1980: The Launch of a U.S. Army Hopper Dredge

August 23, 1980

U.S. Army Vessel (USAV) Yaquina was launched at the shipyard of the Norfolk Shipbuilding and Drydock Corporation in Norfolk, Virginia. This ship serves the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) as one of its hopper dredges. A hopper dredge, equipped with powerful engines and pumps, is used to keep waterways navigable by removing heavy amounts of sedimentary materials (e.g., clay, gravel, sand) that threaten to silt up those routes. USAV Yaquina was the first hopper dredge built for the U.S. government in 13 years.

Lieutenant General John W. Morris, who was serving at the time as USACE’s Chief of Engineers, gave the keynote address at the christening ceremony for Yaquina. His wife Geraldine Morris, a former army nurse, was the new ship’s sponsor. Her duties in this regard included smashing a larger-than-average bottle of champagne against Yaquina’s hull.

On June 12 of the following year, the 200-foot (61-meter)-long Yaquina was commissioned at a ceremony in Newport, Oregon. This ship has since been primarily used to help maintain harbors and rivers along the coasts of California, Oregon, and Washington. As the smallest vessel in USACE’s fleet of hopper dredges, Yaquina has been frequently used for silt removal operations in the smaller ports of the west coast.

One of Yaquina’s more atypical and high-profile assignments to date was her role in the aftermath of the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Prince William Sound, Alaska, in 1989. While not designed for this kind of mission, Yaquina – after a few initial failed attempts – ultimately helped pump thousands of gallons (liters) of oil sludge out of the water there. As a result of her on-board advanced systems for both communicating with and tracking multiple vessels, Yaquina also performed another pivotal function in the vicinity of Prince William Sound. She was deployed as a command-and-control platform for the numerous small vessels likewise taking part in that massive cleanup effort.

Photo Credit: Jordanroderick (licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en)

For more information on USAV Yaquina, please check out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USAV_Yaquina