RV Knorr

History
United States
Launched	August 21, 1968
Acquired	April 15, 1970 (delivered to Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)
In service	1970
Out of service	2016
Renamed	Rio Tecolutla
Homeport	Woods Hole, Massachusetts
Identification	IMO number: 7738618; Callsign: XCWM;
Fate	Transferred to Mexican Navy, 14 March 2016
General characteristics
Type	Research vessel
Tonnage	2,518 GT
Displacement	2,685 long tons
Length	279 ft (85 m)
Beam	46 ft (14 m)
Draught	16 ft 6 in (5.03 m)
Installed power	3 × 1,100 kW (1,500 hp); 1 × 560 kW (750 hp);
Propulsion	2 × Lips electric azimuth thrusters (2 × 1,500 shp); Lips retractable azimuth bow thruster (900 shp);
Speed	11 knots (20 km/h; 13 mph)
Range	12,000 nautical miles (22,000 km)
Endurance	60 days
Complement	22 crew; 32 scientists; 2 technicians;
Sensors &; processing systems	Side-scan sonar

RV Knorr was a research vessel formerly owned by the U.S. Navy and operated by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution for the U.S. research community in coordination with and as a part of the University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System (UNOLS) fleet. On March 14, 2016, Knorr was officially transferred to the Mexican Navy and renamed Rio Tecolutla. She was replaced at Woods Hole by the RV Neil Armstrong. Knorr is best known as the ship that supported researchers as they discovered the wreck of the RMS Titanic in 1985. R/V Knorr (AGOR-15) has traveled more than a million miles—the rough equivalent of two round trips to the Moon or forty trips around the Earth. Her sister ship is the RV Melville.