USS Discovery (tanker)

The U.S.S. Discovery KSNM-3* was an oil tanker used to secretly transport the first Metal Gear RAY prototype for offshore testing. It was run by a computer, so it required relatively little manpower for it to be used.

The Discovery was guarded by the Marine Corps led by Commandant Scott Dolph. As the tanker passed down the Hudson River, Sergei Gurlukovich's mercenary army, along with Revolver Ocelot, staged a siege of the tanker. The Russian soldiers eliminated much of the light presence of the guarding Marines in the decks and effectively had the ship under their control, save for the holds where the majority of the Marine Corps as well as Dolph were stationed. The Marines had no idea their ship was under siege at this time.

At the same time, Solid Snake infiltrated the tanker, intent on capturing photographic evidence of Metal Gear RAY's existence. Shortly after infiltrating the ship, Snake fought the daughter of Sergei Gurlukovich, Olga. Now because of the introduction of a CYPHER-T, Snake and Dr. Emmerich (Otacon) learned that not only the Marines and the Russians were after the new Metal Gear, the Army was involved also. He witnessed the Russian takeover and despite the Russians having superior numbers and firepower, Snake managed to get to the holds where the Marines were in massive numbers. He infiltrated the holds until the last hold where Metal Gear RAY was held. After sending the photos of RAY to Otacon, the Gurlukovich Mercenaries led by Sergei and Ocelot came, holding the Marines hostage in the third hold. However, Ocelot betrayed Sergei and killed both the later and Scott Dolph as well as activating the Semtex bombs planted in the ship. When Snake rushed to Ocelot, Liquid Snake possessed Ocelot then commandeered RAY and devastated the hangar. The remaining Marines fought back while others desperately tried to escape. The ones that fought were easily wiped out as their weapons had no effect and the ones who tried escaping were either killed in the explosions or drowned.

RAY smashed the tanker in half before diving into the water, leaving the wreck of the Discovery floating on the river. At the time Ocelot was the only one known to have survived.

Following the sinking of the U.S.S. Discovery the Big Shell was constructed at the site to supposedly clean up after the wreck. Snake and Otacon's actions were also labeled as environmental terrorism (and marked as history's worst ever) by the Patriots-run media. Both kept quiet and underground until the Big Shell Incident began.

Crew: 164 Marines (plus a crew of about 20.)

Behind the Scenes
According to the original game plan as well as Hideo Kojima, the U.S.S. Discovery was originally supposed to be an Aircraft Carrier, and was also given the secret name of "Arsenal Ship." Also, one of the reasons for the Big Blue Apple's creation was to recover the sunken Arsenal Ship namely for valuable data for the Arsenal Gear project. The name of the on-board computer of the U.S.S. Discovery, the Monorith, was a reference to the Monolith from 2001: A Space Odyssey

Appearances

 * Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty

U.S.S. Discovery (buque)