''Pisces IV'' is a three-person, battery-powered

deep-submergence vehicle A deep-submergence vehicle (DSV) is a deep-diving crewed submersible that is self-propelled. Several navies operate vehicles that can be accurately described as DSVs. DSVs are commonly divided into two types: research DSVs, which are used for ex ...

(or DSV), with a maximum operating depth of . The craft was built by Hyco International Hydrodynamics in Vancouver, and is currently owned by the

Hawaii Undersea Research Laboratory The Hawaii Undersea Research Laboratory (HURL) is a regional undersea research program within the School of Ocean and Earth Sciences and Technology (SOEST) at University of Hawaii at Manoa, in Honolulu. It is considered one of the more important ...

arm of 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 ...

. It and its sister, ''

Pisces V ''Pisces V'' is a type of manned submersible ocean exploration device, powered by battery, and capable of operating to depths of , a depth that is optimum for use in the sea waters around the Hawaiian Islands. It is used by scientists to explore ...

'', are Pisces class submersibles used by the NOAA for oceanic exploration. ''Pisces IV'' was constructed in 1973 and immediately placed in the service of the

Department of Fisheries and Oceans Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO; french: Pêches et Océans Canada, MPO), is a department of the Government of Canada that is responsible for developing and implementing policies and programs in support of Canada's economic, ecological and sc ...

of Canada. The DSV was used by the

Institute of Ocean Sciences The Institute of Ocean Sciences is operated by Fisheries and Oceans Canada and is one of the largest marine research centres in Canada. It is located on Patricia Bay and the former British Columbia Highway 17A in Sidney, British Columbia on Vanco ...

and operated at different times in the Atlantic, Arctic, and Pacific oceans. After over 1886 dives, budget cuts forced the cancellation of support for the project. ''Pisces IV'' has since been replaced in that role by ''

ROPOS ROPOS ("Remotely Operated Platform for Ocean Science") is an ROV used primarily for scientific research. It was originally built in Vancouver by International Submarine Engineering and purchased by the Canadian federal government. The same gover ...

''. More recently, after transfer to the US, ''Pisces IV'' was certified for use by the

American Bureau of Shipping American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

in 2000, and underwent modernization and upgrading in 2001 in preparation for the diving season. During training cruises in 2002, ''Pisces IV'' and its sister ''Pisces V'' found a Japanese midget submarine outside

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Re ...

that had been detected on the morning of the attack on the harbor in 1941. Associate director of the

, John Wiltshire, said the discovery was "probably the most significant archaeological find in the Pacific". At the time of its discovery, on 28 August 2002, the search for the sub had been ongoing for 61 years. Analysis of the wreck shows that it was brought down by a shell from the USS ''Ward'' that breached the sub's

conning tower A conning tower is a raised platform on a ship or submarine, often armored, from which an officer in charge can conn the vessel, controlling movements of the ship by giving orders to those responsible for the ship's engine, rudder, lines, and gro ...

, confirming that the United States fired the first shot in its war with Japan. Today, ''Pisces IV'' and its sister ''Pisces V'' spend most of their time diving near Hawaii. Both are contained on the ''R/V Ka‘imikai-o-Kanaloa''. The subs are serviced between dives on the ship's deck, and are ready for launch on the next day, and one is generally kept on deck in ready status for the majority of any cruise. The majority of information gathered by the sub comes from its two cameras, one of which is generally on at all times. ''Pisces VI'' is equipped with a single "bright light" camera and low-power black and white camera, both of which can be controlled by scientists on board as seen fit. The low-power camera is used to record the activities of organisms that otherwise respond poorly to bright light. Another, higher-definition camera is also available. Samples are collected by a pair of manipulator arms; skilled pilots can use the sub's two arms, the right one more versatile than the left, to collect samples and store them in a mounted basket for later evaluation. The manipulator arms are also used to place temperature probes in

hydrothermal vent A hydrothermal vent is a fissure on the seabed from which geothermally heated water discharges. They are commonly found near volcanically active places, areas where tectonic plates are moving apart at mid-ocean ridges, ocean basins, and hotspot ...

s, and occasionally for movement instead of thrusters, in order to avoid disturbing sediment.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pisces 4 1973 ships Submarines of Canada Pisces-class deep submergence vehicles Ships built in North Vancouver Submarines of the United States