NOAAS Fairweather (S 220)

NOAA Ship Fairweather (S 220)
History
United States
Name:	USC&GS Fairweather (MSS 20)
Namesake:	Mount Fairweather in Alaska
Builder:	Aerojet-General Shipyards, Jacksonville, Florida
Laid down:	12 August 1963
Launched:	15 March 1967
Acquired:	January 1968
Commissioned:	2 October 1968
Fate:	Transferred to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 3 October 1970
United States
Name:	NOAAS Fairweather (S 220)
Namesake:	Previous name retained
Acquired:	Transferred from U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 3 October 1970
Decommissioned:	1989
Recommissioned:	August 2004
Homeport:	Ketchikan, Alaska
Identification:	Call letters WTEB
Status:	Active
General characteristics
Class and type:	Fairweather-class oceanographic research ship
Tonnage:	1,591 tons
Displacement:	1,800 tons
Length:	231 ft (70.4 m)
Beam:	42 ft (12.8 m)
Draft:	15.5 ft (4.7 m)
Ice class:	A1 ice strengthened
Propulsion:	2 Detroit Electro-Motive Diesel engines, twin screw, controllable pitch propellers, 2400 shp Bow Thruster (variable pitch) Bridge Wing Controls (Engines, and Thruster) Port and Stbd
Speed:	12.5 knots
Range:	6,000 nautical miles
Endurance:	22 days
Boats & landing craft carried:	Four 28ft All-American Marine survey launches,One 23ft Zodiac FRB, One 23ft AMBAR Jet Boat
Complement:	Commissioned Officers: 11 Mate: 1 Licensed Engineers: 4 Crew: 35 Scientists: 6 (Max)

NOAA Ship Fairweather (S 220), originally operated by the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey as USC&GS Fairweather (MSS 20), is an oceanographic research ship operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Fairweather primarily conducts hydrographic surveys in Alaskan waters, but is considered a multi-mission-capable vessel and has conducted fisheries research cruises. She is the sister ship of the NOAAS Rainier (S 221) and of the retired NOAAS Mount Mitchell (S 222).

Fairweather is named for Mount Fairweather in Alaska. She was constructed for the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey as a "medium survey ship" (MSS) by Aerojet-General Shipyards at Jacksonville, Florida. She was laid down on 12 August 1963 and launched on 15 March 1967. The Coast and Geodetic Survey commissioned her as USC&GS Fairweather (MSS 20) in a joint ceremony with her sister ship USC&GS Rainier (MSS 21) at the Pacific Marine Center in Seattle, Washington, on 2 October 1968. When NOAA was established on 3 October 1970 and took over the Coast and Geodetic Survey's assets, she became part of the NOAA fleet as NOAAS Fairweather (S 220). Deactivated in 1989, the ship remained inactive at NOAA's Pacific Marine Center in Seattle for thirteen years. In 2002, she began a refit at the Cascade General Shipyard in Portland, Oregon, and she was recommissioned in 2004 to aid with the backlog of critical surveys in Alaskan waters. Her home port is Ketchikan, Alaska.