NOAAS ''Rude'' (S 590) was an American ''Rude''-class hydrographic survey ship that was in commission in the

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (abbreviated as NOAA ) is an United States scientific and regulatory agency within the United States Department of Commerce that forecasts weather, monitors oceanic and atmospheric conditio ...

(NOAA) from 1970 to 2008. Prior to its NOAA career, it was in commission in the

United States Coast and Geodetic Survey The United States Coast and Geodetic Survey (abbreviated USC&GS), known from 1807 to 1836 as the Survey of the Coast and from 1836 until 1878 as the United States Coast Survey, was the first scientific agency of the United States Government. It ...

from 1967 to 1970 as USC&GS ''Rude'' (ASV 90). It was named for Gilbert T. Rude, former Chief of the Division of Coastal Surveys of the Coast and Geodetic Survey. In 2008, NOAA decommissioned ''Rude'' and transferred her to the

United States Environmental Protection Agency The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent executive agency of the United States federal government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it ...

(EPA). Renamed US EPA ''Lake Explorer II'', she entered EPA service as a research ship in 2009.

USC&GS and NOAA

Construction and commissioning

''Rude'' (pronounced "Rudy") was built as an "auxiliary survey vessel" (ASV) for the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey at the Jackobson Shipyard in

Oyster Bay, New York The Town of Oyster Bay is the easternmost of the three towns which make up Nassau County, New York, United States. Part of the New York metropolitan area, it is the only town in Nassau County to extend from the North Shore to the South Shore ...

. It was launched on 17 August 1966Polmar, Norman, ''The Naval Institute Guide to the Ships and Aircraft of the U.S. Fleet, Seventeenth Edition'', Naval Institute Press: Annapolis, Maryland, 2001
, p. 617. and commissioned into Coast and Geodetic Survey service on 29 March 1967 as USC&GS ''Rude'' (ASV 90).Silverstone, Paul H., ''The Navy of the Nuclear Age 1947-2007'', New York: Routledge, 2009
, p. 314. When the Coast and Geodetic Survey merged with other

United States Government The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a feder ...

organizations to form NOAA on 3 October 1970, it became a part of the NOAA fleet as NOAAS ''Rude'' (S 590).

Technical details

''Rude''′s hull was long, the smallest in the NOAA fleet. It had a total of 11 bunk spaces. The ship's mess room could seat seven. It carried a complement of four

NOAA Corps The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps, known informally as the NOAA Corps, is one of eight federal uniformed services of the United States, and operates under the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administ ...

officers and seven other crew members, including one licensed engineer. ''Rude''′s deck equipment featured one

winch A winch is a mechanical device that is used to pull in (wind up) or let out (wind out) or otherwise adjust the tension of a rope or wire rope (also called "cable" or "wire cable"). In its simplest form, it consists of a spool (or drum) attach ...

and one telescoping boom crane. This equipment gave ''Rude'' a lifting capacity of up to . It also had of cable that could pull up to . For its primary mission of inshore hydrographic surveys, ''Rude'' had a

differential global positioning system Differential Global Positioning Systems (DGPSs) supplement and enhance the positional data available from global navigation satellite systems (GNSSs). A DGPS for GPS can increase accuracy by about a thousandfold, from approximately to . DGPSs c ...

(DGPS), a

multibeam sonar A multibeam echosounder (MBES) is a type of sonar that is used to map the seabed. It emits acoustic waves in a fan shape beneath its transceiver. The time it takes for the sound waves to reflect off the seabed and return to the receiver is used ...

system, and

side-scan sonar Side-scan sonar (also sometimes called side scan sonar, sidescan sonar, side imaging sonar, side-imaging sonar and bottom classification sonar) is a category of sonar system that is used to efficiently create an image of large areas of the sea ...

(SSS). It also was equipped for diving operations to allow human investigation of submerged obstacles. It had a

fiberglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass ( Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass clo ...

launch for utility or rescue operations.

Operations

The Coast and Geodetic Survey acquired ''Rude'' and a sister ship of identical design, USC&GS ''Heck'' (ASV 91), later NOAAS ''Heck'' (S 591), to conduct wire-drag survey operations together, replacing the survey ships USC&GS ''Hilgard'' (ASV 82) and USC&GS ''Wainwright'' (ASV 83) in that role. Like ''Hilgard'' and ''Wainright'' before them, ''Rude'' and ''Heck'' worked together under a single command conducting wire drag surveys, clearing large swaths between them with a submerged wire. In 1978, ''Rude'' and ''Heck'' came to the assistance of the burning

research vessel A research vessel (RV or R/V) is a ship or boat designed, modified, or equipped to carry out research 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 ...

''Midnight Sun'', rescuing ''Midnight Sun''′s crew and

scientist A scientist is a person who conducts scientific research to advance knowledge in an area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, philosophers engaged in the philosoph ...

s and saving the vessel from total loss. ''Rude''′s crew took aboard all 20 of ''Midnight Sun''s crew members and scientists, who were afloat in

life raft A lifeboat or liferaft is a small, rigid or inflatable boat carried for emergency evacuation in the event of a disaster aboard a ship. Lifeboat drills are required by law on larger commercial ships. Rafts ( liferafts) are also used. In the m ...

s near ''Midnight Sun'', administered

first aid First aid is the first and immediate assistance given to any person with either a minor or serious illness or injury, with care provided to preserve life, prevent the condition from worsening, or to promote recovery. It includes initial in ...

to them, and transported them to shore. ''Hecks crew, meanwhile, fought the fire aboard ''Midnight Sun'' for 20 consecutive hours and saved ''Midnight Sun'' from sinking. For their efforts in saving ''Midnight Sun'' and its crew, the crews of ''Rude'' and ''Heck'' received the

Department of Commerce Silver Medal The Department of Commerce Silver Medal is the second highest of three honor awards of the United States Department of Commerce. Since 1949, the Silver Medal is presented by the Secretary of Commerce for exceptional service. The award may be prese ...

in 1978.NOAA History: Hall of Honor: Commerce Medals Presented For Lifesaving and the Protection of Property 1955-2000
/ref> Electronic technologies eventually arrived that allow a single vessel to do the same surveying work using sidescan and

that formerly required two vessels working together using the wire-drag technique. In 1989, ''Rude'' and ''Heck'' began working independently thanks to the improved technology, and ''Heck'' was decommissioned in 1995 and sold in 2001. ''Rude'' remained in commission and was sometimes called upon to assist the

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mu ...

and

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 ...

in search, rescue, and recovery operations. It located the wreckage of TWA Flight 800 off

Moriches, New York Moriches ( ) is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Suffolk County town of Brookhaven, New York, United States. The population was 2,838 at the 2010 census. History The name "Moriches" comes from Meritces, a Native American who owne ...

in 1996, receiving a Department of Commerce Gold Medal that year for its efforts, and later located the plane wreckage of John F. Kennedy Jr. off Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts in 1999.Flight 800 ship to be retired - Newsday - March 24, 2008
/ref> ''Rude'' was decommissioned on 25 March 2008 and placed in

reserve Reserve or reserves may refer to: Places * Reserve, Kansas, a US city * Reserve, Louisiana, a census-designated place in St. John the Baptist Parish * Reserve, Montana, a census-designated place in Sheridan County * Reserve, New Mexico, a US vi ...

in NOAA′s Atlantic Fleet.

Honors and awards

, 1978 In a ceremony on 23 October 1978 in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, ''Rude'' and ''Heck'' were awarded the

for "rare and distinguished contributions of major significance to the Department, the nation, and the world."Program of Thirtieth Annual Honor Awards, United States Department of Commerce, October 23, 1978: Silver Medal: NOAA Ship Rude, NOAA Ship Heck, National Ocean Survey, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Norfolk, Virginia
/ref> for their assistance to ''Midnight Sun''. The program for the ceremony cited the ships' achievements as follows:

LCDR Robert V. Smart,
LTJG Lieutenant junior grade is a junior commissioned officer rank used in a number of navies. United States Lieutenant (junior grade), commonly abbreviated as LTJG or, historically, Lt. (j.g.) (as well as variants of both abbreviations), i ...
Kenneth G. Vadnais, ENS Samuel P. De Bow, Jr., Messrs. William N. Brooks, Johnnie B. Davis, James S. Eamons, Kenneth M. Jones, Frank Krusz, Jr., Anthony W. Styron, and Eijah J. Willis of the NOAA Ship RUDE and LCDR Thomas W. Ruszala, LTJG Charles E. Gross, and Messrs. Mark Aldridge, Horace B. Harris, Charles J. Gentilcore, Dennis S. Brickhouse, Robert T. Lindton, Arnold K. Pedersen, Joseph Wiggins, and James P. Taylor of the NOAA Ship HECK are recognized for rescuing the crew and scientists from the burning vessel M/V MIDNIGHT SUN and saving the vessel from total loss. The crew of the NOAA Ship RUDE safely took aboard all 20 crew members of the burning vessel who were afloat in
life raft A lifeboat or liferaft is a small, rigid or inflatable boat carried for emergency evacuation in the event of a disaster aboard a ship. Lifeboat drills are required by law on larger commercial ships. Rafts ( liferafts) are also used. In the m ...
s near the vessel.
First aid First aid is the first and immediate assistance given to any person with either a minor or serious illness or injury, with care provided to preserve life, prevent the condition from worsening, or to promote recovery. It includes initial in ...
was administered, and the crew members of the disabled ship were transported safely to shore. The crew of the NOAA Ship HECK displayed outstanding seamanship through their efforts over 20 consecutive hours to fight the fire. The actions of the two ships' crew members demonstrated superior performance and exceptional courage in a maritime emergency beyond the call of duty.

Department of Commerce Gold Medal 1996 In a ceremony on 4 December 1996 in

, ''Rude'' was awarded the Department of Commerce Gold Medal for "rare and distinguished contributions of major significance to the Department, the nation, and the world."Program of Forty-Eighth Annual Honor Awards, United States Department of Commerce, December 4, 1996: Gold Medal: NOAA TWA Flight 800 Disaster Response Team: NOAA Ship Rude, Office of NOAA Corps Operations; Hydrographic Surveys Division, National Ocean Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
/ref> for its response as a part of the NOAA TWA Flight 800 Disaster Response Team. The program for the ceremony cited the team's achievements as follows:

The NOAA TWA Flight 800 Disaster Response Team is recognized for their crucial role in providing precise map mosaics of the Atlantic Ocean debris fields off Long Island, New York. The mosaics were instrumental in victim recovery, salvage and investigative efforts. Within hours after the disaster, the NOAA team arrived on the site and began surveying the ocean floor with highly sophisticated side scan sonar equipment. The team utilized the sonar data to produce precisely located graphic descriptions of the debris fields. Without the products and services provided by the response team, the recovery of the victims and the wreckage would have been a nearly impossible task.

Environmental Protection Agency

Acquisition

In August 2008, NOAA transferred the ship to the

(EPA) at the NOAA Marine Operations Base at

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

.Anonymous, "Our New Research Vessel!," ''MED in Review'' (epa.gov), Spring 2010, pp. 4-5 Retrieved August 20, 2018.
/ref> The EPA renamed her UIS EPA ''Lake Explorer II'' and earmarked her for environmental research operations on the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lak ...

Conversion

After acquiring ''Lake Explorer II'', the EPA converted it for use as a

. The EPA retained all of the ship's navigation equipment, its A-frame, and its accommodations of 11 bunks located in four double stateroom and one triple stateroom. However, the EPA removed all of its NOAA science equipment and installed new equipment appropriate to its new

environmental research Environmental science is an interdisciplinary academic field that integrates physics, biology, and geography (including ecology, chemistry, plant science, zoology, mineralogy, oceanography, limnology, soil science, geology and physical geogra ...

role, including a winch and an additional frame. On 22 September 2008, while ''Lake Explorer II'' was moored in the Elizabeth River at the NOAA Marine Operations Base at Norfolk, still without its new name painted on its side, it suffered a fracture in a stern tube which ran through its center fuel tank, causing it to spill an estimated 1,400 U.S. gallons (5,300 liters) of

diesel fuel Diesel fuel , also called diesel oil, is any liquid fuel specifically designed for use in a diesel engine, a type of internal combustion engine in which fuel ignition takes place without a spark as a result of compression of the inlet air and ...

into the river.Anonymous, "Coast Guard responds to diesel spill in Norfolk, Va.," Coast Guard News, September 22, 2008 Retrieved August 20, 2018
/ref>Anonymous, "Environmental Protection Agency Operated Vessel Spills 1,400 Gallons of Diesel at NOAA Operating Base," The Maritime Executive, undated Retrieved August 20, 2018
/ref> Its crew contained the leak, and a combined effort by the U.S. Coast Guard, Norfolk Fire Department, Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, and an oil spill response organization the EPA hired contained and cleaned up the spill. During the summer of 2009, ''Lake Explorer II'' was hauled out of the water at a shipyard in

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

, Virginia, for upgrades to its structural components. A major part of this phase of its conversion was the installation of a new tank to hold all sewage generated aboard the ship, to ensure its compliance with strict zero-discharge standards for sewage on the Great Lakes. While it was out of the water at Portsmouth, the shipyard also replaced shaft tubes, replaced or rebuilt sea valves, painted its bottom with new anti-foul paint, and conducted a routine out-of-water inspection of its equipment and hull. In EPA service, the ship has a crew of four – a captain,

first mate A chief mate (C/M) or chief officer, usually also synonymous with the first mate or first officer, is a licensed mariner and head of the deck department of a merchant ship. The chief mate is customarily a watchstander and is in charge of the shi ...

chief engineer A chief engineer, commonly referred to as "ChEng" or "Chief", is the most senior engine officer of an engine department on a ship, typically a merchant ship, and holds overall leadership and the responsibility of that department..Chief engineer ...

, and first engineer – and can embark up to seven scientists.

Operations

On 1 October 2009, with the conversion complete, ''Lake Explorer II'' and its crew departed the NOAA Marine Operations Base at Norfolk and, after a two-day transit in

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

waters, arrived in New York Harbor on 3 October 2009. Following a stay at

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, the ship proceeded up the

Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between N ...

to Albany, New York, where it entered the

New York State Canal System The New York State Canal System (formerly known as the New York State Barge Canal) is a successor to the Erie Canal and other canals within New York. Currently, the system is composed of the Erie Canal, the Oswego Canal, the Cayuga–Seneca Cana ...

. Over the course of four days, it navigated the

Erie Canal The Erie Canal is a historic canal in upstate New York that runs east-west between the Hudson River and Lake Erie. Completed in 1825, the canal was the first navigable waterway connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes, vastly reducing t ...

and

Oswego Canal The Oswego Canal is a canal in the New York State Canal System located in New York, United States. Opened in 1828, it is 23.7 miles (38.1 km) in length, and connects the Erie Canal at Three Rivers (near Liverpool) to Lake Ontario at Oswe ...

, passing through 30

locks Lock(s) may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainment * ''Lock ...

, before entering

Lake Ontario Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York. The Canada–United States border ...

at Oswego, New York. ''Lake Explorer II'' then crossed Lake Ontario,

Lake Erie Lake Erie ( "eerie") is the fourth largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also h ...

, Lake Huron, and

Lake Superior Lake Superior in central North America is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface areaThe Caspian Sea is the largest lake, but is saline, not freshwater. and the third-largest by volume, holding 10% of the world's surface fresh wa ...

, passing through nine more canal locks along the way, before arriving at its new home port,

Duluth , settlement_type = City , nicknames = Twin Ports (with Superior), Zenith City , motto = , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top: urban Duluth skyline; Minnesota ...

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

, on 16 October 2009, completing a 15-day journey of 1,580 miles. Operated throughout the Great Lakes by the EPA's Mid-Continent

Ecology Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overl ...

Division, ''Lake Explorer II'' conducts research surveys designed to develop a comprehensive environmental assessment of coastal conditions in the Great Lakes and demonstrate a new generation of lakewide assessment designs which include nearshore

ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syste ...

s in lakewide assessment.epa.gov United States Environmental Protection Agency Mid-Continent Ecology Division "Research Vessel (R/V) Lake Explorer II Overview" Retrieved August 20, 2018
/ref> Its work includes the use of advanced technologies for sampling aquatic life,

water quality Water quality refers to the chemical, physical, and biological characteristics of water based on the standards of its usage. It is most frequently used by reference to a set of standards against which compliance, generally achieved through tr ...

, and

sediment Sediment is a naturally occurring material that is broken down by processes of weathering and erosion, and is subsequently transported by the action of wind, water, or ice or by the force of gravity acting on the particles. For example, sa ...

s, including the deployment of advanced ''in situ'' environmental sensing system packages, which make continuous synoptic maps of water and

plankton Plankton are the diverse collection of organisms found in water (or air) that are unable to propel themselves against a current (or wind). The individual organisms constituting plankton are called plankters. In the ocean, they provide a crucia ...

properties, allowing for greater efficiency during extensive research surveys. After being hauled out of the water for

drydock A dry dock (sometimes drydock or dry-dock) is a narrow basin or vessel that can be flooded to allow a load to be floated in, then drained to allow that load to come to rest on a dry platform. Dry docks are used for the construction, maintenance, ...

ing, upgrades, and the design, fabrication, and installation of a new

bulbous bow A bulbous bow is a protruding bulb at the bow (or front) of a ship just below the waterline. The bulb modifies the way the water flows around the hull, reducing drag and thus increasing speed, range, fuel efficiency, and stability. Large ships w ...

at Great Lakes Shipyard in

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

, ''Lake Explorer II'' was relaunched on 27 October 2014.thegreatlakesgroup.com US EPA R/V LAKE EXPLORER II LAUNCHED AT GREAT LAKES SHIPYARD AFTER DRYDOCKING October 29 2014 Accessed 20 October 2022
/ref> She got underway to return to Duluth on 28 October 2014.

References

NOAA History, A Science Odyssey: Hall of Honor: Commerce Medals Presented for Lifesaving and the Protection of Property 1955-2000

External links

* *
Video "LAKE EXPLORER II EPA Research Vessel" on YouTube
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rude (S 590) Ships of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Survey ships of the United States Rude-class hydrographic survey ships Ships built in Oyster Bay, New York 1966 ships Virginia-related ships Maritime incidents in 1978 Maritime incidents in 2008 Recipients of the Department of Commerce Silver Medal Department of Commerce Gold Medal Ships of the United States Environmental Protection Agency

USC&GS and NOAA

Construction and commissioning

Technical details

Operations

Honors and awards

Environmental Protection Agency

Acquisition

Conversion

Operations

See also

References

External links