History | |
---|---|
United States | |
Name | Thomas Washington |
Namesake | Admiral Thomas Washington |
Owner | United States Navy |
Operator | Scripps Institute of Oceanography |
Builder | Marinette Marine Corp., Marinette, Wisconsin |
Laid down | 12 September 1963 |
Launched | 1 August 1964 |
Sponsored by | Misses Barbara E. and Ann H. Washington, granddaughters of Admiral Washington |
Acquired | 17 September 1965 |
In service | Assigned to and operated by the Scripps Institute of Oceanography. |
Stricken | 1 August 1992 |
Fate | Transferred to Chile 22 September 1992 and renamed Vidal Gormaz (AGOR 60). |
Vidal Gormaz (AGOR 60) | |
History | |
Chile | |
Name | Vidal Gormaz (AGOR-60) |
Namesake | Commodore Francisco Vidal Gormaz (1837 - 1907) |
Commissioned | 28 September 1992 |
Decommissioned | 30 August 2010 |
Identification | IMO number: 7742164 |
Fate | Scrapped in Puerto Montt Bay, Chile 2012. |
General characteristics | |
Type | Robert D. Conrad-class oceanographic research ship |
Tonnage | 1,151 GRT |
Displacement | 1,490 |
Length | 209 ft (63.7 m) |
Beam | 39.5 ft (12.0 m) |
Draft | 16.7 ft (5.1 m) |
Propulsion | Diesel-electric, single propeller, 2,500shp, retractable, trainable, 360 degree bow thruster |
Speed | 10 kn (12 mph; 19 km/h) cruise, 11.5 kn (13.2 mph; 21.3 km/h) maximum |
Range | 8,200 nmi (9,400 mi; 15,200 km) at cruising speed |
Complement | 22 scientific complement |
Crew | 8 officers, 15 men |
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. [note 1]
In September 1992 the ship was sold to Chile and operated by the Chilean Navy as Vidal Gormaz until decommissioned in August 2010 and broken up in 2012.
Thomas Washington was laid down on 12 September 1963 at Marinette, Wisconsin, by the Marinette Marine Corp.; launched on 1 August 1964; sponsored jointly by Misses Barbara E. and Ann H. Washington, granddaughters of Admiral Thomas Washington; and delivered to the Navy on 17 September 1965. [1]
The ship was 209 ft (63.7 m) length overall, 39.5 ft (12.0 m) beam, 16.7 ft (5.1 m) draft, 1,151 GRT with a displacement tonnage of 1,490. The diesel-electric engine drove a single propeller for a cruising speed of 10 kn (12 mph; 19 km/h) and a maximum speed of 11.5 kn (13.2 mph; 21.3 km/h). With a capacity of 66,000 US gallons (250,000 L) of diesel oil the ship had a range of 8,200 nmi (9,400 mi; 15,200 km) at cruising speed. In addition to the main engine the ship had a retractable, trainable, 360 degree bow thruster. The ship was operated with eight officers and fifteen crew with a scientific complement of twenty-two. [2]
In addition to a wet laboratory and a dry laboratory the ship had the capability to accommodate two 8 ft (2.4 m) by 8 ft (2.4 m) by 20 ft (6.1 m) vans on deck for extra berthing or instruments. For equipment handling and operation there was an "A" frame of 10,000 pounds (4,500 kg) capacity, crane with 16,000 pounds (7,300 kg) capacity and three oceanographic/hydrographic winches. [2]
In 1967 an IBM 1800 computer, the first of its kind installed in a research vessel, for data acquisition and control was installed allowing data processing at sea rather than after operations with land-based computers. [3] By retirement Thomas Washington had been equipped with a Furuno shallow water sounding system and for deep sounding both EDO narrow beam and a SeaBeam swath system. The ship had a capability for seismic profiling. [2]
The ship was assigned to the Scripps Institute of Oceanography, of the University of California as one of three such ships operated by academic institutions as parts of the national academic research fleet; the others being R/V Robert D. Conrad operated by the Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University and R/V Thomas G. Thompson operated by the University of Washington. [4] The Navy owned ships operated under the general control of the Oceanographer of the Navy, but were managed by the institutions, with civilian crews, conducting research experiments in support of the national oceanographic programs of the United States. [1] [2] [4]
The ship's operation schedule for 1991, its last full operation year, shows the ship operated for a variety of purposes with numerous sponsors. [5]
Thomas Washington, reaching the 1992 end of life projection, was inactivated and struck by the Navy 1 August 1992. [2] [6]
The ship was sold to Chile for operation by the Chilean Navy, renamed Vidal Gormaz for the founder of the Chilean Hydrographic Office, Commodore Francisco Vidal Gormaz (1837 - 1907), and commissioned at San Diego, California on 28 September 1992. Vidal Gormaz arrived at Valparaíso on 3 December 1992. The vessel participated in such research operations as Tropical Ocean Global Atmosphere, World Ocean Circulation Experiment, El Niño–Southern Oscillation and national Marine Scientific Research Voyages in National Fiords and Oceanic Islands and other Chilean scientific data collection. [7]
The ship, designated AGOR-60, was decommissioned by the Chilean Navy on 30 August 2010. She was broken up at Chinquique, Puerto Montt in 2012. [6]
The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution is a private, nonprofit research and higher education facility dedicated to the study of marine science and engineering.
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.
A research vessel is a ship or boat designed, modified, or equipped to carry out research at sea. Research vessels carry out a number of roles. Some of these roles can be combined into a single vessel but others require a dedicated vessel. Due to the demanding nature of the work, research vessels may be constructed around an icebreaker hull, allowing them to operate in polar waters.
BRP Gregorio Velasquez is Philippine Navy's first oceanographic research vessel. 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) (UNOLS). 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. 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.
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.
NOAAS Ronald H. Brown is a Thomas G. Thompson-class blue-water research vessel of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, she is NOAA's only Global-Class research 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 Oceanus is a Regional-class research vessel owned by the National Science Foundation, based in Newport, Oregon, and maintained and operated by Oregon State University. The ship was originally delivered to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) for operation as a part of the U.S. Academic Research Fleet as a University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System (UNOLS) designated operator. in November 1975. Oceanus made the first operational cruise in April 1976 and operated under WHOI for thirty-six years in the Atlantic Ocean with some operations in the Mediterranean and Caribbean seas. The ship was scheduled to be retired in November 2011 but instead was transferred to Oregon State University, College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences, for operation, replacing sister ship, {{RV|Wecoma]}.
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.
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 Lynch (T-AGOR-7) was a Robert D. Conrad-class oceanographic research ship that served the United States Navy from 1965 to 1994. During that period the ship 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. Lynch was assigned to support laboratories on the East Coast.
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.
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.
RV Kilo Moana (AGOR-26) is a small waterplane area twin hull (SWATH) oceanographic research ship owned by the US Navy and operated by the University of Hawaii as a part of the University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System (UNOLS) fleet. She was designed to operate in coastal and blue water areas. The unique SWATH hull-form provides a comfortable, stable platform in high sea conditions.
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 Atlantic Explorer is a twin-screw ocean vessel. It is owned and operated by the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences (BIOS) in coordination with and as a part of the University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System (UNOLS) fleet. Atlantic Explorer is in compliance with US Coast Guard, UNOLS and American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) regulations as an uninspected oceanographic research vessel and is supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF). Its homeport is St. George's, Bermuda.