USNS Mary Sears

USNS Mary Sears
USNS Mary Sears
History
United States
NameMary Sears
NamesakeMary Sears
OwnerUnited States Navy
OperatorMilitary Sealift Command
Awarded21 December 1998
BuilderHalter Marine
Laid down28 July 1999
Launched19 October 2000
In service17 December 2001
Identification
Statusin active service
General characteristics
Class and typePathfinder-class survey ship
Displacement5,000 long tons
Length329 ft (100 m)
Beam58 ft (18 m)
Draft19 ft (5.8 m)
Speed16 kn (30 km/h)
Complement26 mariners/27 sponsor personnel

USNS Mary Sears (T-AGS 65) is a Pathfinder-class oceanographic survey ship. It is the sixth ship of its class. Mary Sears is named after Commander Mary Sears of the United States Naval Reserve, who was instrumental in the development of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and is regarded as one of the initial oceanographers in the United States Navy.

The ship has sonar, underwater metal detection and satellite imagery capabilities.[1][2]

In mid January 2007, Mary Sears deployed to Sulawesi, Indonesia to aid in the search for the missing Adam Air Flight 574.[1] On 24 January 2007, it was reported by the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta that Mary Sears reported detecting pinger signals, at a depth of 1,700 metres (5,600 ft)[3] on the same frequency as those of the lost aircraft's cockpit voice recorder, located in the area where the aircraft is believed to have gone down. Mary Sears had also detected "heavy debris scattered over a wide area".[4]

References

  1. ^ a b Pathoni, Ahmad (7 January 2007). "Indonesia steps up search for missing plane". Swissinfo. Archived from the original on 2008-06-10.
  2. ^ "Crashed jetliner found in Indonesia". LeadingTheCharge. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 11 January 2007.
  3. ^ "Jakarta plans to retrieve recorder". CNN.com. Associated Press. 26 January 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-01-29.
  4. ^ "U.S. picks up signal of missing jet". CNN. Associated Press. 25 January 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-01-27.