NOAA Ship ''Fairweather'' (S 220), originally operated by the
United States Coast and Geodetic Survey
The United States Coast and Geodetic Survey (abbreviated USC&GS), known from 1807 to 1836 as the Survey of the Coast and from 1836 until 1878 as the United States Coast Survey, was the first scientific agency of the United States Government. It ...
as USC&GS ''Fairweather'' (MSS 20), is an
oceanographic
Oceanography (), also known as oceanology and ocean science, is the scientific study of the oceans. It is an Earth science, which covers a wide range of topics, including ecosystem dynamics; ocean currents, waves, and geophysical fluid dynamic ...
research ship operated by the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (abbreviated as NOAA ) is an United States scientific and regulatory agency within the United States Department of Commerce that forecasts weather, monitors oceanic and atmospheric conditio ...
(NOAA). ''Fairweather'' primarily conducts
hydrographic survey
Hydrographic survey is the science of measurement and description of features which affect maritime navigation, marine construction, dredging, offshore oil exploration/ offshore oil drilling and related activities. Strong emphasis is placed ...
s in
Alaska
Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S. ...
n waters, but is considered a multi-mission-capable vessel and has conducted
fisheries research cruises. She is the sister ship of the
NOAAS ''Rainier'' (S 221) and of the retired
NOAAS ''Mount Mitchell'' (S 222).
Overview
![NOAAS Fairweather (S 220) and Mount Fairweather](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/40/NOAAS_Fairweather_%28S_220%29_and_Mount_Fairweather.jpg)
''Fairweather'' is named for
Mount Fairweather
Mount Fairweather (officially gazetted as Fairweather Mountain in Canada but referred to as Mount Fairweather), is the highest mountain in the Canadian province of British Columbia, with an elevation of . It is located east of the Pacific Ocean ...
in
Alaska
Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S. ...
. She was constructed for the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey as a "medium
survey ship" (MSS) by
Aerojet-General Shipyards at
Jacksonville
Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...
,
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
. She was
laid down
Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship.
Keel laying is one o ...
on 12 August 1963 and
launched on 15 March 1967. The Coast and Geodetic Survey
commissioned her as USC&GS ''Fairweather'' (MSS 20) in a joint ceremony with her sister ship USC&GS ''Rainier'' (MSS 21) at the Pacific Marine Center in
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
,
Washington
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
, on 2 October 1968. When NOAA was established on 3 October 1970 and took over the Coast and Geodetic Survey's assets, she became part of the NOAA fleet as NOAAS ''Fairweather'' (S 220). Deactivated in 1989, the ship remained inactive at NOAA's Pacific Marine Center in Seattle for thirteen years. In 2002, she began a refit at the
Cascade General Shipyard in
Portland
Portland most commonly refers to:
* Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States
* Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...
,
Oregon
Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...
, and she was recommissioned in 2004 to aid with the backlog of critical surveys in Alaskan waters. Her
home port is
Ketchikan
Ketchikan ( ; tli, Kichx̱áan) is a city in and the borough seat of the Ketchikan Gateway Borough of Alaska. It is the state's southeasternmost major settlement. Downtown Ketchikan is a National Historic District.
With a population at the 20 ...
, Alaska.
Crew
''Fairweather'', like all NOAA ships, is a ship and is operated by commissioned officers of the
NOAA Corps
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps, known informally as the NOAA Corps, is one of eight federal uniformed services of the United States, and operates under the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administ ...
and civilian wage mariners. ''Fairweather'' has a complement of 69 people, with additional berthing capability for visitors and scientists. The ship generally spends over 150 days per year at sea.
Equipment and mission
''Fairweather'' has two
Kongsberg Gruppen
Kongsberg Gruppen is an international technology group headquartered in Norway, that supplies high-technology systems to customers in the merchant marine, defence, aerospace, offshore oil and gas industries, and renewable and utilities indust ...
multibeam
echosounder
Echo sounding or depth sounding is the use of sonar for ranging, normally to determine the depth of water (bathymetry). It involves transmitting acoustic waves into water and recording the time interval between emission and return of a pulse; ...
s, models EM710 and EM2040. Her four survey
launches have Kongsberg EM2040 multibeam echosounders. In addition, ''Fairweather'' can tow an L3/Klein System 5000
sidescan sonar
Side-scan sonar (also sometimes called side scan sonar, sidescan sonar, side imaging sonar, side-imaging sonar and bottom classification sonar) is a category of sonar system that is used to efficiently create an image of large areas of the sea ...
, and her launches can be equipped with additional hull-mounted L3/Klein System 5000 sidescan sonars. These sidescan sonars are used for near-shore
Arctic
The Arctic ( or ) is a polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm (Greenland), Finland, Iceland, N ...
survey operations. Additionally, ''Fairweather''s personnel routinely establish horizontal and vertical control instruments, such as
Global Positioning System
The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a satellite-based radionavigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one of the global navigation satellite sy ...
(GPS) base stations and
tide
Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another.
Tide tables ...
-level measuring devices, in the remote areas in which the ship works. Using this technology, the crew of ''Fairweather'' can map the ocean floor fully. These data are primarily used to update NOAAs
nautical chart
A nautical chart is a graphic representation of a sea area and adjacent coastal regions. Depending on the scale of the chart, it may show depths of water and heights of land ( topographic map), natural features of the seabed, details of the co ...
s, but are increasingly used in other areas such as
tsunami
A tsunami ( ; from ja, 津波, lit=harbour wave, ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other underwater exp ...
displacement modeling, flood mapping, and the mapping of fish habitats.
Service history
On 30 April and 1 May 2017, the NOAA research ship surveyed an area in the
Bering Sea off Dalnoi Point on the northwestern tip of
St. George Island in the
Pribilof Islands
The Pribilof Islands (formerly the Northern Fur Seal Islands; ale, Amiq, russian: Острова Прибылова, Ostrova Pribylova) are a group of four volcanic islands off the coast of mainland Alaska, in the Bering Sea, about north ...
in a search for the wreck of the
crab-
fishing boat
A fishing vessel is a boat or ship used to catch fish in the sea, or on a lake or river. Many different kinds of vessels are used in commercial, artisanal and recreational fishing.
The total number of fishing vessels in the world in 2016 was ...
''Destination'', which had
capsize
Capsizing or keeling over occurs when a boat or ship is rolled on its side or further by wave action, instability or wind force beyond the angle of positive static stability or it is upside down in the water. The act of recovering a vessel fro ...
d and sunk in the area with the loss of her entire crew of six men on 11 February 2017. She did not find the wreck, but her survey narrowed the search area for ''Fairweather'', which discovered the wreck in about of water during a survey on 8 and 9 July 2017.
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fairweather (S 220)
Ships of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Survey ships of the United States
Ships built in Jacksonville, Florida
1967 ships
Alaska-related ships