RV Laurence M. Gould in Punta Arenas, Chile. |
|
| Career (US) | |
|---|---|
| Name: | RV Laurence M. Gould |
| Namesake: | Laurence McKinley Gould |
| Owner: | Raytheon Polar Services |
| Operator: | National Science Foundation |
| Builder: | Edison Chouest Offshore, Inc. |
| Launched: | 1997 |
| Identification: | IMO number: 1057229 MMSI Number: 368138000 |
| Status: | In service |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Antarctic Research & Supply Vessel (Subchapter U) |
| Tonnage: | 2966 (International) |
| Length: | 70 m (230 ft)[1] |
| Beam: | 17 m (56 ft)[1] |
| Draught: | (Loadline): 19.417 ft (5.9 m) |
| Ice class: | ABS A1 |
| Installed power: | 2 × Caterpillar 3606 diesel engines, 4,575 hp (3,412 kW) |
| Speed: | 11.3 knots (Max) / 8.6 knots (Average)[1] |
| Endurance: | 75 days |
| Complement: | 26 research scientists |
The RV Laurence M. Gould is an icebreaker used by researchers from the United States' National Science Foundation.[2][3] for research in the Southern Ocean. The vessel is named after Laurence McKinley Gould a widely recognized American scientist, who had explored both the Arctic and Antarctic.[4] He was second in command of Admiral Richard E. Byrd's first expedition to Antarctica from 1928 to 1930. He helped to set up an exploration base at Little America on the Ross Ice Shelf at the Bay of Whales and died shortly before the vessel was launched.[5]
The National Science Foundation charters RV Laurence M. Gould from Raytheon Polar Services,[2][3] shuttling between Punta Arenas, Chile and to Palmer Station, Antarctica. She was built in Louisiana to replace the RV Polar Duke.