NOAAS Rude (S 590)

NOAAS Rude (S 590)
History
U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey
Name: USC&GS Rude (ASV 90)
Namesake: Captain Gilbert T. Rude (1881-1962), a U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey officer
Builder: Jackobson Shipyard, Oyster Bay, New York
Launched: 17 August 1966
Completed: December 1966
Commissioned: 29 March 1967
Fate: Transferred to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 3 October 1970
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Name: NOAAS Rude (S 590)
Namesake: Previous name retained
Acquired: Transferred from U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 3 October 1970
Decommissioned: 25 March 2008
Honors and
awards:
Status: Inactive in NOAA Atlantic Fleet
General characteristics
Type: Rude-class hydrographic survey ship
Tonnage: 150 gross register tons (domestic tonnage)
Displacement: 220 tons (ITC tons)
Length: 90 ft (27 m)
Beam: 22 ft (6.7 m) (moulded)
Draft: 7.2 ft (2.2 m)
Installed power: 850 shp (0.63 MW)
Propulsion: Two Cummins 425 hp (0.317 MW) geared diesel engines, 2 shafts, 3,900 US gallons (15,000 L) fuel
Speed: 10 knots (19 km/h) (cruising)
Range: 1,000 nautical miles (1,900 km)
Endurance: 5 days
Boats & landing
craft carried:		 One launch
Complement: 11 (4 NOAA Corps officers, 1 licensed engineer, and 6 other crew members)
Notes: 120 kilowatts electrical power

NOAAS Rude (S 590) is an American Rude-class hydrographic survey ship that was in commission in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) from 1970 to 2008. Prior to her NOAA career, she was in commission in the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey from 1967 to 1970 as USC&GS Rude (ASV 90).

Rude is named for Gilbert T. Rude, former Chief of the Division of Coastal Surveys of the Coast and Geodetic Survey.

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. She was launched on 17 August 1966[1] and commissioned into Coast and Geodetic Survey service on 29 March 1967[1] as USC&GS Rude (ASV 90).[2] When the Coast and Geodetic Survey merged with other United States Government organizations to form NOAA on 3 October 1970, she became a part of the NOAA fleet as NOAAS Rude (S 590).

Service history

A United States Coast and Geodetic Survey diagram of ca. 1920 of wire-drag hydrographic survey operations as carried out by Rude and her sister ship Heck. The basic principle is to drag a wire attached to two vessels; if the wire encounters an obstruction it will come taut and form a "V."
Rude (left) worked with her sister ship Heck (S 591) (right) on wire drag operations until 1989.

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 Midnight Sun, rescuing Midnight Sun's crew and scientists 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 rafts near Midnight Sun, administered first aid to them, and transported them to shore. Heck's 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 her crew, the crews of Rude and Heck received the Department of Commerce Silver Medal in 1978.[3]

Electronic technologies eventually arrived that allow a single vessel to do the same surveying work using sidescan and multibeam sonar 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 and United States Navy in search, rescue, and recovery operations. She located the wreckage of TWA Flight 800 off of Moriches, New York, in 1996, receiving a Department of Commerce Gold Medal that year for her efforts, and later located John F. Kennedy Jr.'s plane wreckage after his fatal crash off Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, in 1999.[3][4]

Rude was decommissioned on 25 March 2008.[4] She is in reserve in NOAA's Atlantic Fleet.

Technical details

Rude's hull is 90 feet (27.4 m) long, the smallest in the NOAA fleet. She has a total of 11 bunk spaces. The ship's mess room can seat seven. She carries a complement of four NOAA Corps officers and seven other crew members, including one licensed engineer.

Rude's deck equipment features one winch and one telescoping boom crane. This equipment gives the Rude a lifting capacity of up to 7,500 pounds (3,400 kg). She also has 500 feet (152 meters) of cable that can pull up to 250 pounds (113 kg).

For her primary mission of inshore hydrographic surveys, Rude has a differential global positioning system (DGPS), a multibeam sonar system, and side-scan sonar (SSS). She also is equipped for diving operations to allow human investigation of submerged obstacles. She has a 19-foot (5.7 m) fiberglass launch for utility or rescue operations.

Honors and awards

Department of Commerce Silver Medal, 1978

In a ceremony on 23 October 1978 in Washington, D.C., Rude and Heck were awarded the Department of Commerce Silver Medal for "rare and distinguished contributions of major significance to the Department, the nation, and the world."[5] for their assistance to Midnight Sun.[5] The program for the ceremony cited the ships' achievements as follows:

LCDR Robert V. Smart, LTJG 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 rafts near the vessel. First aid 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.[5]

Department of Commerce Gold Medal 1996

In a ceremony on 4 December 1996 in Washington, D.C., 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."[6] for her response as a part of the NOAA TWA Flight 800 Disaster Response Team.[6] 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.[6]

See also

NOAA ships and aircraft

References

  1. 1 2 Polmar, Norman, The Naval Institute Guide to the Ships and Aircraft of the U.S. Fleet, Seventeenth Edition, Naval Institute Press: Annapolis, Maryland, 2001, ISBN 1-55750-656-6, p. 617.
  2. ↑ Silverstone, Paul H., The Navy of the Nuclear Age 1947-2007, New York: Routledge, 2009, ISBN 0-415-97899-8, p. 314.
  3. 1 2 NOAA History: Hall of Honor: Commerce Medals Presented For Lifesaving and the Protection of Property 1955-2000
  4. 1 2 Flight 800 ship to be retired - Newsday - March 24, 2008
  5. 1 2 3 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
  6. 1 2 3 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
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