View source for USNS Silas Bent

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{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=          USNS Silas Bent (T-AGS-26) underway c1965.jpg
|Ship caption=    ''Silas Bent'' (AGS-26), on builder's trials, July 1965
}}
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|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag= {{USN flag|1983}}
|Ship name=   ''Silas Bent''
|Ship namesake=   [[Silas Bent (Naval Officer)|Silas Bent]]
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|Ship builder=        American Shipbuilding Corporation, [[Cleveland, Ohio]]
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|Ship laid down=              2 March 1964
|Ship launched=16 May 1964
|Ship sponsor=Miss Nancy M. McKinley and Mrs. Jeffrey R. Grandy    
|Ship christened=                 
|Ship completed=            
|Ship acquired=by the [[United States Navy]], 23 July 1965     
|Ship commissioned=        
|Ship recommissioned=              
|Ship decommissioned=            
|Ship maiden voyage=             
|Ship in service=as USNS ''Silas Bent'' (T-AGS-26)
|Ship out of service=28 October 1999
|Ship renamed=        
|Ship reclassified=               
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|Ship struck=       28 October 1999
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|Ship homeport=                    
|Ship identification=       {{IMO Number|7738527}}
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|Ship honours=         [[National Defense Service Medal]]            
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|Ship fate=     transferred to the Navy of [[Turkey]], 29 September 1999 as TCG ''Çeșme'' (A-599)
|Ship notes=           
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}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header         =title
|Ship country        = Turkey
|Ship flag           = [[Image:Flag of Turkey.svg|100x35px|Turkish Navy Ensign]]
|Ship name           = TCG ''Çeşme''
|Ship namesake       = town of [[Çeşme]]
|Ship acquired       = 
|Ship commissioned   = 8 June 2000
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|Ship identification = {{IMO Number|7738527}}
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|Ship status         = {{Ship in active service}}
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{{Infobox ship characteristics
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|Header caption=<ref name=SLM864>{{cite magazine |date=August 1964 |title=New Dream Ship for Scientists Makes a Big Splash at Launching |magazine=Sealift Magazine |volume=14 |issue=8 |location=Washington, D.C. |publisher=Military Sea Transportation Service |pages=7–8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qJpajIEO9hYC&pg=RA7-PA7 |access-date=29 December 2020}}</ref>
|Ship class=           
|Ship type=[[Silas Bent-class survey ship|''Silas Bent'' class survey ship]] 
|Ship tonnage=1,935 tons
|Ship displacement=2,550 tons full load
|Ship length=*{{cvt|285|ft|3.5|in|m|1|abbr=on}} LOA
*{{cvt|261|ft|4|in|m|1|abbr=on}} [[length between perpendiculars|LBP]]
|Ship beam={{cvt|48|ft|m|1|abbr=on}}
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|Ship draught=      
|Ship draft={{cvt|15|ft|m|1|abbr=on}}
|Ship depth={{cvt|26|ft|6|in|m|1|abbr=on}}
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|Ship propulsion=ALCO diesels, [[Allis-Chalmers]] electric drive, single shaft. SHP approx. 3000 + 350 SHP trainable and retractable, gas turbine powered, bow propulsion unit to assist station-keeping and ultra-quiet ship operations.<ref>{{cite report |last=Naval Oceanographic Office |date=11 February 1966 |title= USNS Silas Bent (T-AGS-26) Introduction Brochure (hosted at NavSource) |location=Washington, D.C. |publisher=Naval Oceanographic Office |url=http://www.navsource.org/archives/09/10/1026i.htm |access-date=30 December 2020}}</ref>
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|Ship speed={{cvt|15|knots|mph km/h}}
|Ship range={{cvt|12000|nmi| mi km}} at {{cvt|12|knots|mph km/h}}
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|Ship complement=*12 officers, 32 crew
*34 scientific party
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'''USNS ''Silas Bent'' (T-AGS-26)''' was a [[Silas Bent-class survey ship|''Silas Bent'' class survey ship]] acquired by the [[United States Navy]] in 1964 and delivered to the [[Military Sealift Command]] in 1965. ''Silas Bent'' spent her career in the [[Pacific Ocean]] performing  oceanographic surveys. The ship was equipped with the Oceanographic Data Acquisition System (ODAS) as were the later oceanographic survey ships {{USNS|Kane|T-AGS-27}} and {{USNS|Wilkes|T-AGS-33}}.<ref>{{cite report |last=Office of Science and Technology |date=April 1972 |title=The Federal Ocean Program |pages=67–68 |location=Washington, D.C. |publisher=Government Printing Office |url=https://archive.org/stream/federaloceanprog1972unit#page/68/mode/2up |access-date=30 December 2020}}</ref>

==Construction==
''Silas Bent'' (AGS-26), an oceanographic survey ship, was laid down in March 1964 by the American Shipbuilding Co. at [[Lorain, Ohio]] and launched on 16 May 1964 sponsored by sisters and granddaughters of Silas Bent, Miss Nancy M. McKinley and Mrs. Jeffrey R. Grandy. The ship was delivered to the [[Military Sea Transportation Service]] (now the Military Sealift Command) in July 1965.<ref name=SLM864/><ref name=DANFS>{{cite DANFS |url=https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/s/silas-bent.html |title=Silas Bent (AGS-26) |author=Naval History And Heritage Command |date=11 November 2016  |work=Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships |publisher=Naval History And Heritage Command |access-date=30 December 2020}}</ref>

==Oceanographic survey operations==
''Silas Bent''—the first of a new class of oceanographic survey ships—was manned by a [[Civil Service]] crew and operated by the Military Sealift Command as an integrated system for the gathering of vital oceanographic data in both underway and on-station modes. The data she collected was recorded in a form immediately usable by computers. She was under the technical control of the [[Naval Oceanographic Office]] then located in [[Suitland, Maryland]]. The oceanographic survey ship completed her [[shakedown cruise]] during the winter of 1965 and 1966. The ship was assigned operations including the Navy's ASW/USW Oceanwide Survey Project supporting antisubmarine and undersea warfare weapons systems, primarily in the northern Pacific.<ref name=DANFS/><ref name=OSFY68>{{cite report |last=Naval Oceanographic Office |year=1968 |title=Oceanographic Surveys Fiscal Year 68 |pages=1–4 |location=Washington, D.C. |publisher=Naval Oceanographic Office |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sJCh3Q2QPHoC&pg=PA1 |access-date=30 December 2020}}</ref>

===Survey examples===
The ship completed the first full year of ASW/USW Oceanwide Survey Project, an effort to perform comprehensive surveys of strategic ocean areas, during fiscal year 1967. The first of the year was spent in the Atlantic with work in the [[Labrador Sea]] followed by a search for the reported [[American Scout Seamount]].<ref name=OSFY67>{{cite report |last=Naval Oceanographic Office |year=1967 |title=Oceanography '67 |pages=15 |location=Washington, D.C. |publisher=Naval Oceanographic Office |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7FsZOfbQs4cC&pg=RA4-PA15 |access-date=30 December 2020}}</ref> The June 1966 survey found no evidence of a seamount with no soundings less than {{cvt|2362|fathom|ft m|0|abbr=on}} but did find strong returns from the [[Deep Scattering Layer]] that could be mistaken for shoals.<ref name=OSFY67/><ref>{{cite report |last1=Gilg |first1=Joseph G. |last2=McConnell |first2=James J. |date=September 1966 |title=Non-Existent Seamounts — A Case Study |page=4 |location=Washington, D.C. |publisher=Naval Oceanographic Office |url=https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/AD0804999.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220601062937/https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/AD0804999.pdf |url-status=live |archive-date=June 1, 2022 |access-date=30 December 2020}}</ref> Following additional surveys in the [[Gulf of Maine]] and north of [[Bermuda]] the ship was transferred to the Pacific in December 1966. The remainder of the fiscal year was spent surveying north of Hawaii into the [[Gulf of Alaska]].<ref name=OSFY67/>

On 8 August 1968 ''Silas Bent'' departed [[Hakodate, Japan]] for surveys east of [[Kamchatka]] but was diverted on 12 August to an area south of [[Amchitka Island]], Alaska to assist in the search, termed [[Operation CHASE|CHASE VI SALVOPS]], for the  [[Liberty ship]] ''Robert L. Stevenson'' which was to be scuttled with a load of ammunition but failed to immediately sink and sunk in an unknown position. After six days on station the survey ship located the lost ship using a deep towed [[magnetometer]] and narrow beam [[echosounder]] with confirmation by photographs using a deep sea camera.<ref name=DANFS/><ref name=OSFY68/> After the search the ship returned to Japan for regular survey operations with a limited survey in the [[Sea of Okhotsk]] before transit to San Francisco arriving 30 October. On departure from San Francisco to [[Sasebo]], Japan between 15 and 28 March 1968 the ship conducted underway transit data and planted current meter and thermistor array buoys in the [[Sea of Japan]]. From 11 April to 14 May the ship conducted joint acoustic operations with the RV ''F. V. Hunt'' which was also assigned work for the ASW/USW Surveys Project.<ref name=OSFY68/><ref>{{cite web |last=Wageman |first=John M.|title=Oceanographic Cruise Summary. Reconnaissance Survey of Sea of Japan |publisher=Naval Oceanographic Office |date=1 December 1968 |url=https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/citations/AD0849123 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201031170155/https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/citations/AD0849123 |url-status=live |archive-date=October 31, 2020 |access-date=30 December 2020}}</ref> The two ships continued operations in the Sea of Japan and Sea of Okhotsk into June 1968.<ref name=OSFY68/>

In 1972, she visited Japan, for the 2nd annual Ocean Development Conference held at [[Tokyo]]. During the conference, there were numerous tours and briefings held on ''Silas Bent'' describing, for the ocean scientists of the world, her capabilities for measuring [[bathymetric]] depth, magnetic intensity, gravity, surface temperature, seismic reflection, sound velocity, ambient light, and salinity. As of mid-September 1974, ''Silas Bent'' engaged in special operations in the area of [[Kodiak, Alaska]].<ref name=DANFS/> The ship conducted surveys for about a month in the Sea of Okhotsk beginning on 25 September 1986.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Black |first=Norman |date=29 September 1986 |title=Navy Battle Group Finishes Secret Cruise Off Soviet Coast |journal=AP News |url=https://apnews.com/article/cb33fe21e53a19a0e24932d2083b7f5c |access-date=30 December 2020}}</ref>

USNS ''Silas Bent'' was transferred under the Security Assistance Program to the [[Republic of Turkey]] 29 September 1999 and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 28 October 1999.<ref name=DANFS/>

==Turkish service==
As TCG ''Çeșme'' (A-599) the ship continued work as a hydrographic and oceanographic survey ship and was joined by sister ship USNS ''Elisha Kent Kane'' (T-AGS-27) which was renamed ''Çandarli'' (A-588).<ref>{{cite web |last=Priolo |first=Gary P. |title=USNS Silas Bent (T-AGS-26) |publisher=NavSource Online |date=12 January 2018 |url=http://www.navsource.org/archives/09/10/1026.htm |access-date=30 December 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Priolo |first=Gary P. |title=USNS Elisha Kent Kane (T-AGS-27) |publisher=NavSource Online |date=17 November 2017 |url=http://www.navsource.org/archives/09/10/1027.htm |access-date=30 December 2020}}</ref>

==Honors and awards==
Qualified ''Silas Bent'' personnel were eligible for the following:
*[[Navy Battle "E" Ribbon]]
*[[National Defense Service Medal]]

==References==
{{reflist}}
*{{DANFS}}

==See also==
{{commons category-inline|IMO 7738527}}
*[http://www.navsource.org/archives/09/10/1026.htm NavSource: USNS Silas Bent (T-AGS-26)]
*[http://www.navsource.org/archives/09/10/1026i.htm NavSource: USNS Silas Bent (T-AGS-26) Introduction Brochure]
*[[United States Navy]]
*[[Oceanography]]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Silas Bent}}
[[Category:Ships built in Lorain, Ohio]]
[[Category:1964 ships]]
[[Category:Cold War auxiliary ships of the United States]]
[[Category:Survey ships of the United States Navy]]
[[Category:Oceanographic research ships of the United States Navy]]
[[Category:Ships transferred from the United States Navy to the Turkish Navy]]