Deep Ocean's USV surveys the Historic USS Arizona and the USS Utah at Pearl Harbor

*Caption: The H-1750 USV was able to be easily transported to Ford Island in the back of a small truck to continue running surveys at the partially submerged USS Utah.


In the Months leading up to this survey, R2Sonic contacted Deep Ocean to utilize their H-1750 USV as an unmanned platform to operate their SONIC 2020 multibeam. Typically, these surveys are completed utilizing a 2-3 manned vessel with an affixed multibeam but the survey site above the USS Arizona has a height restriction where a manned vessel cannot navigate. The memorial building that straddles the USS Arizona makes for a low ceiling above the water at various tides. Couple that with the shallow depth of water above the sunken ship and you have a very tight set of survey vehicle characteristics that must be met. The H-1750 USV was the solution.



*Caption: The low ceiling of the USS Arizona Memorial building made the H-1750 a perfect fit for this survey.


The survey’s goals were reached and 100% high resolution sonar coverage was obtained of both sunken warships to replace the artists’ rendition surveys from some 30 years prior. This will yield high quality measurements of the ship that can be repeated over time and from there, changes such as shifting, settling, and coral growth can be evaluated, something that was absent from the surveys from 30 years ago. Not only will it provide a long term monitoring baseline, but a 3D scale model of the USS Arizona will be created and used for display purposes at the memorial site.


This is just one example of the utility of Deep Ocean’s H-1750 USV and Deep Ocean’s ability to provide an integrated solution to the end users. Deep Ocean prides itself in providing custom integrated ROVs and USVs to its customers for over 32 years.

Location: Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, United States of America