US Navy Announces Name for Its Newest Research Vessel

U.S Navy Names New Research Vessel 'Sally Ride'

U.S. Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus announced the nation’s newest research vessel will be named R/V Sally Ride, in honor of the former UC San Diego faculty member who was the first American female astronaut and the youngest American to fly in space.

The ship is owned by the U.S. Navy, will be operated by Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego, and will have its home port at the Scripps Nimitz Marine Facility in Point Loma on San Diego Bay.

Sally Ride’s career was one of firsts and will inspire generations to come,” said Mabus. “I named R/V Sally Ride to honor a great researcher, but also to encourage generations of students to continue exploring, discovering, and reaching for the stars.

Scripps has a century-long history of seagoing excellence that is vital to the well-being of our planet and its pressing environmental challenges, and we appreciate the confidence the U.S. Navy has in UC San Diego with stewardship of its newest, state-of-the-art vessel for global ocean exploration,” said UC San Diego Chancellor Pradeep K. Khosla.

As a shared-use, general-purpose ship, R/V Sally Ride will engage in a broad spectrum of research in physics, chemistry, biology, geology, and climate science, including research missions with relevance to the Navy.

Our Navy and Marine Corps depend on detailed prediction of the ocean environment,” said Chief of Naval Research Rear Adm. Matthew Klunder.The new knowledge provided by our basic and applied research is critical for improvements to prediction systems. The research vessel Sally Ride will enable that research and represents the continuation of a long and fruitful partnership among the Navy, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and the larger ocean science community.

As a seagoing laboratory supporting research and education, the new ship will feature modern research instrumentation to fuel scientific exploration, including mapping systems, sensors, and profilers that will investigate features from the seafloor to the atmosphere.

Scripps looks forward to welcoming R/V Sally Ride to our fleet, enabling our scientists to conduct transformative ocean research and continued exploration and discovery in the coming decades,” said Catherine Constable, interim director of Scripps Institution of Oceanography and vice chancellor for marine sciences at UC San Diego.

The blue economy is the next big thing for San Diego and having this research vessel in our port will be a tremendous opportunity to showcase that,” said Greg Cox, chairman of the San Diego County Board of Supervisors.

As with other Scripps research vessels Roger Revelle, Melville, New Horizon, and Robert Gordon Sproul, R/V Sally Ride will allow early career scientists to engage in ship-based science and training to support the next generation of researchers. The ship will participate in the UC Ship Funds Program, a unique resource that allows University of California graduate students to proposes, design, and execute their own research programs at sea.

The new vessel will be the third in the Scripps fleet that is owned by the U.S. Navy and managed by the Office of Naval Research, joining research vessels Melville and Roger Revelle as well as research platform FLIP. Scripps Associate Director Bruce Appelgate, head of Scripps Ship Operations, notes that the Navy funds about 30 percent of the work done on Scripps vessels for basic research with relevance to Department of Defense (DoD) operations. The new vessel will ensure that the seagoing collaboration will continue 30 to 40 years into the future. Funding for research expeditions aboard the Scripps fleet is also provided by the National Science Foundation, NOAA, and the U.S. Geological Survey.

Scripps-operated research vessels are ideal platforms for many kinds of DoD-relevant research, and are available for Navy use,” said Appelgate. “We are able to work closely and flexibly with our Navy research partners to provide quick and efficient access to the sea, whether for a day trip out of San Diego or a multi-week cruise.”

R/V Sally Ride is currently under construction at Dakota Creek Industries Inc. in Anacortes, Wash., and is scheduled for launch in 2015, with routine scientific operations commencing in 2016 following installation of instrumentation and sea trials.

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US Navy, April 16, 2013