RV ''Gloria Michelle'' (F7201), sometimes rendered as R/V ''Gloria Michelle'', is an American

fisheries Fishery can mean either the enterprise of raising or harvesting fish and other aquatic life or, more commonly, the site where such enterprise takes place ( a.k.a., fishing grounds). Commercial fisheries include wild fisheries and fish farm ...

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 ...

in non-commissioned service in the

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA ) is an American scientific and regulatory agency charged with Weather forecasting, forecasting weather, monitoring oceanic and atmospheric conditions, Hydrography, charting the seas, ...

(NOAA) fleet since 1980. Prior to her NOAA career, she was a commercial

shrimp A shrimp (: shrimp (American English, US) or shrimps (British English, UK)) is a crustacean with an elongated body and a primarily Aquatic locomotion, swimming mode of locomotion – typically Decapods belonging to the Caridea or Dendrobranchi ...

boat that came into the possession of the

United States Government The Federal Government of the United States of America (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the Federation#Federal governments, national government of the United States. The U.S. federal government is composed of three distinct ...

after her seizure for carrying

marijuana Cannabis (), commonly known as marijuana (), weed, pot, and ganja, List of slang names for cannabis, among other names, is a non-chemically uniform psychoactive drug from the ''Cannabis'' plant. Native to Central or South Asia, cannabis has ...

. Registered as NOAA F7201,nefsc.noaa.gov ''Gloria Michelle'' General Information
/ref> ''Gloria Michelle'' conducts operations in coastal waters along the northeastern coast of

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

Construction and acquisition

The

Diesel Shipbuilding Company Diesel may refer to: * Diesel engine, an internal combustion engine where ignition is caused by compression * Diesel fuel, a liquid fuel used in diesel engines * Diesel locomotive, a railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine ...

built ''Gloria Michelle'' at

Jacksonville Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, in 1974 as a

steel Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon that demonstrates improved mechanical properties compared to the pure form of iron. Due to steel's high Young's modulus, elastic modulus, Yield (engineering), yield strength, Fracture, fracture strength a ...

-hulled,

diesel Diesel may refer to: * Diesel engine, an internal combustion engine where ignition is caused by compression * Diesel fuel, a liquid fuel used in diesel engines * Diesel locomotive, a railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine ...

-powered commercial

boat for use in the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico () is an oceanic basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, mostly surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States; on the southw ...

. In 1979, the

United States Customs Service The United States Customs Service was a federal law enforcement agency of the U.S. federal government. Established on July 31, 1789, it collected import tariffs, performed other selected border security duties, as well as conducted criminal in ...

seized ''Gloria Michelle'' after discovering 16

short ton The short ton (abbreviation: tn or st), also known as the US ton, is a measurement unit equal to . It is commonly used in the United States, where it is known simply as a ton; however, the term is ambiguous, the single word "ton" being variously ...

s (14.25

long tons The long ton, also known as the imperial ton, displacement ton,Dictionary.com - ''"a unit for measuring the displacement of a vessel, equal to a long ton of 2240 pounds (about 1016 kg) or 35 cu. ft. (1 cu. m) of seawater."'' or British ton, is a ...

; 14.5 metric tons/

tonne The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1,000 kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton in the United States to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the s ...

s) of marijuana in her fish

hold Hold may refer to: Physical spaces * Hold (compartment), interior cargo space * Baggage hold, cargo space on an airplane * Stronghold, a castle or other fortified place Arts, entertainment, and media * Hold (musical term), a pause, also called ...

, at the time the largest seizure of

illegal drug The prohibition of drugs through sumptuary legislation or religious law is a common means of attempting to prevent the recreational use of certain intoxicating substances. An area has a prohibition of drugs when its government uses the for ...

s in the history of

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

. After the conclusion of the trial of the people involved in smuggling the marijuana, ''Gloria Michelle'' was laid up in a

bayou In usage in the Southern United States, a bayou () is a body of water typically found in a flat, low-lying area. It may refer to an extremely slow-moving stream, river (often with a poorly defined shoreline), marshy lake, wetland, or creek. They ...

near

Biloxi Biloxi ( ; ) is a city in Harrison County, Mississippi, United States. It lies on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast in southern Mississippi, bordering the city of Gulfport, Mississippi, Gulfport to its west. The adjacent cities ar ...

, Mississippi, to await her fate.nefsc.noaa.gov "R/V ''Gloria Michelle'': NEFSC Research Vessel Has Colorful History"
/ref> At about the same time, the Conservation Engineering Group at the Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC) at NOAA's

National Marine Fisheries Service The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), informally known as NOAA Fisheries, is a United States federal agency within the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) that is responsible for the ste ...

Gloucester Laboratory in

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city, non-metropolitan district and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West England, South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

, was looking for a replacement for RV ''Rorqual'', a 40-year-old former

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

harbor

tug A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, suc ...

the NEFSC used to support its

fisheries science Fisheries science is the academic discipline of managing and understanding fisheries. It is a multidisciplinary science, which draws on the disciplines of limnology, oceanography, freshwater biology, marine biology, meteorology, conservation, ...

activities and its work designing and testing

commercial fishing Commercial fishing is the activity of catching fish and other seafood for Commerce, commercial Profit (economics), profit, mostly from wild fisheries. It provides a large quantity of food to many countries around the world, but those who practice ...

gear. Finding ''Gloria Michelle'' well-suited for these endeavors, NOAA acquired her and assigned her to the Conservation Engineering Group at Gloucester. Too small to meet NOAA's criteria for entering commissioned service because she is under in length, ''Gloria Michelle'' instead entered non-commissioned service with NOAA as RV ''Gloria Michelle'' in 1980 after undergoing extensive modifications and upgrades necessary for her to operate as a research vessel. NOAA subsequently sold ''Gloria Michelles predecessor ''Rorqual'' at

public auction A government auction or a public auction is an auction held on behalf of a government in which the property to be auctioned is either property owned by the government or property which is sold under the authority of a court of law or a governmen ...

Characteristics and capabilities

Built as a commercial

fishing vessel A fishing vessel is a boat or ship used to fishing, catch fish and other valuable nektonic aquatic animals (e.g. shrimps/prawns, krills, coleoids, etc.) in the sea, lake or river. Humans have used different kinds of surface vessels in commercial ...

, ''Gloria Michelle'' offered many features lacking aboard her predecessor ''Rorqual''. Configured as a

stern trawler A fishing trawler is a commercial fishing vessel designed to operate fishing trawls. Trawling is a method of fishing that involves actively dragging or pulling a trawl through the water behind one or more trawlers. Trawls are fishing nets that ...

, she had a larger deck area suitable for research work, a refrigerated fish hold, and a diesel engine offering twice the

horsepower Horsepower (hp) is a unit of measurement of power, or the rate at which work is done, usually in reference to the output of engines or motors. There are many different standards and types of horsepower. Two common definitions used today are t ...

of ''Rorquals powerplant. Since NOAA acquired her in 1979, ''Gloria Michelle'' has undergone extensive modifications and upgrades – including the conversion of her refrigerated fish hold into space for berthing, a laboratory, and a

septic system Onsite sewage facilities (OSSF), also called septic systems, are wastewater systems designed to treat and dispose of effluent on the same property that produces the wastewater, in areas not served by public sewage infrastructure. A septic tank a ...

– and now only her hull is original; among equipment NOAA installed aboard her are a

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 (physics), tension of a rope or wire rope (also called "cable" or "wire cable"). In its simplest form, it consists of a Bobb ...

and an articulated crane for handling and recovering equipment. Her hull is painted deep blue, and her

deckhouse A cabin or berthing is an enclosed space generally on a ship or an aircraft. A cabin which protrudes above the level of a ship's deck may be referred to as a deckhouse. Sailing ships In sailing ships, the officers and paying passengers wou ...

is white. ''Gloria Michelle'' has a permanently assigned crew of two people, both

officers An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fro ...

of the

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

, one of them serving as officer-in-charge – who both commands the vessel while she is underway and is her chief administrator when she is in portHefler, Janet, "Lt. Anna-Liza Villard-Howe takes command of NOAA research vessel," mvtimes.com, June 6, 2012.
/ref> – and the other as junior officer-in-charge. She can embark up to an additional 14 people for day trips or up to an additional eight people for trips requiring an overnight stay on board. Except on short trips, NOAA usually assigns one or two additional crew members to ''Gloria Michelle'' temporarily to assist her two permanently assigned officers in operating the vessel. Additional personnel embarked usually are scientists involved in fisheries research. ''Gloria Michelle'' has a five-day endurance, the limiting factor being the supply of food she can carry for her crew and passengers.

Operations and service history

Assigned to support of the Conservation Engineering Group at NEFSC's Gloucester Laboratory and home-ported at Gloucester, ''Gloira Michelle'' began operations with NOAA in 1980. In her early years, she engaged in cooperative experiments and tested new

scallop Scallop () is a common name that encompasses various species of marine bivalve molluscs in the taxonomic family Pectinidae, the scallops. However, the common name "scallop" is also sometimes applied to species in other closely related famili ...

dredge Dredging is the excavation of material from a water environment. Possible reasons for dredging include improving existing water features; reshaping land and water features to alter drainage, navigability, and commercial use; constructing ...

beam trawl Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Radio beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially lo ...

s, and

groundfish Demersal fish, also known as groundfish, live and feed on or near the bottom of seas or lakes (the demersal zone).Walrond Carl . "Coastal fish - Fish of the open sea floor"Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Updated 2 March 2009 They oc ...

nets designed to reduce wasteful and destructive

bycatch Bycatch (or by-catch), in the fishing industry, is a fish or other marine species that is caught unintentionally while fishing for specific species or sizes of wildlife. Bycatch is either the wrong species, the wrong sex, or is undersized or juve ...

. When the Conservation Engineering Group moved to the NEFSC's Narragansett Laboratory in Narragansett,

Rhode Island Rhode Island ( ) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Connecticut to its west; Massachusetts to its north and east; and the Atlantic Ocean to its south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Is ...

, in the mid-1980s, NOAA relocated ''Gloria Michelle'' there as well. After the NEFSC opened its Sandy Hook Laboratory in

Sandy Hook Sandy Hook is a barrier spit in Middletown Township, Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. The barrier spit, approximately in length and varying from wide, is located at the north end of the Jersey Shore. It encloses the southern en ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

, NOAA moved ''Gloria Michelle'' to Sandy Hook to support it, which she did during the early 1990s. After that stint, she finally moved to her current home port at

Woods Hole Woods Hole is a census-designated place in the town of Falmouth in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. It lies at the extreme southwestern corner of Cape Cod, near Martha's Vineyard and the Elizabeth Islands. The population was 78 ...

, Massachusetts, from which she supports the NEFSC's Woods Hole Laboratory. ''Gloria Michelle'' operates along the coast of

from

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

and as far offshore as

George's Bank Georges Bank (formerly known as St. Georges Bank) is a large elevated area of the sea floor between Cape Cod, Massachusetts (United States), and Cape Sable Island, Nova Scotia (Canada). It separates the Gulf of Maine from the Atlantic Ocean. T ...

, usually between April and October each year, offering junior NOAA Corps officers an opportunity to demonstrate their leadership and

seamanship Seamanship is the skill, art, competence (human resources), competence, and knowledge of operating a ship, boat or other craft on water. The'' Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford Dictionary'' states that seamanship is "The skill, techniques, o ...

aboard a NOAA vessel early in their careers. She carries out an annual survey of shrimp populations in the

Gulf of Maine The Gulf of Maine is a large gulf of the Atlantic Ocean on the east coast of North America. It is bounded by Cape Cod at the eastern tip of Massachusetts in the southwest and by Cape Sable Island at the southern tip of Nova Scotia in the northea ...

– a joint effort of the NEFSC and the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries – over a four-week period in July and August, embarking ten passengers and crew for voyages of up to five days at a time. Since 1982, she also has conducted annual spring and autumn surveys, each three weeks long, of

populations for the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, making day trips seven days a week with a crew of three or four and four or five scientists on board. During these surveys, ''Gloria Michelle'' typically fishes for 15 to 20 minutes at a time, brings everything aboard for embarked scientists to measure and study, and then repeats the process. Scientists choose the locations for the surveys, some of them at random and others at historical sites; in the latter case, survey activities must be carried out in exactly the same way every year. Information the scientists gather is used to determine fishing quotas for each year, although scientists take advantage of the survey process to gather other information of interest as well. During the rest of her annual operating season, ''Gloria Michelle'' engages in a variety of special projects, which have included deploying a

wave In physics, mathematics, engineering, and related fields, a wave is a propagating dynamic disturbance (change from List of types of equilibrium, equilibrium) of one or more quantities. ''Periodic waves'' oscillate repeatedly about an equilibrium ...

data

buoy A buoy (; ) is a buoyancy, floating device that can have many purposes. It can be anchored (stationary) or allowed to drift with ocean currents. History The ultimate origin of buoys is unknown, but by 1295 a seaman's manual referred to navig ...

Rhode Island Sound Rhode Island Sound is a sound off the coast of the U.S. state of Rhode Island at the mouth of Narragansett Bay. It begins east of Block Island Sound, continues to the east to Buzzards Bay, and opens south into the Atlantic Ocean between Block Is ...

for the

United States Army Corps of Engineers The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is the military engineering branch of the United States Army. A direct reporting unit (DRU), it has three primary mission areas: Engineer Regiment, military construction, and civil wo ...

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

mapping of underwater

topography Topography is the study of the forms and features of land surfaces. The topography of an area may refer to the landforms and features themselves, or a description or depiction in maps. Topography is a field of geoscience and planetary sci ...

, testing of new technology, recovery of equipment lost by other vessels, and photographic identification of

marine mammal Marine mammals are mammals that rely on marine ecosystems for their existence. They include animals such as cetaceans, pinnipeds, sirenians, sea otters and polar bears. They are an informal group, unified only by their reliance on marine enviro ...

s. In 1994, ''Gloria Michelle'' sampled

seafood Seafood is any form of Marine life, sea life regarded as food by humans, prominently including Fish as food, fish and shellfish. Shellfish include various species of Mollusca, molluscs (e.g., bivalve molluscs such as clams, oysters, and mussel ...

in the waters in and around a

toxic waste Toxic waste is any unwanted material in all forms that can cause harm (e.g. by being inhaled, swallowed, or absorbed through the skin). Mostly generated by industry, consumer products like televisions, computers, and phones contain toxic chemi ...

dumping ground in

Massachusetts Bay Massachusetts Bay is a bay on the Gulf of Maine that forms part of the central coastline of Massachusetts. Description The bay extends from Cape Ann on the north to Plymouth Harbor on the south, a distance of about . Its northern and sout ...

for the U.S.

Food and Drug Administration The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is respo ...

, which determined the seafood to be safe for human consumption. On 5 May 2010, a

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

television crew shot footage of ''Gloria Michelle'' conducting survey work for a segment about surveying the ocean scheduled to air on an episode of the BBC series ''

Horizon The horizon is the apparent curve that separates the surface of a celestial body from its sky when viewed from the perspective of an observer on or near the surface of the relevant body. This curve divides all viewing directions based on whethe ...

'' in October 2010.wordpress.com NEFSC Field Science: NOAA R/V Gloria Michelle, Caught on Film!, May 30, 2010.
/ref>

Rear Admiral Rear admiral is a flag officer rank used by English-speaking navies. In most European navies, the equivalent rank is called counter admiral. Rear admiral is usually immediately senior to commodore and immediately below vice admiral. It is ...

Jonathan W. Bailey Jonathan W. Bailey is a retired rear admiral in the NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps and a former director, NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps and director, NOAA Office of Marine and Aviation Operations. He was appointed by Secretary of Commerce Car ...

, the director of the NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps from 2007 until his retirement in 2012, served as officer-in-charge of ''Gloria Michelle'' early in his career. On 1 June 2012, ''Gloria Michelle'' became the first vessel in the history of NOAA or its ancestor organizations to have an all-female crew.

References

External links

Video: "Tour of the NOAA Small Research Vessel ''Gloria Michelle''," published 18 September 2013, on YouTube

"Video clip of RV ''Gloria Michelle''" showing ''Gloria Michelle'' getting underway, embedded at center right of page "R/V Gloria Michelle: NEFSC Research Vessel Has Colorful History" at nefsc.noaa.gov

Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries video "What is a Trawl Survey?" filmed aboard RV ''Gloria Michelle'', on YouTube
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gloria Michelle Ships of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Ships built in Jacksonville, Florida 1974 ships Fisheries science History of women in the United States Maritime incidents in 1979

Construction and acquisition

Characteristics and capabilities

Operations and service history

See also

References

External links