NOAAS Bell M. Shimada (R 227)

NOAAS Bell M. Shimada underway, September 22, 2009.
Career (United States)
Name:	NOAAS Bell M. Shimada (R 227)
Namesake:	Bell M. Shimada
Owner:	NOAA
Operator:	NOAA
Builder:	Halter Marine, Inc., Moss Point, Mississippi
Launched:	September 26, 2008
Acquired:	February 2, 2010
Commissioned:	August 25, 2010
Homeport:	Seattle
Identification:	Call letters: WTED Hull number: R227
Status:	Active in NOAA Pacific Fleet
General characteristics
Type:	Fishery survey vessel
Length:	209.0 ft (63.7 m)
Beam:	49.2 ft (15.0 m)
Installed power:	Diesel Electric
Propulsion:	TECO Westinghouse

NOAAS Bell M. Shimada (R 227) is a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) research vessel launched in September 2008.^[1] The ship was named by students at Marina High School in Monterey, California, who won NOAA's vessel-naming contest. The ship's namesake, Bell M. Shimada, served with the Bureau of Fisheries and the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission, and was known for his studies of tropical Pacific tuna stocks.^[1]

Bell M. Shimada was designed to have a low acoustic signature and is equipped with a sonar system and equipment for deploying buoys and sensor-packed underwater vehicles. The ship is used to study fish, marine mammals, and marine bird populations.^[1]

Notes

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

1. ^ ^{a b c} "NOAA Commissions New Research Ship Bell M. Shimada". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. August 25, 2010. http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2010/20100825_shimada.html. Retrieved August 25, 2010. 

External links

• NOAA Ship Bell M. Shimada website