What does the FLoating instrument platform do?
The vessel is a 355ft long, spoon-shaped buoy, which can be flipped from horizontal to a 90° vertical position in the ocean by pumping 700t of seawater into the ‘handle’ end while flooding air into the ‘cradle’, causing it to rise out of the sea.
What is the flip ocean?
FLIP, the FLoating Instrument Platform, is not a ship, but a 355-foot-long research platform that can be deployed for oceanographic research. Designed by scientists at Scripps’s Marine Physical Laboratory, FLIP is operated by Scripps Oceanography for the U.S. Navy.
How does RP FLIP work?
FLIP is 355 feet (108 meters) long with small quarters at the front and a long hollow ballast at the end. When the tanks are filled with air, FLIP floats in its horizontal position. But when they are filled with seawater the lower 300 feet of FLIP sinks under the water and the lighter end rises.
What is the flip ship used for?
The Flip Ship is used to research about wave length, density and temperature of the water, acoustics of the water and other relevant meteorological data that could prove helpful to study marine flora and fauna.
Why do ships sink vertically?
When water is able to enter the vessel through openings in the hull or superstructure, the regions filled with water are no longer hydrostatically considered to be part of the ship. As a result, the vessel continually sinks lower in the water until it is completely submerged.
Where is the Sea Shadow now?
Sea Shadow was revealed to the public in 1993, and was housed at the San Diego Naval Station until September 2006, when it was relocated with the Hughes Mining Barge to the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet in Benicia, California.
Where is the RP FLIP?
It can be operated around the world, although it normally operates off the west coast of the United States from a home base at Scripps’ Nimitz Marine Facility in San Diego, California.
Can ships turn vertical?
R/P FLIP is a unique vessel that can flip 90 degrees, staying vertical for weeks at a time to do ocean research. FLIP stands for FLoating Instrument Platform, as it is full of sensors used by scientists to study the ocean.
How does a navy ship float?
A ship floats because its average density is relatively small. Divide its total mass (its own mass plus that of its contents) by its volume and you get its average density. That’s less than the density of a solid metal box or a metal box filled with water, and that’s why the ship floats.
What is a platform in ship?
A platform supply vessel (PSV) is a ship specially designed to supply offshore oil and gas platforms. These ships range from 50 to 100 metres (160 to 330 ft) in length and accomplish a variety of tasks.
Can a ship flip upside down?
Capsizing or keeling over occurs when a boat or ship is turned on its side or it is upside down in the water. Vessels of this design are called self-righting.
How big is the FLIP FLoating Instrument Platform?
Research Platform FLIP (FLoating Instrument Platform) FLIP, the FLoating Instrument Platform, is not a ship, but a 355-foot-long research platform that can be deployed for oceanographic research. Designed by scientists at Scripps’s Marine Physical Laboratory, FLIP is operated by Scripps Oceanography for the U.S. Navy.
How is a flip platform different from a buoy?
When flipped, most of the ballast for the platform is provided by water at depths below the influence of surface waves, hence FLIP is stable and mostly immune to wave action similar to a spar buoy.
What was the purpose of the flip platform?
FLIP was built in 1962 to help study long-range sound propagation for submarine warfare, but the platform has since supported research in geophysics, meteorology, physical oceanography, and other scientific fields. Its unique appearance and method of deployment have also made it a worldwide curiosity and the subject of many documentaries.
How big is the RP FLIP water platform?
The platform is 108 meters (355 ft) long and is designed to partially flood and pitch backward 90°, resulting in only the front 17 meters (55 ft) of the platform pointing up out of the water, with bulkheads becoming decks.