My Girl!

Welcome to the USNS Maury! “Ain’t she a Beaut?!” She is a 353ft long, 58ft beam ocean research vessel – the newest in the T-AGS fleet. Our mission is ocean charting for the US Navy and it truly has been a thrill. She began construction in 2010 and set sail June 2016. While I was not aboard for her Maiden Voyage, I had the pleasure of being aboard for her first test mission in July of that year, and have been Third Mate on this vessel ever since. What this ship can do is pretty amazing, but the best part: We have a Moon Pool!! [A Moon Pool is an opening from inside the hull that gives access to the sea.] It’s pretty fun!

Being that she the newest platform, the Maury is on the cutting edge of oceanography research and cartography – chart making! It too has been brought into the 21st century. While most ships use ECDIS (Electronic Chart Display and Information System) – a computer version of paper charts, many still use the good ole paper charts. 🖒 Regardless, the information is the same, and the need for updated and accurate soundings, bottom contours, and subsurface content still remains. To think olden day sailors would drop a weight attached to some line to the bottom and then haul the weight back to the surface to measure water depth, we have certainly come a long way. We can now survey several square miles of ocean in just a few hours, and that is incredible.

The Maury has a standard crew of 27. The Engineers work to maintain the four Diesel Eletric Generators, electricity, plumbing, heating, and much more. They certainly have their hands full! We have Stewards who cook and sanitize the various spaces on board. The Deck crew handles painting, and general maintenance throughout the ship. My particular job as Third Mate is to stand navigation watch on the Bridge, fire fighting and life preservation safety, ship security, and inventories. You could say its pretty busy around here. We can have up to 30 scientists on board. The crew is actively involved with the missions as well. In fact, surveying is what we’re all about! So welcome aboard!