USA As Represented by Secretary of the Navy

George T Stevens, Iv

Brandon J Wiedemeier

Jeffrey M Lloyd

Robert M Lee

Bret R Thomson

Steve Whiteside

Ronald Allen Skala

Steven J Horstman

A variable buoyancy buoy and method for deployment therefor can include a fixed buoyancy portion formed with a cavity and an enclosure. A pressure hull containing instrumentation can be place in the cavity, and a variable buoyancy portion that can be inserted into the enclosure. The fixed buoyancy portion can have a spar buoy configuration or a marker buoy configuration, and can further be formed with at least one opening to establish a path of fluid communication between the exterior of the buoy and the enclosure. The variable buoyancy portion can be a compressible bladder, or compressible foam, which can change form a maximum volume at the water surface to a minimum volume as the buoy descends towards stowage depth. The decrease in buoyancy facilitates retrieval of the buoy by an apparatus on the ocean floor.

Variable buoyancy buoy and deployment methods

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San Marcos, CA, United States of America

George T Stevens, Iv