Earth Institute News Archive
posted 07/14/00
Navy's Newest Ocean Survey Ship
Will Offer Public Tours
August 3 for Lamont Community
August 4 & 5 at Intrepid Pier
Columbia Earth Institute, New York City
Stennis Space Center, Miss.
The public is invited to tour the Navy's newest oceanographic survey ship, USNS BRUCE C. HEEZEN, in port at the Intrepid Berth on Aug. 4 and 5, 2000. Take advantage of this opportunity to set foot aboard one of the Navy's unique high-tech, noncombatant ships. The HEEZEN will be docked near the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum, at West 46th St. and 12th Ave. in Manhattan. A special tours for the Lamont community will be offered on Thursday, August 3rd from 1 to 4 p.m. and for the greater Columbia community and the general public on Friday, August 4th from 12 to 3 p.m. Public tours will also be offered on Saturday from 11:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. Tours are free, and reservations are not required.
The ship's namesake, Bruce C. Heezen, was a marine scientist known for his pioneering work in plate tectonics and the famous Heezen-Tharp physiographic maps of all the major oceans of the world. Heezen died of natural causes in 1977 while diving in the Navy's deep submersible NR1. In 1998 a group of 5th grade students from Cranston, R.I. selected the name for the ship during a contest authorized by the Navy and sponsored by the Navy League of the United States in conjunction with the Year of the Oceans. Over 2,000 ship name entries were received from schools throughout the United States and its territories during the year-long contest.
Continuing the spirit of Heezen's exploration, the USNS BRUCE C. HEEZEN joins a small worldwide fleet of survey ships covering the Earth's oceans. The ship's typical mission includes sampling and data collection in surface, midwater, and ocean floor areas, the launch and recovery of scientific packages including the Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROVs), shipboard oceanographic data processing and analysis, and precise navigation and maneuvering. The HEEZEN carries the most advanced bottom-mapping sonar available, and the resulting bathymetric data enables ships to navigate underwater.
BIOGRAPHY
Dr. Bruce C. Heezen
1924-1977
Dr. Bruce C. Heezen was born in Vinton, Iowa and received his B.A. from Iowa State University in 1947, his M.A. from Columbia University in 1952 and his Ph.D. from the Department of Geology in 1957.
In 1948, he joined Columbia University faculty and became a charter member of the staff of the Lamont Doherty Geological Observatory where he rose from research assistant in 1953 to associate professor of geology.
Heezen was best known for his pioneering work in mapping the ocean floors. Along with Marie Tharp, he developed the Heezen-Tharp physiographic maps of all the major oceans of the world. The maps have been widely distributed by the National Geographic Society. His other discoveries included the role of turbidity currents in shaping the seafloor.
Heezen authored or co-authored over 300 scientific papers, articles and reviews in several languages. He also co-authored a book on undersea photography with Dr. Charles D. Hollister of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution entitled The Face of the Deep.
Among his honors, Dr. Heezen received the Henry Bryant Bigelow Medal from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in 1964. He was also the recipient of the Walter Bucher Award presented by the American Geophysical Union.
Dr. Heezen died of natural causes in 1977 aboard the Navy research submarine NR-1 just as it was about to explore submerged mid-Atlantic mountains off the coast of Iceland.
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