RV_Le_Suroît

RV <i>Le Suroît</i>

RV Le Suroît

French research vessel, built 1975

RV Le Suroît is a French research vessel operated by IFREMER.[3] In 1985, it was involved in the successful Franco-American expedition to find the wreck of the RMS Titanic.[4][5]

Quick Facts History, France ...

Since being refurbished in 1999, the vessel is able to undertake bathymetric and seismic research, as well as coring, dredging, and trawling tasks.[3]

History

Le Suroît

The vessel was commissioned and built in 1975 by Ateliers et Chantiers de la Manche in Dieppe, Seine-Maritime.[6] In 1985, the ship was equipped with the new System Acoustique Remorqué (SAR) sonar device. In early summer, the vessel undertook a 10-day sonar mission[7] in an attempt to find the wreckage of RMS Titanic.[4] Aboard Le Suroît on this mission was Robert Ballard. Le Suroît was able to rule out large sections of a pre-determined 150-square-mile (390 km2) search area – between 26 July and 6 August, 80% of the area had been searched.[8] It later transpired that on one of its first passes, Le Suroît had come within only 3,300 feet (1,000 m) of Titanic.[9] The mission ended on 6 August,[5] after which RV Knorr travelled from the Azores to concentrate on more specific areas using different strategies.[4]

In October 2011, the vessel was on assignment in Crete[10] before travelling to La Seyne-sur-Mer in December.[2]

Facilities and equipment

The vessel is equipped with a range of devices. The computers run IFREMER's CARAIBES mapping software.[1] The coring cable is 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) long and is made of Kevlar. It has a safe working load (SWL) of 8 tons.[1] The ship also has a 6-kilometre (3.7 mi) steel winch, with an SWL of 2.1 tons. The average cruising speed, and the speed at which surveying is undertaken, is approximately 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph).[11]

References

  1. [1]
    "Vessel Data and Contact Information". College of Marine Studies, University of Delaware. Retrieved 18 February 2012.
  2. [2]
    "LE SUROIT - IMO 7360368". ShipSpotting. Retrieved 18 February 2012.
  3. [3]
    "RV Le Suroît". Ocean Facilities Exchange Group. Retrieved 18 February 2012.
  4. [4]
    "1985 Discovery of Titanic". Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Retrieved 18 February 2012.
  5. [5]
    Alfred, Randy (2 September 2008). "Sept. 2, 1985: Hey, Everyone, We Found the Titanic". Wired. Retrieved 18 February 2012.
  6. [6]
    Trillo, Robert L (1978). Jane's ocean technology. Jane's Yearbooks. p. 250.
  7. [7]
    "Discovery of Titanic". Titanic-Titanic. Retrieved 18 February 2012.
  8. [8]
    Eaton, John P; Haas, Charles A (1989). Titanic: Destination Disaster. ISIS Large Print. p. 169. ISBN 1-85089-305-5.
  9. [9]
    Ballard, Robert D. (1987). The Discovery of the Titanic. New York: Warner Books. p. 88. ISBN 978-0-446-51385-2.
  10. [10]
    "Oceanographic research ship Le Suroit (France)". Sailwx. Retrieved 18 February 2012.
  11. [11]
    "Specifications". IFREMER Fleet. IFREMER. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article RV_Le_Suroît, and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.