Rv-Endeavor

The 'Endeavor' retired on Sep 20, 2025, upon the completion of its final mission. Two weeks before, the 'Endeavor' had embarked on its final mission, which was focused on the long-term impacts of oil and gas extraction on ecosystems along the Atlantic coast, including historical, active, and future production areas. On Sep 20, the vessel returned to its home port at the University of Rhode Island’s (URI) Bay Campus in Narragansett. Launched in 1975 and officially christened at the GSO pier on Dec 11, 1976, the ship is owned by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and operated by URI’s Graduate School of Oceanography (GSO) under a charter party agreement. Endeavor was one of three intermediate-class research vessels commissioned by NSF and built by Peterson Builders, in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. The 'Endeavor' sailed over one million miles and made port calls in 22 countries. Only four days after her christening, she found herself responding to one of the largest oil spills in U.S. history after the tanker 'Argo Merchant' ran aground off Nantucket Island during a storm on Dec 15, 1976. The tanker was carrying more than 7.7 million gallons of heavy fuel oil that spilled into the ocean after the tanker broke apart. The disaster thrust the 'Endeavor' on her first mission studying the movement of currents, analyzing the spread of oil hydrocarbons, and assessing the impact on marine ecosystems. The series of trips to the spill site lasted three months and is considered by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to be the birth of oil spill response. Apart from the spill response, the ship has also been instrumental in the advancement of the oil and gas industry. Owing to her proximity to the Gulf Stream, the vessel has led a number of missions, particularly during the 1980s and 1990s, focusing on circulation and biogeochemistry studies. The 'Endeavor' sailed over one million miles and made port calls in 22 countries.