The survey detachment from the Naval Oceanographic Office (NAVOCEANO) and the crew aboard USNS Maury (T-AGS 66) commemorated the 74th anniversary of the Battle of Midway with a wreath-laying ceremony during the ship's maiden voyage June 5.

Maury traveled from the shipyard in Pascagoula, Mississippi, where it was constructed, to Port Everglades near Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.

During the ceremony the ship's master, Capt. Timothy Carmichael, explained the history of the battle. Midway is widely known as the turning point in the Pacific, and saw the U.S. get on the offensive end of World War II. A moment of silence was observed for the lives lost and the families left behind, and a wreath was lowered overboard in their memory.

"It's important for our Navy to remember where it's been, in order to look toward the future," said Senior NAVOCEANO Representative Terry Duvieihl. "Those Sailors and their families paid the ultimate price and we honor them today."

Maury was named for Matthew Fontaine Maury, known as the "Pathfinder of the Seas" and father of oceanography, and is the U.S. Navy's newest oceanographic survey ship to join the T-AGS Pathfinder-class ships. The ship is one of six operated by the Military Sealift Command and under the technical control of NAVOCEANO.

NAVOCEANO -- comprised of approximately 800 military, civilian and contractor personnel -- uses a variety of platforms including ships, aircraft, satellite sensors, buoys and unmanned underwater vehicles to collect oceanographic and hydrographic data from the world's oceans.

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