 USNSImpeccable | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 U.S. | |
| Name | Impeccable |
| Owner | United States Navy |
| Operator | Military Sealift Command |
| Builder | American Shipbuilding,Tampa, Florida |
| Laid down | 15 March 1992 |
| Completed | at Halter Marine Inc.,Gulfport, Mississippi, in 1995 |
| Launched | 28 August 1998 |
| In service | 22 March 2001 |
| Identification | |
| Honors and awards | National Defense Service Medal |
| Status | in active service |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Impeccable-classocean surveillance ship |
| Displacement | 5,368 tons |
| Length | 281 ft 5 in (85.78 m) |
| Beam | 95 ft 8 in (29.16 m) |
| Draft | 26 ft (7.9 m) |
| Propulsion | diesel-electric, two shafts, 5,000shp |
| Speed | 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph) |
| Complement | 25 civilian mariners, 25 military |
| Sensors and processing systems | SURTASS passive and active low frequencysonar arrays |
USNSImpeccable (T-AGOS-23) is anImpeccable-classocean surveillance ship acquired by theU.S. Navy in 2001 and assigned toMilitary Sealift Command'sSpecial Missions Program.
Impeccable was built byAmerican Shipbuilding,Tampa, Florida. The contract was awarded on 28 March 1991. The ship's keel was laid down on 15 March 1992, but the Tampa shipyards went bankrupt by November 1993.[1] On 3 December 1992, the General Accounting Office published a report that concluded that T-AGOS 24–27 should not be built.[2] Shortly afterwards the government decided to discontinue this class of ships, butImpeccable was to be completed as the sole ship in her class. The hull was towed toGulfport, Mississippi, in 1995 where she was finished by Halter Marine Inc.[3] She was launched on 28 August 1998 and was delivered to the Navy on 22 March 2001 which assigned her to theMilitary Sealift Command (MSC)Special Missions Program.[4]
The ship is a designatedT-AGOS vessel built to tow aSurveillance Towed Array Sensor System. The ship'scatamaran-typesmall waterplane area twin hull (SWATH) design prevents the vessel from rolling in heavy seas and gives additional deck space for storing the acoustic equipment.[5]
The mission ofImpeccable is to directly support the Navy by usingSURTASS passive and active low frequencysonar arrays to detect and track undersea threats.[citation needed]
On 5 March 2009,Impeccable was in theSouth China Sea monitoring submarine activity[8] when it was approached by aPeople's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN)frigate, which crossed her bow at a range of approximately 100 yards without first making contact. This was followed less than two hours later by a ChineseY-12 aircraft, conducting 11 flyovers ofImpeccable at an altitude of 600 feet (180 m) and a range from 100–300 feet (30–90 m). The frigate then crossedImpeccable's bow again, this time at a range of approximately 400–500 yards.[9][10]
On 7 March, a Chinese intelligence ship contactedImpeccable over bridge-to-bridge radio, calling her operations illegal and directingImpeccable to leave the area or "suffer the consequences."[11]
On 8 March 2009,Impeccable was 75 miles south ofHainan, China, when it was shadowed by five Chinese ships: a Bureau of Maritime Fisheries Patrol Vessel, aState Oceanic Administration patrol vessel, a PLA Navy ocean surveillance ship, and two Chinese-flaggednaval trawlers, which maneuvered close toImpeccable, with two closing in to 50 feet (15 m), waving Chinese flags, and orderingImpeccable from the area.[12][13]Impeccable sprayed water at one of the nearest Chinese ships; the Chinese sailors stripped down to their underwear and their vessel closed in to within 25 feet of the American ship. Shortly after the incident,Impeccable radioed the Chinese crews, informing them of her intentions to leave the area, and requesting a safe pass to travel. When she was trying to leave the area, the two Chinese trawlers dropped pieces of wood inImpeccable's path and stopped directly in front of her, forcing her to do anemergency stop to avoid a collision.[14][15] OnceImpeccable got under way, the crew aboard one of the trawlers used a grappling hook to try to snagImpeccable's towed sonar array.[16]
The United States lodged formal protests following the incident, stating that under international law, the U.S. military can conduct activities "in waters beyond the territorial sea of another state without prior notification or consent" including in anexclusive economic zone of another country. "The unprofessional maneuvers by Chinese vessels violated the requirement under international law to operate with due regard for the rights and safety of other lawful users of the ocean."[15][17] China's Foreign Ministry responded that the Pentagon's complaints that five Chinese vessels had harassedImpeccable were "totally inaccurate",[18][19] although this claim was disputed by several released reports, which all state thatImpeccable was interfered with numerous times, both while operating in the area and when attempting to leave.[20][21][22]
On 12 March 2009, U.S. PresidentBarack Obama gave the go-ahead to send theguided missile destroyerUSS Chung-Hoon to the South China Sea to protectImpeccable while operating in that area.[23][24][25]
Hans M. Kristensen of theFederation of American Scientists has suggested that the incident may be related to the classifiedType 093 submarine that the Chinese navy had recently deployed in the area.[26]
The United States maintains that the Convention, which it has signed, but not yet ratified, authorizes activities such as those undertaken byImpeccable.[18][27][28] Several legal experts also state that there is no legal foundation for China's claim that it can prevent foreign naval vessels from operating within its Exclusive Economic Zone. For example, Raul Pedrozo, writing in theChinese Journal of International Law, concludes that "all nations may legitimately engage in military activities in foreign exclusive economic zones, without prior notice to, or consent of, the coastal State concerned."[29][30] On the contrary, Chinese officials assert that the operations are illegal. Rear AdmiralWang Dengping, political commissar of the Armament Department of theChinese Navy, condemnedImpeccable's activities, stating that "Innocent passage by naval vessels from other countries in theTerritorial waters in theSpecial Economic Zone is acceptable, but not allowed otherwise"[31] under the Convention. Chinese actions were further defended by Professor Ji Guoxing ofShanghai Jiao Tong University who, writing inChina Security, maintained that under the Convention, navigation rights in coastal countries' exclusive economic zones are "subject to the resource-related and environment-related laws and regulations of the coastal state," and China could excludeImpeccable on this basis. Ji further asserted that the Convention's prohibition against gathering military intelligence in another country's territorial waters should be interpreted to also prohibit intelligence gathering in coastal countries' exclusive economic zones.[32]
On July 19, 2015 while en route for a scheduled port visit toSubic Bay, USNSImpeccable (T-AGOS 23) rescued 11 fishermen.Impeccable sailors spotted personnel on a partially submerged ship and noted debris in the water. "They [Impeccable crew] initially spotted only eight people on the partially submerged vessel," said Lt. Cory Hilgart, the theater anti-submarine watch officer at Commander, Task Force 74. "They then realized that it was actually 11 and made the call to commence the rescue effort."Impeccable's master immediately deemed assistance was required and began preparations to deploy theirrigid hull inflatable boat (RHIB) to rescue the personnel. "This was a team effort with civilian mariners, SECDET [security detachment], MILDET [military detachment] and Lockheed Martin working together to achieve an efficient rescue of all 11 fishermen," said Robert Wiechert, Master ofImpeccable. The RHIB made three trips to the distressed vessel and recovered all eleven individuals. "One of the crew members spoke English," said Hilgart. "He told theImpeccable crew that they were fishermen from the Subic Bay region. He confirmed that there were only 11 on board." Once the mariners were brought aboardImpeccable, they were examined by medical personnel and given food and water. No serious injuries or illnesses were reported. Shortly afterImpeccable arrived in port in Subic Bay, July 20, the mariners were turned over to thePhilippine Coast Guard.[33][34]
This article includes information collected from theNaval Vessel Register, which, as a U.S. government publication, is in thepublic domain. The entry can be foundhere.
