NOAA Ship Ronald H Brown Ron Brown Ronald H Brown RHB 2012-01-18 creation Ronald Brown (RB) At 274 ft and displacing more than 3,200 tons, the NOAA Ship Ronald H. Brown is the flagship of the NOAA fleet. Named in memory of a former the U.S. Department of Commerce Secretary who perished in a plane crash in 1996, the ship is a state-of-the-art oceanographic and atmospheric research platform. The Ron Brown, as it is commonly and fondly known, is equipped with an array of advanced instruments and sensors. From its home port in Charleston, South Carolina, the ship has sailed the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans, conducting scientific studies to increase our understanding of the world's marine environment. The Ron Brown carries a complement of 5 NOAA Corps officers, 20 crew members, and can accommodate up to 33 scientists. The crew's primary responsibilities involve day-to-day operations. This includes routine data collection and management tasks related to the ship's mission as a scientific research platform.