R/V Knorr

The sunken luxury liner R.M.S. Titanic was located on September 1, 1985 by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution’s new imaging vehicle Argo, towed from the Research Vessel Knorr.  Today the Knorr is still used for ocean science and is seen here docked in Dutch Harbor, Alaska, in June 2009. (Photo by Alexander Dorsk, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

The WHOI-operated research vessel Knorr rests at a dock in Nuuk, Greenland in October 2006, with a Danish naval vessel alongside.  Delivered to WHOI in 1968, Knorr has traveled more than a million miles—the equivalent of two round trips to the Moon or forty trips around the Earth--in the name of science. The ship’s anti-roll tanks and ice-strengthened bow enable it to work in all of the world’s oceans and to the edges of the Polar Regions. (Photo by Karen Johnson, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

It doesn't happen often, but on this sunny September day, two of the Institution's research vessels—Knorr and Oceanus—were in port at the Iselin Marine Facility. (Photo by Jayne Doucette, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

In 2007, WHOI geologists retrieved the first sediment cores with the newly installed “long-corer” on the research vessel Knorr. Bill Curry, Jim Broda, and several WHOI colleagues conceived and built the new corer, which at 150-feet is the longest piston-coring system in the United States, nearly twice as long and four times as heavy as existing systems in the research fleet. (Photo by Alexander Dorsk, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

Knorr has logged more than one million miles in the name of science, one of only two ships in the current fleet to travel that far. Above, Knorr works offshore Panama City, Panama, in July, 2005—three months before passing the milestone of sailing 1 million miles. (Photo by Richard Thompson, University of Maryland)

The WHOI-operated research vessel Knorr returns to its home port in Woods Hole on March 22, 2007 after six weeks at sea for the CLIMODE project. Launched in 1968 and completely overhauled in 1991, R/V Knorr has traveled more than a million miles?the equivalent of two round trips to the Moon or forty trips around the Earth. The ship's anti-roll tanks and ice-strengthened bow enable it to work in all of the world's oceans and to the edges of the polar regions. The ship can carry a crew of 24 and a scientific party of 32 to sea for as long as 60 days. (Photo by Tom Kleindinst, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

Working off the coast of Baffin Island (in the Canadian Arctic), the WHOI-operated research vessel Knorr backs up to an iceberg to retrieve a piece of equipment for the University of Washington. Though WHOI operates four research vessels, those ships are a shared resource of the oceanographic community. Any given cruise might by led by—and will certainly include—scientists, crew members, and technicians from all over the world. (Photo by Karen Johnson, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

A Knorr refit from 1989-1991 included lengthening the vessel by 33 feet (10 meters) to 279 feet (85 meters). The ship was cut in half at McDermott Shipyard in Amelie, Louisiana, to accommodate installation of a new propulsion system and new construction that would give it greater range, allow a larger science party, and provide more deck and lab space. (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

Fresh from refinishing work, the "Z-drive" propulsion units on the underside of the research vessel Knorr are exposed in a Jacksonville, Fla., shipyard. The shrouded drives can turn 360 degrees, giving the ship a remarkable ability to maneuver and—when combined with a bow thruster—to 'hold station,' or stay in one place, while working at sea. (Photo by James Broda, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

R/V Knorr seen from the shore of Santa Cruz Island in the Gal&aacture;pagos islands. (Photo by Whitney Krey, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

The research vessel Knorr was launched on August 21, 1968, in Bay City, Michigan. The ship was delivered to WHOI in 1970 and was completely overhauled and lengthened by 34 feet in 1991 to its current 279 feet. (Photo by The Bay City Times)

Knorr's crane passes a towline to Lulu as the two ships and Alvin (secured to Knorr's deck) head to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge for the French-American Mid-Ocean Undersea Study in 1974. (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

Scientists and crew aboard the research vessel Knorr recover a sediment core from the seafloor during a cruise off the U.S. East Coast. Cores provide evidence of changes in the earth's evolution, from climate and ocean circulation patterns to volcanic eruptions. (Photo by Mary Carman, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

The handling system for the new long core sampler was recently installed on R/V Knorr at the WHOI dock. The system, able to collect sediment cores up to 165 feet (50 meters) long, will be tested in 2007. (Photo by Tom Kleindinst, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

The WHOI research vessel Knorr is raised into the Atlantic Dry Dock in Jacksonville, Florida, in March 2005. All ships in the University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System (UNOLS—of which WHOI is a member—are hauled out of the water roughly every other year for inspection, routine maintenance, and upgrades. (Photo by James Broda, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)