NAVY ANNOUNCES CHRISTENING OF OCEANOGRAPHIC
RESEARCH SHIP BOWDITCH (T-AGS 62)
A christening ceremony will be held for the U.S. Navy's newest oceanographic
research vessel, Bowditch (T-AGS 62), on Saturday, October 15, 1994 at Halter
Marine in Moss Point, Mississippi, commencing at 11 a.m.
Margaret Taylor, wife of Representative Gene Taylor of Mississippi, will be
the ship's sponsor. Mrs. Taylor will break a bottle of champagne across the
bow in the age old Navy tradition, and formally name the ship.
Representative Taylor will be the principal speaker at the ceremony.
Bowditch (T-AGS 62) is named in honor of American astronomer and navigator
Nathaniel Bowditch (1773-1838), and commemorates the service of two previous
surveying ships that have borne this name. The first Bowditch (AG 30) earned
three battle stars for service in the Pacific during World War II. The second
Bowditch (T-AGS 21) (ex-South Bend Victory) (1958-1988), was awarded a
Meritorious Unit Commendation in 1982.
Bowditch is the last of three new design oceanographic vessels in the T-AGS 60
Class authorized to be built by Congress. Each are multi-mission oceanographic
ships capable of effectively performing operations that will satisfy a broad
spectrum of oceanographic requirements in coastal and deep water areas,
including physical, chemical and biological oceanography, multi-disciplinary
environmental investigations, ocean engineering and marine acoustics, marine
geology and geophysics, and magnetometric surveying.
Bowditch, crewed by civilian-mariners, will be operated for the Oceanographer
of the Navy by the Military Sealift Command. The ship is 329 feet in length,
has a beam of 58 feet and displaces approximately 5,000 tons fully loaded.
