RV Thomas G. Thompson (AGOR-23) is an oceanographic research vessel and lead ship of her class, owned by the United States Office of Naval Research and operated under a bareboat charterparty agreement by the University of Washington as part of the University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System (UNOLS) fleet.

The United States Navy issued bid solicitations to the shipbuilding industry for a new oceanographic research vessel on May 27, 1987.

The generators, in turn, power two 3,000 hp DC electric motors which provide the ship's main propulsion.

The ship also has a 360-degree azimuth Tees White Gill water jet bow thruster driven by a separate 1,100 hp DC motor.

[10] Her fuel tanks can hold up to 280,000 US gallons (1,100,000 L) giving her an unrefueled range of 12,000 nautical miles (22,000 km; 14,000 mi) at 15 knots.

[13] To support her research activities she has 4,000 square feet (370 m2) of wet and dry laboratory space, multi-beam mapping sonar and other sensors, and a number of cranes and winches to lower and tow various instruments.

[1] Among the qualifications for bidders specified by the Office of Naval Research was the return of an earlier generation AGOR-3-class oceanographic vessel that the Navy could retire when the new ship was delivered.

Thomas G. Thompson is designed for long-endurance research missions in deep ocean waters and typically spends 260 to 300 days a year at sea.

While the civilian crew is assigned to the ship permanently, the scientists rotate aboard in support of specific research programs.

The project ultimately cost $52 million, jointly funded by the Office of Naval Research, the National Science Foundation, and the University of Washington.