NOAAS Pierce (S 328)

USC&GS Peirce (CSS 28)
History
United States
Name:	USC&GS Peirce (CSS 28)
Namesake:	Charles Saunders Peirce (1839-1914), U.S. Coast Survey and U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey employee (1859-1891), an intellectual, physical scientist, and philosopher
Builder:	Marietta Manufacturing Company, Point Pleasant, West Virginia
Launched:	October 1962
Acquired:	May 1963 (delivery)
Commissioned:	6 May 1963
Fate:	Transferred to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 3 October 1970
United States
Name:	NOAAS Peirce (S 328)
Namesake:	Previous name retained
Acquired:	Transferred from U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 3 October 1970
Decommissioned:	1 May 1992
Homeport:	Norfolk, Virginia
Identification:	Radio call sign WTEQ
Fate:	Donated to Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum 1992
United States
Name:	MV Elizabeth M. Foster
Namesake:	Elizabeth M. Foster, co-founder of the Fisher House Foundation and wife of Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum founder Zachary Fisher
Owner:	Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum
Operator:	Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum
Port of registry:	United States
Acquired:	Donated by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 1992
Homeport:	New York, New York
Identification:	Radio call sign WTEQ
Fate:	Sold to private owner 1999
Notes:	Floating classroom and archaeological research ship
United States
Name:	MV Avedonia
Owner:	Private ownership
Port of registry:	United States
Acquired:	Sold by Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum 1999
Homeport:	Dover, Delaware
Identification:	Radio call sign WTEQ
Status:	Active
Notes:	Private yacht
General characteristics (as survey ship)
Class & type:	Peirce-class survey ship
Tonnage:	696 gross register tons 151 net tons 206 deadweight tons
Displacement:	907 tons
Length:	49.7 m (163 ft)
Beam:	10.1 m (33 ft)
Draft:	3.4 m (11 ft) (maximum) 3.7 m (12 ft) (with IDSSS dome)
Propulsion:	Two geared 800-bhp (597-kW) General Motors diesel engines, two shafts, 4,300 U.S. gallons (16,277 liters fuel
Speed:	12.0 knots
Range:	5,700 nm
Endurance:	20 days
Crew:	33 (8 officers, 25 other crew, 2 scientists) plus up to 6 temporarily embarked personnel

NOAAS Peirce (S 328), was an American survey ship that was in commission in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) from 1970 to 1992. Previously, she had been in commission in the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey from 1963 to 1970 as USC&GS Peirce (CSS 28).

After her NOAA decommissioning, she was donated to the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum for use as the floating classroom and archaeological research ship MV Elizabeth M. Foster. She was sold for private use in 1999 and in 2001 became the yacht MV Avedonia.

Construction and commissioning

USC&GS Peirce (CSS 28) is launched by the Marietta Manufacturing Company at Point Pleasant, West Virginia, in October 1962.

Peirce was built a cost of $2,300,000 (USD) as a "coastal survey ship" (CSS) for the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey by the Marietta Manufacturing Company at Point Pleasant, West Virginia.^[1] She was launched in October 1962 and delivered in May 1963.^[2][3] The Coast and Geodetic Survey commissioned her on 6 May 1963^[4] at the Alabama State Docks in Mobile, Alabama,^[4] as USC&GS Peirce (CSS 28),^[2][3][5] the first and only Coast and Geodetic Survey ship of the name. When the Coast and Geodetic Survey and other United States Government agencies merged to form NOAA on 3 October 1970, Peirce became a part of the NOAA fleet as NOAAS Peirce (S 328), thus far the only NOAA ship to bear the name.

Capabilities

Peirce had a two-drum oceanographic winch with a maximum pull of 1,500 pounds (680 kg). The upper drum had 10,000 feet (3,048 meters) of 0.3-inch (7.62-mm) electric cable, while the lower drum had 15,000 feet (4,572 meters) of 5/16-inch (7.9-mm) cable. She had a 27-foot (8.2-meter) telescoping boom with a lifting capacity of 2,500 pounds (1,134 kg) and a 27-foot (8.2-meter) articulating boom with a lifting capacity of 2,768 pounds (1,256 kg), as well as a movable A-frame.^[3]

For acoustic hydrography and bathymetry, the ship had a deep-water echosounder, a shallow-water echosounder-lOOKhz, and a hydrographic survey sounder. To process data, she had the National Ocean Service's Hydrochart system, which employed a PDP/8E computer to acquire and process hydrographic data in real time, generate a real-time position-corrected plot of sounding data, provide steering commands to the helmsman, and generate a punched paper tape for shore-based processing of sounding dara.^[3]

Peirce had an ice-strengthened steel hull.^[3]

Peirce carried two 29-foot (8.8-meter) aluminum-hulled diesel-powered Jensen survey launches, each equipped with the same Hydrochart system as aboard Peirce. For utility and rescue purposes, she also carried two open boats with gasoline-powered outboard motors, a 16-foot (4.9-meter) Boston Whaler fiberglass-hulled boat and 17-foot (5.2-meter) Monark aluminum-hulled boat.^[3]

Operational career

From her home port at Norfolk, Virginia, Peirce conducted hydrographic and bathymetric surveys involving nautical charting and ocean mapping, primarily along the United States East Coast and United States Gulf Coast and off territories of the United States in the Caribbean.^[1][3]

NOAA decommissioned Peirce on 1 May 1992.^[5]

Floating classroom and yacht

In 1992, Peirce was donated to the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York City. The museum acquired her for use as a floating classroom and archaeological research ship and renamed her MV Elizabth M. Foster in 1993. In 1999 the museum sold her for private use, and in 2000 she returned to the name MV Peirce. By 2001 she was operating as the private yacht MV Avedonia.^[5][6][7][8]

See also

• NOAA ships and aircraft

References

• Ships of the NOAA Fleet, Rockville, Maryland: United States Department of Commerce, June 1989
• "NOAA History, Coast & Geodetic Survey Ships", United States Department of Commerce

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