Photo : Chad Coleman
MAN AND MACHINE ( above ) Scripps ’ associate director Bruce Appelgate oversees the research fleet and has been working on bringing the Sally Ride to UC San Diego for roughly a decade .
( left ) R / V Sally Ride ’ s cutting-edge technology includes this control station for operating robotic cranes that deploy and recover heavy equipment — a step up from the winch-and-pulley systems used on older ships .
O wned by the U . S . Navy and operated under charter agreement by Scripps Institution of Oceanography , the 238-foot Sally Ride is the latest addition to the U . S . Academic Research Fleet , a collection of ships that conduct experiments across the globe , each of which is a rare privilege among research institutions to operate .
The Sally Ride is a true seagoing laboratory , offering cutting-edge technologies for sampling , data collection , computing , analysis and communications . These resources will be made available not only to Scripps scientists , but to the entire national ocean science community . Esteemed researchers across the country will be able to apply for ship time through the University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System ( UNOLS ) in order to understand how our world ’ s oceans play an active role in answering the defining questions of our day — from food supply to climate change . R / V Sally Ride will also provide unparalleled educational opportunities for the country ’ s future forward thinkers .
Scripps is no stranger to operating the nation ’ s research vessels — its partnership with the Office of Naval Research ( ONR ) began in in the mid-20th century . In 1946 , Roger Revelle , then on Navy duty with the Bureau of Ships , played a role in founding ONR , whose original purpose was to pursue promising leads from wartime research . Scripps ’ first ONR contract for oceangoing research was awarded that same year .
UNOLS , which was founded in 1971 and has 61 member institutions , coordinates and regulates research vessel use for federally funded research . The Sally Ride will be the third UNOLS ship operated by Scripps , making its fleet the largest among U . S . research institutions .
Operations for the fleet and marine technical support are overseen by Scripps ’ associate director , Bruce Appelgate , whom I met at the Sally Ride ’ s birthplace of Anacortes , Wash ., in a bustling shipyard set against snow-capped mountains and the glittering Puget Sound .
Appelgate is simultaneously intense and easygoing , a friendly tour guide in a sun-faded Hawaiian shirt , ready to delve into his encyclopedic knowledge of research vessels and Scripps history . A career geophysicist , Appelgate has more than 80 oceanographic missions under his belt , making him an ideal caretaker for the fleet . He ’ s come to the shipyard on one of countless visits before UC San Diego finally takes possession of the Sally Ride ; that evening , he ’ d head out to sea to test how much sound the ship ’ s machinery radiates into the water , just one of many examinations the ship will undergo before passing inspection . Though test trials like these make it seem like the ship ’ s journey has yet to begin , for Appelgate , the task of acquiring the Sally Ride is well in midstream .
After years of intense competition , receiving the ship was a major coup for UC San Diego . It was roughly a decade ago when the ONR announced its intention to build new vessels to replace two slated for retirement , one of which , the R / V Melville , had been operated by Scripps for more than four decades .
“ It was a once-in-a-40-year opportunity ,” says Appelgate , who jumped on the chance , along with many other preeminent oceanographic institutions across the nation . “ It wasn ’ t just us pulling out all the stops . All of the institutions were interested . Everybody wanted it and everybody put on their A-game .”
Adding to the excitement was the cutting-edge nature of the ship . The Navy sought to increase the fleet ’ s flexibility by debuting a new Ocean Class of vessel meant
30 TRITON | FALL 2016