Dick Nelson News

Richard "Dick" Nelson, co-founder of shipbuilding and repair yard Dakota Creek Industries, has passed away after a battle with cancer. He was 78.Nelson began his shipbuilding career in 1963 at Weldcraft Steel Works, a shipyard in Bellingham, Wash. before going on to co-found Post Point Shipyard and then Dakota Creek Industries.When Post Point Shipyard was sold, Nelson co-founded Dakota Creek Industries as a ship repair yard in Blaine, Wash., in 1975. Two years later, Dakota Creek moved to Anacortes…

Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus named the 'R/V Sally Ride' to honor the memory of Sally Ride, a scientist, innovator and educator. Ride was the first American woman and the youngest person in space. She later served as director of NASA’s Office of Exploration as well as the California Space Institute at University of California San Diego. “The christening of this ship is not only a celebration of the hard work and dedication of the men and women who have brought this vessel from an idea to a reality, but also of the spirit of exploration and discovery shared by Sally Ride and the United States Navy,” said Mabus. The Neil Armstrong-class…

On March 29, the Ocean Class Auxiliary General Oceanographic Research (AGOR) vessel hull number 27 started its official life as the R/V Neil Armstrong, the first research vessel named after a space explorer. Carol Armstrong, the widow of the famed astronaut, performed the christening duties during a brief sunbreak on a windy and rainy Pacific Northwest afternoon. The number of illustrious speakers highlighted the rich diversity of agencies involved in the design, construction and operation of the vessel.

On August 17, 2012, the keel laying and dedication ceremony for AGOR-27 and 28, the first two of a new class of advanced Oceanographic Research Vessels, took place at Dakota Creek Industries (DCI) in Anacortes, WA. Naval Architecture & Marine Engineering firm Guido Perla & Associates, Inc. (GPA) designed this vessel during a Phase I design competition. GPA is now providing detail and production engineering for DCI throughout the construction phase. The $145 million Navy-owned vessels…