usns impeccable

awards: National Defense Service Medal Status: Active in service as of 2009[update] General characteristics Type: Impeccable-class ocean surveillance ship Displacement: 5,368 tons Length: 281 ft 5 in (85.8 m) Beam: 95 ft 8 in (29.2 m) Draft: 26 ft (7.9 m) Propulsion: diesel-electric, two shafts, 5,000shp Speed: 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph) Complement: 25 civilian mariners, 25 military Sensors and

processing systems: SURTASS passive and active low frequency sonar arrays

USNS Impeccable (T-AGOS-23) is an Impeccable-class ocean surveillance ship acquired by the U.S. Navy in 2001 and assigned to the Navy’s Special Missions Program. Contents [hide] 1 Construction 2 Design 3 Mission 4 Operational history 4.1 Low Frequency Active Sonar 4.2 South China Sea incident 4.3 Standard response 5 Honors and awards 6 See also 7 References 8 External links //

Construction

Impeccable was built by American Shipbuilding, Tampa, Florida. The contract was awarded on 28 March, 1991. In December 1991 the Soviet Union was dissolved. The ship's keel was laid down on March 15, 1992, but the Tampa shipyards went bankrupt by November 1993.[1] On December 3, 1992, the General Accounting Office published a report that concluded that T-AGOS 24-28 should not be built. [2]. Shortly afterwards the government decided to discontinue this class of ships, but the Impeccable was to be completed as the sole ship in its class. The hull was towed to Gulfport, Mississippi, in 1995 where it was finished by Halter Marine Inc.[3] She was launched on August 28, 1998 and was delivered to the Navy on March 22, 2001 which assigned her to the Military Sealift Command (MSC) Special Missions Program.[4]

Design

The ship is a designated T-AGOS vessel built to tow a Surveillance Towed Array Sensor System. The ship's catamaran-type small waterplane area twin hull (SWATH) design prevents the vessel from rolling in heavy seas and gives additional deck space for storing the acoustic equipment.[5]

Mission

The mission of Impeccable is to directly support the Navy by using SURTASS passive and active low frequency sonar arrays to detect and track undersea threats.

Operational history

Low Frequency Active Sonar Main article: Surveillance Towed Array Sensor System The SURTASS Low Frequency Active Sonar system, onboard Impeccable, commenced sea trials in late February 2004. During the spring and summer of 2004, Impeccable conducted five training missions in the Philippine Sea and the northwest Pacific Ocean . All LFA sonar operations included the operation of the High Frequency / Marine Mammal Mitigation sonar and compliance with all mitigation requirements. [6]