Alcyone is a ship launched at La Rochelle in 1985 for the Cousteau Society. Alcyone was created as an expedition ship and to test the operation of a new kind of marine propulsion system, the turbosail. Alcyone's two turbosails augment its diesel engines. Since the accidental sinking of Calypso, Alcyone has been the Cousteau Society's expedition vessel.
![]() Turbosail ship Alcyone in harbour
| |
History | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Name | Alcyone |
Namesake | Alcyone |
Owner | Cousteau Society |
Port of registry | La Rochelle, ![]() |
Builder | Ateliers & Chantiers La Rochelle Pallice |
Yard number | 1238 |
Launched | 1985[1] |
Completed | 1985 |
Homeport | Concarneau, Brittany, France[2] |
Identification |
|
General characteristics | |
Type | Research ship |
Length | 103 ft (31.4 m)[1] |
Beam | 29 ft (8.8 m)[1] |
Draught | 7 ft 8 in (2.3 m)[1] |
Sail plan | |
Speed | 10.5 knots (19.4 km/h; 12.1 mph)[1] |
Crew | 12[1] |
Alcyone in popular culture edit
- John Denver wrote a short song called "Alcyone The Wind" as a tribute to Alcyone. The song was sung in the 1993 documentary Secret Societies of Dolphins and Whales.
References edit
- ^ a b c d e f g "Alcyone and Turbosail" (PDF). toledoseaport.org. 2012. Retrieved 1 October 2012.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Alcyone". cousteau.org. 2014. Archived from the original on 1 February 2017. Retrieved 1 October 2014.
External links edit
Wikimedia Commons has media related to IMO 8412833.
- Cousteau Society's ship page for the Alcyone
- Jean-Charles Nahon (Naval Architect Bureau Mauric) and Bernard Deguy (First captain of Alcyone): Experience with sail assisted propulsion: the Alcyone (presentation slides, 2013. PDF, 13 MB)
- Description of Turbosail
- "Description of Turbosail" (PDF). Cousteau Society. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-09-27.