purposes to date. Her stark white paint, large radome aft of the funnels, and heavy crane on the aft deck gave her a distinctive appearance. She had chemistry, wet and dry oceanographic, meteorological, gravimetric, and photographic laboratories. She also had several precision oceanographic winches.

Operational career

USC&GS Oceanographer (OSS 01) was commissioned as an "ocean survey ship" (OSS) with the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey at the Washington Navy Yard in Washington, D.C., on 13 July 1966 [1] under the command of Captain Arthur L. Wardwell, USESSA. [2] With her home port at Seattle, Washington, [2] she was the second Coast and Geodetic Survey ship of the name, and served as flagship of the Survey's fleet. When the Coast and Geodetic Survey and other United States Government agencies combined to form NOAA on 3 October 1970, she became the research ship NOAAS Oceanographer (R 101), the first NOAA ship to bear the name, as well as flagship of the NOAA fleet.

NOAAS Oceanographer during her historic visit to the People's Republic of China in 1980. NOAAS Oceanographer in China.jpg
NOAAS Oceanographer during her historic visit to the People's Republic of China in 1980.

During her 30 years of service, Oceanographer sailed over 2,000,000 nautical miles (3,700,000 km) in every major ocean. In 1967 she departed Jacksonville on 31 March on a "world science and ambassadorial cruise" which took her from the United States East Coast to the United States West Coast via the North Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea, Red Sea, Indian Ocean, and Pacific Ocean, making many good-will stops along the way before concluding the voyage by arriving at Seattle on 11 December. [3] In 1968, she supported Project Sea Use, a multi-party expedition to Cobb Seamount in the North Pacific Ocean which developed much of the initial scientific understanding of the seamount. [4] In 1969 she completed the circumnavigation of the globe she began in March 1967 when she returned to the U.S. East Coast.

Other highlights of Oceanographer's career included participation in the first large-scale, coordinated international sea-air interaction survey, known as the BOMEX Study, in 1969, and environmental base-line studies on deep-ocean mining (DOMES). In 1980, Oceanographer became the first U.S. Government vessel allowed into a port of the People's Republic of China. [5]

Oceanographer was placed in reserve in July 1981. She underwent a major refit in which she received an Alden weatherfax, a Sperry Mark 37 gyro, a Raytheon X-band Pathfinder radar, Inmarsat, an MX1102 Global Positioning System, a new salinometer, a Shipboard Environmental Acquisition System with expendable bathythermograph gear, a new meteorological station, and a Doppler current profiling system, and returned to service with this new equipment on 8 April 1986. Placed in reserve in 1989, she later returned to service again.

Final disposition

Oceanographer and NOAA Ships Discoverer and Malcolm Baldridge, ex-Researcher, were replaced by Ronald H. Brown under the NOAA Fleet Modernization Program in the 1990s. [6] [7] After her decommissioning in 1996, Oceanographer was sold to the Kirkland Yacht Club Marina of Kirkland, Washington, to act as a breakwater and was renamed MV Protector. [8] Protector was tied up at the marina from 1997 to 2005.

After G Shipping Ltd., a Malta-based company controlled by Italian race-car driver and hotelier Emanuele Garosci, purchased Protector for US$6.5 million, Protector was renamed MV Sahara in August 2005 and towed to a Seattle, Washington, shipyard to be refitted at a projected cost of US$10 million as a luxury floating hotel which could travel from port to port. [9] [10] A poor economy resulted in the postponement of the major renovation phase of the project, but a small work crew began tearing out small cabins that had housed embarked scientists during the ship's time with NOAA to clear the way for the eventual construction of restaurants and luxury hotel rooms. [10] On 21 October 2010, a member of the crew, 33-year-old Lia Hawkins, disappeared while working aboard Sahara while going to dump scrap metal into a recycling container. [10] Her body was found in the water near the container the following day, and an autopsy determined that she had drowned. [10] After a lawsuit was filed alleging that G Shipping had done nothing to ensure the safety of workers aboard Sahara, resulting in Hawkins falling overboard to her death, courts awarded $3.45 million to Hawkins's estate on 24 April 2013. [10] G Shipping apparently had the ship claimed by the courts in lieu of payment.

By 2016, the conversion project had been canceled and Sahara was for sale for US$1,200,000. [11] She was scrapped in Mexico in 2019. [12]

See also

Related Research Articles

NOAAS <i>Rainier</i> Medium survey ship based in Newport, Oregon (USA)

NOAA Ship Rainier is a survey vessel in commission with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Her primary mission is to chart all aspects of the ocean and sea floor, primarily in Alaska and the Pacific Northwest. The ship is home-ported at the NOAA Marine Operations Center–Pacific in Newport, Oregon.

NOAAS Oceanographer may refer to the following ships of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA):

NOAAS <i>Fairweather</i> US Research and hydrographic survey ship based in Alaska (1967)

NOAA Ship Fairweather, originally operated by the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey as USC&GS Fairweather, is an oceanographic research ship operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Fairweather primarily conducts hydrographic surveys in Alaskan waters, but is considered a multi-mission-capable vessel and has conducted fisheries research cruises. She is the sister ship of the NOAAS Rainier and of the retired NOAAS Mount Mitchell.

NOAAS <i>Mount Mitchell</i>

NOAAS Mount Mitchell was an American survey vessel in commission in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration from 1970 to 1995. Prior to her NOAA career, she was in commission in the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey as USC&GS Mount Mitchell from 1968 to 1970. In 2003, she returned to service as the private research ship R/V Mt. Mitchell.

Ronald George Mason was one of the oceanographers whose pioneering Cold War geomagnetic survey work lead to the discovery of magnetic striping on the seafloor. First discovering magnetic stripes on the bottom of the Pacific Ocean off the United States West Coast, he later also identified them around the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.

USS <i>Oceanographer</i> (AGS-3) Survey ship of the United States Navy

USS Oceanographer (AGS-3) was a survey ship of the United States Navy during World War II that produced charts chiefly of passages in the Solomon Islands area of the Pacific Ocean. Upon transfer to the Navy, she had initially briefly been named and classed as gunboat USS Natchez (PG-85). Before her World War II Navy service, she had been USC&GS Oceanographer (OSS-26), a survey ship with the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey from 1930.

USC&GS Oceanographer was the name of two ships of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, and may refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States Coast and Geodetic Survey</span> Former U.S. government scientific agency

The United States Coast and Geodetic Survey was the first scientific agency of the United States Government. It existed from 1807 to 1970, and throughout its history was responsible for mapping and charting the coast of the United States, and later the coasts of U.S. territories. In 1871, it gained the additional responsibility of surveying the interior of the United States and geodesy became a more important part of its work, leading to it being renamed the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey in 1878.

USS <i>Mobjack</i> Tender of the United States Navy

USS Mobjack (AVP-27/AGP-7) was a motor torpedo boat tender in commission in the United States Navy from 1943 to 1946. She saw service in the Pacific theater during the latter portion of World War II.

NOAAS <i>Surveyor</i> U.S. oceanographic survey ship

NOAA Ship Surveyor was an oceanographic survey ship in commission in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) from 1970 until 1995. Prior to her NOAA career, she was in commission in the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey from 1960 to 1970 as USC&GS Surveyor. She was the second and last Coast and Geodetic Survey ship named Surveyor and has been the only NOAA ship thus far to bear the name.

NOAAS Discoverer may refer to the following ships of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA):

NOAAS <i>Heck</i>

NOAAS Heck was a Rude-class hydrographic survey ship in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) from 1970 to 1995. Prior to her NOAA service, she was in commission from 1967 to 1970 in the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey as USC&GS Heck.

NOAAS <i>Davidson</i> NOAA survey ship

NOAAS Davidson was a survey ship in commission in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) from 1970 to 1989. Prior to her NOAA service, she was in commission in the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey from 1967 to 1970 as USC&GS Davidson, the second Coast and Geodetic Survey ship of the name. She was the only sister ship of NOAAS McArthur.

USC&GS <i>Gilbert</i>

USC&GS Gilbert was a launch that served as a survey ship in the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey from 1930 to 1962.

USC&GS <i>Explorer</i> (OSS 28)

The second USC&GS Explorer was a survey ship that served in the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey from 1940 to 1968. She operated in the Pacific Ocean from 1940 to 1960, seeing service there during World War II, and in the Atlantic Ocean from 1960 to 1968.

NOAAS <i>Researcher</i>

NOAAS Researcher, was an American oceanographic research vessel in commission in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) from 1970 to 1996. She had been delivered to the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey in 1970 as USC&GS Researcher, but did not enter commission until after her transfer to NOAA later that year. In 1988, Researcher was renamed NOAAS Malcolm Baldrige.

NOAAS <i>Ferrel</i> American hydrographic survey ship

NOAAS Ferrel was an American hydrographic survey ship that was in commission in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) from 1970 to 2002. Prior to her NOAA career, she was in commission in the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey from 1968 to 1970 as USC&GS Ferrel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Don A. Jones</span> United States Coast Guard admiral

Rear Admiral Don A. Jones was an officer in the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey Corps, its successor, the Environmental Science Services Administration Corps, and the ESSA Corps's successor, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps. He served simultaneously as the second and last Director of the ESSA Corps, one of only two people to hold the position, and as the seventh and last Director of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harley D. Nygren</span> Former NOAA Corps Director

Rear Admiral Harley Dean Nygren was an American military officer who served in the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey Corps, its successor, the Environmental Science Services Administration Corps, and the ESSA Corps's successor, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps. He served as the first Director of the NOAA Corps.

NOAAS <i>Discoverer</i> (R 102)

NOAAS Discoverer, originally USC&GS Discoverer, was an American Oceanographer-class oceanographic research vessel in service in the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey from 1966 to 1970 and in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) from 1970 to 1996. She was the second Coast and Geodetic Survey ship and first NOAA ship to bear the name Discoverer.

References

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 Announcement of keel laying of USC&GS Ship OCEANOGRAPHER July 22, 1963. Invitation to commissioning ceremony of ESSA Ship OCEANOGRAPHER on July 13, 1966
  2. 1 2 3 4 Commissioning Ceremonies Program, USC&GSS Oceanographer, July 13, 1966.
  3. ↑ Invitation to attend departure of USC&GS Ship OCEANOGRAPHER on its around the world science and ambassadorial cruise of 1967. Departing Jacksonville, Florida, March 31, 1967, and scheduled to arrive in Seattle, Washington, on December 11, 1967
  4. ↑ Spencer, Merrill P; Campbell, Spencer D; Carl, Eurick V (May 1969). "Diving to Cobb Seamount: A Report on Diving Operations on Project Sea Use, Phase 1,1968". Journal of Occupational Medicine . 11 (5). Lippincott Williams & Wilkins: 285–291. PMID   5772740 . Retrieved 11 November 2010.
  5. ↑ "NOAA History - Tools of the Trade/Ships/C&GS Ships/OCEANOGRAPHER". NOAA History. June 8, 2006. Retrieved November 16, 2008.
  6. ↑ "Brief History of NOAA Ship Ronald H. Brown". NOAA Marine Operations. October 10, 2001. Archived from the original on February 8, 2006. Retrieved May 10, 2006.
  7. ↑ Norman Polmar (2005), The Naval Institute Guide to the Ships and Aircraft of the U.S. Fleet, Naval Institute Press, p. 614, ISBN   9781591146858
  8. ↑ "Local News- Catching up with newsmakers". Seattle Times Newspaper. December 31, 2005. Retrieved November 16, 2008.
  9. ↑ Rachel Tuinstra (December 31, 2005). "Kirkland's "white elephant" destined for new adventures". Seattle Times. Retrieved 2007-10-29.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 Carter, Mike (24 April 2013). "Jury awards $3.45M for family of ship worker who drowned on job". The Seattle Times. Retrieved 26 April 2017.
  11. ↑ "303' NOAA Flagship for sale in Seattle. Diesel-electric, ice-class". YouTube . July 30, 2015. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved June 27, 2016.
  12. ↑ "Oceanographer (6600826)" . Miramar Ship Index . Retrieved 17 June 2022.

Bibliography

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.