Ship’s Shape

In December 2013, workers at the Dakota Creek shipyard in Anacortes, Wash., joined two sections of hull to begin shaping WHOI’s newest research vessel, R/V Neil Armstrong. Over the following year, 13 separate sections, or blocks, came together to form the 238-foot, general-purpose research vessel. Today, the Neil Armstrong calls Woods Hole its home port and works primarily in the North Atlantic, carrying scientists, engineers, and students on research cruises to help better understand the ocean. (Photo by Gary McGrath, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)