The ''Impeccable''-class ocean surveillance ship is a single-ship class of

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

special mission-support

ship A ship is a large watercraft that travels the world's oceans and other sufficiently deep waterways, carrying cargo or passengers, or in support of specialized missions, such as defense, research, and fishing. Ships are generally distinguishe ...

. The original intention was to build six undersea ocean-surveillance ships carrying a SURTASS passive towed array and a Low Frequency Active transducer array. Only the lead ship, , was built.

History

On March 28, 1991,

Tampa Shipyards Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the seat of Hillsborough C ...

was awarded the contract to build the first ship of the class, the . The keel was laid on March 15, 1992. However, before the ship was completed, Tampa Shipyards went

bankrupt Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debto ...

, and construction of the rest of the ship class was cancelled. The Chief of Naval Operations for the

asserted the requirement to finish the initial ship. The incomplete hull was towed to Gulfport,

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Mis ...

in 1995, where it was completed by

Halter Marine VT Halter Marine, Inc. is a shipbuilding company and an American subsidiary of ST Engineering. It is located in Pascagoula, Mississippi. It specializes in ship design and construction and serves both public and private clients, including the U ...

Inc. ''Impeccable'' was officially launched on November 1, 2000. A second ship, the , was planned. However, the contract was never awarded,. and the other four ships were never named.

Similar ship classes

The ''Impeccable'' class is similar in appearance to the much smaller four ship , led by the . Both classes are SWATH type ships. The ships perform a similar surveillance function to the older 18-ship , whose lead ship is the . The ''Stalwart'' class is not a SWATH hull, but a modified oceangoing tug.

References

{{Impeccable-class ocean surveillance ship Small waterplane area twin hull vessels Auxiliary surveillance ship classes