USS Oceanographer ( AGS - 3 ) USS " Oceanographer " ( AGS - 3 ) was a survey ship of the United States Navy during World War II that produced charts chiefly of passages in the Solomon Islands area of the Pacific Ocean . Upon transfer to the Navy , she had initially been named and classed as gunboat USS " Natchez " ( PG - 85 ) . Before her World War II Navy service , she had been USC & GS " Oceanographer " ( OSS - 26 ) , a survey ship with the U . S . Coast and Geodetic Survey from 1930 . From her launch in 1899 to 1930 , she had been Corsair , a private steam yacht of American industrialist J . P . Morgan , Jr . , except for a brief period during World War I . During that conflict , the United States Navy chartered her as patrol vessel USS " Corsair " ( SP - 159 ) . She accompanied the American Expeditionary Force to France in 1917 and largely patrolled off the west coast of that country . After putting in for needed repairs in June 1944 , " Oceanographer " , after further inspection , was instead decommissioned in September and broken up for scrap . World War I . " Corsair " was built in 1899 by W . & A . Fletcher Co . , Hoboken , New Jersey ; chartered by the Navy 15 May 1917 ; commissioned the same day , Lieutenant Commander T . A . Kittinger in command ; and reported to the Atlantic Fleet . " Corsair " sailed from New York 14 June 1917 with the first contingent of the American Expeditionary Force to France , arriving at Saint - Nazaire 27 June . On 2 July she stood out to join the U . S . Patrol Squadrons operating against enemy submarines and performing escort and patrol duties off the west coast of France . She crossed the war zone many times on convoy escort , and rescued survivors of torpedoed vessels . On 17 October 1917 , she assisted the torpedoed United States Army transport , picked up many of her survivors , and searched for the submarine which had attacked her . On 22 June 1918 , she rescued the survivors of Navy cargo ship , which had struck a mine , and adding to her outstanding rescue record , between 12 and 14 September , towed the disabled Norwegian steamer " Dagfin " into Verdon . " Corsair " cleared Brest 18 November 1918 , for operations in British waters , calling at Rosyth , Scotland , and Queenstown , Ireland , serving from time to time as flagship for Commander , U . S . Naval Forces in European Waters . She put in at Plymouth 7 May 1919 to embark Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels and his staff for transportation to Brest , sailing with them 8 May and arriving the same day . The dignitaries disembarked 9 May , and " Corsair " sailed the next day for New York by way of the Azores and Bermuda , arriving 28 May . " Corsair " was returned to her owner 9 June 1919 , once again becoming the private yacht " Corsair II " . United States Coast and Geodetic Survey career . The United States Coast and Geodetic Survey acquired " Corsair II " on 2 January 1930 and placed her in service as the survey ship USC & GS Oceanographer ( OSS - 26 ) . She operated along the United States East Coast until transferred to the U . S . Navy on 7 April 1942 for World War II service . World War II . " Oceanographer " was acquired by the Navy from the Coast and Geodetic Survey at Norfolk , Virginia on 7 April 1942 , briefly renamed " Natchez " ( PG - 85 ) ; renamed " Oceanographer " ( AGS - 3 ) ; rerigged and outfitted at Norfolk Shipbuilding and Drydock Co . for survey duty ; and commissioned 15 August . Work was completed 28 August and Comdr . Henry B . Campbell , USCGS , assumed command , with Lt . Comdr . Myron W . Graybill , USN , as Executive Officer . After shakedown in the $ 3 , " Oceanographer " steamed for New York 3 October to join a convoy en route to Cristóbal , Canal Zone . She transited the Canal , and at San Pedro , California , reported for duty to . Upon completion of repairs at San Pedro , she got underway for Seattle . She encountered a severe storm off Astoria , Oregon , necessitating further repairs at Winslow Marine Railway Co . , Bainbridge Island , Washington . Proceeding to Kodiak via the Inside Passage , she reported to the Alaskan Command with no sound or radar gear , a very short cruising radius , and limited potable water capabilities , considered generally unsuitable for Aleutian duty . " Oceanographer " returned to Seattle 25 December 1942 for additional repairs . After towing an aircraft transportation lighter from Seattle to San Francisco , she was assigned to the Matson Navigation Co . for repairs . Comdr . Graybill assumed command 2 March 1943 and the following day " Oceanographer " got underway for Pearl Harbor , where sound gear was installed and necessary alterations made . The survey ship departed Pearl Harbor escorting several LST s and plotted a course for Nouméa , New Caledonia . As her first war zone assignment she surveyed Havannah Passage , New Caledonia . Upon completion of the Havannah Passage charts the ship made three other surveys in the vicinity of Nouméa , erecting numerous beacons and planting many buoys . On 1 November she proceeded to Guadalcanal via Espiritu Santo to produce charts of that island ' s northern coast . She also surveyed Munda Bar and neighboring anchorages at Munda , New Georgia , British Solomon Islands . At various times submarine chaser s and APC s assisted in the surveys and dispatched triangulation parties to islands in the vicinity . During her sixteen months in the South Pacific , " Oceanographer " produced fifteen charts , each requiring from one to three million soundings . Much of the data compiled was the first of any accuracy for the area , and it contributed greatly to the success of many amphibious operations . Ordered to Pearl Harbor 3 June 1944 for badly needed repairs , she was sent on to San Pedro , California 27 June . Upon completion of arrival inspection , it was decided to decommission and scrap her . " Oceanographer " decommissioned 22 September , was struck from the Navy Vessel Register 14 October , and , in accordance with the agreement executed with J . P . Morgan , Jr . , broken up for scrap .