USNS Bartlett

USNS Bartlett (T-AGOR-13) was a Robert D. Conrad-class oceanographic research ship acquired by the U.S. Navy (USN) in 1969. She was named after oceanographer Captain John R. Bartlett of the USN. Bartlett was one of the ships under the technical direction of the Naval Oceanographic Office (NAVOCEANO) operating as an Auxiliary General Oceanographic Research (AGOR) program "pool" ship for support of Navy laboratories on each coast as well as NAVOCEANO projects. The ship was first assigned to support laboratories on the West Coast with last operations in similar support on the East Coast and Atlantic.

USNS Bartlett (T-AGOR-13)
History
United States
NameUSNS Bartlett
NamesakeJohn R. Bartlett[1]
Awarded12 July 1965
BuilderNorthwest Marine Iron Works, Portland, Oregon
Yard number54
Laid down18 November 1965
Launched24 May 1966
Acquired31 March 1969 and assigned to the Military Sea Transportation Service
Stricken30 August 1993
IdentificationT-AGOR-13
FateTransferred to the Royal Moroccan Navy on 26 July 1993
Morocco
NameAbou El Barakat Al Barbari
IdentificationIMO number: 7742114
StatusIn active service
General characteristics
Class and typeRobert D. Conrad-class oceanographic research ship
Tonnage1,520 tons
Length208 ft (63.4 m)[2][3][note 1]
Beam39 ft (11.9 m)[3]
Draft16 ft (4.9 m)
PropulsionDiesel-electric, single propeller, 2,500 shp (1,900 kW), retractable azimuth-compensating bow thruster
Speed12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Complement23 civilian mariners, 38 scientists

In 1993 the ship was transferred to the Royal Moroccan Navy.

U.S. service

Construction

Bartlett was built by the Northwest Marine Iron Works Portland, Oregon as hull number 54.[4][note 2] The contract was awarded 12 July 1965 with the keel laid 18 November 1965 and launch on 24 May 1966. The ship was turned over to the Navy's Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS) 31 March 1969.[5] Bartlett was placed in service with MSTS in a ceremony on 15 April at the Oregon Mast, the foremast of USS Oregon (BB-3), on the seawall in Portland.[3]

Service history

Bartlett was placed in service as a West Coast AGOR pool ship under the technical direction of the Naval Oceanographic Office. Later the ship was transferred for similar operation in the Atlantic.[6] The ship, one of the last two of the type, had an active rudder in addition to a bow thruster.[2]

The ship is mentioned in oceanographic reports and literature regarding the various projects of the laboratories which retained collected data and published their own reports from ship operations. In addition to the Navy laboratories universities or civilian laboratories with Navy contracts could utilize the ship through the Office of Naval Research (ONR).[6] For example, the ship's use in planting two acoustic sources onto the top of Cobb Seamount between 25 and 30 July 1973 for an experiment is covered in a report of the Naval Research Laboratory.[7] During October and November 1981 the ship did deep water trawls in the Venezuela Basin along with other observations and found some rare specimens that were deposited in a number of notable museums.[8] In 1990 the ship spent some time in the North West Atlantic Ocean according to a data set of temperature and salinity measurements collected using CTD/XBT.[9]

Royal Moroccan Navy service

After being struck from the Navy List on 30 August 1993. Bartlett was approved on 26 July 1993 under the terms of the Security Assistance Program for a transfer to Morocco, where she then entered into service with the Moroccan Navy as Abou El Barakat Al Barbari.

Footnotes
  1. Some sources give 245' overall length but Navy sources agree on 208'.
  2. De Steiguer (T-AGOR-12) was hull number 53.

References
  1. "AGOR Numeric List". Archived from the original on 4 February 2012. Retrieved 8 February 2012.
  2. Nelson, Stewart B (1971). Oceanographic Ships Fore and Aft. Washington, D.C.: Office of the Oceanographer of the Navy. pp. 161, 171. LCCN 71614043. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
  3. "Three New Oceanographic Ships Join MSTS' Growing Research Fleet". Sealift. Vol. 9, no. 6. Washington, D.C.: Military Sea Transportation Service. June 1969. p. 3. Retrieved 18 April 2021.
  4. Colton, Tim (October 28, 2016). "Oceanographic Research Ships (AGOR)". ShipbuildingHistory. Retrieved 18 April 2021.
  5. "Naval Vessel Register". NAVSEA Shipbuilding Support Office. 18 February 1999. Retrieved 18 April 2021.
  6. A Bibliography of Reports, Articles, and Data References Resulting From Scientific Operations Aboard the Navy Pool (T-AGOR) Ships, 1963 Through 1969 (PDF) (Report). Washington, D.C.: Naval Oceanographic Office. April 1970. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 16, 2019. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
  7. "AD-783 513/5; Cobb Seamount Fixed Platform Experiment using the USNS BARTLETT (T-AGOR-13)".
  8. "Notes on Rare Species of Munidopsis (Anomura: Galatheidae) and Ethusina (Brachyura: Dorippidae) Collected by the USNS Bartlett in the Venezuela Basin, Caribbean Sea" (PDF). Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia: 200–217. 1983. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
  9. "Oceanographic temperature and salinity measurements collected using CTD/XBT from the USNS BARTLETT in the North West Atlantic Ocean during 1990 (NODC Accession 0039820)".
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