NOAAS Chapman: Difference between revisions

|Ship country=NationalUnited Oceanic and Atmospheric AdministrationStates

|Ship namesake=[[Wilbert McLeod Chapman|Wilbert McLeod "Wib" Chapman]] (1910-1970), American [[Fishery|fisheries]] scientist<ref name="decommissioning"/><ref>[http://socialarchive.iath.virginia.edu/xtf/view?docId=chapman-wilbert-mcleod-1910-1970-cr.xml virginia.edu Chapman, Wilbert McLeod, 1910-1970]</ref>

|Ship original cost=$3,100,000 ([[USD]])<ref>[{{Cite web |url=http://www.shipbuildinghistory.com/history/smallships/noaa2.htm |title=shipbuildinghistory.com NOAA Vessels (Since 1970)] |access-date=2014-06-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140107100626/http://www.shipbuildinghistory.com/history/smallships/noaa2.htm |archive-date=2014-01-07 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

|Ship identification=Call*{{IMO sign WTEDNumber|7907051}}

|Ship fate=*Donated to [[University of Puerto Rico]]<br/>
*Purchased by [[Substation Curaçao]] 2008

|Ship tonnage=*427 [[gross ton]]s<br/>
*290 [[net ton]]s

|Ship displacement=52520 [[Displacement ton|ton]]s

[[File:NOAAS Chapman (R 446) launching ceremony.jpg|200px|left|thumb|The [[Ship naming and launching|launching]] ceremony for NOAAS ''Chapman'' (R 446) at the [[Bender Shipbuilding and Repair Company]] in [[Mobile, Alabama|Mobile]], [[Alabama]], in December 1979.]]''Chapman'' was built by the [[Bender Shipbuilding and Repair Company]] at [[Mobile, Alabama|Mobile]], [[Alabama]]. She was [[Ship naming and launching|launched]] in December 1979, delivered to NOAA in May 1980, and [[Ship commissioning|commissioned]] into service in NOAA{{'}}s fleet as '''NOAAS ''Chapman'' (R 446)'''<ref name="noaaships">[httphttps://archive.org/stream/shipsofnoaafleet00rock/shipsofnoaafleet00rock_djvu.txt ''Ships of the NOAA Fleet'', Rockville, Maryland: United States Department of Commerce, June 1989]</ref> on 11 July 1980 at NOAA{{'}}s Pacific Marine Center in [[Seattle, Washington|Seattle]] [[Washington (U.S. state)|Washington]].<ref name="decommissioning">[http://www.moc.noaa.gov/ch/decomm/decomm.htm NOAA Ship CHAPMAN Decommissioned After 19 Years Of Service]</ref>

''Chapman'' had a {{convert|4-foot (1.2-meter)|ft|m|abbr=off|sp=us|adj=on}} fixed-length boom with a lifting capacity of 7,500 pounds (3,402 [[Kilogram|kg]]) and an [[A-frame]] with a safe working load of {{convert|1,000 pounds (454&nbsp;|lb|kg)}}. She also had two [[hydraulic]] [[Trawling|trawl]] [[winch]]es, each with a drum capacity of {{convert|6,000 feet (1,829 meters)|ft|m|abbr=off|sp=us}} of 3/4-inch (19-mm) line and a maximum pull of {{convert|20,000 pounds (9,072&nbsp;|lb|kg)}}, a hydraulic net [[SondeCTD (electronicsinstrument)|sonde]] winch with a drum capcitycapacity of {{convert|3,937 feet (1,200 meters)|ft|m|abbr=off|sp=us}} and a maximum pull of {{convert|500 pounds (227&nbsp;|lb|kg)}}, and a hydraulic [[Oceanography|oceanographic]] winch with a drum capacity of {{convert|3,250 feet (991 meters)|ft|m|abbr=off|sp=us}} of 3/16-inch (4.8-mm) steel cable and a maximum pull of {{convert|84 pounds (38.1&nbsp;|lb|kg)}}.<ref name="noaaships"/>

''Chapman'' carried a {{convert|16-foot (4.9-meter)|ft|m|abbr=off|sp=us|adj=on}} [[Boston Whaler]] [[fiberglass]] boat powered by a [[gasoline]] [[outboard motor]].<ref name="noaaships"/>

''Chapman'' spent her first four years operating in the [[North Pacific Ocean]] and [[Bering Sea]] on a variety of projects in support of NMFS{{'}}s Northwest Fisheries Science Center and Alaska Fisheries Science Center. She conducted a survey of the Bering Sea [[king crab]] population each summer which was used to set king crab catch quotas for the following autumn.<ref name="decommissioning"/>

During her career, ''Chapman'' [[DredgingMarine biology dredge|dredged]] for [[scallop]]s and [[Trawling|trawled]] for [[cod]] off the coast of [[New England]], and conducted winter tagging of [[striped bass]] off the [[Outer Banks]] of [[North Carolina]]. She also made physical oceanographic measurements and [[plankton]] collections in the [[Gulf Stream]] and the [[Loop Current]], collected [[red tide]] organisms, and observed [[marine mammal]]s.<ref name="decommissioning"/>

''Chapman'' also tested new designs in fishing gear and the sensors and equipment used to measure and monitor fishing gear performance, and used towed &ndash; and later remnotelyremotely operated &ndash; submersibles to observe the performance of fishing gear she was testing. ScientistScientists embarked on ''Chapman'' pioneered and developed the capability to measure fish populations using fishery [[Acoustics|acoustic]] systems. During her later years, ''Chapman'' used fishery acoustic systems to locate spawning aggregations ogof [[grouper]] and tcharacterizeto characterize [[reef fish]] habitats during annual surveys under the Southeast Area Monitoring and Assessment Program (SEAMAP).<ref name="decommissioning"/>

As an alternative to the often-destruction environmentally damaging methods of [[trawling]] and [[Marine biology dredge|dredging]], scientists aboard ''Chapman'' pioneered the use of fixed video cameras deployed on sensitive [[reef]] habitats to collect information on the kinds and abundance of reef fishes in a non-destructive manner, a novel approach in fishery data collection. Employing this technique off the Atlantic coast of [[Florida]], ''Chapman'' conducted baseline studies of [[coral reef]]s that led to the establishment of the [[Experimental Oculina Research Reserve]], one of the first such reserves of its kind.<ref name="decommissioning"/>

After nearly 18 years of service, ''Chapman'' was [[Ship decommissioning|decommissioned]] at Pascagoula on 2 June 1998.<ref name="noaamoc"/> She was replaced by [[NOAAS Gordon Gunter (R 336)|NOAAS ''Gordon Gunter'' (R 336)]].<ref name="noaamoc"/><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.publicaffairs.noaa.gov/nr/pdf/sept1998.pdf |title=Anonymous, "NOAA Commissions New Fisheries Ship in Pascagoula; Honors Gulf Scientist," ''NOAA Report'', Vol. VII, No. 9, September 1998, p. 2. |access-date=2014-08-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924083032/http://www.publicaffairs.noaa.gov/nr/pdf/sept1998.pdf |archive-date=2015-09-24 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Donated to the [[University of Puerto Rico]], the ship continued to serve as a research vessel as '''R/V ''Chapman''''', taking scientists and students to sea under the auspciesauspices of the university to conduct various kinds of marine research. However, she was not properly maintained, and after less than six years she lost her [[American Bureau of Shipping]] safety rating and was taken out of service.<ref name="substation">[{{Cite web |url=http://www.substation-curacao.com/chapman/ |title=Substation Curaçao: Champman] |access-date=2014-06-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714145153/http://www.substation-curacao.com/chapman/ |archive-date=2014-07-14 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In 2008, [[Substation Curaçao]] purchased ''Chapman'' to refurbish her and modify her for use as a seagoing mothership for the deep-diving scientific and tourist [[submarine]] ''[[Curasub]]''. Modifications involved the installation of amenities for embarked scientists and tourists and of a 110-ton knuckle boom [[Crane (machine)|crane]] on ''Chapman''{{'}}s after deck to launch and retrieve both the submarine and its floating dock, both of which can be carried on ''Chapman''{{'}}s after deck. During submarine operations, the floating dock is lowered over the side and secured to ''Chapman'' so that ''Curasub''{{'}}s passengers have an easy and convenient way to embark on and disembark from the submarine without the danger of launching ''Curasub'' into the water with them already aboard; ''Curasub'' also is lowered over the side and operates from the floating dock, which includes a docking cradle for the submarine. ''Chapman''{{'}}s redesign also made provision for the temporary installation of two {{convert|20-foot (6.1-meter)|ft|m|abbr=off|sp=us|adj=on}} [[intermodal container]]s, one configured for use as a [[wet laboratory]] and the other for use as a dry laboratiorylaboratory, which can be carried on her deck when needed for the support of embarked scientists and stored ashore during tourist use of ''Curasub''.<ref name="substation"/><ref>[http://www.royalseaquariumresort.com/Newsletter%20Volume%201,%20Issue%201%20(december%202012).pdf Substation Curaçao-Chapman Research Centre newsletter, Volume I, No. 1, December 2012 ]</ref>

Operating from [[Curaçao]], ''Chapman'' had begun operations under [[Chapman Expeditions]] serving as ''Curasub''{{'}}s mothership by mid-20132012, when she supported the [[Smithsonian Institution]]'s [[Deep Reef Observation Project]] (DROP).<ref name=Tarantolo2013>[httphttps://gizmodo.com/the-curasub-live-the-life-aquatic-without-getting-wet-510532840 Tarantolo, Andrew, "The Curasub: Live the Life Aquatic Without Getting Wet," Gizmodo, 06/03/13 11:30 a.m.]</ref><ref name=RRR10407>{{cite journal |author=Baldwin, CC |title=Deep Reef Observation Project (DROP): A Smithsonian - substation Curaçao collaboration |journal=In: Lang, M.A., and M.D.J. Sayer, editors. 2013. Proceedings of the 2013 AAUS/ESDP Curaçao Joint International Scientific Diving Symposium, October 24–27, 2013, Curaçao. Dauphin Island, AL |publisher=[[American Academy of Underwater Sciences]] |year=2013 |url=http://archive.rubicon-foundation.org/10407 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20140709085244/http://archive.rubicon-foundation.org/10407 |url-status=usurped |archive-date=July 9, 2014 |accessdate=2014-07-06}}</ref>

[[Category:Ships of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration|Chapman]]

[[Category:ResearchShips vesselsbuilt ofin theMobile, United StatesAlabama|Chapman]]

[[Category:Ships1979 built in Alabamaships|Chapman]]

[[Category:1979Fisheries shipsscience|NOAAS Chapman]]

[[Category:FisheriesUniversity scienceof Puerto Rico|NOAAS Chapman]]

[[Category:UniversityShips of PuertoCuraçao|NOAAS Rico systemChapman]]

[[Category:CuraçaoResearch vessels]]