NOAAS Rude
NOAAS Rude (S 590)
| |
History | |
---|---|
U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey | |
Name | USC&GS Rude (ASV 90) |
Namesake | officer |
Builder | Oyster Bay, New York |
Launched | 17 August 1966 |
Completed | December 1966 |
Commissioned | 29 March 1967 |
Fate | Transferred to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 3 October 1970 |
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | |
Name | NOAAS Rude (S 590) |
Namesake | Previous name retained |
Acquired | Transferred from U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 3 October 1970 |
Decommissioned | 25 March 2008 |
Identification | IMO number: 6728185 |
Honors and awards | |
Fate | Transferred to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency August 2008 |
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency | |
Name | US EPA Lake Explorer II |
Acquired | Transferred from NOAA August 2008 |
In service | 1 October 2009 |
Homeport | Duluth, Minnesota |
Identification | IMO number: 6728185 |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | S1-MT-71a |
Type | survey ship |
Tonnage | 150 gross register tons (domestic tonnage) |
Displacement | 220 tons (ITC tons) |
Length | 90 ft (27 m) |
Beam | 22 ft (6.7 m) (moulded) |
Draft | 7.2 ft (2.2 m) |
Installed power | 850 shp (0.63 MW) |
Propulsion | Two Cummins 425 hp (0.317 MW) geared diesel engines, 2 shafts, 3,900 US gallons (15,000 L) fuel |
Speed | 10 knots (19 km/h) (cruising) |
Range | 1,000 nautical miles (1,900 km) |
Endurance | 5 days |
Boats & landing craft carried | One launch |
Complement | 11 (4 officers, 1 licensed engineer , and 6 other crew members) |
Notes | 120 kilowatts electrical power |
NOAAS Rude (S 590) was an American
In 2008, NOAA decommissioned Rude and transferred her to the
USC&GS and NOAA
Construction and commissioning
Rude (pronounced "Rudy") was built as an "auxiliary survey vessel" (ASV) for the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey at the
Technical details
Rude′s deck equipment featured one winch and one telescoping boom crane. This equipment gave Rude a lifting capacity of up to 7,500 pounds (3,400 kg). It also had 500 feet (150 meters) of cable that could pull up to 250 pounds (110 kg).
For its primary mission of inshore
Operations
The Coast and Geodetic Survey acquired Rude and a
In 1978, Rude and Heck came to the assistance of the burning
Electronic technologies eventually arrived that allow a single vessel to do the same surveying work using
Rude remained in commission and was sometimes called upon to assist the
Rude was decommissioned on 25 March 2008[4] and placed in reserve in NOAA′s Atlantic Fleet.
Honors and awards
Department of Commerce Silver Medal, 1978
In a ceremony on 23 October 1978 in Washington, D.C., Rude and Heck were awarded the Department of Commerce Silver Medal for "rare and distinguished contributions of major significance to the Department, the nation, and the world."[5] for their assistance to Midnight Sun.[5] The program for the ceremony cited the ships' achievements as follows:
life rafts near the vessel. First aid was administered, and the crew members of the disabled ship were transported safely to shore. The crew of the NOAA Ship HECK displayed outstanding seamanship through their efforts over 20 consecutive hours to fight the fire. The actions of the two ships' crew members demonstrated superior performance and exceptional courage in a maritime emergency beyond the call of duty.[5]
Department of Commerce Gold Medal 1996
In a ceremony on 4 December 1996 in Washington, D.C., Rude was awarded the Department of Commerce Gold Medal for "rare and distinguished contributions of major significance to the Department, the nation, and the world."[6] for its response as a part of the NOAA TWA Flight 800 Disaster Response Team.[6] The program for the ceremony cited the team's achievements as follows:
The NOAA TWA Flight 800 Disaster Response Team is recognized for their crucial role in providing precise map mosaics of the Atlantic Ocean debris fields off Long Island, New York. The mosaics were instrumental in victim recovery, salvage and investigative efforts. Within hours after the disaster, the NOAA team arrived on the site and began surveying the ocean floor with highly sophisticated side scan sonar equipment. The team utilized the sonar data to produce precisely located graphic descriptions of the debris fields. Without the products and services provided by the response team, the recovery of the victims and the wreckage would have been a nearly impossible task.[6]
Environmental Protection Agency
Acquisition
In August 2008, NOAA transferred the ship to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) at the NOAA Marine Operations Base at Norfolk, Virginia.[7] The EPA renamed her UIS EPA Lake Explorer II and earmarked her for environmental research operations on the Great Lakes.[7]
Conversion
After acquiring Lake Explorer II, the EPA converted it for use as a research vessel. The EPA retained all of the ship's navigation equipment, its A-frame, and its accommodations of 11 bunks located in four double stateroom and one triple stateroom.[7] However, the EPA removed all of its NOAA science equipment and installed new equipment appropriate to its new environmental research role, including a winch and an additional frame.[7]
On 22 September 2008, while Lake Explorer II was moored in the Elizabeth River at the NOAA Marine Operations Base at Norfolk, still without its new name painted on its side, it suffered a fracture in a stern tube which ran through its center fuel tank, causing it to spill an estimated 1,400 U.S. gallons (5,300 liters) of diesel fuel into the river.[8][9] Its crew contained the leak, and a combined effort by the U.S. Coast Guard, Norfolk Fire Department, Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, and an oil spill response organization the EPA hired contained and cleaned up the spill.[8][9]
During the summer of 2009, Lake Explorer II was hauled out of the water at a shipyard in Portsmouth, Virginia, for upgrades to its structural components.[7] A major part of this phase of its conversion was the installation of a new tank to hold all sewage generated aboard the ship, to ensure its compliance with strict zero-discharge standards for sewage on the Great Lakes.[7] While it was out of the water at Portsmouth, the shipyard also replaced shaft tubes, replaced or rebuilt sea valves, painted its bottom with new anti-foul paint, and conducted a routine out-of-water inspection of its equipment and hull.[7]
In EPA service, the ship has a crew of four – a
Operations
On 1 October 2009, with the conversion complete, Lake Explorer II and its crew departed the NOAA Marine Operations Base at Norfolk and, after a two-day transit in Atlantic Ocean waters, arrived in New York Harbor on 3 October 2009.[7] Following a stay at New York City, the ship proceeded up the Hudson River to Albany, New York, where it entered the New York State Canal System.[7] Over the course of four days, it navigated the Erie Canal and Oswego Canal, passing through 30 locks, before entering Lake Ontario at Oswego, New York.[7] Lake Explorer II then crossed Lake Ontario, Lake Erie, Lake Huron, and Lake Superior, passing through nine more canal locks along the way, before arriving at its new home port, Duluth, Minnesota, on 16 October 2009, completing a 15-day journey of 1,580 miles.[7]
Operated throughout the Great Lakes by the EPA's Mid-Continent Ecology Division, Lake Explorer II conducts research surveys designed to develop a comprehensive environmental assessment of coastal conditions in the Great Lakes and demonstrate a new generation of lakewide assessment designs which include nearshore ecosystems in lakewide assessment.[7][10] Its work includes the use of advanced technologies for sampling aquatic life, water quality, and sediments, including the deployment of advanced in situ environmental sensing system packages, which make continuous synoptic maps of water and plankton properties, allowing for greater efficiency during extensive research surveys.[7][10]
After being hauled out of the water for
See also
References
- ^ ISBN 1-55750-656-6, p. 617.
- ISBN 0-415-97899-8, p. 314.
- ^ a b NOAA History: Hall of Honor: Commerce Medals Presented For Lifesaving and the Protection of Property 1955-2000
- ^ a b Flight 800 ship to be retired - Newsday - March 24, 2008
- ^ a b c Program of Thirtieth Annual Honor Awards, United States Department of Commerce, October 23, 1978: Silver Medal: NOAA Ship Rude, NOAA Ship Heck, National Ocean Survey, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Norfolk, Virginia
- ^ a b c Program of Forty-Eighth Annual Honor Awards, United States Department of Commerce, December 4, 1996: Gold Medal: NOAA TWA Flight 800 Disaster Response Team: NOAA Ship Rude, Office of NOAA Corps Operations; Hydrographic Surveys Division, National Ocean Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Anonymous, "Our New Research Vessel!," MED in Review (epa.gov), Spring 2010, pp. 4-5 Retrieved August 20, 2018.
- ^ a b Anonymous, "Coast Guard responds to diesel spill in Norfolk, Va.," Coast Guard News, September 22, 2008 Retrieved August 20, 2018
- ^ a b Anonymous, "Environmental Protection Agency Operated Vessel Spills 1,400 Gallons of Diesel at NOAA Operating Base," The Maritime Executive, undated Retrieved August 20, 2018
- ^ a b epa.gov United States Environmental Protection Agency Mid-Continent Ecology Division "Research Vessel (R/V) Lake Explorer II Overview" Retrieved August 20, 2018
- ^ a b thegreatlakesgroup.com US EPA R/V LAKE EXPLORER II LAUNCHED AT GREAT LAKES SHIPYARD AFTER DRYDOCKING October 29 2014 Accessed 20 October 2022
External links
- "NOAA Ship RUDE". October 2005. Retrieved May 10, 2006.
- "Coast and Geodetic Survey Ships". April 2007. Retrieved April 13, 2007.
- Video "LAKE EXPLORER II EPA Research Vessel" on YouTube