The Navy christened the auxiliary general purpose oceanographic research vessel Sally Ride at the Port of Anacortes Aug. 9.

In keeping with tradition, Dr. Tam O’Shaughnessy, the ship’s sponsor, broke a bottle of sparkling wine against the ship and christened her in the name of Sally Ride, physicist and astronaut.

Sally Ride is the second of two ships to be christened in the Neil Armstrong class. The first ship, the Neil Armstrong, was christened in March. These modern mono-hull research vessels are based on a commercial design and are capable of integrated, interdisciplinary, general-purpose oceanographic research in coastal and deep ocean areas.

Sally Ride will be U.S. flagged, manned by a commercial crew, and will be operated by Scripps Institution of Oceanography under a renewable charter-party agreement with the Office of Naval Research.

The Neil Armstrong class will feature a modern suite of oceanographic equipment, including state-of-the-art acoustic equipment capable of mapping the deepest parts of the oceans, advanced over-the-side handling gear to deploy and retrieve scientific instruments, emissions controls for stack gasses, and new information technology tools both for monitoring shipboard systems and for communicating with land-based sites worldwide.

The Navy currently owns six of the nation’s largest oceanographic research ships, which support critical ocean research for the Navy and other federal agencies. A major segment of the U.S. research fleet is now approaching the end of its service life and is in need of replacement.

For more information, visit www.navsea.navy.mil