NOAA Launches World-class Fisheries Research Ship

Jeanne Kouhestani
NOAA Office of Marine and Aviation Operations

December 4, 2008 — NOAA Ship Bell M. Shimada was christened and launched with great fanfare at the VT Halter Marine shipyard in Moss Point, Miss., on Sept. 26.  The Shimada will become operational next year.  With the launch of this last of four new fisheries vessels of the same design, NOAA’s fleet recapitalization program passed a significant milestone.
 

Bell M. Shimada was named in 2007 by a team of students from Marina (Calif.) High School, who submitted the winning essay for NOAA’s regional ship naming contest.  Bell M. Shimada was an eminent fishery research biologist who made a distinctive mark in the study of Pacific tropical tuna stocks. Bell Shimada’s son Allen has been a fisheries biologist with NOAA since 1980 and is currently the national fisheries vessel coordinator with the NMFS Office of Science and Technology. In addition, the ship’s sponsor is Susan E. Lautenbacher, an educator and NOAA enthusiast, as well as the wife of NOAA’s former Administrator, Vice Admiral Conrad C. Lautenbacher, Jr.

The Shimada launch was the last ship milestone event attended by VADM Lautenbacher before his resignation, and will likely remain the most memorable for him. As Mrs. Lautenbacher christened the ship, she struck an unyielding bottle against the hull several times before the bottle broke and sprayed champagne all over her and VT Halter CEO Butch King.  Julie Shimada, daughter of Bell Shimada, stood with them on the christening platform as the ship’s Matron of Honor (an honorary title used by the Navy for christenings, often for a family member of the ship’s namesake), designated as such by Mrs. Lautenbacher. Both women were presented bouquets of roses by King. 

A few minutes later the ship was cut loose from the launchway and slid sideways into the water. She bounced back upright amidst the cheers of the onlookers, who included members of the Lautenbacher and Shimada families, as well as two of the students who named the ship.   

The christening and launch were preceded by remarks by VADM Lautenbacher, Mrs. Lautenbacher, and Julie Shimada. Ms. Shimada’s remarks were particularly moving as she spoke of the emptiness left by her father’s death when she was just six months old. She said that despite her father’s short life and brief career, his accomplishments proved that one person can make a difference.

OMAO Director RADM Jon Bailey, NMFS Deputy Assistant Administrator John Oliver, and CDR (Sel.) Todd Bridgeman, the Shimada’s prospective commanding officer, were also on the dais.