USNS Capable

For other ships with the same name, see USS Capable.

USNS Capable (T-AGOS-16) was a Stalwart-class modified tactical auxiliary general ocean surveillance ship of the United States Navy in service from 1989 to 2004. In 2008, she was commissioned into service in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration as the oceanographic research ship NOAAS Okeanos Explorer (R 337).

USNS Capable (T-AGOS-16) after removal of SURTASS and addition of AN/SPS-40 air search radar for drug interdiction operations.
History
United States
Name	USNS Capable (T-AGOS-16)
Namesake	Capable: Able and efficient
Awarded	20 February 1987
Builder	VT Halter Marine, Inc., Moss Point, Mississippi
Laid down	17 October 1987
Launched	28 October 1988
In service	9 June 1989
Out of service	14 September 2004
Stricken	14 September 2004
Identification	IMO number: 8835114
Fate	Transferred to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 14 September 2004
General characteristics (as U.S. Navy ocean surveillance ship)
Class and type	Stalwart-class ocean surveillance ship
Displacement	1565 tons (light) 2265 tons (full)
Length	224 ft (68 m)
Beam	43 ft (13 m)
Draft	15 ft (4.6 m)
Propulsion	Diesel-electric, two shafts, 1,600 hp (1,193 kW)
Speed	11 knots (20 km/h)
Complement	33 (15 U.S. Navy personnel, 18 civilians)
Armament	none

Construction

Capable was laid down by VT Halter Marine, Inc., at Moss Point, Mississippi, on 17 October 1987. She was launched on 28 October 1988 and delivered to the U.S. Navy on 9 June 1989.

U.S. Navy service

The U.S. Navy placed the ship upon delivery in non-commissioned service with the Military Sealift Command as the United States Naval Ship USNS Capable (T-AGOS-16). Designed to collect underwater acoustical data in support of anti-submarine warfare operations, Capable spent the final years of the Cold War towing Surveillance Towed Array Sensor System (SURTASS) sonar equipment to hunt for Soviet Navy submarines. She operated with a mixed crew of Navy personnel and civilian merchant mariners.

After the Cold War ended with the collapse of the Soviet Union in late December 1991, requirements for such surveillance declined. Later in the 1990s, Capable's SURTASS gear was removed and she received an AN/SPS-40E radar for use in counternarcotics surveillance.

The Navy withdrew Capable from service on 14 September 2004. It struck her from the Naval Vessel Register and transferred her to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) the same day.

External links

• Naval Vessel Register: Capable (T-AGOS-16)
• NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive USNS Capable (T-AGOS-16)
• noaa.gov NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer
• TED Talks Robert Ballard: Exploring the ocean's hidden worlds (video) TED (conference) Filmed February 2008 Posted May 2008 18 minutes