U.
S. S. Fish Hawk
The Fish Hawk (fig. 20) was a coal-burning steamer
of 156- ½ feet overall length. She was registered at 484 tons
displacement and had a rig of "a fore-and-aft schooner with
pole topmasts." She was built according to specifications and
plans made by C. W. Copland, naval architect of the Light House
Board. It was a special vessel to serve as a floating hatchery
for hte production of shad, herring, striped bass, etc., and
was capable of being moored almost anyplace where breeding fish
could be found in sufficient quantity (Tanner, 1884).
A considerable portion of the deck space and hull was occupied
by hatching equipment and laboratory. The laboratory was 10
feet, 7 inches long, 9 feet wide and 7 feet 3 inches high. It
was provided with a laboratory table, specimen case, box for
microscope, and the necessary shelves and drawers. Sea water
was supplied by a steam pump capable of delivering 10,000 gallons
per hour. Hatching equipment consisted of 36-inch cone-shaped
containers each capable of holding 7,200,000 shad eggs. These
hatching cylinders were suspended from beams outside of the
vessel.
The ship was equipped with the most up-to-date gear for trawling
and dredging. There was a drum or reel holding 1,000 fathoms
of steel-wire dredge rope 1/3-inch in diameter (1-1/8 inch in
circumference) with breaking strain of 8, 750 pounds; the wire
rope weighed 1.14 pounds per fathom. The dredging boom was 36
feet long and 10 inches in diameter. It was used for operating
beam trawls of three different sizes (9 feet, 11 feet, and 17
feet long beams), otter trawls, and various dredges (fig. 21).
Other types of collecting gear such as tangle bars, rake dredges,
and various sieves (so-called table sieve and cradle sieve)
were designed by Verrill. The sounding machine consisted of
a cast brass reel 11.43 inches in diameter and 600 fathoms of
piano wire of 0.0028 inch diameter, having a tensile strength
of 200 pounds.
Built primarily as a "hatchery ship" the Fish Hawk was
not suitable for offshore work but was intensively used in dredging
and trawling in Vineyard Sound, around Cape Cod, in the Gulf
of Maine, Long Island Sound, and other coastal waters. The ship
made her last two cruises in October-December, 1925, and was
decommissioned in January 1926.
U.
S. S. Albatross
The Albatross (fig. 22) was an iron-hull, twin-screw
vessel of 234 feet overall length and 1,024 tons displacement
(registered net tonnage was 384 tons). She was built by the
Pasey and Jones Company of Wilmington, Del., according to the
plans drawn by Charles W. Copland of New York; aggregate cost
was $145,000. She was launched in March 1882, and made her first
cruise in April 1883.
According to Lt. Com. Tanner, her first commanding officer (Tanner,
18855), she was rigged "as a brigantine, carrying sail to a
foretop-gallant sail." She had comfortable cabins, had water
distilling equipment for drinking water, electric lights, and
elaborate equipment for oceanographic research. There were two
laboratories. The upper one, 14 feet long and occupying the
whole width of the house, had a square work table for four persons
centrally located. Each working place was provided with a tier
of drawers under the table. Attached to the walls were two hinged
side tables, a sink, water and alcohol tanks, wall cabinets
for instruments and glassware, and books. A medical dispensary
occupied a corner of the room. The lower laboratory, immediately
below the upper one extended across the ship 20 feet fore and
aft. It was supplied with long working tables and a lead-lined
sink with running water. Part of the space was used as a photograph
dark room and chemical laboratory. There was plenty of storage
cases and lockers for jars, bottles, and various collecting
gear. A supply of alcohol was stored under the laboratory in
an iron-walled room which could be isolated from the rest of
the ship. In case of fire, this room could be quickly filled
with steam.
The dredging engine was provided with additional "gypsy heads"
for hoisting boats, and was equipped with a friction brake to
regulate the paying out of the rope. The dredging wire was 3/8-inch
diameter galvanized steel. It was composed of six strands wound
around a tarred hemp heart; each strand consisted of seven wires.
The wire weight was 1.32 pounds per fathom in air, and 1.2 pounds
in water. The ship carried 4,000 fathoms in one length and later
on received additional reels in 500-fathom lengths. A newly
designed sounding reel, various trawls, dredges, nets, and recording
thermometers were on board the Albatross for conducting oceanographic
research. Every technical detail of the laboratory arrangement
and equipment indicated good planning and understanding of technical
research problems by Baird and his principal collaborators.
Tanner incorporated many original ideas into the design, construction,
and operation of the ship and its naval equipment; Verrill was
primarily concerned with the laboratories and their equipment.
In 1883 the Albatross was prepared to undertake oceanographic
investigations in any part of the world. Her explorations made
a glorious chapter of U.S. marine research, and the name Albatross
became famous in all civilized parts of the world. It is interesting
to read the comments about this ship written by the famous American
explorer, Alexander Agassiz, who in 1890 was asked by Marshall
McDonald, at that time the U.S. Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries,
to take charge of deep-sea exploration off Panama. The Albatross
was offered under the conditions that Agassiz should supply
the coal, thoroughly re-equip the ship, and pay part of the
running expenses. In return, he was to get first choice of the
collections that were of special interest to him. Upon reaching
Panama late in February 1891, Agassiz boarded the Albatross,
and in his letter home described the ship in the following words:
"The working accommodations are fine, an upper room 20 feet
x 20 feet for rough work and general laboratory, and a second
floor below for storing the collection in racks. We ought to
do well. . . . . My cabin opens out into a good-sized dining
room and sitting room of about 12 feet by the width of the ship,
where Tanner and I sit and take our meals. It has large portholes,
a fine skylight, and is very airy and comfortable." Uipon completing
a preliminary trip and returning to Panama after an absence
of 20 days, Agassiz wrote: "The Albatross is an excellent sea
boat and she rides the sea wonderfully well, and really much
better than many large ocean steamers I have been on. . . .
. You can hve no idea how comfortable the trip has been. . .
. . . The accommodations for work and for taking care of the
collections are excellent. . . . . . The laboratory, with its
ingenious arrangements and its excellent accommodations for
work by day and night, was to me a revelation." (Agassiz, 1913).
Agassiz usually made three or four deepwater dredging or trawling
hauls every day, and at the same time the surface net was towed.
