8 Incredible Vessels That Changed How Ships Are Made
By Laura Kiniry, Popular Mechanics, 27 August 2014.
By Laura Kiniry, Popular Mechanics, 27 August 2014.
They can flip, navigate through ridiculous storms, and carry entire offshore oil rigs out to sea. Here are eight sea vessels that have changed (or will change) they way we look at our oceans.
1. RP FLIP
Scientists Fred Fisher and Fred Spiess created the RP FLIP (which stands for Floating Instrument Platform) in 1962 as a means for studying sound waves underwater. This vessel, which was owned and operated by the U.S. Navy, had one decidedly unusual feature: It could turn perpendicular to the sea surface and dive front-first under water, leaving only the back part of the vessel above the surface. This offers FLIP - which is basically a 355-foot-long spoon-shaped buoy - a stability that doesn’t come with normal ships, and an ideal means for researching not only sound waves but also wave heights and water temperature.
To flip the FLIP, the crew floods tanks located in the vessel’s long, narrow end with 700 tons of seawater. While that end sinks, they pump air into the upper tanks to keep the vessel’s shorter, rounder portion afloat. When research is through, crew members simply replaces the water in eight of the submerged tanks with compressed air, causing FLIP to return to its horizontal position. FLIP’s other innovative features include furniture (and even toilets) built on swivels so they are useable in FLIP’s horizontal and vertical positions and walls that become decks as the flip occurs.
2. The Vanguard
Credit: Kees torn/Flickr
Built in 2012, The Vanguard is the world’s largest float-on/float-off ship. This massive cargo vessel is 70 percent larger than any other heavy lift ship in existence. Oil and gas service company Dockwise owns and operates the vessel, which can carry up to 110,00 tons of cargo at a time - including warships and even entire land-built oil rigs.
Unlike other heavy lift ships, the Vanguard boasts an innovative flat, bowless deck. That means the entire 900-foot length and 230-foot width is unobstructed and clear for cargo. The ship is also semi-submersible, so crew members simply flood the vessel’s watertight ballast tanks to bring its deck below the surface of the water. That’s useful when the Vanguard needs to scoop up low-lying loads such as the capsized Costa Concordia (which it had originally been commissioned to move) and, once the ballast tanks are emptied, carry them back to land.
3. Sea Shadow
Lockheed Martin built Sea Shadow during the Cold War as a secret test craft for the U.S. Navy, operating it covertly in waters off Southern California’s coast from 1985 to 1993. Their goal: To see whether naval vessels could use the same stealth technology of the F-117 Nighthawk aircraft.
Sea Shadow’s SWATH (Small Waterplane Area Twin Hull) design - the same used in semi-submersible offshore oil rigs - allowed it to minimize volume near the sea’s surface, which means the ships would be less affected by waves and more stable even in incredibly rough storms. Also, its unusual shape - which consisted of severe flat planes installed at 45 degree angles, as well as radar absorbing iron ferrite coatings on the ship’s exterior - proved that the Sea Shadow could indeed go undetected.
4. SSGN Severodvinsk
Posing a major challenge to U.S. and U.K. submarines in terms of speed and stealth, Russia’s SSGN Severodvinsk nuclear attack submarine earned itself the moniker “the beast from beneath.” Though originally scheduled for completion in 1998, this first in a fleet of eight new Yasen-class subs (multipurpose war subs) didn’t officially launch until September 2011, 13 years later. The 390-foot-long SSGN Severodvinsk can dive up to 2,000 feet and travel at a relatively fast 35 to 40 miles per hour, outpacing most anti-sub weapons. It has both a near-silent nuclear power plant and hull coated in sound-absorbing material to avoid detection. It also carries supersonic cruise missiles and multipurpose deep-water homing torpedoes, making this a beast whose path you don’t want to cross.
5. Alvin (DSV-2)
Alvin DSV-2 debuted in 1964 as the world’s first manned deep-sea submersible and has been continuously upgraded over the past half-century. It has completed more than 4,600 dives, including visits to investigate the wreckage of the Titanic to investigate the effects of 2010’s Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The 23-feet-long, 12-feet high sub features a titanium centralized pressure hull (it was originally made of steel) that can accommodate three people and is strong enough to reach depths of nearly 21,000 feet (up from a previous 15,000-foot maximum).
Alvin is equipped with two clawed robotic arms that can manipulate everything high-intensity LED lights that illuminate the deep seas to a basket that can carry up to 400 pounds of seafloor samples back to its mother ship, the research vessel Atlantis.
6. Chikyu
Credit: Gleam at ja.wikipedia
With its ability to drill up to 23,000 feet below the ocean floor - even in earthquake zones - Japanese research vessel Chikyu is lending scientists a hand in identifying and understanding global and environmental changes. The 57,000-gross-ton scientific drillship launched in 2005. It can install monitoring machines within earth’s seismogenic zone to provide advance warning of future earthquakes. It also has the potential to drill through the earth’s crust and explore its mantle. Here, scientists can study magmatic convection - or the slow movement of molten lava deep within the earth.
To ensure a stable platform from which to drill, Chikyu relies on GPS positioning data and adjustable computer-controlled azimuth thrusters, which are rotatable marine propellers that are easy to manoeuvre. The GPS system tells crew members how much the ship might move based on wind, waves, and currents. They then rotate the thrusters to counter that movement.
7. The Wave Glider
Credit: Liquid Robotics, Inc
An affordable way to collect environmental data in conditions too dangerous for humans - that’s the idea behind the Wave Glider, a series of unmanned ocean drones developed by California start-up Liquid Robotics. The two-part vessel features a surfboard-like skimmer that floats on the surface, equipped with solar panels to help power it. Additional energy is provided by underwater wings connected to the skimmer by a 22-foot-long strap. As the Wave Glider floats along, its wings follow the motions of the sea: tilting up when a wave lifts the skimmer, turning downward on a down wave. This keeps the skimmer moving by essentially tethering it to the sea - an ideal quality for rough ocean conditions. The Wave Glider can be customized with up to 70 different sensors for collecting data, including acoustic sensors and mapping instruments. The information is then delivered remotely via a cloud-based operating system called Regulus.
8. SeaOrbiter
Credit: SeaOrbiter/Jacques Rougerie
While still in its prototype stages, SeaOrbiter will be the world’s first non-stop exploration vessel and live/work space that allows scientists to spend months out at sea in the search for new life forms. Oceanographer and architect Jacques Rougerie conceived of this floating aquatic lab more than a decade ago. The nearly 200-foot-long, 1,000-ton structure will be wind- and sun-powered, and built from a recyclable aluminium known as Sealium, which is designed for the sea’s harsh environment. Inside, it will have both research laboratories and pressurized hyperbaric quarters, so that anyone making multiple deep-sea dives won’t have to go through decompression. There will also smaller submarines for individual explorations and drones that can dive up to 20,000 feet. Construction of SeaOrbiter is expected to begin later this year.
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