NOAAS Rude (S 590) was an American Rude-class hydrographic survey ship that was in commission in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) from 1970 to 2008. Prior to her NOAA career, she was in commission in the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey from 1967 to 1970 as USC&GS Rude (ASV 90). She was named for Gilbert T. Rude, former Chief of the Division of Coastal Surveys of the Coast and Geodetic Survey. In 2008, NOAA decommissioned Rude and transferred her to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Renamed US EPA Lake Explorer II, she entered EPA service as a research ship in 2009.
USC&GS and NOAA
Construction and commissioning Rude (pronounced "Rudy") was built as an "auxiliary survey vessel" (ASV) for the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey at the Jackobson Shipyard in Oyster Bay, New York. She was launched on 17 August 1966 and commissioned into Coast and Geodetic Survey service on 29 March 1967 as USC&GS Rude (ASV 90). When the Coast and Geodetic Survey merged with other United States Government organizations to form NOAA on 3 October 1970, she became a part of the NOAA fleet as NOAAS Rude (S 590).
Technical details Rude′s hull was 90 feet (27 m) long, the smallest in the NOAA fleet. She had a total of 11 bunk spaces. The ship's mess room could seat seven. She carried a complement of four NOAA Corps officers and seven other crew members, including one licensed engineer. Rude′s deck equipment featured one winch and one telescoping boom crane. This equipment gave Rude a lifting capacity of up to 7,500 pounds (3,402 kg). She also had 500 feet (150 meters) of cable that could pull up to 250 pounds (110 kg). For her primary mission of inshore hydrographic surveys, Rude had a differential global positioning system (DGPS), a multibeam sonar system, and side-scan sonar (SSS). She also was equipped for diving operations to allow direct human investigation of submerged obstacles. She had a 19-foot (5.8 m) fiberglass launch for utility or rescue operations.
Operations The Coast and Geodetic Survey acquired Rude and a sister ship of identical design, USC&GS Heck (ASV 91), later NOAAS Heck (S 591), to conduct wire-drag survey operations together, replacing the survey ships USC&GS Hilgard (ASV 82) and USC&GS Wainwright (ASV 83) in that role. Like Hilgard and Wainright before them, Rude and Heck worked together under a single command conducting wire drag surveys, clearing large swaths between them with a submerged wire. In 1978, Rude and Heck came to the assistance of the burning research vessel Midnight Sun, rescuing Midnight Sun′s crew and scientists and saving the vessel from total loss. Rude′s crew took aboard all 20 of Midnight Sun's crew members and scientists, who were afloat in life rafts near Midnight Sun, administered first aid to them, and transported them to shore. Heck's crew, meanwhile, fought the fire aboard Midnight Sun for 20 consecutive hours and saved Midnight Sun from sinking. For their efforts in saving Midnight Sun and her crew, the crews of Rude and Heck received the Department of Commerce Silver Medal in 1978. Electronic technologies eventually arrived that allow a single vessel to do the same surveying work using sidescan and multibeam sonar that formerly required two vessels working together using the wire-drag technique. In 1989, Rude and Heck began working independently thanks to the improved technology, and Heck was decommissioned in 1995 and sold in 2001. Rude remained in commission and was sometimes called upon to assist the United States Coast Guard and United States Navy in search, rescue, and recovery operations. She located the wreckage of TWA Flight 800 on the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean south of Long Island off Moriches, New York, in July 1996, receiving a Department of Commerce Gold Medal that year for her efforts. After receiving word that the Piper Saratoga II HP flown by John F. Kennedy Jr. had disappeared during a flight on the evening of 16 July 1999 and was feared to have crashed in the Atlantic Ocean off Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, Rude began searching for the wreckage of the aircraft on 17 July using sidescan sonar and multibeam sonar. The NOAA survey ship NOAAS Whiting arrived on the scene on the morning of 19 July and joined Rude in search efforts, employing a more advanced sidescan sonar than the one aboard Rude, giving Whiting a higher resolution and a higher search speed. While Whiting searched one area in dense fog, dodging lobster pots, Rude found and marked a high-confidence target in another area that appeared to be the missing Saratoga and radioed the United States Navy rescue and salvage ship USS Grasp (ARS-51) about the discovery; Whiting then searched the same area to gain higher-resolution images of the target. Late on 20 July, U.S. Navy divers from Grasp confirmed that the target was the missing aircraft. Whiting and Rude competed their survey of the crash area on 21 July, then assisted the United States Coast Guard in maintaining security in the area. Later on 21 July, the two ships were released from duty in the crash area and departed. On 30 July 1999, the U.S. Coast Guard presented personnel involved in the search-and-rescue effort, including the crews of Rude and Whiting, with a commendation
... for exceptionally meritorious service from 17 July 1999 to 23 July 1999 in the search and recovery of the downed aircraft carrying John F. Kennedy, Jr.; his wife, Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy; and her sister Lauren Bessette. Members of the Unified Command distinguished themselves during this complex operation with their professional expertise and poise. Rude was decommissioned on 25 March 2008 and placed in reserve in NOAA′s Atlantic Fleet.
Honors and awards Department of Commerce Silver Medal, 1978 In a ceremony on 23 October 1978 in Washington, D.C., Rude and Heck were awarded the Department of Commerce Silver Medal for "rare and distinguished contributions of major significance to the Department, the nation, and the world." for their assistance to Midnight Sun. The program for the ceremony cited the ships' achievements as follows:
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