PRESENT AND FUTURE-STATUS OF THE UNITED-STATES-NAVY OCEANOGRAPHIC FLEET

The modernization of the U.S. Navy's oceanographic fleet has been in progress since the mid-1980s. This fleet includes Navy owned ships operated by Military Sealift Command for the Naval Oceanographic Office, and Navy owned ships that are bailed by the Chief of Naval Research and operated by civil oceanographic institutions. The purpose of this article is to note the fleet composition at the commencement of this project, describe the accomplishments and shortfalls of this modernization program to date, and forecast the fleet requirements and composition for the next three decades.