TS GOLDEN BEAR
March 12, 2026 | Mare Island, Vallejo, California
TS Golden Bear was docked at Mare Island in Vallejo on March 12, 2026, during a temporary relocation from the Cal Poly Maritime Academy campus. The nearly 500-foot training ship had been moved to Mare Island for the spring 2026 semester while work continued on the academy’s pier, allowing cadets to continue their hands-on shipboard training before the vessel’s final Summer Sea Term later that year.
The current TS Golden Bear has served as the primary training ship for California’s maritime academy since 1996. Originally built for the U.S. Navy as the oceanographic survey ship USNS Maury, she was converted into a floating classroom where generations of cadets received practical experience in navigation, engineering, ship operations, and maritime leadership.
Information List
Name: TS Golden Bear
Operator: Cal Poly Maritime Academy
Former Name: USNS Maury (T-AGS-39)
Year Launched: 1987
Year Delivered: 1989
Training Service: 1996 to 2026
Shipyard: Bethlehem Steel, Sparrows Point, Maryland
Type: Training Ship
Length: 499 feet 10 inches (152.35 meters)
Beam: 72 feet (21.95 meters)
Draft: 30 feet 6 inches (9.29 meters)
Gross Tonnage: 12,517 GT
Full Load Displacement: 15,821 tons
Propulsion: Twin diesel engines, single propeller
Power: 17,000 shaft horsepower
Speed: Approximately 20 knots
IMO Number: 8834407
History and Features
Construction and Naval Service:
The ship was originally constructed for the U.S. Navy as the hydrographic survey vessel USNS Maury.
Her keel was laid at Bethlehem Steel in Sparrows Point, Maryland, on July 29, 1986.
She was launched on September 4, 1987, and delivered to the Navy on March 31, 1989.
USNS Maury was designed to survey and map the deep ocean floor.
At the time of her construction, she was one of the largest and fastest oceanographic survey ships built.
The vessel left Navy service in 1994 and was transferred to the U.S. Maritime Administration.
Conversion to Golden Bear:
The former Maury was converted for use as a maritime training vessel with modifications to her accommodations and educational spaces.
She was transferred to the California Maritime Academy on May 4, 1996.
Renamed TS Golden Bear, she became the academy’s fourth training ship and the third vessel to carry the Golden Bear name.
The ship replaced the previous Golden Bear, which had served the academy from 1971 until 1995.
Her large, box-shaped superstructure also earned her the nickname “Square Bear.”
Training and Summer Sea Term:
TS Golden Bear serves as a working classroom and laboratory for maritime cadets.
Students receive practical experience on the bridge, in the engine room, and throughout the vessel.
Training includes navigation, engineering, maintenance, watchstanding, emergency response, small boat operations, and shipboard leadership.
Each year, the Summer Sea Term takes cadets to sea for extended training voyages and international port visits.
The vessel has also supported research, including the testing and evaluation of ballast water treatment systems.
Mare Island in 2026:
During spring 2026, TS Golden Bear was temporarily relocated from the academy’s normal waterfront berth to Mare Island in Vallejo.
The move was necessary while a pier expansion project continued at the Cal Poly Maritime Academy campus.
The Mare Island location allowed cadets to continue using the ship for classes and hands-on training during the spring semester.
The ship was docked at Mare Island when photographed on March 12, 2026.
The location also provided an interesting connection with the history of the Golden Bear name. The first Golden Bear, originally the U.S. Navy attack cargo ship Mellena, was decommissioned at Mare Island in 1946 before being transferred to the academy.
Final Summer Sea Term:
The 2026 Summer Sea Term marked the final training voyage for TS Golden Bear after 30 years of service with the academy.
She departed Vallejo on May 8, 2026.
The voyage included visits to San Diego, Tahiti, Fiji, Honolulu, and Los Angeles before returning to Vallejo on July 6.
More than 280 cadets participated in the final voyage, receiving practical training aboard the ship as she crossed the Pacific.
A new National Security Multi-Mission Vessel, Training Ship Golden State, is scheduled to replace Golden Bear as the academy’s primary training vessel.
Legacy:
TS Golden Bear served California’s maritime academy for 30 years, from 1996 through 2026.
Thousands of cadets received practical maritime training aboard the vessel during her three decades as a floating classroom.
Her career is unusual because she began as a specialized U.S. Navy oceanographic survey ship before being converted for maritime education.
The ship continued a training tradition that dates to the academy’s earliest vessels and became closely associated with maritime education in California.
Her final Summer Sea Term in 2026 brought three decades of training voyages aboard Golden Bear to a close.
