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Oceanographic
Survey Ship
Like all of the Pathfinder class ships, USNS HENSON will
be multi-mission, capable of surveying in either coastal
or deep ocean waters. This capability provides both
economy and flexibility in an era of military downsizing.
No longer will several single-purpose ships have to visit
a single area to acquire the variety of data needed to
fill the Navy's needs. The dual capability is also
indicative of the U. S. Navy's increased emphasis on
shallow water or littoral warfare. The littoral refers to
the shallow-water area along the coastline extending
inland to where naval influences can still be exerted.
The 5,000 ton ships, equipped with the latest survey
technology, are designed and constructed to provide
multiple capabilities, including physical, chemical and
biological oceanography; multi-discipline environmental
investigations; ocean engineering and marine acoustics;
marine geology and geophysics; and bathymetric,
gravimetric and magnetometric surveying.
The T-AGS 60 class is designed and constructed to
commercial standards and complies with American Bureau of
Shipping, U. S. Coast Guard and other regulatory body
requirements for unrestricted ocean service. The resource
sponsor for the ships is the Oceanographer of the Navy on
the staff of the Chief of Naval Operations. The surveys
are conducted for the Naval Meteorology and Oceanography
Command, Stennis Space Center, by personnel of the Naval
Oceanographic Office. The ship will be operated by the
Military Sealift Command.
Typical missions of the T-AGS 60 class ships may include:
oceanographic sampling and data collection of surface,
midwater, and ocean floor parameters; the launching,
recovering, and towing of scientific packages both
tethered and autonomous including the handling,
monitoring, and servicing of remotely operated vehicles
(ROVs); shipboard oceanographic dataprocessing and sample
analysis; and precise navigation, trackline maneuvering,
and station keeping to support deep ocean and coastal
surveys.
The study of natural forces and phenomena - and their influence on naval
operations both under and over the sea - is one of the
principal missions of the Navy's oceanography program.
Natural physical forces cannot be controlled, but if
their effects are understood and predictable, much can be
done to anticipate their power and turn them to our
advantage. It was Edward Gibbon who said, "The winds
and waves are always on the side of the ablest
navigators."
In 1830, the Navy established a Depot of Charts and
Instruments in Washington, DC to make regular
observations of the sun, moon and stars so that
instruments used at sea to determine longitude and
latitude could be calibrated. This naval facility was
renamed the U.S. Naval Observatory and Hydrographical
Office in 1845, after the officer in charge, Matthew
Fontaine Maury, also began to collect critical
oceanographic information. After the Civil War, astronomy
and hydrography were designated as two independent fields
of study, and the Hydrographical Office moved from the
Observatory to Washington's OctaGon House.
Both disciplines - astronomy and oceanography - now fall
once again under the purview of the Oceanographer of the
Navy. The Navy's astronomy program employs more than 170
at sites in Washington DC, Flagstaff AZ, Anderson Mesa
AZ, Colorado Springs, CO, and soon in Cerra Tololo,
Chile. The Navy's oceanography program now employs more
than 3,000 military and civilian personnel at facilities
in Bay St. Louis, MS, and Monterey, CA, at over 70
oceanography centers and detachments around the world,
and aboard ships at sea. The co-location of the
Commander, Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command
(COMNAVMETOCCOM); the Naval Oceanographic Office
(NAVOCEANO); and the Naval Research Laboratory Detachment
in Bay St. Louis, MS creates in Mississippi the largest
concentration of oceanographers anywhere in the world.
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