NOAAS ''McArthur'' (S 330), was an American survey ship in commission in 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) from 1970 to 2003. Prior to her NOAA career she was in commission in 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 ...

from 1966 to 1970 as USC&GS ''McArthur'' (CSS-30). In 2007, the ship went into private service with Blackwater Worldwide (later known as Blackwater USA, Xe Services LLC, and

Academi Blackwater was an American private military company founded on December 26, 1996 by former Navy SEAL officer Erik Prince. It was renamed Xe Services in 2009 and known as Academi since 2011 after it was acquired by a group of private investors ...

) as the maritime security and

training ship A training ship is a ship used to train students as sailors. The term is mostly used to describe ships employed by navies to train future officers. Essentially there are two types: those used for training at sea and old hulks used to house class ...

M/V ''McArthur

Construction and commissioning

Constructed as a "coastal survey ship" (CSS) for the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, ''McArthur'' was laid down on 15 July 1965 by the Norfolk Shipbuilding and Drydock Company at

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

, and launched on 15 November 1965, sponsored by Mrs. Jack K. Bennett. The Coast and Geodetic Survey commissioned her on 15 December 1966 as USC&GS ''McArthur'' (CSS 30). When the Coast and Geodetic Survey merged with other

United States Government The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a feder ...

agencies to form NOAA on 3 October 1970, ''McArthur'' became part of the NOAA fleet as NOAAS ''McArthur'' (S 330). ''McArthur'' had one sister ship, NOAAS ''Davidson'' (S 331).

Service history as USC&GS and NOAAS ''McArthur''

With her home port at

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 ...

, ''McArthur'' spent her career operating along the

United States West Coast The West Coast of the United States, also known as the Pacific Coast, Pacific states, and the western seaboard, is the coastline along which the Western United States meets the North Pacific Ocean. The term typically refers to the contiguous U.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, and in the eastern

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contin ...

. She began her career operating as a

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 ...

ship, but later became primary U.S. West Coast

current Currents, Current or The Current may refer to: Science and technology * Current (fluid), the flow of a liquid or a gas ** Air current, a flow of air ** Ocean current, a current in the ocean *** Rip current, a kind of water current ** Current (stre ...

survey vessel. She engaged in measurements of

chemical A chemical substance is a form of matter having constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Some references add that chemical substance cannot be separated into its constituent elements by physical separation methods, i.e., w ...

, meteorological, and biological sampling for several large-scale programs within NOAA. Her work was focused primarily on the exclusive economic zone of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

off the U.S. West Coast, especially in several of the National Marine Sanctuaries there. She also conducted Chase Encirclement Stress Studies (CHESS) --

marine mammal Marine mammals are aquatic mammals that rely on the ocean and other marine ecosystems for their existence. They include animals such as seals, whales, manatees, sea otters and polar bears. They are an informal group, unified only by their ...

surveys throughout the eastern

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...

Pacific—and took part in the

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 ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, Washington ( ORCAWALE) Project in support of

protected species An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and invas ...

research efforts; she also participated in the Sustainable Seas Expedition. The

scientist A scientist is a person who conducts scientific research to advance knowledge in an area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, philosophers engaged in the philosoph ...

s who carried out research aboard ''McArthur'' came from many divisions of NOAA, as well as other

agencies, U.S. state government agencies, and

academia An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, ...

. On 26 October 1969, ''McArthur'' was docked in

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, when a gunman shot a member of her crew, wiper John Fleagle, in the back on the pier. Fleagle managed to get aboard the ship and entered the stateroom of ESSA Corps

Lieutenant, junior grade Lieutenant junior grade is a junior commissioned officer rank used in a number of navies. United States Lieutenant (junior grade), commonly abbreviated as LTJG or, historically, Lt. (j.g.) (as well as variants of both abbreviations), i ...

, Robert C. Husted, Jr., at approximately 06:00 hours. Husted attended to Fleagles immediate medical needs and, after determining that the gunman was aboard ''McArthur'' and holding the ships captain and

quartermaster Quartermaster is a military term, the meaning of which depends on the country and service. In land armies, a quartermaster is generally a relatively senior soldier who supervises stores or barracks and distributes supplies and provisions. In ...

at gunpoint, left the ship at considerable risk to his life to run barefoot to the

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mu ...

base about one-half mile (0.8 km) away to summon an ambulance and police. For his actions, Hustedt received the

Department of Commerce Silver Medal The Department of Commerce Silver Medal is the second highest of three honor awards of the United States Department of Commerce. Since 1949, the Silver Medal is presented by the Secretary of Commerce for exceptional service. The award may be prese ...

in 1970. In 1989, the ''McArthur'' became the first NOAA ship to be commanded by a woman, Evelyn Fields. Fields thus also became the first woman to command a ship for an extended assignment in any United States uniformed service. ''McArthur'' was decommissioned on 20 May 2003 at the NOAA Marine Operations Center at Seattle and replaced in the NOAA fleet by the

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 NOAAS ''McArthur II'' (R 330), which was commissioned the same day in a combined ceremony.

M/V ''McArthur''

In 2006, ''McArthur'' was sold to Blackwater Worldwide, which converted her for use as a

and private maritime security ship, fitting her to carry two

MH-6 Little Bird The Boeing MH-6M Little Bird (nicknamed the Killer Egg) and its attack variant, the AH-6, are light helicopters used for special operations in the United States Army. Originally based on a modified OH-6A, it was later based on the MD 500E, w ...

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...

s, three

rigid-hulled inflatable boat A rigid inflatable boat (RIB), also rigid-hull inflatable boat or rigid-hulled inflatable boat (RHIB), is a lightweight but high-performance and high-capacity boat constructed with a rigid hull bottom joined to side-forming air tubes that are i ...

s (RHIBs), and a crew of 45 that includes 35 private security personnel. She entered service with the company in September 2007 as M/V ''McArthur'', home-ported at Norfolk, Virginia, and repainted with a blue hull and white upper works.
Blackwater Worldwide described ''McArthur'' as a multipurpose maritime vessel designed to support military and

law enforcement Law enforcement is the activity of some members of government who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by discovering, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules Rule or ruling may refer to: Education ...

training, peacekeeping, and stability operations around the world. In October 2008, it offered ''McArthur''s services to shipping companies, seeking contracts to escort

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 in waters off

Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...

to provide protection against attacks by Somali pirates. However, ''McArthur'' was far too slow to keep up with the ships she was expected to protect. The whistleblower organization

WikiLeaks WikiLeaks () is an international non-profit organisation that published news leaks and classified media provided by anonymous sources. Julian Assange, an Australian Internet activist, is generally described as its founder and director and ...

published diplomatic cables that related to ''McArthur''. The cables show that diplomats in the region where Blackwater/Xe/Academi proposed to operate ''McArthur'' to escort merchant ships requested guidance over the extent to which they should support Blackwater's attempts to secure customers for ''McArthur''.

Mark Mazzetti Mark Mazzetti (born May 13, 1974) is an American journalist who works for the ''New York Times''. He is currently a Washington Investigative Correspondent for the Times. Life Mazzetti was born in Washington, D.C. He attended Regis High School ...

of the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' noted According to ''

Wired magazine ''Wired'' (stylized as ''WIRED'') is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered in San Fr ...

'', civil suits from ''McArthur''s civilian crew members caused cancellation of plans to employ her on military missions; three civilian crew members filed harassment suits. The fully equipped vessel sat moored in Norfolk, awaiting contracts. By 2010 the company, renamed Xe Services LLC in 2009 and

in 2011, was offering ''McArthur'' for sale. After Blackwater converted her in 2007, ''McArthur'' was said to be worth $15 million (

USD The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

), but by 2010 Xe was willing to sell her for $3.7 million.

Notes

References

NOAA Marine Operations NOAA Ship ''McArthur''
* ttp://www.miramarshipindex.org.nz/ship/show/98020 Miramar Ship Index: Single Ship Report for "6602082"*Couhat, John Labayle, and A. D. Baker III, eds. ''Combat Fleets of the World 1984/1985: Their Ships, Aircraft, and Armament''. Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute, 1984. . *Prézelin, Bernard, and A. D. Baker III, eds. ''The Naval Institute Guide to Combat Fleets of the World 1990/1991: Their Ships, Aircraft, and Armament''. Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute Press, 1990. .

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McArthur (S 330) Ships of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration McArthur-class hydrographic survey ships Survey ships of the United States Ships built in Norfolk, Virginia 1965 ships Missouri-related ships Training ships of the United States Maritime incidents in 1969