R/V Lake Guardian
The R/V LAKE GUARDIAN is the new vessel replacing the ROGER R. SIMONS. On a tour of this vessel as a guest of the captain, Ronald Ingrahm, I found that it is far better equipped, easier to handle and substantially more comfortable for both crew and scientists than the SIMONS.
Specification of the LAKE GUARDIAN are as follows:
- LENGTH: 180 ft.
- BEAM: 40 ft.
- DRAFT: 12 ft.
- BERTHS: 42
- CRUISING SPEED: 12 knots
- FUEL: 110 gph
- FUEL CAPACITY: 88,000 gals.
- POWER: 2-1150 HP diesels
- GENERATORS: 3-135 kw
- RANGE: 6000 mi.
- PILOT STATIONS: 4
The ship can cruise at full speed twenty-four hours a day for thirty days. Its performance in rough water was inadvertently tested on its delivery trip north from where it was constructed in Louisiana. When she was two hundred miles off Cape Hatteras, she ran into twenty-five foot waves with a wind coming out of the southeast. This produced a roll that amounted to forty degrees at one time. The ship came through without damage or concern about loss of control.
The LAKE GUARDIAN was originally the MARSEA FOURTEEN, an off-shore supply vessel serving the oil derricks in the Gulf of Mexico. It was lengthened and totally redesigned inside to provide for staterooms and laboratories. A full array of electronics was added which includes weather measuring equipment since the ship now monitors air as well as water.
The six laboratories are in containers that can be equipped on shore and hoisted on board where they are linked to the ship so they appear to be built into it. These are for the use of up to twenty-five scientists. They are a diverse group coming from five or six universities, EPA employees and Enviro Science representatives, the company that contracts with the EPA to do the routine chemical analyses.
There is a crew of fourteen. They and the temporary scientific party have staterooms for one to three people. Each room has its own head with lavatory and shower and desk space with computer terminal connections. There is a recreation room that doubles as a meeting room complete with TV and VCR.
The mission of the ship is to monitor changes in the lakes over periods of time to determine if they are improving or deteriorating. This includes chemical and physical changes and alterations in aquatic life, particularly plant and micro-animal content that are either filtered out of the water or scraped from the bottom.
The ship is based in Milwaukee at the Great Lakes Research Center whenever it is in port. It is located due east of the Allen-Bradley clock tower.
Wisconsin
Marine Historical Society
814
West Wisconsin Avenue
Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53233-2385
phone 414.286.3074
email info@wmhs.org
