Oceanographic Tools: R/V Revelle

Research Vessel Roger Revelle

RV Roger Revelle (AGOR 24) is a 274-foot (83 meter) research ship operated by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, a graduate division of the University of California, San Diego. It is the sister ship of the RV Atlantis, WHOI’s deep submergence support ship that carries the submersible Alvin.

Revelle is the second of three new-generation AGOR oceanographic ships built by the U.S. Navy for operation by American oceanographic institutions. RV Roger Revelle began construction in early 1993, was launched in April of 1995, and sailed on her maiden voyage from Mississippi to San Diego in July, 1996. Over the last 5 years Revelle has supported many different oceanographic cruises mostly in the Pacific Ocean.

The ship is named for Prof. Roger R. D. Revelle (1909-1991), who was one of the twentieth century’s most eminent statesmen of science. He was a distinguished university researcher and professor, the officer in charge of the oceanographic section of the Bureau of Ships (now Naval Sea Systems Command), a creator of the Office of Naval Research and head of its Geophysics Section, and a director of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Prof. Revelle was one of the first persons to recognize, study, and interpret to the public the issues of carbon dioxide emissions, the greenhouse effect and global warming. His major awards and prizes were numerous. One of them, his Agassiz Medal from the National Academy of Sciences, is displayed in the ship’s conference room, along with his naval officer’s dress sword.

Roger Revelle made landmark scientific contributions to subjects ranging from sea floor heat flow to the capacity of the ocean to absorb atmospheric carbon dioxide. He had an extraordinary breadth of imagination and inquiry, coupled with a deep conviction that science at its best was science in the service of humankind.

RV Revelle has a cruising speed of 12 knots and carries 22 crewmembers and 37 scientists.

Learn more about the RV Roger Revelle
from Scripp's Web site including photos and specifications

Back