NOAAS Rainier

NOAA Ship Rainier (S 221) is a survey vessel in commission with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Her primary mission is to chart all aspects of the ocean and sea floor, primarily in Alaska and the Pacific Northwest. The ship is home-ported at the NOAA Marine Operations Center - Pacific in Newport, Oregon.[1]

NOAAS Rainier (S 221)
History
United States Coast and Geodetic Survey
NameUSC&GS Rainier
NamesakeMount Rainier in Washington
BuilderAerojet-General Shipyards, Jacksonville, Florida
LaunchedMarch 1967
Commissioned2 October 1968
Identification(MSS 21)
FateTransferred to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 3 October 1970
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
NameNOAAS Rainier
NamesakePrevious name retained
AcquiredTransferred from U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 3 October 1970
HomeportNewport, Oregon
Identification
StatusActive
General characteristics
Class and typeFairweather-class hydrographic survey ship
Tonnage
Displacement1,800 tons
Length231 ft (70 m)
Beam42 ft (13 m) moulded
Draft14.3 ft (4.4 m) maximum
Installed power2,400 shp (1.8 MW)
PropulsionTwo 1,200 hp (0.89 MW) General Motors 567C diesel engines
Speed12 knots (22 km/h)
Range5,898 nautical miles (10,923 km)
Endurance22 days
Boats & landing
craft carried		Four survey launches, and four smaller boats
ComplementMaximum of 55 crew and 8 scientists

Construction and characteristics

Rainier was designed as a "medium survey ship" (MSS) by the U.S. Maritime Administration.[2] She was built for the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey at the Aerojet-General Shipyards in Jacksonville, Florida. She was launched on 15 March 1967 along with her sister ship Fairweather. The principal speaker at the ceremony was Dr. J. Herbert Hollomon, acting Under Secretary of Commerce. The ship was christened by Mrs. Robert M. White, wife of the administrator of the Environmental Science Services Administration. The ship's original cost was reported to be $4 million.[3]

Christening of USC&GS Fairweather and Rainier in 1967

Rainier was delivered to the Coast and Geodetic Survey in April 1968, and commissioned on 2 October 1968 as USC&GS Rainier (MSS 21) in a joint ceremony with her sister ship USC&GS Fairweather at the Pacific Marine Center in Seattle, Washington. The principal speaker at the ceremony was Senator Warren G. Magnuson.[4] When NOAA was formed on 3 October 1970[5] and took over the Coast and Geodetic Survey's assets, she became a part of the NOAA fleet as NOAAS Rainier (S 221).

Rainier's hull is constructed of welded steel plates. She is 231 feet (70 m) long, with a beam of 42 feet (13 m), and a draft of 14.3 feet (4.4 m) She displaces 1,800 tons. Her registered tonnage is 1,591 gross and 578 net. Her construction complies with the standards of the American Bureau of Shipping.[6]

Rainier can cruise at 12 knots. She is propelled by two three-bladed controllable-pitch propellers which are 8.5 feet (2.6 m) in diameter. These are driven by two diesel engines. The two main propulsion engines are General Motors EMD LR-12-567-C, each of which produces 1,200 shaft horsepower.[6][2] Electric power on board is provided by two diesel generators, each of which is capable of producing 300 kW. The generators are powered by MTU/Detroit Diesel 12V2000P82 engines. She also has a 75 kW emergency generator. The ship has a 200 horsepower bow thruster for improved maneuverability.[7][2]

The ship's tanks hold 107,000 US gallons (410,000 L) for diesel fuel, giving Rainier an unrefueled range of 5,898 nautical miles.[2]

Rainier has 14 single-person staterooms, 13 double staterooms, and 6 four-person bunk rooms, giving her a total berthing capacity of 64.[8] The ship is equipped with an officers' wardroom, officer's mess, technician's mess, crew mess, galley, gym, laundry facilities, and an infirmary.[9] Rainier has a laboratory of 240 square feet (22 m2) to support oceanographic observations and diving operations.[2]

The deck equipment features a large crane aft and two bow-mounted fixed cranes. This equipment gives Rainier a lifting capacity of up to 5,000 pounds (2,300 kg). She originally had an A-frame aft, but it was removed during a major refit in 2010 in favor of a Rolls-Royce Group ODIM Brooke Ocean MVP200 Moving Vessel Profiler for underway sound velocity determination during mapping missions.[10]

She carries a Kongsberg EM710 multibeam sonar,[10] and a variety of other conductivity, temperature, and water and bottom sampling instruments to map and characterize the ocean.[8]

The ship carries four survey launches for shallow water work. They were built by All American Marine at its Bellingham, Washington shipyard. They are constructed of welded aluminum. The launches are 28 feet (8.5 m) long. They can cruise at 24 knots driven by a single propeller powered by a Cummins QSC 8.3 liter 490-hp Diesel engine.[11] Each of these survey launches is equipped with a Kongsberg EM2040 multibeam sonar for mapping purposes. Rainier also carries four other smaller boats to support dive operations and shore operations.[12][8]

Rainier's crew varies with her mission, but her maximum complement is 13 NOAA Corps commissioned officers/mates, 4 US Coast Guard licensed engineers, 6 unlicensed engineers, 16 deckhands, 10 survey crew, 4 stewards, 1 electronics technician, and 1 maintenance person, plus up to 8 scientists.[8]

The ship is named for Mount Rainier in Washington State.[13]

Operational history

Rainier's career began somewhat inauspiciously. While she was delivered to USC&GS in April 1968, she was not placed into commission until October because Congress had failed to appropriate funds to operate the ship.[7] Since that time, however, she has been at sea almost every year. The table below, while incomplete, gives a sense of her work.

YearSurvey AreaNotes
1969Caribbean SeaProject BOMEX, the Barbados Oceanographic Meteorological Experiment, was an effort to characterize air-sea interaction.[14]
1970Bristol BayRainier collected magnetic, gravity, and seismic data in a 24,000 square mile area south of the bay.[15]
1973Southeast Alaska[16]
1974Strait of Juan de Fuca, Admiralty Inlet[17]
1997 Stevens Passage, Le Conte Bay, Prince William Sound [18]
1998 Prince William Sound, Lynn Canal [19]
1999 Prince William Sound, Lynn Canal, Kodiak, Cook Inlet, Yakutat [20]
2006 Shumagan Islands [21]
2011 Prince of Wales Island [22]
2012 Kodiak, Shumagan Islands, Chatham Strait The Chatham Strait survey was the first since the USC&GS Carlile P. Patterson visited 116 years previously.[23]
2013 Kodiak [24]
2014 Kodiak [24]
2015 Kodiak, Bering Strait, Kotzebue Sound [24][25]
2016 Kodiak [24]
2017 Channel Islands, California [26]
2018 California coast, Tracy Arm, Lisianski Inlet [27] The Tracy Arm survey included a mile of water that had been covered by the ice of the Sawyer Glacier at the last survey in 1974.[28]
2019 Puna coast, Hawaii Island Replacement for NOAAS Hi'ialakai . Surveyed changes to the seafloor caused by the eruption of Kilauea.[29][30]
2021 Glacier Bay National Park Surveyed 87 square miles of sea floor.[31]
2022 Western Pacific Conducted mapping and reef surveys around Guam and the Northern Marianas.[32]

Significant incidents

The fishing vessel Cricket sank in southern Sitka Sound on 10 June 2008. Her two crewmen abandoned ship in survival suits. Rainier rescued them.[33][34]

NOAAS Rainier with her namesake, Mount Rainier, in the background.

The ship underwent a service-life extension renovation during 2010. This work took place at the Vigor Marine shipyard in Portland, Oregon, under a $13.1 million contract. Among the work performed was the installation of the Kongsburg multibeam sonar system and the MVP200 Moving Vessel Profiler, replacement of davits and other deck machinery, refitting of living and berthing spaces, and upgrades to machinery control systems, power generation machinery, and the ship’s steering system.[35] Rainier was originally expected to be retired in 2015,[36] but with the additional investment in extending her life, she is now expected to serve until 2028, when she will be 60 years old.[37]

While transiting the Montlake Cut in the Lake Washington Ship Canal in Seattle, Washington, on 16 April 2018, Rainier struck the bottom and a concrete wall.[38] No injuries were reported, but the ship suffered damage to one of her propellers, dents in her hull, and paint scrapes.[38]

During the summer surveying season in 2018, while off the Southern California coast, the US Coast Guard requested that she assist a disabled sailboat. Rainier successfully towed the boat to calm waters.[27]

On March 22, 2018, NOAA hosted a ceremony in Newport, Oregon to celebrate the Rainier's and her sister ships Fairweather's 50 years of service.[13]

NOAA sponsors a Teacher at Sea program in its fleet, where primary and secondary school teachers go aboard to participate in the science undertaken by the ships. The intent of the program is to spread awareness of NOAA and ocean sciences generally to teachers who can use this knowledge in their classrooms. Rainier has had a Teacher at Sea participant aboard in 2011,[39] 2013,[40] 2014,[41] 2016,[42] 2018,[43] and 2019.[44]

In 1977 Rainier earned the NOAA Unit Citation.[45]

Notes
  1. "Rainier". NOAA Office of Marine and Aviation Operations. June 14, 2021.
  2. Ships of the NOAA Fleet (PDF). Rockville, Maryland: Office of NOAA Corps Operations. 1989.
  3. "2 Charting Ships Set For Launch". Baltimore Sun. March 13, 1967. p. 30.
  4. "Geodetic Survey Vessels Will Be Commissioned". Tacoma News Tribune. September 29, 1968. p. 2.
  5. US Department of Commerce, NOAA. "Organizational Milestones | NGS History | NGS INFO - About Us | National Geodetic Survey". geodesy.noaa.gov. Retrieved 2021-08-25.
  6. NOAA SHIP RAINIER, FY 2020 DRYDOCK REPAIR PERIOD, Statement of Work (PDF). NOAA. 2019.
  7. Seago, David (September 1, 1968). "Along Tacoma's Waterfront". Tacoma News Tribune. p. 15.
  8. "Specifications | Office of Marine and Aviation Operations". www.omao.noaa.gov. Retrieved 2021-08-21.
  9. Survey, NOAA Office of Coast (2018-03-13). "Take a 360 tour of NOAA Ship RAINIER". Retrieved 2021-08-21.
  10. Data Acquisition and Processing Report, NOAA Ship Rainier (PDF). NOAA. 2012.
  11. "Great Lakes Association of Science Ships". canamglass.org. Retrieved 2021-08-19.
  12. "Annual Small Boat Repair - NOAA Ship Rainier". InsuranceNewsNet. Retrieved 2021-08-19.
  13. "NOAA ships Fairweather and Rainier mark 50 years of service | Office of Marine and Aviation Operations". www.omao.noaa.gov.
  14. Kuettner, Joachim P.; Holland, Joshua (1969). "the BOMEX Project". Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. 50 (6): 394–402. doi:10.1175/1520-0477-50.6.394. ISSN 0003-0007. JSTOR 26252790.
  15. Systematic Geophysical Survey, Bristol Bay, Alaska, NOAA Ship Rainier, 1970. U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Ocean Survey, Marine Surveys and Maps. 1972.
  16. "Seven Ships of NOAA Fleet toSurvey Alaskan Waters This Year". Petersburg Press. February 22, 1973.
  17. "Activity in Port Angeles Harbor". Port Angeles Daily News. March 18, 1974.
  18. "NOAA Ship RAINIER FY 97 Operating Schedule" (PDF). Research Vessels. May 22, 1997.
  19. "NOAA Ship RAINIER FY 98 Operating Schedule" (PDF). Research Vessels. October 9, 1998.
  20. "NOAA Ship RAINIER FY 99 Operating Schedule" (PDF). Research Vessels. May 13, 1999.
  21. "Temperature and salinity profile data from the NOAA ship Rainier and its launches collected in the vicinity of the Shumagin Islands, Alaska, June - August 2006 (NODC Accession 0002826) - CKAN". catalog.data.gov. Retrieved 2021-08-25.
  22. "NOAA Ship Rainier Returns to Alaska to Conduct Sea Floor Surveys in Support of Safe Navigation". The Maritime Executive. Retrieved 2021-08-18.
  23. Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations for 2015: Hearings Before a Subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations, House of Representatives, One Hundred Thirteenth Congress, Second Session. U.S. Government Printing Office. 2014.
  24. "NOAA Ship Rainier surveys Alaska's Uganik Bay | Office of Marine and Aviation Operations". www.omao.noaa.gov. Retrieved 2021-08-22.
  25. "NOAA plans increased 2015 Arctic nautical charting operations". www.workboat.com. Retrieved 2021-08-25.
  26. Noozhawk. "NOAA Ship Surveys Channel Islands to Gather Mapping Data, Support Safe Navigation". www.noozhawk.com. Retrieved 2021-08-18.
  27. "NOAA Ship Rainier assists sailboat in distress | Office of Marine and Aviation Operations". www.omao.noaa.gov. Retrieved 2021-08-22.
  28. "Rainier". noaacoastsurvey.wordpress.com. Retrieved 2021-08-25.
  29. "VOLCANO WATCH: NOAA Ship Surveys New Lava Deltas Off Puna". www.bigislandvideonews.com. Retrieved 2021-08-18.
  30. "Loss Of NOAA's Primary Honolulu Ship A Setback For Research". Honolulu Civil Beat. 2019-06-17. Retrieved 2021-08-18.
  31. "Deep fiords and hydrographic history in Glacier Bay National Park – Office of Coast Survey". Retrieved 2023-02-03.
  32. "NOAA ocean mapping and reef surveys in the Mariana Islands – Office of Coast Survey". Retrieved 2023-02-03.
  33. alaskashipwreck.com Alaska Shipwrecks (C)
  34. "2 Rescued Off Troller". Sitka Daily Sentinel. June 10, 2008.
  35. "World Fishing & Aquaculture | NOAA announces $13.1m contract to repair survey ship". www.worldfishing.net. Retrieved 2021-08-23.
  36. Federal Oceanographic Fleet, Status Report (PDF). Washington, D.C.: Council on Environmental Quality. 2007.
  37. Federal Oceanographic Fleet, Status Report (PDF). Washington, D.C.: National Ocean Council. 2013.
  38. Anonymous, "NOAA Ship Rainier Crashes In Washington," oregoncoastdailynews.com, April 18, 2018 Retrieved August 20, 2018
  39. NOAA's Teacher at Sea Program 2011; Year in Review (PDF). NOAA.
  40. NOAA's Teacher at Sea Program; 2013 Year in Review (PDF). NOAA. 2013.
  41. NOAA's Teacher at Sea Program; 2014 Year in Review (PDF). NOAA. 2014.
  42. NOAA's Teacher at Sea Program; 2016 Year in Review (PDF). NOAA. 2016.
  43. NOAA's Teacher at Sea Program; 2018 Year in Review (PDF). NOAA. 2018.
  44. NOAA's Teacher at Sea Program; 2019 Year in Review (PDF). NOAA. 2019.
  45. Administration, United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric (1978). NOAA. U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Office of Public Affairs.
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