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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

USNS Melville (T-AGOR-14)

ER/V Melville International Radio Call Sign:
Whiskey - Echo - Charlie - Bravo
WECB

R/V Melville was transferred to the Philippines and renamed BRP Gregorio Velasquez (AGR 702)

Robert D. Conrad Class Oceanographic Research Ship:

Laid down, 12 July 1967, at Defoe Shipbuilding Co., Bay City, MI.

Launched, 10 July 1968

Delivered to the Navy, 1 August 1969, as the Research Vessel USNS Melville (T-AGOR-14)

Chartered to Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, 1969, for operation as R/V Melville

Returned to US Navy custody, 31 December 2014

Transferred to the Republic of the Philippines, 27 April 2016, and Christened and commissioned BRP Gregorio Velasquez (AGR 702)

Specifications:
Displacement

As Built 1,200 t.(lt), 1,950 t.(fl)

Modified 2,516 t.(fl)

Length 279'

Beam 46'

Draft 16' 6"

Speed 14 kts. (maximum)

Complement 23 civilian mariners, 38 scientists

Armament none

Propulsion

two 1,385 hp Propulsion General Electric motors

Bow Thruster

900 hp retractable Azimuthing thruster

two 1385 hp Z-Drive Lips propellers

Click On Image For Full Size Image	Size	Image Description	Source
USNS Melville (T-AGOR-14)
	91k	Namesake Rear Admiral George W. Melville George Wallace Melville, born in New York City 10 January 1841, attended the Brooklyn Collegiate and Polytechnic Institute before enlisting in the Navy Engineer Corps as third assistant engineer 29 July 1861. He served with distinction in the Civil War and the years following. In 1873 he volunteered for duty as Chief Engineer of Tigress for her rescue in Baffin Bay of 19 survivors of the Polaris expedition to the Arctic. Lieutenant Melville next volunteered to join the Jeannette expedition, departing San Francisco, Calif., 7 August 1879 to seek an ocean passage to the Atlantic by way of Siberia. Jeannette became icebound in September and, after 2 years of effort to save her, was crushed by floes in the Laptev Sea and sank 12 June 1881. Melville led the only boat party to reach safety in Lena Delta, Siberia. He then returned north to find the frozen bodies of Jeannette’s commanding officer, Lt. George W. Delong, and his party lost in July. Congress rewarded Melville for his gallantry and resourcefulness by advancing him 15 numbers on the promotion list and awarding him a medal. Following his next assignment in 1884 as Chief Engineer of Thetis for the Greely Relief Expedition, President Grover Cleveland appointed Melville Chief of the Bureau of Steam Engineering 9 August 1887. During his administration of over 16 years, Melville superintended the design of 120 ships of the “New Navy” and introduced such widely acclaimed innovations, as the water tube boiler, vertical engines, and the repair ship. Promoted to rear admiral 3 March 1899, he was appointed Engineer in Chief of the Navy 6 December 1900. The author of many technical articles and one book, “In the Lena Delta,” Admiral Melville retired 10 January 1903 and died in Philadelphia, Pa., 17 March 1912. Photo: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA	Bill Gonyo
09571412	108k	Melville T-AGOR-14) on the stocks at Defoe Shipbuilding Co., Bay City, MI., 18 January 1968. Progress photo about 20 percent complete. U.S National Archives Identifier 6930750, Department of the Navy. Bureau of Ships . 9/18/1947-5/1/1966.	Robert Hurst
	74k	*USNS Melville* (T-AGOR-14)** under way off Bay City, Michigan, 9 July 1969 during builders trials. US Navy photo # NH 98937 from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.	US Naval Historical Center
	69k	*USNS Melville* (T-AGOR-14)** under way off Bay City, Michigan, 9 July 1969 during builders trials. US Navy photo # NH 98939 from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.	US Naval Historical Center
	62k	*USNS Melville* (T-AGOR-14)** under way off Bay City, Michigan, 9 July 1969 during builders trials. US Navy photo # NH 98938 from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.	US Naval Historical Center
	18k	*USNS Melville* (T-AGOR-14)** under way for sea trials, builders photo	Defoe Shipbuilding Co. web site
R/V Melville
	94k	R/V Melville under way, date and location unknown.	Scripps Institution of Oceanography web site
	57k	RV Melville under way, date and location unknown.	Scripps Institution of Oceanography web site
	62k	RV Melville in dry dock, date and location unknown.	Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret.
	29k	RV Melville under way date and location unknown. Photo courtesy Scripps Institute of Oceanography.	Robert Hurst
09571410	221k	RV Melville moored pierside at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, San Diego, CA., 10 October 2012. Photo from Flckr by Greg Goebel	Robert Hurst
	417k	RV Melville moored pierside at San Diego, 10 October 2015.	Tommy Trampp
09571413	265k	RVMelville T-AGOR-14) moored pierside at the General Dynamics NASSCO San Diego shipyard, 4 March 2016. Photo by Tomás Del Coro	Robert Hurst
BRP Gregorio Velasquez (AGR 702)
09571411	104k	*BRP Gregorio Velasquez* (AGR-702), (ex- USNS Melville T-AGOR-14**) underway, 13 June 2016, location unknown. Philippine Navy photo.	Robert Hurst