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NavSource Online: Army Ship Photo Archive

USACE Dredge Wheeler


International Radio Call Sign:
Alpha - Echo - Quebec - Zulu
 AEQZ
Self-propelled Trailing Suction Hopper Dredge:
  • Built in 1980-81 at Avondale Shipyard, New Orleans LA
  • Launched, 18 February 1981
  • Commissioned and placed in service by the US Army Corps of Engineers, as USACE Wheeler, 17 September in 1982
  • Assigned to the US Army Corps of Engineers New Orleans District
  • Wheeler keeps channels clear along the Gulf of Mexico Coast from Key West, Fl., to Brownsville, TX. She spends most of her time in the Southwest Pass of the Mississippi River
  • Wheeler is kept in Ready Reserve Status, capable of responding to an urgent dredging requirement in three days
  • Current Disposition, active in ready reserve status
    Specifications:
    Displacement 10,164 t.(lt) 19,031 t.(fl)
    Length 408'3"
    Beam 78'
    Height keel to top of mast 156 ft
    Hull Depth 36'
    Draft 29'6' loaded
    Speed unknown
    Range 14.4 kts
    Complement 38 mariners divided into two alternating crews, two weeks on /two weeks off, operating 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
    Fuel Capacity unknown
    Propulsion
    two main propulsion 19,400 total hp
    two 800 hp diesel bowthrusters
    two controllable pitch propellers
    Full Load Capacity 8,256 cubic yds
    Dredging Machinery
    Drag arms, two oversize @28" diameter, one centerwell @42" diameter
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		Size Image Description Source
    wheeler
    302617707    		 165k
    Namesake
    George Montague Wheeler (October 9, 1842 – May 3, 1905) was an American pioneering explorer and cartographer, leader of the Wheeler Survey, one of the major surveys of the western United States in the late nineteenth century.    		 Tommy Trampp
    wheeler
    302617701    		 76k USACE Wheeler at anchor near the mouth of the Mississippi River, date unknown
    US Army Corp of Engineers New Orleans District    		 John Spivey
    wheeler
    302617702    		 207k USACE Wheeler underway near New Orleans, 18 April 2021.
    US Army Corp of Engineers New Orleans District photo # 210428-A-QA756-0012, by Sarah Davis    		  
    wheeler
    302617703    		 114k USACE Wheeler moored in her berth, 18 April 2021, at New Orleans
    US Army Corp of Engineers New Orleans District photo # 210428-A-QA756-0006, by Sarah Davis    		  
    wheeler
    302617704    		 47k USACE Wheeler moored, circa 1981 at New Orleans
    US Army Corps of Engineers photo    		 US Army Corp of Engineers Digital Library
    wheeler
    302617705    		 71k USACE Wheeler port side drag-arm while moored, circa 1981 at New Orleans
    US Army Corp of Engineers photo    		 US Army Corps of Engineers Digital Library
    wheeler
    302617706    		 93k USACE Wheeler in World Marine’s Mobile Alabama drydock, 19 September 2017
    World Marine of Alabama photo posted by Eric Haun, courtesy Marine Line, 24 October 2022    		 Tommy Trampp
    wheeler
    302617708    		 63k USACE Wheeler tied up in Detyens Shipyard, Charleston, S.C., date unknown
    Photo from www.flickriver.com by Zane Johnson    		 John Spivey
    There is no history available for USACE Wheeler at NavSource
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 1 September 2023