The R/V Connecticut is a 76′ steel single screw research vessel that was designed and built for the University of Connecticut in 1998 and is outfitted for year-round coastal service. The vessel can accommodate up to 30 people for day trips and up to 12 people for overnight and extended science missions of 7-10 days duration. The vessel is equipped with a dynamic positioning system connected to bow and stern thrusters. The vessel design favors stability and precise low speed handling and positioning. Vessel features include wet and dry laboratory spaces and a mid-ship mounted, 20″ diameter instrument wet well which allows transducers or sampling gear to be installed through a main deck access hatch with conduit connection to the dry laboratory and reconfigurable transducer/equipment mounts. Science vans up to 20′ in length can be placed on the large work deck and a full suite of deck machinery is available to perform a wide variety of oceanographic tasks.