NOAAS Miller Freeman

NOAAS Miller Freeman (R 223) preparing to conduct an acoustic trawl at Kodiak, Alaska, in 2000.
History
Bureau of Commercial Fisheries
Name	BCF Miller Freeman
Namesake	Miller Freeman (1875-1955), American publisher and fishing industry magnate
Builder	American Shipbuilding Company, Toledo, Ohio
Launched	1967
Acquired	June 1967 (delivery)
Commissioned	1967
Decommissioned	1969
Identification	Call sign WTDM
Fate	Transferred to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 3 October 1970
History
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Name	NOAAS Miller Freeman (R 223)
Namesake	Previous name retained
Acquired	Transferred from Bureau of Commercial Fisheries 3 October 1970
Recommissioned	1974
Decommissioned	29 March 2013
Homeport	Newport, Oregon
Status	Inactive; in reserve
General characteristics
Type	Fisheries and oceanographic research ship
Tonnage	1,515 gross tons 680 net tons
Displacement	1,920 tons
Length	215 ft (66 m)
Beam	42 ft (13 m)
Draft	20 ft (6.1 m) (maximum with centerboard up) 32 ft (9.8 m) (maximum with centerboard down)
Propulsion	One General Motors 2,200-hp (1.64-mW) geared diesel engine, one four-bladed controllable-pitch propeller, one 400-hp (298-kW) Schottle lowerable omnidirectional bow thruster
Speed	11 knots (20 km/h) (cruising)
Range	12,582 nautical miles (23,302 km)
Endurance	31 days
Boats & landing craft carried	One 26 ft (7.9 m) launch One rigid-hulled inflatable boat
Complement	34 (7 NOAA Corps officers, 4 licensed engineers, and 23 other crew members), plus up to 11 scientists

NOAAS Miller Freeman (R 223) is an American fisheries and oceanographic research vessel that was in commission in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) fleet from 1974 to 2013. Prior to her NOAA career, she was in commission in the United States Fish and Wildlife Service's Bureau of Commercial Fisheries from 1967 to 1969 as BCF Miller Freeman.

Construction and commissioning

Miller Freeman was built for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service by the American Shipbuilding Company in Toledo, Ohio. She was launched in 1967 and delivered in June 1967. She was commissioned into service into the Fish and Wildlife Service's Bureau of Commercial Fisheries as BCF Miller Freeman. Not fully rigged, she was decommissioned in 1969. When NOAA was established on 3 October 1970, she became part of NOAA's fleet as NOAAS Miller Freeman (R 223), although she remained inactive until she was recommissioned in 1974. Her rigging was finally completed in 1975, and she was re-rigged in 1982.

Characteristics and capabilities

Miller Freeman has two cranes with a maximum lifting capacity of 8,500 pounds (3,856 kg) and a third crane with a lifting capacity of 2,750 pounds (1,247 kg). She has three A-frames; one of them is a 29.5-foot (9-meter) trawl gantry and the other two are 14.5-foot (4.4-meter) Oceo A-frames. She also has twelve winches, one with a maximum safe working load of 40,000 pounds (18,144 kg), one with a maximum safe working load of 23,000 pounds (10,433 kg), two with maximum safe working loads of 22,000 pounds (9,979 kg), two with maximum safe working loads of 18,000 pounds (8,165 kg), one with a maximum safe working load of 3,550 pounds (1,610 kg), two with maximum safe working loads of 3,300 pounds (1,497 kg), and two with maximum safe working loads of 1,150 pounds (522 kg).

Miller Freeman has various laboratory capabilities. She has s 300-square-foot (sq.-ft.) (27.9-square-meter) (m²) wet laboratory, a 300-sq.-ft. (27.9-m²) fish-processing laboratory, a 240-sq.-ft. (22.3-m²) rough laboratory, a 170-sq.-ft. (15.8-m²) ocean chemistry laboratory, and a 152-sq.-ft.(14.1-m²) acoustics labortaory. She also has a 220-sq.ft. (20.4-m²) data plot room and a 50-sq.-ft. (4.6-m²) autosalinomater room.

Miller Freeman carries three boats: A 26-foot (7.9-meter) Hammerhead Munson Launch with a capacity of nine people, a 185-horsepower (138-kW) motor and a top speed of 21 knots; a five-person rigid-hulled inflatable boat with a 130-horsepower (97-kW) Hamilton jet inboard motor capable of 40 miles per hour (64 km/hr); and a 15-foot (4.6-meter) Zodiac inflatable boat with a 25-horsepower (18.6-kW) outboard motor.

In addition to her crew of 34, Miller Freeman can accommodate up to 11 scientists.

Service history

NOAAS Miller Freeman (R 223) approaches a disabled vessel to render assistance during bad weather in the Bering Sea.

NOAAS Miller Freeman (R 223)

Operated by NOAA's Office of Marine and Aviation Operations, Miller Freeman is one of the largest research trawlers in the United States. While in commission, her primary mission was to provide a working platform for the study of the ocean's living resources, operating primarily in the North Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea. Her home port was Newport, Oregon.

In 1988, two of Miller Freeman's crew members – Lieutenant Edward R. Cassano, NOAA Corps, and Daniel W. Granstrom – received the Department of Commerce Silver Medal for their role in fighting a major fire that broke out aboard the ship while she was in port at Seattle, Washington. Cassano and Granstrom went below decks to fight the fire without regard for their own safety and over the course of an hour repeatedly led Seattle firefighters below decks to guide them in extinguishing the blaze, only allowing themselves to be treated for heat exhaustion after the fire was under control.

Miller Freeman was decommissioned on 29 March 2013. Awaiting sale for scrapping, she was moored in Lake Washington in Seattle on 6 May 2013 when welding operations started an accidental fire in a storage locker aboard her. The Seattle Fire Department pumped carbon dioxide into the locker to extinguish the fire, and no injuries were reported.

See also

• NOAA ships and aircraft