The second USS Albatross, often seen as USFC Albatross in scientific literature citations, was an iron-hulled, twin-screw masted steamship in the United States Navy and reputedly the first research ship ever built specially for marine research. She was named for the albatross.
Construction Albatross was laid down in March 1882, by Pusey and Jones, in Wilmington, Delaware. She was 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, commanded Albatross, a Navy-crewed ship assigned to the United States Fish Commission, a civilian government agency, for nearly 12 years.
Design Albatross had an iron hull with a registered length of 200 ft (61 m), a 27 ft 6 in (8.38 m) beam, and draft of 16 ft 9 in (5.11 m). Her tonnages were 691 GRT, 470 NRT, and 638 long tons (648 t) displacement. She had two screws, each powered by a two-cylinder compound steam engine. Between them, her twin engines were rated at 109 hp (81 kW) and gave her a speed of 10 kn (19 km/h; 12 mph).
Service history
Early service 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 was 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 ship 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 took part 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 ship was a major attraction in the Fish Commission exhibit at the World Cotton Centennial 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 banks 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 Pacific. Only one brief cruise interrupted these preparations. From 5 to 9 April, she steamed to Norfolk, from Washington, to familiarize officers assigned to the steamship SS Thetis, with the dredging equipment that their ship would carry in her voyage to the frigid waters of the North Pacific and Arctic 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.
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