The RV

Ship prefix

A ship prefix is a combination of letters, usually abbreviations, used in front of the name of a civilian or naval ship.Prefixes for civilian vessels may either identify the type of propulsion, such as "SS" for steamship, or purpose, such as "RV" for research vessel. Civilian prefixes are often...

 MTA Sismik 1 is a decommissioned Turkish

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

 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...

 belonging to Istanbul Technical University

Istanbul Technical University

Istanbul Technical University is an international technical university located in Istanbul, Turkey. It is the world's third oldest technical university dedicated to engineering sciences as well as social sciences recently, and is one of the most prominent educational institutions in Turkey...

. She is operated by its Faculty of Maritime

ITU School of Maritime

ITU School of Maritime is a faculty of the Istanbul Technical University in Turkey, which is dedicated to maritime science and technology.The history of the faculty dates back to the "Merchant Navy Boarding School" , which was established on December 5, 1884 at Heybeliada, Istanbul as a part of...

 for training purposes. Originally, she was owned by the General Directorate of Mineral Research and Exploration

General Directorate of Mineral Research and Exploration (Turkey)

Mineral Research & Exploration General Directorate of Turkey is a scientific institution established in 14 June 1935 by Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources ....

 (MTA) in Ankara

Ankara

Ankara is the capital of Turkey and the country's second largest city after Istanbul. The city has a mean elevation of , and as of 2010 the metropolitan area in the entire Ankara Province had a population of 4.4 million....

 and operated by its division of Geophysical Directorate for subsea geophysical exploration.

The ship's crew consists of 7 officers and 16 seamen. Research work is conducted by 12 scientists aboard. She has an autonomous endurance of 25 days.

History

The ship was built in Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...

 for the German Navy

Kriegsmarine

The Kriegsmarine was the name of the German Navy during the Nazi regime . It superseded the Kaiserliche Marine of World War I and the post-war Reichsmarine. The Kriegsmarine was one of three official branches of the Wehrmacht, the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany.The Kriegsmarine grew rapidly...

. Named Agir, she was launched on May 18, 1942. After World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, she was taken by the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 to England, where she was rebuilt in a salvage tug

Salvage tug

A salvage tug is a specialized type of tugboat which is used to rescue or marine salvage ships which are in distress or in danger of sinking, or which have already sunk or run aground....

, and renamed Hercules in 1949. She was based in Gibraltar

Gibraltar

Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...

 from 1950 until 1954 when she was sold to Turkey.

Her Turkish owner, the Denizcilik Bankası

Denizbank

DenizBank A.Ş. is a private bank in Turkey controlled 99.79% by the French - Belgian bank Dexia since May 2006.DenizBank was established in 1938 as a state-owned bank to help finance the then emerging Turkish maritime industry...

 renamed her Hora and put her as salvage tug in service four year long from 1954 in Istanbul

Istanbul

Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...

, and then ten years long in İzmir

Izmir

Izmir is a large metropolis in the western extremity of Anatolia. The metropolitan area in the entire Izmir Province had a population of 3.35 million as of 2010, making the city third most populous in Turkey...

. In 1968, she was acquired by the Port Authority of Izmir to be used as stationary pilot boat

Pilot boat

A Pilot Boat is a type of boat used to transport pilots between land and the inbound or outbound ships that they are piloting.-History:The origins of the word pilot probably disseminates from the Latin word pilota, a variation of pedota, the plural of pēdón which translates as oar...

.

In 1975, MTA purchased the ship Hora to transform her into a research vessel, and renamed her MTA Sismik 1. After fitting her with up to date technology equipment for subsea geophysical exploration

Geophysical survey

Geophysical survey is the systematic collection of geophysical data for spatial studies. Geophysical surveys may use a great variety of sensing instruments, and data may be collected from above or below the Earth's surface or from aerial or marine platforms. Geophysical surveys have many...

 at seas around Turkey, she was commissioned in 1976.

Finally in 2005, it was decided that the more than 60-year old ship has completed her service life

Service life

A product's service life is its expected lifetime, or the acceptable period of use in service. It is the time that any manufactured item can be expected to be 'serviceable' or supported by its manufacturer....

. She was donated to Istanbul Technical University's Faculty of Maritime to be used as a training ship.

Characteristics

MTA Sismik 1 is 56.45 metre long, with a beam of 8.8 metre and a max. draft of 3.9 metre. Assessed at and 275 NRT

Net register tonnage

Net register tonnage is a ship's cargo volume capacity expressed in "register tons", one of which equals to a volume of . It is calculated by reducing non-revenue-earning spaces i.e. spaces not available for carrying cargo, for example engine rooms, fuel tanks and crew quarters, from the ship's...

, the ship is propelled by a 1050 hp diesel engine

Diesel engine

A diesel engine is an internal combustion engine that uses the heat of compression to initiate ignition to burn the fuel, which is injected into the combustion chamber...

. She has a speed of 12 knots (23.5 km/h) in service.

Ship's register

• 1942 ex Agir, built for the German Navy "Kriegsmarine",
• 1949 ex Hercules, taken by the United Kingdom and rebuilt as salvage tug. 1950-1954 in Gibraltar,
• 1954 *ex Hora, sold to Denizcilik Bankası in Turkey as salvage tug. 1954-1958 in Istanbul, 1958-1968 in Izmir. 1968-1970 as stationary pilot boat,
• 1975 acquired by General Directorate of Mineral Research and Exploration (MTA), Geophysical Directorate,
• 1976 MTA Sismik 1, transformed into research vessel by the MTA,
• 2005 MTA Sismik 1, donated to Istanbul Technical University, Faculty of Maritime for training purposes.