1900 U.S. Fish Commission Map of Atlantic and Pacific Ocean Dredgings

This is a 1900 C. H. Townsend and U.S. Fish Commission map of Atlantic and Pacific Ocean floor samplings less than 100 fathoms. Red numbers identify these dredging locations and can be correlated with detailed data in USS Albatross archives. Stretching from Japan to the Azores and from the Bering Sea to Cape Horn, dredgings marked were collected by the Albatross between 1883 and 1900. Unlike other maps in this series, dredging locations are marked in red but in many places dredging data is grouped geographically. Each grouping is labeled, including 'Bering Sea', 'Off Cal.', 'Off Washington' 'Off Col[ombia], and G. of Mex. And Vicinity.

The USS Albatross

This USS Albatross, also known as the USFC Albatross in scientific papers, was the first specifically built marine research vessel. Albatross operated in the Atlantic between December 1882 and November 1887, when she began her voyage to the Pacific Ocean. She arrived at the Straits of Magellan on January 23, 1888, and then continued up the coast of South America, stopping in the Galapagos briefly in April 1888. She operated along the U.S. Pacific coast and as far north as the Bering Sea and as far south as Panama between 1888 and 1898, when she was converted into an auxiliary cruiser for service during the Spanish-American War. After this work was finished, she sailed for Mexico, but did not see combat before peace treaties were signed. She immediately underwent conversion back to being a research vessel. After the retrofit, Albatross left San Francisco on August 23, 1899 and spent the next few months in the Central and South Pacific, before arriving in Yokohama, Japan, on March 4, 1900. Albatross continued her research work until she was transferred to the Navy on May 2, 1917, for service during World War I. She served with the American Patrol Detachment as a gunboat and protected tankers transporting oil and petroleum in the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico. After World War I, Albatross returned to research work, until she was decommissioned on October 29, 1921. She was sold to Thomas Butler and Company of Boston in June 1924, without her library, equipment, or instruments. Butler converted her into a school ship, then refitted her as a training ship for 'nautical students and cadets'. She left for Europe with 119 students on board on July 12, 1927. However, the students filtered off the ship at a succession of ports and by the time the Albatross reached Hamburg the crew demanded that she be auctioned off to satisfy their salaries. The paper trail goes cold in 1928 and her ultimate fate is unknown.

Publication History and Census

This map was created under the supervision of Charles Haskins Townsend for the U.S. Fish Commission. It was published in the 1900 U.S. Fish Commission report to Congress and printed by the Norris Peters Company. An example of the separate map is cataloged in OCLC and is part of the collection at the New York Botanical Garden. The report in which it was printed are cataloged in OCLC.