Contact Information
Address:
439 West York Street
Marine Operations Center, Atlantic
Norfolk, VA 23510-1145
United StatesPhone:
757-441-6322
NOAA Ship Thomas Jefferson
NOAA Ship Thomas Jefferson is a hydrographic survey vessel that maps the ocean to aid maritime commerce, improve coastal resilience, and understand the marine environment. Officers, crews, and scientists aboad the ship log the data that NOAA cartographers use to create and update the nationâs nautical charts with ever-increasing data richness and precision.
The 208-ft. ship is one of NOAAâs most valuable assets following a severe weather event or ocean emergency. During Thomas Jeffersonâs career at NOAA, the ship has responded to dozens of hurricanes, searching for dangers to navigation and speeding the resumption of maritime commerce. The shipâs officers and crew also used their technology and scientific expertise to investigate changes on the seafloor and in the water column after the catastrophic events of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
Formerly the U.S. Naval Ship Littlehales, the ship officially entered the NOAA fleet in 2003 and was renamed for President Thomas Jefferson, who established they Survey of the Coast in 1807. The ship is homeported at the NOAA Marine Operations Center-Atlantic in Norfolk, Virginia. Thomas Jefferson operates primarily along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.