NOAAS Heck (S 591), previously USC&GS Heck, was a Rude-class hydrographic

Hydrography

Hydrography is the measurement of the depths, the tides and currents of a body of water and establishment of the sea, river or lake bed topography and morphology. Normally and historically for the purpose of charting a body of water for the safe navigation of shipping...

 survey ship that served in the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey from 1967 to 1970 and in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration , pronounced , like "noah", is a scientific agency within the United States Department of Commerce focused on the conditions of the oceans and the atmosphere...

 from 1970 to 1995.

Construction and commissioning

Heck was built at the Jackobson Shipyard in Oyster Bay, New York. She was launched

Ship naming and launching

The ceremonies involved in naming and launching naval ships are based in traditions thousands of years old.-Methods of launch:There are three principal methods of conveying a new ship from building site to water, only two of which are called "launching." The oldest, most familiar, and most widely...

 in 1966 and delivered to the Coast and Geodetic Survey on 11 March 1967. She entered service that year as USC&GS Heck. When the Coast and Geodetic Survey merged with other United States Government organizations to form NOAA in 1970, Heck became part of the NOAA fleet as NOAAS Heck (S 591).

Capabilities and characteristics

Heck and her sister ship

Sister ship

A sister ship is a ship of the same class as, or of virtually identical design to, another ship. Such vessels share a near-identical hull and superstructure layout, similar displacement, and roughly comparable features and equipment...

 NOAAS Rude (S 590) were designed to conduct wire drag survey operations together, and the Coast and Geodetic Survey acquired them to replace the survey ships USC&GS Hilgard and USC&GS Wainwright in that role. Like Hilgard and Wainright before them, Rude and Heck worked together under a single command conducting wire drag surveys, clearing large swaths between them with a submerged wire. During their careers, however, electronic and acoustic technologies arrived that allowed a single ship to do the same work as two wire-drag vessels, using side-scan sonar

Side-scan sonar

Side-scan sonar is a category of sonar system that is used to efficiently create an image of large areas of the sea floor...

 or multibeam sonar. As a result, Heck and Rude began to operate independently in 1989, employing the improved technology.

Hecks deck equipment featured one winch

Winch

A winch is a mechanical device that is used to pull in or let out or otherwise adjust the "tension" of a rope or wire rope . In its simplest form it consists of a spool and attached hand crank. In larger forms, winches stand at the heart of machines as diverse as tow trucks, steam shovels and...

 and one telescoping boom crane

Crane (machine)

A crane is a type of machine, generally equipped with a hoist, wire ropes or chains, and sheaves, that can be used both to lift and lower materials and to move them horizontally. It uses one or more simple machines to create mechanical advantage and thus move loads beyond the normal capability of...

, giving her a lifting capacity of up to 7,500 pounds (3,400 kilograms), as well 500 feet (150 meters) of cable that could pull up to 250 pounds (113 kilograms). She had 11 bunk spaces, and her mess room

Mess

A mess is the place where military personnel socialise, eat, and live. In some societies this military usage has extended to other disciplined services eateries such as civilian fire fighting and police forces. The root of mess is the Old French mes, "portion of food" A mess (also called a...

 couls seat seven. She was equipped for diving operations

Commercial Diving

Professional diving is a type of diving where the divers are paid for their work. There are several branches of professional diving, the most well known of which is probably commercial diving...

 to allow human investigation of submerged obstacles. She had a 19-foot (5.7 meter) fiberglass

Fiberglass

Glass fiber is a material consisting of numerous extremely fine fibers of glass.Glassmakers throughout history have experimented with glass fibers, but mass manufacture of glass fiber was only made possible with the invention of finer machine tooling...

 launch

Launch (boat)

A launch in contemporary usage refers to a large motorboat. The name originally referred to the largest boat carried by a warship. The etymology of the word is given as Portuguese lancha "barge", from Malay lancha, lancharan, "boat," from lanchar "velocity without effort," "action of gliding...

 for utility or rescue operations.

Operational history

Heck spent her career operating along the United States East Coast and in the Gulf of Mexico

Gulf of Mexico

The Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In...

.

In 1978, Rude and Heck came to the assistance of the burning research vessel

Research vessel

A research vessel is a ship designed and equipped to carry out research at sea. Research vessels carry out a number of roles. Some of these roles can be combined into a single vessel, others require a dedicated vessel...

 Midnight Sun, rescuing Midnight Suns crew and scientist

Scientist

A scientist in a broad sense is one engaging in a systematic activity to acquire knowledge. In a more restricted sense, a scientist is an individual who uses the scientific method. The person may be an expert in one or more areas of science. This article focuses on the more restricted use of the word...

s and saving the vessel from total loss. Rudes crew took aboard all 20 of Midnight Suns crew members and scientists, who were afloat in life rafts near Midnight Sun, administered first aid

First aid

First aid is the provision of initial care for an illness or injury. It is usually performed by non-expert, but trained personnel to a sick or injured person until definitive medical treatment can be accessed. Certain self-limiting illnesses or minor injuries may not require further medical care...

 to them, and transported them to shore. Hecks crew, meanwhile, fought the fire aboard Midnight Sun for 20 consecutive hours and saved Midnight Sun from sinking. For their efforts in saving Midnight Sun and her crew, the crews of Rude and Heck received the 1978 Department of Commerce Silver Medal.

Heck was decommissioned

Ship decommissioning

To decommission a ship is to terminate her career in service in the armed forces of her nation. A somber occasion, it has little of the elaborate ceremony of ship commissioning, but carries significant tradition....

in 1995 and sold in 2001.