Research Vessel

Laurentian

On Monday, May 20, 1996, the Laurentian was docked at the seawall at Detroit's Riverside Park, where she was open for visits from school groups and others. Thanks to the hospitality of Captain Bob Nauta and crew, I was able to visit the vessel and gather this information about her.

The Laurentian is operated by the Center for Great Lakes and Aquatic Sciences of The University of Michigan. Its mission is to provide a platform for a broad spectrum of biological, chemical, geological, meteorological, and oceanographical research in the Great Lakes.

Captain Robert Nauta (34 years on the Lakes) and crew are experienced in the special requirements of scientific research, and they work with rotating groups of scientists and specialists. The scientific parties, who have scheduled use of the vessel through the Center for Great Lakes and Aquatic Sciences , join the ship at various ports during her cruise to conduct their research, gather data, and perform experiments. The scientists live aboard in two 2-bunk cabins and one 4-bunk cabin.

The eighty foot longLaurentian was designed, built, and equipped for her research mission. She features her own local area network (LAN) of transducers and recorders, which can collect and record, in realtime, data from onboard or towed instruments like:

Rudder angle
Knot Log (Hull speed)
Tachometer (Engine revolutions)
LORAN or GPS (ship's position)
Depth Sounder (water depth under keel)
Echo Sounder (underwater profile)
Meter wheel (wire depth of lowered instruments)
Pyranometer (Sun and sky radiation)
Air Thermometer (temperature of air)
Cyclometer (Dew Point)
Barometer (air pressure)
Thermometer (water temperature at surface)
Bathythermometer (water Temperature at depth)
Sea-Bird CTD (conductivity, temperature, depth, dissolved oxygen, pH, turbidity, and chlorophyll g-flourescence)

Ship Information

Dimensions

Length overall....80 feet
Beam..............21.75 feet
Draft.............8.75 feet
Displacement......175 long tons (full load)
Cruising speed....9.6 knots
Range.............2,500 nautical miles
Propulsion........Detroit Diesel 12V-71 340 hp; 6:1 reduction
Propellor.........5.5 ft. diameter, variable pitch, stainless steel
Generator, main...Detroit Diesel 4-71 40kW 120/208 VAC 3-phase, 4-wire
Generator, aux....Onan 20 kW 120.208 VAC 3-phase, 4-wire
Constructed.......1974, Pascagoula, Mississippi

The big diesel runs at about 1800 RPM, and, through the 6:1 reduction, turns the shaft at about 300 revolutions per minute. The propellor pitch is usually kept full-forward, and ship speed controlled by engine speed. However, for really slow speed towing of instruments, the propellor pitch is backed off, permitting the ship to maintain slow speed ahead at 1 to 1.5 knots while the engine is throttled down to around 1000 RPM where oil pressure is easily maintained. The propellor pitch is reversed for backing, while the shaft continues to rotate in the same direction. This makes the ship back to starboard, unlike most right-hand turning shafts which tend to walk a vessel to port when in reverse rotation.

Deck Gear

Main Winch........Double Drum, 3,600 feet x 1/2 inch dia. wire
Sec. Winch........Single Drum, 2,000 feet x 3/16 inch dia. wire
Other Winches.....Conducting Cable Winch; 1,500 feet x 1/8 inch wire BT Winch
Deck Crane........Articulated Hydraulic
A-Frame...........Hydraulicly operated, starboard side

The larger winches are used to lower box corers, which can take a large-area bottom sample to a depth of a few inches. The samples are hauled aboard for analysis of marine life, etc.

Scientific Laboratories and Equipment

Main deck.........144 sq. ft. wet laboratory
Below deck........400 sq. ft. aft laboratory
Niskin bottles....12 five-litre and 1 30-litre
Mechanical Bathythermographs
..................(1) 200 ft., (1) 450 ft., (1) 900 ft.
Electronic Bathythermographs
..................T.S. Micom, 350 meter max. depth
Ponar grab sampler.Wildco No. 1725
Box Corer.........MK-V Sourtar/Van Veen
Gravity Corer.....Core size 3 x 48 in.

Tankage

Fuel Oil..........9,000 gallons
Lube Oil..........125 gallons
Potable Water.....2,000 gallons
Cruise Duration...14 days maximum

Accomodations

Berths............14 in 6 cabins
Ship's Crew.......3 to 5, Captain, Mate, Engineer, AB, Cook
Scientific crew...9 to 11

Electronic and Naviation Equipment

Radar, main.......50kW, 50 mile range, 3 cm Sperry
Radar, backup.....16 mile range
Magnetic compass..12 inch, compensated
Gyro compass......Sperry
Auto-pilot........yes
VHF FM marine.....2
SSB marine........1
ARDF..............yes
LORAN-C...........yes
GPS...............2
Recording D/S.....50 kHz

Contact Information

Home Port.........Grand Haven, Michigan
Home Telephone....(616) 842-3980
Marine Supt.......(313) 763-5393 or (313) 764-2420

More information is available at gopher://gopher.cms.udel.edu:70/11/ship_sked/USA/Laurentian