Pathfinder-class survey ship

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USNS Pathfinder (T-AGS-60) underway in the Gulf Of Mexico on 19 September 1994 (6490546).jpg
USNS Pathfinder, the lead ship of its class, underway in 1994
Class overview
Builders Halter Marine
Operators Military Sealift Command
In commission1994–present
Planned8
Building1
Completed7
Active6
Retired1
General characteristics
Type Survey ship
Displacement4,762 long tons
Length329 ft (100 m)
Beam58 ft (18 m)
Draft19 ft (5.8 m)
PropulsionDiesel-electric; 4 EMD/Baylor diesel generators; 11,425 horsepower (8.52 MW); 2 GE CDF 1944 motors; 8,000 horsepower (5.96 MW) sustained; 6,000 horsepower (4.48 MW); 2 Lips Z drives; bow thruster, 1,500 horsepower (1.19 MW).
SpeedHull Speed (13,000 HP) 25 kn (29 mph)

Cruise Speed (5,000 HP) 18 kn (21 mph)

Economic Speed: 16 kn (18 mph)
Complement26 Civilian Personnel/27 military sponsor personnel

The Pathfinder-class survey ships are owned by the United States Navy and operated by Military Sealift Command for the Naval Oceanographic Office ("NAVOCEANO"). They have mostly civilian crews, including scientists from NAVOCEANO. [1] [2]

The Pathfinder-class survey ships have three multipurpose cranes and five winches plus a variety of oceanographic equipment including multi-beam echo-sounders, towed sonars and expendable sensors. These ships are capable of carrying 34-foot (10 m) hydrographic survey launches (HSLs) for data collection in coastal regions with depths between 10 and 600 meters (33 and 1,969 ft) and in deep water to 4,000 meters (13,000 ft). A small diesel engine is used for propulsion at towing speeds of up to 6 knots (11 km/h; 6.9 mph). HSLs carry SIMRAD high-frequency active hull-mounted and side scan sonars. USNS Marie Tharp, the most recent addition to the survey ship fleet, is equipped with an 18-by-18-foot (5.5 by 5.5 m) moon pool for deploying and retrieving a variety of mission systems, including autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV). [3]

The original contract for the Pathfinder class of surveying ships was awarded in January 1991 for two ships with an option for a third, which was taken up May 29, 1992. A fourth ship was ordered in October 1994 with an option for two more. A fifth ship was ordered January 15, 1997. Construction began on the sixth ship in the class in 1999. By early 2002, six ships had been delivered and were performing active missions for MSC. The contract for a seventh ship, USNS Maury, was awarded in December 2009. In August 2014, USNS Sumner, was deactivated, and USNS Maury was delivered on February 16, 2016, restoring the survey fleet to six ships. [3] On November 19, 2018, the Navy awarded a contract for advanced work for an eighth Pathfinder-class ship. [4]

Ships

There are eight ships in the Pathfinder class: [1] [4] [5]

Related Research Articles

USS or USNS Maury may refer to the following ships, named for Commodore Matthew Fontaine Maury:

USNS <i>Mizar</i> Cargo ship of the United States Navy (1957–1990)

USNS Mizar (MA-48/T-AGOR-11/T-AK-272) was a vessel of the United States Navy. She was named after the star Mizar.

The Naval Oceanographic Office (NAVOCEANO), located at John C. Stennis Space Center in south Mississippi, is an echelon IV component of the Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command (NMOC) and comprises approximately 1,000 civilian, military and contract personnel responsible for providing oceanographic products and services to all elements within the Department of Defense.

USNS <i>Sumner</i> (T-AGS-61)

USNS Sumner (T-AGS-61) is a Pathfinder-class oceanographic survey ship that became operational in 1997. It is the fourth United States Navy ship named Sumner, in this case for Thomas Hubbard Sumner, an American sea captain who discovered the principles of celestial navigation by circle of equal altitude. These ships are crewed by a small crew of civilian mariners, supporting an even smaller contingent of United States Navy personnel.

USNS <i>Pathfinder</i> International Oceanographic Survey Ship

USNS Pathfinder is a United States Navy oceanographic survey ship, and the lead vessel of her class. Her mission is to collect acoustical, biological, physical, and geophysical surveys of the world's oceans. This data has many uses, but a primary focus is characterizing the ocean environment in order to improve the U.S. Navy's undersea warfare capabilities.

USNS <i>Henson</i>

USNS Henson (T-AGS-63) is a Pathfinder-class oceanographic survey ship. It is the fourth ship in the class. Henson is named after Matthew Henson, who accompanied Robert Peary, most famously on an expedition intended to reach the Geographic North Pole in 1909.

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.

USNS <i>Capable</i>

USNS Capable (T-AGOS-16) was a Stalwart-class modified tactical auxiliary general ocean surveillance ship of the United States Navy in service from 1989 to 2004. In 2008, she was commissioned into service in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration as the oceanographic research ship NOAAS Okeanos Explorer.

NOAAS <i>Thomas Jefferson</i>

NOAAS Thomas Jefferson is a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) hydrographic survey vessel in service since 2003. The ship was built for the United States Navy as USNS Littlehales (T-AGS-52) serving as one of two new coastal hydrographic survey vessels from 1992 until transfer to NOAA in 2003 when it was named after Founding Father and third U.S. president, Thomas Jefferson.

USNS <i>Lynch</i>

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.

USNS <i>Silas Bent</i>

USNS Silas Bent (T-AGS-26) was a Silas Bent class survey ship acquired by the United States Navy in 1964 and delivered to the Military Sealift Command in 1965. Silas Bent spent her career in the Pacific Ocean performing oceanographic surveys. The ship was equipped with the Oceanographic Data Acquisition System (ODAS) as were the later oceanographic survey ships USNS Kane (T-AGS-27) and USNS Wilkes (T-AGS-33).

USNS <i>S. P. Lee</i> Oceanographic research ship 1968-92

USNS S. P. Lee was laid down on 27 June 1966 by the Defoe Shipbuilding Co., Bay City, Michigan as yard hull number 441. The ship, sponsored by Mrs. David Scull, great-granddaughter of Admiral Lee, was launched on 19 October 1967 and delivered to the navy on 2 December 1968.

USNS <i>Zeus</i> United States Navy cable ship built in 1984

USNS Zeus (T-ARC-7) is the first cable ship specifically built for the United States Navy. Though planned to be the first of two ships of her class, the second ship was not built, leaving Zeus as the only ship of her class. She is capable of laying 1,000 miles (1,600 km) of cable at depths of up to 9,000 feet (2,700 m).

USNS <i>Marie Tharp</i> United States Navy Pathfinder-class oceanographic survey ship

USNS Marie Tharp (T-AGS-66) is a Pathfinder-class oceanographic survey ship operated by the Military Sealift Command of the United States Navy. The seventh ship in her class, Marie Tharp is named for oceanographer Marie Tharp; the ship was renamed in 2023 from Maury.

USNS <i>John McDonnell</i> (T-AGS-51)

USNS John McDonnell (T-AGS-51) was a hydrographic survey ship operated by the Military Sealift Command (MSC) with a contract crew for the Naval Oceanographic Office which assigned a military and civilian hydrographic detachment to conduct coastal surveys. The ship and its sister, USNS Littlehales (T-AGS-52), were replacements for the coastal hydrographic survey vessels USNS Chauvenet (T-AGS-29) and USNS Harkness (T-AGS-32).

USNS <i>Kane</i>

USNS Kane (T-AGS-27) was a Silas Bent-class survey ship acquired by the United States Navy and delivered to Military Sealift Command in 1967. Kane spent her career performing oceanographic surveys. The ship was equipped with the Oceanographic Data Acquisition System (ODAS) as were oceanographic survey ships USNS Silas Bent (T-AGS-26) and USNS Wilkes (T-AGS-33).

USNS <i>Chauvenet</i> (T-AGS-29)

USNS Chauvenet (T-AGS-29) was a multi-function survey ship laid down on 24 May 1967, at Upper Clyde Shipbuilding Corp., Glasgow, Scotland. The ship was the second survey ship, Chauvenet (AGS-11) being the first, named for William Chauvenet (1820-1870). He was instrumental in the founding of the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, MD. The mathematics department of the US Naval Academy in Annapolis was founded by Chauvenet and is housed in Chauvenet Hall. Chauvenet was launched on 13 May 1968, delivered to the US Navy, 13 November 1970 and placed in service with the Military Sealift Command (MSC) as USNS Chauvenet (T-AGS-29). The ship conducted coastal hydrographic and topographic surveys under the technical direction of the Oceanographer of the Navy through the U.S. Naval Oceanographic Office (NAVOCEANO). The ship was assigned to the Pacific for surveys, sister ship Harkness (T-AGS-32) was assigned Atlantic duties, doing so until inactivated in November 1992.

References

  1. 1 2 "Ship Inventory - Oceanographic Survey Ships". Military Sealift Command. U.S. Navy. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
  2. Missy Ryan, Dan Lamothe (17 December 2016). "Pentagon: Chinese naval ship seized an unmanned U.S. underwater vehicle in South China Sea". Washington Post. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
  3. 1 2 "Oceanographic Survey Ships T-AGS". navy.mil. 11 April 2005. Archived from the original on 2 April 2006. Retrieved 22 December 2022.
  4. 1 2 Burgess, Richard R. (2018-11-20). "Navy Awards Contract to VT Halter for New Oceanographic Survey Ship". Seapower. Retrieved 2021-06-24.
  5. "Oceanographic Survey Ships - T-AGS". U.S. Navy. 23 August 2007. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
  6. "SECNAV Names Future Oceanographic Survey Ship USNS Robert Ballard".