R/P ''FLIP'' (''floating instrument platform'') is an open ocean research platform owned by the U.S. Office of Naval Research (ONR) and operated by Scripps Institution of Oceanography. The platform is long and is designed to partially flood and pitch backward 90°, resulting in only the front of the platform pointing up out of the water, with bulkheads becoming decks. When flipped, most of the ballast for the platform is provided by water at depths below the influence of surface waves, hence ''FLIP'' is stable and mostly immune to wave action similar to a

spar buoy A spar buoy is a tall, thin buoy that floats upright in the water and is characterized by a small water plane area and a large mass. Because they tend to be stable ocean platforms, spar buoys are popular for making oceanographic measurements. Adjus ...

. At the end of a mission, compressed air is pumped into the ballast tanks in the flooded section and the platform, which has no propulsion, returns to its horizontal position so it can be towed to a new location. The platform is frequently mistaken for a

capsize Capsizing or keeling over occurs when a boat or ship is rolled on its side or further by wave action, instability or wind force beyond the angle of positive static stability or it is upside down in the water. The act of recovering a vessel fro ...

d ocean transport ship.

History

RP FLIP towed to sea (120630-N-PO203-038)

The Marine Physical Laboratory of Scripps Institution of Oceanography created ''FLIP'' with funding from the Office of Naval Research and the assistance of the commercial naval architecture firm The Glosten Associates. ''FLIP'' was originally built to support research into the fine-scale phase and amplitude fluctuations in undersea sound waves caused by thermal gradients and sloping ocean bottoms. This acoustic research was conducted as a portion of the Navy's

SUBROC The UUM-44 SUBROC (SUBmarine ROCket) was a type of submarine-launched rocket deployed by the United States Navy as an anti-submarine weapon. It carried a 250 kiloton thermonuclear warhead configured as a nuclear depth bomb. Development SUBROC ...

program. Development started in January 1960 after a conversation between MPL researcher Frederick H. Fisher and MPL Director Fred N. Spiess regarding stability problems that Fisher was encountering when using the submarine as a research platform. Spiess recalled a suggestion from

Allyn Vine Allyn C. Vine (1914–1994) was a physicist and oceanographer who was a leader in developing crewed submersible vessels to explore the deep sea. Projects * Major contributor to redesigning the Bathythermograph during World War II. His version c ...

that upending a ship might make it more stable, based on Vine's observation of a Navy mop floating in waves. Fisher was subsequently assigned to work on the feasibility and later development of such a vessel. The Gunderson Brothers Engineering Company in Portland, Oregon, launched ''FLIP'' on 22 June 1962.

Capabilities

''FLIP'' is designed to study wave height, acoustic signals, water temperature and

density Density (volumetric mass density or specific mass) is the substance's mass per unit of volume. The symbol most often used for density is ''ρ'' (the lower case Greek letter rho), although the Latin letter ''D'' can also be used. Mathematical ...

, and for the collection of meteorological data. Because of the potential interference with the acoustic instruments, ''FLIP'' has no means of propulsion. It must be towed to open water, where it drifts freely or is anchored. ''FLIP'' is 700

gross tons Gross tonnage (GT, G.T. or gt) is a nonlinear measure of a ship's overall internal volume. Gross tonnage is different from gross register tonnage. Neither gross tonnage nor gross register tonnage should be confused with measures of mass or weig ...

. It carries a crew of five, plus up to eleven scientists. It is capable of operating independently during month-long missions without resupply. It can be operated around the world, although it normally operates off the west coast of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

from a home base at Scripps' Nimitz Marine Facility in

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. The ship has specially designed interiors: some fixtures, such as the toilet seats, can flip 90°, and the shower heads are curved 90°. There are overhead lights on the surfaces that are the ceilings in both the towing (horizontal) and flipped orientations.

Gallery

File:FLIP turns 50.ogv, Video of ''FLIP'' flipping File:RP FLIP at research location (120630-N-PO203-310).jpg, ''FLIP'' vertical in 2012 File:RP FLIP towed to sea (120630-N-PO203-076).jpg, ''FLIP'' under tow in 2012 File:RP FLIP external platforms in horizontal position (120630-N-PO203-396).jpg, ''FLIP'' in horizontal position, showing rails for vertical position

References

External links

R/P ''FLIP'' homepage

"FLIP - Research Vessel"
on Ship-Technology.com
"The Boat Designed to Capsize"
on ''Damn Interesting'' ;Media * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Flip, RP Research vessels of the United States Scripps Institution of Oceanography University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System research vessels 1962 ships Ships built in Portland, Oregon