FLoating Instrument Platform
_in_August_2009_(cropped).jpg) FLoating Instrument Platform |
|
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Type | Research ship |
| Keel laying | January 1962 |
| Launch | June 22, 1962 |
| 1. Period of service |
|
| period of service |
since September 1962 |
| Technical specifications | |
| displacement |
700 ts |
| length |
108.2 meters |
| width |
7.93 meters |
| Draft |
3.83 meters |
| crew |
5 sailors, 11 scientists |
| drive |
none |
| speed |
10 knots (towed) |
The RP FLIP ( German Floating Instrument Platform , official name R / P FLIP ) is a research vessel of the United States Navy . It is part of the Navy's Office of Naval Research and is operated by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in California . The ship has large ballast tanks in the stern and can therefore be erected vertically in the water. It was developed in the early 1960s as a stable platform for researching the behavior of sound waves underwater, making it the oldest still active and one of the most extraordinary research vessels in the US Navy.
history
Development and construction
As part of the SUBROC program , the US Navy needed a stable research platform at the beginning of the 1960s, from which the behavior of sound underwater, in particular propagation and diffraction, could be researched. The findings should flow into the development of underwater location systems. Fred Spiess and Fred Fisher had already gained experience with the submarine USS Baya at the end of the 1950s , which was used for underwater research. The submarine initially proved unsuitable due to technical inadequacies such as shallow diving depth and short dwell time under water. In addition, the boat yawed through stormy seas at a depth of 100 meters and was therefore unsuitable as a measuring platform.
Because of this problem, the scientists consulted with Alan Vyne of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution , who had suggested putting a submarine “vertically” in the water to ensure a stable platform. This arrangement would make it possible to take measurements at a depth of 100 meters and at the same time to compare them with optical or other signals above water. Retrofitting a submarine to such a platform would be very difficult, which is why a completely new ship was designed that was precisely tailored to the needs.
In order to guarantee the exact measurement of the bearing accuracy as well as the amplitudes and propagation of the sound through different layers of the ocean, a manned pose was proposed as a research platform. The requirements specified a minimum depth of approximately 91 meters (300 feet ) in order to be able to mount hydrophones at different depths, but also a maximum draft of 4.5 meters (15 feet) in order to be able to operate from small, shallow harbors .
In the following period, the necessary dimensions and hull shapes were tested on a model and initial lowering attempts were carried out. At the beginning of 1962 the keel was laid at the Gunderson Brothers Engineering Corporation in Portland , Oregon . It cost US $ 600,000 to build (around US $ 5,100,000 adjusted for inflation today) and was paid for by the Office of Naval Research. After being christened by Sally Spiess, the wife of one of the developers, FLIP was launched on June 22, 1962. A month later, on July 23, the ballast tanks in the Hood Canal in Washington were flooded for the first time, and the ship was vertical in the water for the first time. After further testing, the unpowered research platform was towed to San Diego in September , where it went into service.
commitment
Until the completion of the SUBROC program in 1965, FLIP served as a measuring platform for testing the new underwater weapon. It was subsequently handed over to the Scripps Institute, which used the platform for hydrographic surveys in the Pacific . FLIP is also used to research marine fauna, especially marine mammals , as well as research into ocean waves and their behavior and formation. In addition, observations were made on the interaction between the sea and the atmosphere and on energy transfers.
During operations, the platform withstood waves of up to 25, according to other information up to 28 meters, undamaged. Even with such strong waves, FLIP was still stable in the water and only moved minimally.
Since FLIP does not have its own drive, the platform has to be towed into the operational area by other ships. Either other research vessels or heavy Navy deep-sea tugs of the Powhatan class are used for this purpose. The older deep- sea tugs of the Navajo or Abnaki class were also used until they were decommissioned .
The research platform is stationed in the Nimitz Marine Facility in San Diego Bay, across from Naval Air Station North Island .
modernization
In 1994 the Office of Naval Research decided to do a thorough overhaul of the research platform. On December 12, 1994, the research platform began its shipyard stay at Campbell Shipyards, San Diego. In the following months, corrosion damage to the hull structure, which had been found during an inspection in 1993, was repaired, the flood valves of the ballast tanks were replaced and the piping system was renewed. The entire electrical installation of FLIP was renewed, a new fire extinguishing system installed and new monitoring instruments installed. In addition, all generators, pumps and motors on board were overhauled and repaired, as well as the air conditioning and the desalination system for drinking water production. The crew quarters received new wall and ceiling cladding, the storage options were improved and new bunks were installed. With the first test drives on January 18 and 19, 1996, the general overhaul was completed. The total cost of the upgrade was $ 2 million.
technology
hull
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The 108.2 meter long hull of the platform is divided into two sections: the 91.44 meter long, cylindrical stern section, which contains the ballast tanks and is completely submerged in the flooded state, and the 16.74 meter long bow section in the the crew quarters and the research facilities are located. The width of the front hull section is 7.93 meters, the maximum draft is 3.83 meters. The cylindrical stern section has a diameter of 6.5 meters, which tapers to 4 meters from about a third of the length of the ship towards the bow. The fuselage was made of high-strength Tri-Ten steel in order to be able to endure the loads during the lowering process.
The platform does not have its own drive, only a small, hydraulically operated propeller enables rotations around the vertical axis. Coupled with a gyro compass , it also enables the ship to be fixed in a certain orientation.
equipment
The special feature of FLIP is that most of the equipment on board is either rotatably mounted in order to take part in the swiveling process, or rotated by 90 ° twice so that it can be used in any position. The two 150 kW diesel generators and the 40 kW reserve generator, as well as the kitchenette, are freely rotatable in the galley. In the wet room there are two showers and two sinks, each rotated by 90 °. A 5678 liter tank and a water desalinator with a capacity of 115 liters per hour supply the ship with drinking water. To blow out the ballast tanks, there are 84 cubic meters of compressed air in eight pressure bottles inside the ballast tanks.
The ship is equipped with GPS , VHF and KW radios, an Inmarsat satellite connection and a GSM connection .
In the ship, almost 46 square meters of laboratory space are available for various purposes. Underwater microphones and sonar systems can be installed at various depths on the hull, while the fold-down bridges on deck offer additional space for radar and sonar systems for measuring wave heights and speeds.
With special anchoring material, FLIP can be safely anchored in deep water using a three-point anchor. The greatest anchor depth so far was 5500 meters during a mission off Hawaii in 1969. At great anchor depths, 30 of the 80 tonnes of anchor material remain on the seabed, as it is not feasible to retrieve the anchor and anchor chain due to the high weight and depth.
Lowering process
During the lowering process, the entire crew of the ship is on the front deck in front of the superstructure; nobody is allowed to stay below deck in order to avoid possible hazards from unsecured equipment. The flooding is initiated by opening the flood valves, within 28 minutes around 700 tons of seawater flows into the ballast tanks in the cylindrical end of the ship, and FLIP stands upright. The decks are slowly becoming bulkheads , bulkheads are becoming decks, and the crew is now on the top deck of the ship. The righting process accelerates rapidly during the last 15 °, and the ship rotates once by 180 ° around the vertical axis.
Web links
- Official site at the Marine Physical Laboratory
- FLIP at the Scripps Institution (English)
- FLIP marine research vessel ( YouTube video; English)
Individual evidence
- ^ Office of Naval Research ( Memento of April 14, 2009 in the Internet Archive ), as of April 5, 2007
- ↑ a b c d ship-technology.com , as of April 5, 2007
- ↑ a b c Marine Physical Laboratory, FLIP History , as of April 5, 2007
- ^ Marine Physical Laboratory, FLIP Experience , as of April 5, 2007
- ↑ Google Maps , as of April 5, 2007
- ^ Marine Physical Laboratory, FLIP Maintenance , as of April 5, 2007
- ^ Marine Physical Laboratory, FLIP Equipment , as of April 5, 2007
- ^ Marine Physical Laboratory, FLIP Capabilities , as of April 5, 2007
