Military Technology 04/2021

research ship might use 1,000 gallons of fuel each day when on station, whereas FLIP uses less than 100. The furnishings and fixtures are duplicated, or designed to be used in both horizontal vertical configuration, so a table, sink, toilet seat, or the three diesel generators, can be rotated on gimbals to a new posi- tion and locked into place. To solve the flipping challenge, most rooms on FLIP have two doors, one to use when horizontal, and the other when FLIP is vertical – so decks have doors and bulkheads become decks. [Presumably this gives ‘crew orientation’ a new and challenging definition. – Editor] FLIP looks like the bow of a ship attached to a long pipe. When it tran- sitions, it can look like an at-sea disaster in the making – a situation that can attract some attention. “We were vertical in a three-point moor when we see a large merchant ship coming right at us. I call him on the bridge-to-bridge radio to ask him to stay clear,” Capt Tom Golfinos, FLIP’s long-time officer-in-charge, recalls. “Finally, he turns away, but he slows and calls us to ask if we need any help. I tell him we’re a research platform and we’re fine, and to please After six decades of ground-breaking – or, maybe more appropriately, ‘wave-busting’ – research, the US Navy’s Floating Instrument Platform (FLIP) is no longer active and will be disposed of. The ocean is a dynamic, living thing. Scientists studying it must im- merse themselves in the ocean environment for extended periods to col- lect meaningful data. For navies, oceans are the battlespace that must be understood to be owned. In the 1960s, the USN’s unique solution to gather persistent observa- tions and conduct acoustic research with very low ambient noise was a stand-up idea. Literally. The Office of Naval Research (ONR) built FLIP, a 108m construct that looked something like a baseball bat. It could be towed to a location, like a ship, then ballasted so it would stand upright, like a spar buoy, with just the 17m platform section protruding above the surface. Operated by the Marine Physical Laboratory of Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego, CA, FLIP allowed researchers to study sound waves at various depths without the interference of ambient noise from a ship’s propulsion system. It also facilitated study of wave height and air-sea interaction; water temperature and density; and meteorologi- cal data. The steel-built, concrete-ballasted 800t vessel entered service in 1962 and has undergone periodic refits and tech-refresh updates since. Classified as a ‘non-propelled research barge’ to test the then-classified Navy SUBROC programme, it was not alone as a spar buoy-based de- sign: the Seagoing Platform for Acoustic Research (SPAR) conducted re- search in the Western Atlantic around the same time. FLIP has a crew of three in port – five when at sea – and can embark a team of up to 11 scientists – though with 16 people on board it can get crowded. It transitions from horizontal to vertical by flooding the ballast tanks and causing the stern to sink. Once all tanks are flooded, FLIP stands vertical – as tall as a five-story building and can remain on station for extended periods, either drifting or moored to the bottom. When de- ployed, there is virtually no vertical movement in most sea states. When the mission is complete, high-pressure air forces the seawater out, taking about 20 minutes to reorient the vessel. Researchers can mount a wide range of sensitive instruments on the hull and on deployment booms that fold out from the sides – more in- struments than could be employed from a research vessel. FLIP can also carry supplies for about 35 days, and make its own electricity and water. Machinery is shock-mounted and insulated to isolate vibration and noise. Because FLIP is non-propelled, it costs much less to operate. A coastal Edward Lundquist A Forever Home for FLIP? 74 · MT 4/2021 From the Bridge FLIP with R/V Melville during SOCAL experiment 2013. (Photo courtesy of Scripps Institution of Oceanography) FLIP port boom instrumentation during Langmuir Cell DRI off the coast of Southern California. (Photo courtesy of Scripps Institution of Oceanography)