Page 40: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (May 2014)

40 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News • MAY 2014

FEATURE SHIP

O n March 29, the Ocean Class

Auxiliary General Oceano- graphic Research (AGOR) vessel hull number 27 started its offi cial life as the R/V Neil Arm- strong, the fi rst research vessel named after a space explorer. Carol Armstrong, the widow of the famed astronaut, per- formed the christening duties during a brief sunbreak on a windy and rainy Pa- cifi c Northwest afternoon.

The number of illustrious speakers highlighted the rich diversity of agencies involved in the design, construction and operation of the vessel. Dick Nelson,

President of Dakota Creek Industries (DCI), the construction shipyard, spoke fi rst followed by Chris Chuhran, VP of

Guido Perla and Associates, Inc. (GPA), the Seattle-based Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering fi rm that part- nered with DCI for the design and build project. Chuhran said even though the keel was laid in June of 2012, the en- tire process had actually taken several years from its earliest idea phase to to- day’s ceremony. The fi nal detail design evolved over many months with fre- quent reviews by NAVSEA, the Offi ce of Naval Research (ONR), the National

Science Foundation (NSF) and the Uni- versity National Oceanographic Labo- ratory System (UNOLS). On several occasions, DCI hosted review meetings attended by more than 40 people.

Rear Admiral Jonathan White, USN, said the R/V Neil Armstrong would help the Navy and the United States “…know the ocean better than anyone else,” much like Armstrong’s trip to the moon helped us know the lunar world.

Chief of Naval Research, Rear Admi- ral Mathew Klunder, declared it a “mag- nifi cent vessel” that was “made and de- signed for the future.”

Dr. Susan Avery, President and Direc- tor of Woods Hole Oceanographic Insti- tution (WHOI) assured Mrs. Armstrong that her “husband’s legacy lives on in his namesake ship.” She described the ship as a “high-tech marvel” that is expected to perform its 40-year mission with dis- tinction. The R/V Neil Armstrong will replace the R/V Knorr, in service since 1968, one year before Armstrong’s walk on the moon. The R/V Knorr, AGOR- 15, is retiring after logging over one million miles in service to the Navy and

WHOI.

Guests at DCI’s Transit Shed ceremo- ny had only a short time to admire the sleek lines of the ship before tugs, taking advantage of the high tide, moved her back to the shipyard for completion of the interior systems.

Commissioning and fi nish work should be completed by August, followed by sea trials, after which the ship will then spend an additional six months in the

Puget Sound area training the crews and adjusting the equipment before she heads for her new home port at WHOI in

Massachusetts.

Initial vessel construction for the two-ship, $145-million-dollar project is funded by NAVSEA who will retain

AGOR 27

R/V Neil Armstrong

By Kathleen Gleaves (Photo cour tesy of Gary McGrath, WHOI)

The ship as it was moved into the water at Dakota Creek Industries shipyard in

Anacortes, Washington.

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