Research vessels designed to collect quantitative data from the sea's surface, its depths, the sea floor, and the overlying atmosphere. The primary tool for obtaining oceanographic data has been the oceanographic vessel, which has a variety of forms and sizes. The ships can be general purpose or special purpose, and a conventional or radical design. Their primary purpose is to carry scientists and increasingly sophisticated equipment to and from study sites on the ocean's surface, and in some cases below the surface. The ships must have the ability to lower and retrieve instruments by using winches and wires. The ship's equipment and instrumentation must determine precisely the location on the sea surface, and provide suitable communication, data gathering, archiving, and computational facilities for the scientific party.