Kenmore Air Seaplane Rises past the USNS Assertive

10/30/2014 ~ Kenmore Air Seaplane Rises past the USNS Assertive (T-AGOS-9) ~ Seattle Maritime Academy ~ Docked on Lake Union, Eastlake Neighborhood, Seattle, WA

Left work and ran over to REI to pick up a lightweight LED flashlight for use in the near future while out at night taking photographs for the blip of the day. By time I left the store it had started raining so I dropped by the south end of Lake Union in the Eastlake Neighborhood to capture some image for the blip of the day. As I arrive the Kenmore Air Seaplane was just taking off and grabbed a quick image. It turned out to be the one I like best, and a few of the others can be seen here.

I found this brief history of the 'Assertive' on Wikipedia.

USNS Assertive (T-AGOS-9) was a Stalwart class Modified Tactical Auxiliary General Ocean Surveillance Ship of the United States Navy.

NOAA acquired Ex-USNS Assertive from the United States Navy on 31 March 2004, intending to replace NOAA David Starr Jordan R444 after the Assertive underwent a conversion for research use to be completed by 2008. The planned NOAA conversion was never carried out because a study conducted by NOAA determined that building a new ship was more cost effective than converting the Assertive and on December 11, 2008 title was transferred from NOAA to MARAD, then transferred on December 17, 2008 from MARAD to the Seattle Maritime Academy. The Seattle Maritime Academy intended to utilize the ship for 30-day at-sea training cruises during the summer months. During the rest of the year, the Assertive would be a dock side engineering laboratory. As of Summer 2009 the Assertive was off limits to students at SMA. Inspection by Instructors and students shows that critical electrical systems are missing and shore power is limited to a section of the engine room.Sea birds have made a home in the bridge area.[3] As of October 2012, the Assertive has been listed for sale.

A beautiful day in Seattle with overcast and rain but the temperature is still quite comfortable. A lot to do at work today and if flew by.

Hope everyone had a wonderful day!

Life is Grand!