I just watched a nice real-world example of a research vessel's refit. The vessel is the late Jacques-Yves Cousteau's Calypso. On the "River Explorations" DVD set (which is cheap used at Amazon), there's an episode about the ship's complete re-fit before the beginning of the Amazon expedition.
The Calypso started out as a WWII mine sweeper and then a ferry before Cousteau converted her to a research ship. By the time the episode was filmed, the wooden ship was almost 40 years old and hard used, so nearly every system had to be re-furbed or replaced. So you get to see just about every section of the ship (engine room, bridge, radio room, crew's quarters, etc.), plus all the new underwater equipment and vehicles that they tested for the Amazon voyage.
Very cool stuff, at least if you're a travel and expedition geek like me, and easily translatable to Traveller!
The Calypso started out as a WWII mine sweeper and then a ferry before Cousteau converted her to a research ship. By the time the episode was filmed, the wooden ship was almost 40 years old and hard used, so nearly every system had to be re-furbed or replaced. So you get to see just about every section of the ship (engine room, bridge, radio room, crew's quarters, etc.), plus all the new underwater equipment and vehicles that they tested for the Amazon voyage.
Very cool stuff, at least if you're a travel and expedition geek like me, and easily translatable to Traveller!
