186 



U.S.A. 



FEDERAL OCEANOGRAPHIC FLEET 



"Big Science" Descriptor : Oceanography 



Description of Facility/Instrument : The Federal oceanographlc fleet 

 consists of 13 Navy oceanographlc research ships operated by 

 civilian crews; 20 NOAA ships operated by the NOAA Corps and 

 civilian personnel; 5 Coast Guard Icebreakers, also used for 

 general oceanographlc research and for support of NSF's Antartlc 

 research program; 2 ships operated by the U.S. Geological 

 Survey; 2 ships operated by the Environmental Protection Agency 

 for water quality monitoring; 2 ships operated by the National 

 Science Foundation; and 20 ships operated by 14 academic Insti- 

 tutions under the University — National Oceanographlc Laboratory 

 Systems (UNOLS). 



Other than the UNOLS fleet , the vessels are owned and 

 operated by the Federal Government, with the exception of the 

 two NSF vessels which are leased from a private firm. About 

 half of the UNOLS fleet (the larger ships) are owned by the 

 Federal Government. The other half (the smaller ships) are 

 owned by some of 14 academic institutions which operate the 

 ships. 



Date of Construction ; 1929-1981 



Construction Cost : 1984 $$ : (See the note below.) 



Present International Cooperation 



Nationallty(s) of Ownership ; U.S. 

 Nationallty(s) of Operational Funding ; U.S. 

 Nationallty(s) of Management Staff ; U.S. 

 Natlonality(3) of Researchers! mainly U.S. 



Potential for Future International Cooperation ; There are a number of 

 existing cooperative programs with foreign nations, involving 

 several bilateral agreements. The potential is good for con- 

 tinued International cooperation. 



Other Information ; 



Note: Those vessels below which have an asterisk each cost over 

 $25 million in construction plus scientific outfitting costs. 



U.S. Navy Oceanographlc Fleet 



*BOWDITCH ; 1945, precision echo sounding, mapping and 



charting 



*DUTTON 

 *HESS 

 *WYMAN 

 *CHAUVENET 



1945, mapping and charting 



1965, mapping and charting 



1971, general oceanography, mapping and charting 



1970, mapping and charting 



