RV Tioga

R/V Tioga is a coastal research vessel operated by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

R/V Tioga in Woods Hole
History
United States
Name	R/V Tioga
Owner	Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Builder	Gladding-Hearn Shipbuilding, Somerset, Massachusetts
Launched	April 2004
Homeport	Woods Hole, Massachusetts
Identification	MMSI number: 366938840 Callsign: WDB7231
Status	Active
General characteristics [1]
Type	Challenger class research vessel
Tonnage	53 GT
Length	60 ft (18 m)
Beam	17 ft (5.2 m)
Draft	5 ft (1.5 m)
Propulsion	2 × 750 hp (559 kW) Detroit Diesel Series 60 engines
Speed	18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph) cruising
Range	300 nmi (560 km; 350 mi)
Endurance	Day Trips, 2–3 Days
Capacity	10+ for day trips, sleeps 4 scientists on overnight cruises
Complement	2
Sensors and processing systems	ADCP, CTD, TSG Flow-Through, Meteorological Sensors, Depth Sounders, Large A-Frame with removable crossbar for deploying large gear, CTD Winch, Trawl Winch

Tioga is a fast coastal vessel designed to quickly take advantage of weather windows and breaking events, such as the 2004 Harmful Algae Bloom (Red Tide) outbreak.

Currently Tioga is heavily involved in the tagging and studying of the endangered right whales and the maintenance of the Martha's Vineyard Coastal Observatory.

Tioga is capable of many missions such as education, autonomous vehicle operations, coring, water sampling, diving, whale tagging, mooring deployments and recoveries, instrument deployments and is a cost-effective way to test and troubleshoot equipment before longer cruises on larger vessels.

She is the third of the Challenger class research vessels. Her sisters include the 50 foot Gulf Challenger, operated by the University of New Hampshire, the 55 foot Fay Slover, operated by the Old Dominion University, and the 81 foot Rachel Carson operated by the University of Maryland.[2]