SOUTH KINGSTOWN – After more than 50 years of service, the research vessel Endeavor will conclude its final expedition on Sept. 20, according to the University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography.
Spokesperson Peter J. Hanlon said Endeavor "has far exceeded" the typical 30-year service life of a research vessel, calling its longevity "a testament to the skill and hard work of the marine operations team" at the university.
Now, after more than 1 million miles sailed, the vessel's final voyage will be focused on the long-term impacts of oil and gas extraction on ecosystems along the Atlantic coast.
Owned by the National Science Foundation and operated by URI's graduate program, Endeavor was launched in 1975 and has since logged 736 expeditions and more than 9,000 days at sea.
The ship underwent a refit in 1993 and has played a vital role in oil spill research, including the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster.
Five years later, Endeavor served as the base for a five-day mission off the Rhode Island coast that explored two shipwrecks that occurred in the final days of World War II during what is commonly known as the Battle of Point Judith, the German U-853 submarine that was torpedoed by American warships and the SS Black Point, a U.S.-flagged cargo ship which had been sank by the U-853 the day before.
Hanlon said a new vessel, the RV Narragansett Dawn, is currently under construction and is currently expected to arrive in 2027.
Owned by the NSF and homeported at
URI's Narragansett Bay Campus, the $125 million Narragansett Dawn will be operated by the East Coast Oceanographic Consortium, a partnership between URI, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and the University of New Hampshire School of Marine Science and Ocean Engineering.
Christopher Allen is a PBN staff writer. You may contact him at Allen@PBN.com.