RV Triton Visits USA’s East Coast

Research Vessel (RV) Triton is visiting the USA's East Coast this month to carry out a collaborative trials programme with the US Department of Defense (DoD). RV Triton is the world's first trimaran warship, claimed by the UK's Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA) to be one of the most significant developments in warship design since the Ironclads. RV Triton arrived in New York in time to take part in Fleet week. From New York she paid short visits to Newport, Rhode Island and Philadelphia before finally arriving in Washington DC on 3 June.

Measuring 91 metres in length at the waterline and with a beam of 22.5 metres, RV Triton is the world's first trimaran warship demonstrator. The structure of RV Triton is representative of a warship and is similar in style to a typical Royal Navy frigate. Induced strains and structural responses throughout the ship are being measured and recorded by the US Navy's Trials Instrumentation System (TIS), which was fitted under an inter-governmental agreement. TIS records over 300 channels covering a wide range of data from structural instruments and other sources such as machinery control, ship motion, steering gear, navigation and the environment. Collaborative work between the UK Ministry of Defence and the US DoD will continue for the first 18 months of sea trials.

The US Coastguard has taken an express interest in the triple-hull design and, whilst RV Triton is off Portsmouth, USA, they are taking the opportunity to conduct side by side trials with a 270ft Coastguard cutter so that hydrodynamic trials results can be compared.