The U.S. Office of Naval Research owns a very strange piece of oceanographic equipment.
It is actually a huge specialized buoy.
The most unusual thing about this ship is it really flips.
When the tanks are filled with air, FLIP floats in its horizontal position.
During the flip, everyone stands on the outside decks.
As FLIP flips, the decks slowly become bulkheads and the bulkhead becomes the deck.
![flip-ship-10[4]](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggNYwjoe-bqWT8k3cTXlKSqLmO6fOLD-Y5nb7fs2GZzehLETBzeSKK_5xfWyNqSEwKbCyv0icXZ2G735k7PmExfdFfRPq5SnSzho3POk6zChzZWgv92LVtCMu_FrNAJxiQDk11r51ya3B1/?imgmax=800)
Some of FLIP’s furnishings are built so they can rotate to a new position as FLIP flips.
Other equipment must be unbolted and moved.
The entire flip operation takes twenty-eight minutes.
When FLIP stands vertically, it rises more than five stories into the air.
FLIP was created 50 years ago, in 1962, by two Scripps scientists, Drs.
Ships were unsuitable as they bob up and down and roll side to side.
Because of the potential interference with the acoustic instruments, FLIP has no engines or other means of propulsion.
It must be towed to open water, where it drifts freely or is anchored.
When FLIP is in its vertical position it is both extremely stable and quiet.
Fisher and Spiess completed their first tests, many other important data have been gathered using FLIP.
Related:The Fantastic Sinking Boat by Julien Berthier
Sources:1,2
