USNS 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).

For other ships with the same name, see USS Capable.
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
NameUSNS Capable (T-AGOS-16)
NamesakeCapable: Able and efficient
Awarded20 February 1987
BuilderVT Halter Marine, Inc., Moss Point, Mississippi
Laid down17 October 1987
Launched28 October 1988
In service9 June 1989
Out of service14 September 2004
Stricken14 September 2004
IdentificationIMO number: 8835114
FateTransferred to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 14 September 2004
General characteristics
(as U.S. Navy ocean surveillance ship)
Class and typeStalwart-class ocean surveillance ship
Displacement1565 tons (light) 2265 tons (full)
Length224 ft (68 m)
Beam43 ft (13 m)
Draft15 ft (4.6 m)
PropulsionDiesel-electric, two shafts, 1,600 hp (1,193 kW)
Speed11 knots (20 km/h)
Complement33 (15 U.S. Navy personnel, 18 civilians)
Armamentnone

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.

References
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