USNS Vindicator

Last updated
The Hi'ialakai (3750089426).jpg
NOAAS Hiʻialakai (R 334) off Honolulu, Hawaiʻi, sometime between 2001 and 2009
History
Flag of the United States.svgUnited States
NameUSNS Vindicator (T-AGOS-3)
NamesakeA vindicator is someone who justifies something by providing evidence or who maintains or defends a cause against opposition
Operator Military Sealift Command
Ordered26 September 1980
Builder Tacoma Boatbuilding Company, Tacoma, Washington
Laid down14 April 1983
Launched1 June 1984
Acquired21 November 1984 (delivered)
In service21 November 1984
Out of service30 June 1993
Stricken30 June 1993
Identification IMO number:  8835619
FateTransferred to U.S. Coast Guard 30 June 1993
AcquiredTransferred from U.S. Coast Guard 2001
FateTransferred to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration October 2001
Flag of the United States Coast Guard.svgUnited States
NameUSCGC Vindicator (WMEC-3)
NamesakePrevious name retained
AcquiredBy lease from U.S. Navy 30 June 1993
Commissioned20 May 1994
Decommissioned19 August 1994
NotesIn reserve 1994-1999
Recommissioned24 August 1999
Decommissioned1 May 2001
Homeport Norfolk, Virginia
Identification
FateReturned to U.S. Navy 2001
Flag of the United States.svg NOAA Flag.svg United States
NameNOAAS Hiʻialakai (R 334)
NamesakeHiʻialakai is a Hawaiian word meaning "embracing pathways to the sea" and holding a deeper meaning of "guiding leaders of the seas" [2]
AcquiredTransferred from U.S. Navy October 2001
Commissioned3 September 2004
Decommissioned14 December 2020
Sponsored byMargaret "Maggie" Awamura Inouye and Isabella A. Abbott
Homeport Pearl Harbor, Hawaiʻi
Identification
General characteristics (as U.S. Navy ocean surveillance ship)
Class and type Stalwart-class ocean surveillance ship
Displacement2,285  long tons
Length224 ft (68 m)
Beam43 ft (13 m)
Draft16 ft 10 in (5.13 m)
Propulsion Diesel-electric: Two General Electric 800-hp (597-kw) diesel engines, twin fixed-pitch propellers
Speed11 knots (20 km/h; 13 mph)
Crew33 (15 U.S. Navy personnel, 15 civilians)
Armamentnone
General characteristics (as U.S. Coast Guard Cutter)
Type Medium endurance cutter
Length224 ft (68 m)
Beam43 ft (13 m)
PropulsionDiesel-electric: Two General Electric 800-hp (597-kw) diesel engines, twin fixed-pitch propellers
Speed11 knots (20 km/h; 13 mph) (cruising)
General characteristics (as NOAA oceanographic research ship)
Class and typeex-U.S. Navy Stalwart-class oceanographic research ship
Tonnage
Displacement
  • 1,650 tons (light)
  • 2,285 tons (full load)
Length224 ft (68 m)
Beam43 ft (13 m)
Draft16 ft 10 in (5.13 m)
Depth20 ft (6.1 m)
Installed power1,600 horsepower (2.1 megawatts)
PropulsionDiesel-electric: Two General Electric 800-hp (597-kw) diesel engines, twin fixed-pitch propellers
Speed
  • 11.5 knots (21.3 km/h; 13.2 mph) (emergency)
  • 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) (cruising)
Range20,232 nautical miles (37,470 km; 23,283 mi)
Endurance35 days
Boats & landing
craft carried
Up to five small work boats
Complement28 (6 NOAA Corps officers, 3 licensed engineers, and 19 other crew) plus up to 22 scientists
Sensors and
processing systems
Multibeam sonar; echosounder

USNS Vindicator (T-AGOS-3) was a United States Navy Stalwart-class modified tactical auxiliary general ocean surveillance ship that was in service from 1984 to 1993. Vindicator then served in the United States Coast Guard from 1994 to 2001 as the medium endurance cutter USCGC Vindicator (WMEC-3). From 2004 to 2020, she was in commission in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) fleet as the oceanographic research ship NOAAS Hiʻialakai (R 334).

Contents

Construction

Vindicator was ordered on 26 September 1980. She was laid down on 14 April 1983 by the Tacoma Boatbuilding Company, at Tacoma, Washington, and was launched on 1 June 1984. Tacoma Boatbuilding delivered her to the U.S. Navy on 21 November 1984.

United States Navy service

The Navy placed the ship in non-commissioned service in the Military Sealift Command on the day of her delivery as USNS Vindicator (T-AGOS-3). Designed to collect underwater acoustical data in support of Cold War anti-submarine warfare operations using Surveillance Towed Array Sensor System (SURTASS) sonar equipment, Vindicator spent the final years of the Cold War searching for Soviet Navy submarines.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union at the end of December 1991 brought the Cold War to an end, the requirement for such search operations declined. On 30 June 1993, the Navy removed Vindicator from service and simultaneously struck her from the Naval Vessel Register and leased her to the United States Coast Guard. [3]

USCGC Vindicator (WMEC-3) in port at Norfolk, Virginia, on 26 July 1994. USCGC Vindicator (WMEC-3).jpg
USCGC Vindicator (WMEC-3) in port at Norfolk, Virginia, on 26 July 1994.

United States Coast Guard service

With their own ship moored at the United States Coast Guard Yard at Curtis Bay in Baltimore, Maryland, from June to October 1993, the crew of the U.S. Coast Guard medium endurance cutter USCGC Tamaroa (WMEC-166) reported aboard Vindicator and manned her during her Coast Guard acceptance trials. [4] Vindicator was commissioned into Coast Guard service on 20 May 1994 as the medium endurance cutter USCGC Vindicator (WMEC-3) for use in counternarcotics operations, based in Norfolk, Virginia, and serving as a "mother ship" for 38-foot (12 m) pursuit boats used to intercept drug smugglers. During 1994, manned by many former crew members of the by-then-decommissioned Tamaroa, Vindicator took part in Operation Able Manner, a joint U.S. Coast Guard-U.S. Navy effort to interdict would-be Haitian migrants to the United States. [4] [5] She was decommissioned on 19 August 1994 and placed in reserve at the Coast Guard Yard at Curtis Bay.

After five years of inactivity, Vindicator was recommissioned on 24 August 1999. At one point, she was under evaluation to be a test ship for a Marine Molten Carbonate Fuel Cell Demonstration Module. [6] [7] The Coast Guard found that Vindicator and five other Stalwart-class ships the Navy had transferred were inadequate as Coast Guard cutters because of their inability to carry helicopters and low top speed, and budget limitations prevented the Coast Guard from addressing these shortfalls. [8] Budget cuts in early 2001 resulted in termination of the lease, and she was decommissioned again on 1 May 2001 and returned to the Military Sealift Command. [9] [10]

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration service

Transfer and commissioning

In October 2001, Vindicator was transferred to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). After a $4,000,000 conversion into an oceanographic research ship, she was commissioned into NOAA service on 3 September 2004 as NOAAS Hiʻialakai (R 334), co-sponsored by Margaret "Maggie" Awamura Inouye, the wife of United States Senator from Hawaiʻi Daniel Inouye, and University of Hawaiʻi Professor Emerita Isabella A. Abbott. [2] [11]

Capabilities

Hiʻialakai was equipped with multibeam sonar and echosounder equipment for underwater mapping work. She was well equipped to support both shallow- and deep-water dive projects. She was able to carry up to five small work boats for transporting divers to and from working areas, multiple dive lockers to store scientific gear and equipment, a membrane Nitrox fill system for filling dive tanks, and a three-person, double-lock decompression chamber. [11] [12]

Hiʻialakai had a wet laboratory with a scientific freezer, a dry laboratory, and a computer and electronics laboratory. On deck, she had a 46-foot (14 m) telescoping boom with a lifting capacity of 6,600 pounds (3,000 kg) at full extension, an A-frame with a maximum safe working load of 22,000 pounds (10,000 kg), and a J-frame with a maximum safe working load of 3,500 pounds (1,600 kg). Her normal complement of boats consisted of a 29-foot (8.8 m) boat with a 455-horsepower (339 kW) diesel motor and a capacity of 10 people, a 26-foot (7.9 m) boat with a 210-horsepower (160 kW) diesel motor and a capacity of 10 people, a 17-foot (5.2 m) boat with a 90-horsepower (67 kW) outboard motor and a capacity of five people, and an 18-foot (5.5 m) SOLAS-approved rescue boat with a 90-horsepower (67 kW) outboard motor and a capacity of seven people. [12]

In addition to her crew of 28, Hiʻialakai could accommodate up to 22 scientists. [12]

Career

Hiʻialakai was home-ported at Pearl Harbor, Hawaiʻi. She operated in the Hawaiian Islands and the Pacific Insular Area, which includes American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and Guam. [11] Her first cruise in NOAA service to support assessment, monitoring, and mapping in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands at Nihoa, Necker Island (also known as Mokumanamana), the French Frigate Shoals (also known as Kānemilohaʻi), the Gardner Pinnacles (also known as Pūhāhonu), Maro Reef (also known as Nalukākala), Laysan (also known as Kauō), Lisianski Island (also known as Papa‘āpoho) and the surrounding Neva Shoals, Pearl and Hermes Atoll (also known as Holoikauaua), Kure Atoll (also known as Mokupāpapa and as Ocean Island), and Midway Atoll (also known as Pihemanu Kauihelani) began on 13 September 2004. [2]

Hiʻialakai supported the research of NOAA's National Ocean Service, National Marine Sanctuaries, National Marine Fisheries Service, and Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, as well as that of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and the University of Hawaiʻi. She conducted coral reef ecosystem mapping, bio-analysis assessments, coral reef health studies, and fish stock studies. Her coral reef mapping supported a mapping effort initiated in 2002 by the United States Coral Reef Task Force. She carried out most of her dive-intensive operations in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, which became the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, one of the largest marine conservation areas in the world, in 2006. [11]

In 2008, maritime archeologists embarked aboard Hiʻialakai discovered the wreck of a sailing ship in the French Frigate Shoals which turned out to be that of the 19th-century whaling ship Two Brothers . [13]

Hiʻialakai made her longest cruise — a 103-day voyage — during a 2015 assessment of coral reefs in the National Marine Sanctuary of American Samoa. Her divers conducted 3,500 dives, using all three of her boats, during this voyage. [14]

After discovering that Hiʻialakai was suffering from extensive corrosion, NOAA decided to retire her early. [15] She was decommissioned on 14 December 2020. [14]

Related Research Articles

The United States Navy, United States Coast Guard, and United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) use a hull classification symbol to identify their ships by type and by individual ship within a type. The system is analogous to the pennant number system that the Royal Navy and other European and Commonwealth navies use.

USCGC <i>Tamaroa</i> (WMEC-166) Coast guard cutter

USCGC Tamaroa (WAT/WMEC-166), originally the United States Navy Cherokee-class fleet tugUSS Zuni (ATF-95), was a United States Coast Guard cutter. Following the U.S. Coast Guard custom of naming cutters in this class of ship after Native American tribes, she was named after the Tamaroa tribe of the Illiniwek tribal group.

USS <i>Zuni</i> Tugboat of the United States Navy

USS Zuni (AT/ATF-95), a Cherokee-class fleet tugboat, formerly called Navajo class, was a ship of the United States Navy named for the Zuni, the popular name given to a tribe of Pueblo Indians indigenous to the area around the Zuni River in central New Mexico near the Arizona state line.

USCGC <i>Acushnet</i> (WMEC-167) United States Coast Guard cutter

USCGC Acushnet (WMEC-167) was a cutter of the United States Coast Guard, homeported in Ketchikan, Alaska. She was originally USS Shackle (ARS-9), a Diver-class rescue and salvage ship commissioned by the United States Navy for service in World War II. She was responsible for coming to the aid of stricken vessels and received three battle stars during World War II, before a long career with the Coast Guard. Acushnet patrolled the waters of the North Pacific and was one of the last World War II era ships on active duty in the US fleet upon her retirement in 2011.

The Medium Endurance Cutter or WMEC is a type of United States Coast Guard Cutter mainly consisting of the 270-foot (82 m) Famous- and 210-foot (64 m) Reliance-class cutters. These larger cutters are under control of Area Commands. These cutters have adequate accommodations for crew to live on board and can do 6 to 8 week patrols.

USCGC <i>Bibb</i> Secretary-Class Coast Guard ship

The USCGC Bibb (WPG-31) was a 327-foot (100 m) Secretary-Class Coast Guard ship commissioned in 1936. Seven similar "combat cutters" were built and named for secretaries of the United States Treasury. Bibb was named for U.S. Secretary of the Treasury George M. Bibb.

Two ships of the United States Coast Guard have been named USCGC Tamaroa, ultimately after the Tamaroa tribe of the Illiniwek tribal group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Office of Marine and Aviation Operations</span> US platforms operated by NOAA

The Office of Marine and Aviation Operations (OMAO) is a division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) which operates a wide variety of specialized ships and aircraft to carry out the environmental and scientific missions of NOAA.

USCGC <i>Harriet Lane</i> (WMEC-903) US Coast Guard cutter

USCGC Harriet Lane (WMEC-903) is a United States Coast Guard medium endurance cutter. Named after Harriet Lane, niece and official hostess of President James Buchanan. Harriet Lane was constructed by Tacoma Boatbuilding, Tacoma, Washington and delivered 20 April 1984.

USNS <i>Adventurous</i>

USNS Adventurous (T-AGOS-13) was a Stalwart-class modified tactical auxiliary general ocean surveillance ship of the United States Navy in service from 1988 to 1992. She was in non-commissioned service in the Military Sealift Command from 1988 to 1992, operating during the final years of the Cold War. She was transferred to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in 1992 and in 2003 was commissioned into service with NOAA as the fisheries research ship NOAAS Oscar Elton Sette.

Rescue and salvage ships are a type of military salvage tug. They are tasked with coming to the aid of stricken vessels. Their general mission capabilities include combat salvage, lifting, towing, retraction of grounded vessels, off-ship firefighting, and manned diving operations. They were common during World War II.

USS <i>Seize</i>

USS Seize (ARS-26) was a Diver-class rescue and salvage ship commissioned in the United States Navy during World War II. Her task was to come to the aid of stricken vessels.

USCGC <i>Cuyahoga</i> US Coast Guard Active-class patrol boat

USCGC Cuyahoga (WIX-157) was an Active-class patrol boat built in 1927 which saw action in World War II. Cuyahoga sank after a night-time collision in the Chesapeake Bay while on patrol in 1978. She was later raised and re-sunk as an artificial reef off the Virginia coast and is a popular recreational dive site.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charleston metropolitan area, South Carolina</span> Metropolitan statistical area in South Carolina, United States

The Charleston metropolitan area is an urban area centered around Charleston, South Carolina. The U.S. Office of Management and Budget designates the area as the Charleston-North Charleston, SC Metropolitan Statistical Area, a metropolitan statistical area used for statistical purposes only by the United States Census Bureau and other federal agencies. The OMB defines the area as comprising Berkeley, Charleston and Dorchester counties, an area with 799,636 residents in the 2020 census. Principal cities include Charleston, North Charleston, and Summerville. The area is commonly referred to as the Tri-County Area or the Lowcountry, though the latter term has historically referred to South Carolina's southern coast in general.

USCGC Clover WAGL/WLB/WMEC-292, a Cactus (A) Class buoy tender was built by Marine Iron and Shipbuilding, Duluth, Minnesota. Her keel was laid 3 December 1941, and she was launched 25 April 1942. She was commissioned on 8 November 1942 in the United States Coast Guard as the United States Coast Guard Cutter Clover. She was built as a WAGL, redesignated a WLB in 1965, and again redesignated a WMEC in 1979.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Naval Support Activity Charleston</span> Base of the United States Navy

Naval Support Activity Charleston, originally designated Naval Weapons Station Charleston, is a base of the United States Navy located on the west bank of the Cooper River, in the cities of Goose Creek and Hanahan South Carolina. The base encompasses more than 17,000 acres (69 km2) of land with 10,000 acres (40 km2) of forest and wetlands, 16-plus miles of waterfront, four deep-water piers, 38.2 miles (61.5 km) of railroad and 292 miles (470 km) of road. The current workforce numbers more than 11,000 with an additional 3,600 people in on-base family housing.

USCGC <i>Aspen</i> Seagoing buoy tender of the United States Coast Guard

USCGC Aspen (WLB-208) is the eighth cutter in the Juniper-class 225 ft (69 m) of seagoing buoy tenders. She is under the operational control of the Commander of the Seventeenth U.S. Coast Guard District and is home-ported in Homer, Alaska. Her primary responsibility areas are Kachemak Bay of Cook Inlet to the Kuskokwim River in southwest Alaska and the high seas off south-central and southwest Alaska. Aspen conducts heavy lift aids-to-navigation operations, and law enforcement, homeland security, environmental pollution response, and search and rescue as directed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Outline of recreational dive sites</span> Hierarchical outline list of articles about rereational dive sites

Recreational dive sites are specific places that recreational scuba divers go to enjoy the underwater environment or for training purposes. They include technical diving sites beyond the range generally accepted for recreational diving. In this context all diving done for recreational purposes is included. Professional diving tends to be done where the job is, and with the exception of diver training and leading groups of recreational divers, does not generally occur at specific sites chosen for their easy access, pleasant conditions or interesting features.

USS Tamaroa (AT-62) was a U.S. Navy tugboat which served from 1936 until she was sunk in a collision in 1946. She is not to be confused with the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter USCGC Tamaroa (WMEC-166).

References

Notes

  1. SemperParatus.com U.S. Coast Guard Cutter (USCGC) by Noun Name: Nantucket to Zinnia and Unnamed Lightships
  2. 1 2 3 NOAA Release 2004-R836 NOAA SHIP HI’IALAKAI COMMISSIONED IN HONOLULU Archived 2017-05-07 at the Wayback Machine .
  3. Naval Vessel Register.
  4. 1 2 angelfire.com USCGC Tamaroa Detailed History
  5. uscg.mil U.S. Coast Guard Alien Migrant Interdiction: Operation Able Manner
  6. Maritime Administration. Report on Port And Shipping Safety and Environmental Protection. Chapter 4 Archived 2007-07-15 at the Wayback Machine . April 2000.
  7. hazegray.org World Navies Today: US Navy Vessels Decommissioned Since 1980
  8. Schrader, Richard K., "USCGC Vindicator: From Spy Ship to Coast Guard Cutter," Sea Classics, November 1, 2000.
  9. Coast Guard Prepares To Initiate Deep Cuts Top Officer Says "Short-Term Pain" Will Help Service Embark On Proposed $9 Billion Acquisition Project. Jack Dorsey The Virginian - Pilot. Virginian - Pilot. Norfolk, Va.: April 24, 2001. pg. A.1
  10. Military Sealift Command. 2000 Annual Report.
  11. 1 2 3 4 NOAA Ship Hiʻialakai brochure
  12. 1 2 3 noaa.gov NOAA Ship Hiʻialakai Ship Specifications: General Information
  13. "Shipwreck in Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Added to National Register of Historic Places".
  14. 1 2 NOAA Marine Operations - Hiʻialakai
  15. "New Ocean Research Ship Heading To Hawai'i". senate.gov. U.S. Senator for Hawaii Brian Schatz. February 11, 2020. Retrieved 24 September 2024.

Bibliography