USS Albatross ( 1882 ) The second USS " Albatross " , often seen as " USFC Albatross " in scientific literature citations , was an iron - hulled , twin - screw steamer in the United States Navy and reputedly the first research vessel ever built especially for marine research . " Albatross " was laid down at Wilmington , Delaware , by Pusey and Jones in March 1882 ; launched on 19 August 1882 , and commissioned on 11 November 1882 , with Lt . Zera L . Tanner in command . Tanner , who had superintended the ship ' s design and construction , would command " Albatross " , a Navy - manned vessel assigned to the United States Fish Commission , a civilian government agency , for nearly 12 years . Early years . Following trial operations between Wilmington and Washington , D . C . from 30 December 1882 to 13 February 1883 , " Albatross " returned to her builder ' s yard for engine alterations . While steaming back to Washington , the ship experimented with her dredging equipment , and arrived at the nation ' s capital on 25 March 1883 . She left the Potomac River on 24 April and proceeded to Woods Hole , Massachusetts , which would serve as her base for several months of operations investigating the " migrations of mackerel , menhaden , and other migratory species . " During this period , she also made shorter dredging trips out of Woods Hole to the Gulf Stream and the tilefish grounds . Over the first months of 1884 , the steamer operated out of Norfolk , Virginia , and , at the Navy ' s request , conducted hydrographic work in the Caribbean , carrying out " biological investigations " afloat and ashore . From 12 July to 23 October 1884 , she operated principally between Woods Hole and the nation ' s capital , but also ranged from the Virginia capes to the Gulf of Maine . As she plied these waters , her embarked scientists observed the movements of surface fish , examined the former tilefish grounds , and studied the " influence of the Gulf Stream on bottom fauna . " While underway , she also made dredge hauls and conducted fishing trials . " At ( the ) service of the Secretary of the Navy " between 26 August and 2 September , " Albatross " participated in the review of the North Atlantic Squadron . The ship spent the first half of 1885 making cruises from Washington to Pensacola , Florida , and New Orleans , Louisiana , to look into the red - snapper banks and fisheries of the gulf . While visiting New Orleans from 20 February to 1 March 1885 , the vessel served as a major attraction in the Fish Commission exhibit at the International Exposition then being held in that city . For the latter part of the year , she cruised from Washington to Woods Hole , investigated the Grand Banks , off Newfoundland , and looked into the fishing bank s off the Virginia and Delaware capes . Early in 1886 , " Albatross " proceeded to the Bahamas on a fishery and hydrographic survey ; then spent the latter part of the year examining the cod and halibut banks off the Canadian Maritime provinces and dredging off Woods Hole . For much of 1887 , " Albatross " lay in port at either Washington or Baltimore , readying herself for a cruise to the $ 3 . Only one brief cruise interrupted these preparations . From 5 to 9 April , she steamed to Norfolk from the nation ' s capital to familiarize officers assigned to the steamer " Thetis " with the dredging equipment that their ship would carry in her voyage to the frigid waters of the North Pacific and $ 3 oceans . In the autumn , " Albatross " conducted a trial trip to test her newly installed boilers and then carried out sounding and dredging operations along the inner edge of the Gulf Stream . Then , following a month at Woods Hole , she proceeded via Washington to Norfolk , whence she got underway on 21 November 1887 to begin the long voyage to the Pacific Ocean . " Albatross " arrived at Punta Arenas , Straits of Magellan , on 23 January 1888 and remained at anchor there until 1 February , when she cleared the port to resume her circumnavigation of South America . During the voyage north , she touched briefly at Wreck Bay , Chatham Island , in the Galapagos group on 4 April . Ultimately , the steamer reached San Francisco on 11 May 1888 , having completed a 15 , 957 - mile voyage . For much of the remainder of the year , she operated between San Francisco and Alaska , exploring the waters to the south of the Alaska Peninsula and , later , in examining the area off the coasts of Washington and Oregon . Departing San Francisco on 3 January 1889 , " Albatross " proceeded via San Diego to the Gulf of California , exploring the waters between Point Concepcion and the U . S . - Mexico border and subsequently sounding the depths off lower California and examining the fishery resources in the Gulf of California and the oyster beds off Guaymas , Mexico . Returning to San Francisco on 25 April , she later proceeded to Seattle , whence she conducted fishery and hydrographic investigations off the coast of Washington and Oregon between 6 and 29 June . Between 8 and 28 July , " Albatross " operated from Tacoma , Washington , with four members of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs embarked : Senators Henry L . Dawes , Francis B . Stockbridge , Charles F . Manderson , and John P . Jones , as the lawmakers " visited the principal Indian settlements in southeast Alaska as far north as Sitka and Juneau . " " Albatross " cleared Port Townsend , Washington , on 1 August , bound for the Bering Sea , but — nearly 650 miles out — suffered a breakdown of her port engine on 7 August and returned to port on the llth for repairs . Upon completion of that work on 22 August , the ship returned to sea and resumed her fishery investigations off the coast of the Pacific Northwest and California . In Portland , Oregon , during this period , between 28 September and 9 October , " Albatross " drew between 24 , 000 and 30 , 000 visitors during the Northern Pacific Industrial Exposition . Reaching San Francisco on 25 October 1889 , the steamer entered the Mare Island Navy Yard and commenced a general overhaul that continued until 5 March 1890 . She resumed her active work soon thereafter , carrying out investigations between Point Arena and Point Concepcion , seining and sending ashore collecting parties . On 5 May 1890 , " Albatross " sailed from San Francisco to carry out " fishery investigations in Alaskan waters and the Bering Sea . . . defining the fishing grounds and determining the physical and natural history features " of the region . She remained at that task through mid - September , before she resumed her labors off the coasts of Washington , Oregon , and California . Continuing to operate out of San Francisco early the following year , 1891 , the ship sailed on 30 January for Panama , where she embarked the noted zoologist , Alexander Agassiz , for a special expedition authorized by President Benjamin Harrison to explore the waters off the coast of Mexico , Central America , and the region around the Galápagos Islands . Agassiz disembarked at Guaymas , Mexico , on 23 April ; and " Albatross " returned to San Francisco on 5 May . That summer , she left San Francisco on 16 July 1891 , bound for the Pribilof Islands , with Thomas Corwin Mendenhall and Clinton Hart Merriam — members of the Bering Sea Commission charged with preparing America ' s case to take before the Tribunal of Arbitration at Paris — embarked . Later , between 27 August and 14 September , " Albatross " carried out hydrographic work in the Strait of Juan de Fuca . Over the next few months , " Albatross " operated out of San Francisco . Placed under the direction of the Secretary of the Navy , she plied the Pacific between the west coast of the United States and the Hawaiian Islands , working towards determining " a practicable route for a telegraphic cable " between San Francisco and Honolulu . During the course of this hydrographic work ( which took place between 9 October 1891 and 16 January 1892 ) , " Albatross " also made a few dredge hauls and took some plankton samples . Next , temporarily assigned to the Revenue Marine Division of the Secretary of the Treasury , " Albatross " departed San Francisco on 19 March 1892 , bound for Unalaska , Alaska , the Bering Sea and the Aleutian Islands , to conduct fur seal investigations and gather " . . . information on questions at issue between the United States and Great Britain . " Among her special passengers on this cruise were a resident naturalist , a fishery expert , a special agent of the United States Treasury , and two seal hunters , one of whom was an " interpreter of Chinook jargon . " In July 1892 , however , leaky boilers compelled the steamer to transfer the fishery expert and one seal hunter to the revenue cutter " Corwin " , and the resident naturalist and the other hunter to the revenue cutter " Rush " , to carry out what remained of her assignment as she began her return to San Francisco for repairs . En route , despite being hampered by steaming on one hastily repaired boiler , she brought in a confiscated sailing schooner to Sitka , Alaska , on 11 August and , while there , steamed out to sea and rescued the drifting whaling bark " Lydia " . Following yard work at Mare Island which lasted into the spring of 1893 , " Albatross " returned to Aleutian waters and resumed her duties in connection with the Alaskan fur seal and fishery investigations . In addition , she carried out patrols as part of the United States naval force in the Bering Sea . Returning to San Francisco at the end of September 1893 , the ship departed that port on 2 January 1894 , and conducted a biological survey of San Diego Bay before returning to San Francisco on 30 March . " Albatross " sailed from her home port on 14 April , bound for the Pacific northwest and , from 19 April to 5 May , assisted in the investigation of seal and salmon fisheries in the Puget Sound region . During this period , on 1 May , Lt . Cpmdr . F . J . Drake relieved Lt . Comdr . Tanner , who had been in continuous command of the research vessel since she had been first commissioned . Into the autumn of 1894 , the marine research vessel alternately patrolled the Bering Sea and operated in the western Aleutians , as her embarked resident naturalist , fishery expert , and scientific assistant studied the fishing grounds of that region and the " pelagic habits of the fur seals and their rookeries on the Pribilof Islands . " Then , her mission completed , she returned to San Francisco on 17 October 1894 . Departing San Francisco on 18 May 1895 , " Albatross " sailed again for the Bering Sea , where , over the ensuing months , she helped to enforce " regulations governing vessels employed in fur seal fishery , " but operated independently of the Bering Sea fleet . She also kept an eye on the fur seals and fishing grounds , and carried out hydrographic investigations . En route home , " Albatross " visited New Whatcom , Washington , and was on exhibit at the state fair there , hosting visitors on 18 September 1895 and for days following . She then spent nearly a month investigating the Puget Sound salmon fisheries . Through the first four months of 1896 , " Albatross " operated locally between San Francisco and San Diego Bay , conducting a physical and natural history survey of the latter , as well as of the Cortez and Tanner banks offshore . From 20 to 26 April , the ship took part in " La Fiesta de Los Angeles . " Later that spring , on 17 and 18 May , she participated in the official speed trials of the new " Oregon " ( Battleship No . 3 ) out of San Francisco . Then , after investigating the oyster grounds of San Francisco Bay and the suitability of that body of water for oyster cultures , " Albatross " headed back to the northern Pacific . For the next six months , the ship ranged from San Francisco to the Pribilof Islands , and from the Sea of Okhotsk and the Kuril Islands back to San Francisco , via Hawaii . During this cruise , she investigated the condition of the fur seal herds on the islands of the north Pacific and Bering Sea . In addition to carrying members of the United States Fur Seal Commission ( whose membership included the commanding officer of the " Albatross " , Lt . Comdr . Jefferson F . Moser ) , she also transported two members of an independent British Commission and a photographer to the Pribilofs . " Albatross " returned to San Francisco on 11 December 1896 and , after a few weeks of voyage repairs , on 30 December began a provisional examination of the fishing grounds off the coast of Los Angeles County , Monterey , and in the vicinity of the Farallon Islands , to gather data for consideration in weighing the desirability of extending the limits of the offshore fisheries . Upon finishing this work on 25 April 1897 , the ship began upkeep at San Francisco . Dedicated exclusively to fishery work on her next cruise , the marine research vessel stood out of San Francisco on 8 May and operated in the waters of Puget Sound and off Cape Flattery until heading further north on 29 May . Attempting to locate new halibut banks en route , she systematically studied the " streams of southeast Alaska to determine their resources , and the abundance , movements , and habits of their fishes , " before ultimately returning to San Francisco on 2 November 1897 . Spanish – American War . Soon after the United States declared war on Spain , " Albatross " was turned over to the commandant of the navy yard at Mare Island on 21 April 1898 for conversion to an auxiliary cruiser . Her dredging and collecting equipment landed and stored at the yard , the ship underwent conversion at Union Iron Works , San Francisco , over the next few months . During this alteration , her pilot house was raised to permit construction of two additional staterooms beneath it , she received a new upper bridge , and her coal bunkers were enlarged to increase her steaming radius . In addition , the ship received a battery of two 20 - pounders , two 37 - millimeter guns , one 53 - millimeter gun and two Gatling guns . On 11 August , the auxiliary cruiser sailed for Acapulco , Mexico , as Spanish resistance on the war ' s last front was collapsing . On the night of 12 – 13 August , news was received of the signing of the peace protocol . " Albatross " returned to the Mare Island Navy Yard on 8 September and landed her guns a week later . She was then returned to the United States Fish Commission under the terms of a Presidential order dated 25 August 1898 . Return to scientific study . Following repairs and alterations , " Albatross " sailed from San Francisco on 23 August 1899 , bound by a most circuitous route for the Far East . Over the next few months , again with Alexander Agassiz embarked , she ranged into the South and Central Pacific , visiting the Marquesas , Paumotu , Society Islands , Cook Islands , Tonga , Fiji , Ellice , Gilbert , Marshall Islands , Caroline Islands and the Ladrone Islands . During the course of this cruise over a vast ocean basin , which Alexander Agassiz named " Moser Deep " in honor of " Albatross " ' captain , her distinguished passenger made thousands of dredgings , and soundings of the sea yielded siliceous sponges from 4 , 173 fathoms . During this voyage Harry Clifford Fassett , captain ' s clerk and photographer , recorded people , communities and scenes during this voyage using a glass - plate camera . After disembarking Agassiz upon arrival at Yokohama , Japan , on 4 March 1900 , " Albatross " operated out of that port into June . During this period , from 4 to 8 May , she conducted several short dredging trips for the benefit of a party of students from the Tokyo Imperial University . Ultimately departing Yokohama on 2 June , the ship visited Hakodate , Japan , and Kamchatka , north of the Aleutian Islands , and collected biological specimens in the North Pacific . That summer , she ranged into the Bering Sea , and ultimately returned to San Francisco on 30 October 1900 after a cruise of 14 months . The following year , 1901 , " Albatross " continued her work in the salmon fisheries of southeast Alaskan waters , departing San Francisco for that region on 23 April . During her homeward voyage in September and October , she investigated the waters off the Pacific Northwest and California to determine their suitability for the introduction of eastern lobsters and crab , and to study the movements of salmon at sea . A little over a month later , the steamer sailed for the Farallons on 5 December and , the following morning , planted a shipment of eastern lobster and tautog , received by rail from the east coast , in the waters off those islands . After returning to San Francisco the same day , she operated from that port from 20 December 1897 to 6 April 1898 , as she served as a base for a survey of the San Diego County fisheries . On 27 March 1898 , her crewmen rescued a man whose rowboat had overturned some 400 yards astern of where the ship lay at anchor . On 11 March 1902 , the steamer sailed for Hawaii , and over the ensuing months , investigated the fish and other aquatic resources of the Hawaiian Islands , ultimately returning to San Francisco on 1 September . The following spring , the ship embarked members of the special commission appointed by President Theodore Roosevelt to investigate the conditions and needs of the Alaskan salmon fisheries , with an eye towards conserving this important resource , and transported them to the waters of the Pacific northwest and of Alaska . During the course of the cruise , " Albatross " enabled the members of the commission to visit " numerous salmon streams , canneries , and salteries " in Alaska . She returned to her home port on 24 September 1903 . Early in 1904 , " Albatross " operated locally between San Francisco and San Diego , working jointly with Stanford University and the University of California , in a study of the marine biology and fishery resources in the waters of Monterey Bay and south of Point Conception . The ship did not conduct another expedition until the autumn of 1904 , when she sailed from San Francisco on 6 October for Panama . With Professor Agassiz again embarked , " Albatross " cruised the tropical waters of the eastern Pacific , visiting the Galapagos Islands ; Callao , Peru ; the Easter and Gambier Islands before she disembarked the distinguished zoologist on 24 February 1905 at Acapulco . " Albatross " then returned to San Francisco , arriving on 5 April 1905 . During this voyage , Agassiz had used " Albatross " as the base for his study of the Humboldt Current , the most extensive explorations made in those waters up to that time . Later that spring , the research vessel departed San Francisco on 18 May , bound for Alaskan waters , and , over the next several months installed a salmon hatchery at Yes Bay and , later , carried out several plankton tows in the waters between Puget Sound and Wrangell Island . She returned to San Francisco on 16 November 1905 . As the ship was preparing for her next cruise , a violent earthquake shook San Francisco on 18 April 1906 , and a disastrous fire ensued . " Albatross " assisted greatly in the relief efforts . Underway on 3 May , the ship sailed for the familiar climes of the Aleutians , and , during the cruise , ranged as far as the Commander Islands ( Komandorskis ) and the Sea of Okhotsk , and even visited the coasts of Japan and Korea . She investigated the salmon fisheries , the distribution of the various types of fish which inhabited the waters she traversed , and conducted scientific explorations of the northern Pacific Ocean . Tragically , on the return leg of the voyage , her captain , Lt . Comdr . LeRoy M . Garrett , was washed overboard in rough seas on 21 November 1906 . The ship , under the command of Lt . ( later Admiral ) Arthur J . Hepburn ultimately reached San Francisco on 10 December 1906 . 1907 . Following upkeep and voyage repairs , the steamer departed San Francisco on 16 October 1907 , beginning what would be her longest cruise . Steaming by way of Hawaii , Midway , and Guam , the ship proceeded to the Philippine Islands and , over the next two and a half years , surveyed the fisheries and aquatic resources of the Philippines and neighboring regions before returning home on 4 May 1910 . That summer , " Albatross " returned to the waters off Alaska , and the Pribilof Islands , on an inspection tour of various " government activities in which the Department of Commerce and Labor " harbored an interest . After returning to San Francisco on 20 September 1910 , she cruised to the Gulf of California and back between 23 February and 28 April 1911 , to carry out a scientific expedition to Lower California and adjacent islands in cooperation with the American Museum of Natural History . The research vessel again departed San Francisco on 17 May 1911 and proceeded to Alaskan waters , to examine the existing halibut and cod fishing grounds and to search for new ones . She operated off the territory ' s southeast coast and in the Gulf of Alaska before returning home on 2 September 1911 . Changed to schooner . Found unseaworthy upon her return to San Francisco , " Albatross " ' sphere of operations was limited to the San Francisco Bay , and during 1912 , 1913 and 1914 , the ship carried out a biological survey of that body of water . Late in this period , during the fiscal year 1913 , Albatross underwent a major refit at Mare Island that altered her rigging from brigantine to schooner and enlarged her deckhouse , as the pilot house was extended to provide two offices and a new stateroom for the executive officer . In addition , a radio " shack " was built forward of the mainmast . " Albatross " subsequently departed San Francisco on 12 April 1914 and set course for the coasts of Washington and Oregon , but interrupted her survey of the fishing grounds off the coasts of Washington and Oregon , to take the Deputy Commissioner of Fisheries to the Pribilofs , on an inspection trip of the fisheries of central and western Alaska that lasted from 12 June to 22 August . Returning to San Francisco on 15 September 1914 , she resumed her work off the Oregon and Washington coasts the following summer , clearing her home port on 6 July 1915 . Over the ensuing months , she resurveyed the grounds she had studied during her cruises in 1888 and 1889 . From the spring of 1916 into the autumn of that year , Albatross operated in the waters off southern and Lower California , to learn of the " distribution and migration of tuna . " World War I . Insufficient funds to operate the vessel , however , dictated that she be laid up , and she remained inactive from October 1916 to April 1917 . The American entry into World War I at the end of that period resulted in the ship being transferred to the Navy for war service on 2 May 1917 , within a month of the United States ' declaration of war against the Central Powers . Taken over by the Commandant of the 12th Naval District on 19 November 1917 , " Albatross " was placed under the command of Lt . Comdr . John J . Hannigan . Following repairs and alterations at Mare Island , " Albatross " — her armament consisting of four 6 - pounders and a Colt automatic gun — departed San Francisco on 14 January 1918 and reached Key West , Florida , on 14 February . Assigned to the American Patrol Detachment , the gunboat protected tankers transporting important oil and petroleum cargo in the Gulf of Mexico and in the Caribbean . While working with the American Patrol Department , she took part in the search for the Navy collier " Cyclops " which , after departing Barbados on 4 March 1918 , had disappeared without trace in the spring of 1918 . On 21 November 1918 , 10 days after the armistice stilled the guns of World War I , the Chief of Naval Operations directed that " Albatross " , upon the completion of repairs at New Orleans , be released from duty with the American Patrol Detachment . Reaching Norfolk on 30 May 1919 , the ship was turned over to the Bureau of Fisheries on 23 June 1919 . Return to research . The following autumn , " Albatross " resumed her scientific work , cruising from Norfolk to the Gulf of Mexico and Havana , Cuba , conducting hydrographic investigations of the Gulf Stream between 30 October and 15 December 1919 . The following year , " Albatross " departed Baltimore on 16 February 1920 and proceeded to the waters off New England . She then operated out of Boston into the spring , carrying out hydrographic work in the Gulf of Maine . She returned to Baltimore on 30 May . Fate . Ultimately decommissioned at Woods Hole on the morning of 29 October 1921 , " Albatross " , minus her equipment , instruments , and library , was sold on 16 June 1924 to Thomas Butler and Co . of Boston , who then refitted her " as closely possible along her old lines " as a school ship . Four years later , fitted out as a training ship for " nautical students or cadets , " the vessel departed Boston on 12 July 1927 under the auspices of the American Nautical School , Inc . , with 119 pupils on board , bound for European waters . The students , however , departed the ship at a succession of ports on the ship ' s final voyage — Cork , Le Havre , and Amsterdam — with the result that only 21 remained on board when she arrived at Hamburg . The ship ' s crew insisted that she be auctioned off to satisfy their demand for wages . On 18 October of the same year , the ship was reportedly tied up at Hamburg , " under attachment for indebtedness . " No notice of public auction has been found , and the documentary trail , such as it is , ends in 1928 . Her exact fate remains unknown . Scientific and Historical Significance . The " Albatross " and the smaller " Fish Hawk " were credited with being the first large vessels built specifically for marine research . A Smithsonian tribute notes : " The Albatross , designed to go anywhere in the world and work in the greatest depths , contributed more to our knowledge of marine fishes than any other ship " noting that the scientific papers based on the ship ' s work have " never been counted " but " runs into many hundreds " .