Deployment of oceanographic research vessels

A research vessel (RV or R/V) is a

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

or boat designed, modified, or equipped to carry out

research Research is creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge. It involves the collection, organization, and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness to ...

at sea. Research vessels carry out a number of roles. Some of these roles can be combined into a single vessel but others require a dedicated vessel. Due to the demanding nature of the work, research vessels may be constructed around an icebreaker hull, allowing them to operate in polar waters.

History

The research ship had origins in the early voyages of exploration. By the time of

James Cook Captain (Royal Navy), Captain James Cook (7 November 1728 – 14 February 1779) was a British Royal Navy officer, explorer, and cartographer famous for his three voyages of exploration to the Pacific and Southern Oceans, conducted between 176 ...

's ''Endeavour'', the essentials of what today we would call a research ship are clearly apparent. In 1766, the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

hired Cook to travel to the

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

to observe and record the transit of Venus across the Sun. The ''Endeavour'' was a sturdy vessel, well designed and equipped for the ordeals she would face, and fitted out with facilities for her "research personnel",

Joseph Banks Sir Joseph Banks, 1st Baronet, (19 June 1820) was an English Natural history, naturalist, botanist, and patron of the natural sciences. Banks made his name on the European and American voyages of scientific exploration, 1766 natural-history ...

. As is common with contemporary research vessels, ''Endeavour'' also carried out more than one kind of research, including comprehensive hydrographic survey work. Some other notable early research vessels were HMS ''Beagle'', RV ''Calypso'', HMS ''Challenger'', USFC ''Albatross'', and the ''Endurance'' and ''Terra Nova''. The names of early research vessels have been used to name later research vessels, as well as

Space Shuttle The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable launch system, reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. ...

Modern types

Hydrographic survey

A hydrographic survey ship is a vessel designed to conduct hydrographic research and survey.

Nautical chart A nautical chart or hydrographic chart is a graphic representation of a sea region or water body and adjacent coasts or river bank, banks. Depending on the scale (map), scale of the chart, it may show depths of water (bathymetry) and heights of ...

s are produced from this information to ensure safe

navigation Navigation is a field of study that focuses on the process of monitoring and controlling the motion, movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another.Bowditch, 2003:799. The field of navigation includes four general categories: land navig ...

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

and civilian

shipping Freight transport, also referred to as freight forwarding, is the physical process of transporting commodities and merchandise goods and cargo. The term shipping originally referred to transport by sea but in American English, it has been ...

. Hydrographic survey vessels also conduct seismic surveys of the seabed and the underlying

geology Geology (). is a branch of natural science concerned with the Earth and other astronomical objects, the rocks of which they are composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Earth ...

. Apart from producing the charts, this information is useful for detecting geological features likely to bear oil or gas. These vessels usually mount equipment on a towed structure, for example, air cannons used to generate

shock wave In physics, a shock wave (also spelled shockwave), or shock, is a type of propagating disturbance that moves faster than the local speed of sound in the medium. Like an ordinary wave, a shock wave carries energy and can propagate through a me ...

s that sound

strata In geology and related fields, a stratum (: strata) is a layer of Rock (geology), rock or sediment characterized by certain Lithology, lithologic properties or attributes that distinguish it from adjacent layers from which it is separated by v ...

beneath the seabed, or mounted on the

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element of a watercraft, important for stability. On some sailboats, it may have a fluid dynamics, hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose as well. The keel laying, laying of the keel is often ...

, for example, a depth sounder. In practice, hydrographic survey vessels are often equipped to perform multiple roles. Some function also as oceanographic research ships. Naval hydrographic survey vessels often do naval research, for example, on submarine detection. An example of a hydrographic survey vessel is CCGS ''Frederick G. Creed''. For an example of the employment of a survey ship see .

Oceanographic research

Oceanographic research vessels carry out research on the physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of

water Water is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula . It is a transparent, tasteless, odorless, and Color of water, nearly colorless chemical substance. It is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known liv ...

, the

atmosphere An atmosphere () is a layer of gases that envelop an astronomical object, held in place by the gravity of the object. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A stellar atmosph ...

, and

climate Climate is the long-term weather pattern in a region, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. Some of the meteoro ...

, and to these ends carry equipment for collecting water samples from a range of depths, including the deep seas, as well as equipment for the hydrographic sounding of the seabed, along with numerous other environmental sensors. These vessels often also carry scientific divers and unmanned underwater vehicles. Since the requirements of both oceanographic and hydrographic research are very different from those of fisheries research, these boats often fulfill dual roles. Recent oceanographic research campaigns include GEOTRACES and NAAMES. Examples of an oceanographic research vessel include the NOAAS ''Ronald H. Brown'' and the Chilean Navy '' Cabo de Hornos''.

Fisheries research

A fisheries research vessel requires platforms capable of towing different types of fishing nets, collecting

plankton Plankton are the diverse collection of organisms that drift in Hydrosphere, water (or atmosphere, air) but are unable to actively propel themselves against ocean current, currents (or wind). The individual organisms constituting plankton are ca ...

or water samples from a range of depths, and carrying acoustic fish-finding equipment. Fisheries research vessels are often designed and built along the same lines as a large fishing vessel, but with space given over to

laboratories A laboratory (; ; colloquially lab) is a facility that provides controlled conditions in which science, scientific or technological research, experiments, and measurement may be performed. Laboratories are found in a variety of settings such as s ...

and equipment storage, as opposed to storage of the catch. An example of a fisheries research vessel is FRV ''Scotia''.

Naval research

Naval research vessels investigate naval concerns, such as submarine and mine detection or sonar and weapons trials. An example of a naval research vessel is the ''Planet'' of the

German Navy The German Navy (, ) is part of the unified (Federal Defense), the German Armed Forces. The German Navy was originally known as the ''Bundesmarine'' (Federal Navy) from 1956 to 1995, when ''Deutsche Marine'' (German Navy) became the official ...

Polar research

Polar research vessels are constructed around an icebreaker hull, allowing them to engage in ice navigation and operate in polar waters. These vessels usually have dual roles, particularly in the

Antarctic The Antarctic (, ; commonly ) is the polar regions of Earth, polar region of Earth that surrounds the South Pole, lying within the Antarctic Circle. It is antipodes, diametrically opposite of the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antar ...

, where they function also as polar replenishment and supply vessels to the Antarctic research bases. Examples of polar research vessels include USCGC ''Polar Star'', RSV ''Aurora Australis'' and RSV ''Nuyina''.About Australia's new icebreaker — RSV ''Nuyina''
Australian Antarctic Division, 29 September 2017. Retrieved 26 February 2021.

Oil exploration

Oil exploration is performed in a number of ways, one of the most common being mobile drilling platforms or ships that are moved from area to area as needed to drill into the seabed to find out what deposits lie beneath it.