The NOAA Ship ''Nancy Foster'' (R 352) is a
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 ...
research vessel
A research vessel (RV or R/V) is a ship or boat designed, modified, or equipped to carry out research at sea. Research vessels carry out a number of roles. Some of these roles can be combined into a single vessel but others require a dedicated ...
. The ship is named for Dr.
Nancy Foster
Nancy Marie Foster was the director of the National Ocean Service. She is known for her work in protecting marine environments, linking conservation groups and fisherman, and expanding research in marine environments.
Early life and education ...
, who was the director of the
National Marine Fisheries Service
The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), informally known as NOAA Fisheries, is a United States federal agency within the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) that is responsible for the ste ...
’s Office of Protected Resources from 1986 until 1993, and the director of the
National Ocean Service
The National Ocean Service (NOS) is an office within the U.S. Department of Commerce National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). It is responsible for preserving and enhancing the nation's coastal resources and ecosystems along the of ...
from 1997 until her death in 2000.
Construction and commissioning
The ship originally was built as the
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
''Cape Flattery''-class torpedo trials craft ''Agate Pass'' (YTT 12) at McDermott Shipyards in
Amelia,
Louisiana
Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...
, and
launched in September 1990. In 2001, the Navy transferred the vessel to NOAA, which outfitted her to conduct coastal research along the
United States East Coast
The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, the Atlantic Coast, and the Atlantic Seaboard, is the coastline along which the Eastern United States meets the North Atlantic Ocean. The eastern seaboard contains the coa ...
and
United States Gulf Coast
The Gulf Coast of the United States, also known as the Gulf South, is the coastline along the Southern United States where they meet the Gulf of Mexico. The coastal states that have a shoreline on the Gulf of Mexico are Texas, Louisiana, Missis ...
and in the
Caribbean. NOAA
commissioned her as NOAAS ''Nancy Foster''(R 352) on 10 May 2004.
Technical characteristics
The hull of ''Nancy Foster'' is 186 feet (56.7 m) long with a beam of 40 ft (12.1 m) and a draft of 12 ft 10 in (3.9 m). The ship has a total of 39 bunk spaces. She carries a complement of 6
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 ...
officers, 15 crew including 3 licensed engineers, and up to 17 visiting scientists. In 2018, the ship began a series of mid-life upgrades to extend her service life by another 30 years. Upgrades include installing new, more power diesel generators & main propulsion engine, renewing major equipment and performing extensive preservation.
The deck equipment features two winches and two deck cranes, along with an aft
A-Frame
An A-frame is a basic structure designed to bear a load in a lightweight economical manner. The simplest form of an A-frame is two similarly sized beams, arranged in an angle of 45 degrees or less, attached at the top, like an uppercase lette ...
and a port side A-Frame. This equipment gives the crew of the ''Nancy Foster'' the ability to do a variety of over-the-side oceanographic operations including launching and tending
Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROV) and
conductivity, temperature and depth (CTD) operations. She also has hull mounted transducers that support multi-beam surveys,
Acoustic Doppler Current Profiling (ADCP) and shallow water surveying.
Service history
''Nancy Foster'' supports applied research for the NOAA National Ocean Service's Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management and the National Marine Sanctuary Program, and the NOAA Oceanic and Atmospheric Research's Office of Ocean Exploration, Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory, the National Undersea Research Program, and the National Sea Grant College Program. Operations include the characterization of various habitats in NOAA's National Marine Sanctuaries, pollution assessments, and studies to improve understanding of the connection between marine habitats and estuaries. The ship supports scientific data collection through bottom fish trawling, sediment sampling,
side-scan 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 multi-beam surveying, sub-bottom profiling, core sampling,
scientific diving
Scientific diving is the use of underwater diving techniques by scientists to perform work underwater in the direct pursuit of scientific knowledge. The legal definition of scientific diving varies by jurisdiction. Scientific divers are normally q ...
with air and
Nitrox
Nitrox refers to any breathing gas, gas mixture composed (excepting trace gases) of nitrogen and oxygen. This includes atmospheric air, which is approximately 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, and 1% other gases, primarily argon. In the usual applicatio ...
, ROV operations, and servicing oceanographic/atmospheric surface and subsurface buoys. The vessel employs state of the art navigation and propulsion systems resulting in high quality and efficient data collection.
In August 2009, a NOAA-led team aboard ''Nancy Foster'' found and photographed a wreck off
Cape Hatteras
Cape Hatteras is a cape located at a pronounced bend in Hatteras Island, one of the barrier islands of North Carolina.
Long stretches of beach, sand dunes, marshes, and maritime forests create a unique environment where wind and waves shap ...
,
North Carolina
North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...
, and on 9 September 2009 the team's leader announced that the wreck had been identified as that of the U.S. Navy
yard patrol boat
Yard Patrol craft are used by the United States Navy for training and for research purposes. They are designated as YP in the hull classification symbol system. They were nicknamed "Yippy boats" after the "YP" classification symbol.
World War I ...
, sunk during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
by the German
submarine on 19 June 1942. The wreck rests in about of water in a region known as the "
Graveyard of the Atlantic
Graveyard of the Atlantic is a nickname for the treacherous waters and area of numerous shipwrecks off the Outer Banks of North Carolina, United States, which are due to the coast's shifting sands and inlets. To a lesser degree, this nickname has ...
," where several U.S. Navy and
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...
vessels,
merchant ship
A merchant ship, merchant vessel, trading vessel, or merchantman is a watercraft that transports cargo or carries passengers for hire. This is in contrast to pleasure craft, which are used for personal recreation, and naval ships, which are ...
s, and German U-boats were sunk during the
Battle of the Atlantic.
See also
NOAA ships and aircraft
External links
*
Footnotes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nancy Foster
Ships of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Ships transferred from the United States Navy to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Ships built in Louisiana
1991 ships