RP FLIP
| History | |
|---|---|
| United States | |
| Owner | DEEP |
| Operator | Scripps Institution of Oceanography (former) |
| Builder | |
| Cost | Approximately US$600,000 |
| Launched | 22 June 1962 |
| Completed | 23 July 1962 |
| In service | September 1962 |
| Out of service | August 2023 |
| Identification |
|
| Status | Undergoing refit at La Ciotat, France |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Research platform |
| Displacement | 700 tons |
| Length | 108 m (355 ft) |
| Beam | 7.93 m (26.0 ft) |
| Draught |
|
| Installed power |
|
| Propulsion | None |
| Speed | Towed: 7–10 kn (8–12 mph; 13–19 km/h) |
| Endurance | 35 days |
| Capacity |
|
| Complement | 5 crew, 11 researchers |
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R/P FLIP (floating instrument platform) is a semi-submersible open ocean research platform that was owned by the U.S. Office of Naval Research (ONR) and operated by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. The platform is 108 meters (355 ft) long and is designed to partially flood and pitch backward 90°, resulting in only the front 17 meters (55 ft) of the platform pointing up out of the water, with bulkheads becoming decks. When flipped, most of the buoyancy for the platform is provided by water at depths below the influence of surface waves, hence FLIP is stable and mostly immune to wave action, similar to a spar buoy.
At the end of a mission, compressed air is pumped into the ballast tanks in the flooded section and the platform, which has no propulsion, returned to its horizontal position so it can be towed to a new location. The platform is frequently mistaken for a capsized ocean transport ship.
FLIP's last research cruise was in late 2017, with ONR ending its support of the vessel in 2020. It was berthed at the Nimitz Marine Facility pier (Scripps) in Point Loma until being towed away to be scrapped on August 4, 2023. However, FLIP was purchased in 2024 by the DEEP organization with plans to overhaul and modernize the platform for ocean research.