THE FLEET
The following alphabetical list includes all ships that are owned or have been owned or operated by Scripps Institution since its beginning (but not rented or borrowed vessels). The list includes a number of Navy-owned vessels, as the Navy has provided research ships to the institution often since 1948, because of its keen interest in oceanographic studies. The Glomar Challenger is owned and operated by Global Marine, Inc., under contract to Scripps (chapter 12).
L is length, B is beam, D is draft, CS is cruising speed, R is cruising range in nautical miles, E is endurance (days at sea without resupplying).
Alexander Agassiz (the first) (1907-1917)
L 85 feet; B 26 feet; D 6.3 feet. Crew 5; scientists 4. MBA-owned.
This ketch or yawl was built by San Diego boat builder Lawrence Jensen for research work[*]
[*] This ship is perhaps the first one designed and built specifically for ocean research by an American nongovernmental institution.
for the Marine Biological Association, which founded Scripps Institution. The association acquired the ship on 21 August 1907, with funds provided by Ellen B. Scripps. From five names suggested by Scripps staff members, the donor chose to honor the Harvard geologist-oceanographer who had visited the young institution in 1905.
Nimitz Marine Facilities (buildings in right foreground) and the fleet. The Point Loma buildings of the Marine Physical Laboratory are in the left center, beyond NOSC (formerly Navy Electronics Laboratory).
The ship, as described by her master, Captain W. C. Crandall, in 1912: “is schooner-rigged, and as originally built was a ‘ketch’; that is, a boat with deck area forward of the mainmast large and unencumbered, the wheel being placed behind the rear mast. Her foremast was at first 65 feet high, carrying a boom and large mainsail, and her mizzen-mast 39 feet, rigged with a boom. She has a spoon bow and a 15-foot overhang. … The ‘Agassiz’ began work in
In January 1917, Scripps sold the ship to Pacific Coast Trading and Shipping Company, which used her as a coastal trader along Mexico. In 1918 she was seized briefly by the American Yorktown as a suspected German raider, but she was soon released. In 1920 she ended her days by running aground at the entrance to San Francisco Bay.
Alexander Agassiz (the second) (1962--1976)
L 180 feet; B 32 feet; D 10 feet; CS 11 knots; R 3,600 miles; E 17 days. Crew 18; scientists 13. UC-owned.
This former Army freight and supply vessel (Army FS-208) was acquired by Scripps on 18 April 1962 from the State Educational Agency for Surplus Property.[*]
[*] The first ship acquired at this time was the FS-227, and plans were begun on conversion. The FS-208 became available and required less expensive conversion. The FS-227 then was acquired by Texas A & M and converted to research as R/V Alaminos.
She had been built in 1944 by Higgins in New Orleans, Louisiana. The name was selected through a campus contest, won by Elizabeth N. Shor, who was given the honor of signaling the unveiling of the new name plate at the dedication ceremony.This vessel was used primarily by the Marine Life Research program (see chapter 3). On 8 November 1976 she was sold to Marine Power and Equipment Company, Seattle, Washington, to be used as a crab-fishing vessel.
Alpha Helix (1966-)
L 133 feet; B 31 feet; D 10.5 feet, CS 11 knots; R 6,200
This biological research vessel was built by J. M. Martinac Shipbuilding Company, Tacoma, Washington, for the Physiological Research Laboratory (see chapter 8). After launching herself, she was christened by Susan (Mrs. Per) Scholander. She was acquired by the institution on 26 February 1966, with funds provided by the National Science Foundation. The ship is operated as a national facility for biological, especially physiological, research.
After considering several other names, Per F. Scholander named the ship for the helical configuration of proteins and genetic material.
Argo (1959--1970)
L 213 feet; B 39.5 feet; D 15 feet; CS 13 knots; R 8,000 miles; E 60 days. Crew 32; scientists 24. Navy-owned.
This former Navy rescue and salvage tug (U. S. S. Snatch, ARS-27) was built in 1944 by Basalt Rock Company, Napa, California, and was provided to Scripps by the U. S. Navy on 20 July 1959. Scripps returned the ship to the Navy on 11 June 1970.
The institution refused to accept the Navy's name, so it cut the red tape and named her Argo. The name given by Scripps was “after Jason's Argo that some 3,000 years ago sailed eastward from Greece in search of the golden fleece of Colchis — one of man's first explorations of the sea,” and also as a reminder of California's early explorers, the Argonauts.
Argo's maiden voyage for Scripps was marred by mechanical problems (see chapter 15, International Indian Ocean Expedition).
After the Navy took the ship back, she sat in mothballs in Vallejo, California, for some time; she was finally towed to Taiwan to be scrapped.
Buoy Boats
Scripps had several buoy boats and one or more picket boats at various times from the late 1940s to the 1960s, for nearshore work. Some were provided to the institution by the Navy for contracts. One buoy boat ended its career on 20 September 1953, while being towed by the Horizon with recording equipment in use; the log of the Horizon reads:
This weather is too rough to be towing an open boat with no automatic bilge pump or cockpits watertight. … Sea & swell are such that turning around is impossible. … Bouy [sic] boat in tow on 340 meters of wire, taking sounding every 15 min. … lights out on bouy [sic] boat but still in tow, headed for the beach. 0227 [hrs] tow line parted, in 550 fms water, approx position 29°--31'-45” N 115°--37'30” W. … Apparently one leg of Bridle let go causing buoy boat to broach to, thereby filling with water & sinking. Cable not of sufficient strength to tow buoy boat to shallow enough water for salvage operations.
Crest (1947--1956)
L 136 feet; B 24.5 feet; D 6 feet; CS 10 knots; R 4,000 miles; E 30 days. Crew 13; scientists 8. UC-owned.
This former harbor minesweeper was built by Associated Shipbuilders, Seattle, Washington, in 1944 for the U. S. Navy, which transferred her to Scripps Institution on 4 December 1947. The ship proved to need extensive overhaul, which was done in a shipyard in San Pedro. Her first work for Scripps began in January 1949. In May 1956 Scripps returned the ship to the Navy.
The Scripps name was chosen from a contest on campus, simultaneously with the Horizon. The winner was Alfreda Jo Nixon, who received ten dollars and a large photograph of the ship.
Dolphin (1973-)
L 96 feet; B 22 feet; D 7 feet; CS 12 knots; R 1,700 miles; E 6 days. Crew 5; scientists 7. UC-owned.
This twin-screw diesel yacht was built in 1968 by Breaux Baycraft, Inc., in Loreauville, Louisiana, and was given to Scripps Institution by Robert O. Peterson on 21 December 1973. Several Scripps staff members had used the vessel for research cruises as guests of Peterson before he donated her to Scripps. The name was given by Peterson.
Ellen Browning (1918)
The minutes of the board of directors of Scripps Institution for 17 September 1918 read: “Mr. Crandall stated that the Navy had commandeered the boat ‘Ellen Browning’ and had fixed a value of $3000 therefor. …” A bill of sale to the Navy, which accompanied the report, said: “This boat was built by W. C. Crandall, Business Manager of the Institution, and paid for out of funds provided by Edward W. Scripps for the joint use of said Institution and Edward W. Scripps.” A letter in 1931 by George F. McEwen referred to the “speedboat” Ellen Browning, “used [some years earlier] for making collections and observations at sea for the Scripps Institution.”
Ellen B. Scripps (1965-)
L 95 feet; B 24 feet; D 6 feet; CS 9 knots; R 6,480 miles; E 30 days. Crew 5; scientists 8. UC-owned.
This research ship, built to plans modified (especially with advice from George G. Shor, Jr., and Maxwell Silverman) from those for offshore oil-supply boats, was built by Halter Marine Services, New Orleans, Louisiana, in 1965. Scripps acquired her in August 1965 from Dantzler Boat and Barge Company (Pascagoula, Mississippi), on a one-year lease with option to buy, and then bought her. The vessel's distinctive feature is a large afterdeck on which
The name was given by George G. Shor, Jr., for the institution's early benefactress. The ship was dedicated on 1 October 1965, by Ellen Clark (Mrs. Roger) Revelle, grandniece of Ellen Browning Scripps. The dedication was on the same day as the dedication of Revelle College of UCSD.
E. W. Scripps (1937--1955)
L 93.7 to 104 feet (depending on method of measurement); B 21 feet; D 12 feet; CS 9 knots, or — under full sail and a stiff Santa Ana wind — 12 knots; R 2,000 miles. Crew 4; scientists 6. UC-owned.
This auxiliary schooner — the largest constructed on San Francisco Bay to that time — was built for racing and pleasure cruising by J. H. Madden and Son, Sausalito, in 1924 for Russell Clifford Durant, son of W. C. Durant (who founded General Motors). She was christened Black Swan; she was black in color and “palatially fitted” in teakwood and mahogany. The scantlings were of Oregon pine, apitong, Port Orford cedar, and teak.
The next owner was Irving T. Bush of New York. Then actor Lewis Stone, a star in Andy Hardy films, bought the schooner. She went through name changes to Aurora and Serena.
In 1937 Robert P. Scripps purchased Serena to give to Scripps Institution. According to John Lyman, the grateful staff decided to rename the ship E. W. Scripps, but the donor commented: “There's too much Scripps around La Jolla already.” So the name “Matthew F. Maury” was selected, but Robert P. Scripps then objected, as a loyal son, and the original choice was retained.
For research work the 100-foot masts were cut to 88 feet, diesel fuel tanks were added, two winches were
[*] During the conversion, according to Lyman, “about two dozen pairs of ladies' shoes were recovered from her bilges.”
[7] From 1938 to 1941, the ship was used a great deal for research cruises, including two expeditions to the Gulf of California (see chapter 2).During World War II the ship was borrowed by the U. S. Navy for use by the University of California Division of War Research. At that time the deckhouse laboratory was doubled in size and a new diesel engine was installed. “The additional speed and weight of the new engine greatly reduced her rolling and pitching, and she became decidedly more comfortable to work in, thus increasing the efficiency of the personnel by decreasing the effects of mal de mer.”[8]
After the war the ship required a major overhaul and was limited to fairly nearshore work. Her last cruise for Scripps was in April 1955, to the San Benito Islands.
Michael Todd bought the E. W. Scripps to use in the movie “Around the World in Eighty Days” (as the paddlewheel steamer Henrietta), and later she was bought by Walter S. Johnson, Jr., for Pacific island trade from Tahiti to Raratonga. Her name then was Tiare Maori. On 4 January 1961 in the slipway in Papeete — where she was up for sale — the ship caught fire. A fireboat from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (then filming “Mutiny on the Bounty”) pumped water on the ship until she foundered and sank in six fathoms of water.[9] Scripps personnel on Monsoon Expedition in Papeete in March 1961 recognized the masts of their old ship above the water line.
Flip (1962-)
L 355 feet; B 12.5--20 feet; D 13.7 feet horizontal; D 300 feet vertical; CS up to 11 knots when being towed horizontally; E 14 days. Crew 6; scientists 10. ONR-owned.
This manned ocean buoy, which can be raised to a vertical position by flooding the ballast tanks, is not a self-powered vessel. See chapter 4 for information on Flip and on some of the other unusual craft of the Marine Physical Laboratory. Flip was built by Gunderson Brothers Engineering Corporation, Portland, Oregon, in 1962, was christened by Sarah W. (Mrs. Fred N.) Spiess, and was acquired by Scripps Institution on 6 August of that year. The Office of Naval Research has contracted her to the Marine Physical Laboratory.
The name was given by MPL as an acronym for floating instrument platform.
Gianna (1973-)
L 55.5 feet; B 14.3 feet; D 3.5 feet; CS 16 knots; R 480 miles; E 2.5 days. Crew 2; scientists 4. UC-owned.
This diesel pleasure cruiser was built by Cantiere Navale di Chiavari in Italy in 1969 for Howard B. Lawson of Newport Beach, California, who gave her to Scripps Institution on 27 December 1973. She was named by Lawson for the Italian version of his wife's name, Jane.
The Golden One (1962--1963)
L 38 feet; B 11 feet; D 3 feet. UC-owned.
This boat, built in 1930 by Matthews Boat Company, Port Clinton, Ohio, was given to Scripps by Elmer Bernstein of Los Angeles in December 1962; she was not put into use by the institution and was sold to Charles Watson of San Diego in August 1963.
Horizon (1948--1969)
L 143 feet; B 33 feet; D 13.5 feet; CS 11.5 knots; R 6,800 miles; E 48 days. Crew 19; scientists 16. UC-owned.
This formerly Navy-owned ocean tug (ATA 180) was built in 1944 by Levingston Shipbuilding Company, Orange,
The name was given following a contest on campus, simultaneously with the Crest. The winner was J. F. T. (“Ted”) Saur, who recalls that he won ten dollars and a drawing of the ship.
The Horizon, said H. William Menard, “was small and not above reproach. … People liked Horizon and she was always, as far as I know, a happy ship. Perhaps for that reason the charts now record Horizon Guyot in the central Pacific, from which were dredged some of the oldest rocks yet found in the ocean basins; Horizon Depth, which is the second deepest place in the ocean; Horizon Channel, in the floor of a flat plain in the Gulf of Alaska, and Horizon Bank, a drowned atoll east of the New Hebrides Islands in the southeastern Pacific. Few other ships have been so honored.”[10]
Scripps sold Horizon on 5 September 1969 to Pacific Towboat and Salvage Company in Long Beach. A later owner offered some of the ship's equipment to the institution, which re-purchased the A-frame and other items at scrap prices. In 1975 she was still in use in San Diego, owned by California Molasses Company.
Hugh M. Smith (1959--1963)
L 128 feet; B 29 feet; D 14 feet; CS 9 knots; R 10,000 miles; E 45 days. Crew 14; scientists 8. USFWS-owned.
This yacht (YP-635), built in 1945, was borrowed from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service by Scripps Institution from 23 June 1959 until 4 November 1963, chiefly to replace the Stranger during the two-year Naga Expedition. The name honored Hugh McCormick Smith (1865--1941), who served as U.S. Commissioner of Fisheries from 1913 to 1922.
When Scripps gave up the ship, the governor of American Samoa requested her, and former Scripps captain Marvin Hopkins delivered the ship to Pago Pago. She operated from there for several years.
Macrocystis (1958--1964)
L 22.7 feet; B 8 feet; D 1.8 feet; CS 20 knots; R 75 miles. Crew and scientists 2. UC-owned.
This boat was built by Jeffries Boat Company, Venice, California, in 1958 for the kelp project of the Institute of Marine Resources (see chapter 6), and was named for the giant kelp. In November 1964 she was sold to LaRoy B. Wickline of San Diego.
Melville (1969-)
L 245 feet; B 46 feet; D 15 feet; CS 12 knots; R 9,840 miles; E 41 days. Crew 25; scientists 25. Navy-owned.
This research vessel, designated AGOR-14 (Auxiliary General Oceanography Research) by the Navy, was built at the Defoe Shipbuilding Company in Bay City, Michigan, in 1969, for research use by the Scripps Institution, which received her on 2 September 1969. She is distinguished by two vertically mounted, multi-bladed, cycloidal propellers, which enable her to move forward, backward, sideways, and around her own axis.
The name was given for Rear Admiral George Wallace Melville (1841--1912), engineer in chief of the U.S. Navy, who participated in three Arctic voyages, and was a contributor to improved equipment on Navy ships.
Oconostota (1962--1974)
L 100 feet; B 25 feet; D 10.5 feet; CS 11 knots; R 4,500 miles; E 16 days. Crew 8, scientists 6. Navy-owned.
This former harbor tug (YTB-375, later YTM-375) was built by Gulfport Boiler and Welding Works, Port Arthur,
The name was given by the Navy for Cherokee Indian chief Oconostota, who in colonial days was first friendly with the British but later allied with the French.
Orca (1956--1962)
L 100 feet; B 23 feet; D 7.5 feet; CS 8.5 knots; R 3,000 miles; E 18 days. Crew 7, scientists 9. UC-owned.
This one-time Coast Guard patrol vessel (YP42), built in 1926 by Defoe Boat Building Company in Bay City, Michigan, was bought by Scripps Institution in June 1956 from the J. W. Sefton Foundation. Scripps sold her to Murphy Marine Service, San Diego, in October 1962. Texas A & M later used her for research work. J. W. Sefton had named her for the killer whale.
Paolina-T (1948--1965)
L 80 feet; B 22 feet; D 9.7 feet; CS 8.5 knots; R 2,450 miles; E 30 days. Crew 9, scientists 5. Navy-owned.
This purse seiner was built in 1944 at the Colberg Boat Works, Stockton, California, and was purchased through Navy funds by Scripps Institution from fishermen brothers Michele and Guiseppe Torrente on 15 June 1948. Scripps returned her to the Navy on 17 March 1965. In 1975 she was under private ownership in the Monterey Bay area, with the name New San Joseph.
The original name was given by the Torrentes. In 1952 a campus contest was held to rename the Paolina-T and the newly acquired Spencer F. Baird, in order to release the latter name to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Three
Red Lion (1959--1963)
This 22-foot gasoline-powered launch was given to Scripps Institution by Dr. C. C. Curtis in January 1959, but was never put into use by the institution. In February 1963 she was given to Escuela Superior de Ciencias Marinas in Ensenada and was delivered to them aboard the Alexander Agassiz while en route to Cabo San Lucas.
ST-908 (1961--1973)
L 45 feet; B 12.5 feet; D 5 feet; CS 9 knots; R 655 miles; E 4 days. Crew 2; scientists 3. UC-owned.
This former Army harbor tug was built in 1945 by Burger Boat Company in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, and was acquired by Scripps in 1961 through the State Educational Agency for Surplus Property, at the same time as the Alexander Agassiz. From 1973 until 1976 she was loaned to Moss Landing Marine Laboratory, which called her Artemia. In August 1976, she was sold to William H. Richter of San Diego.
Scripps (1925--1936)
L 64 feet; B 15 feet; D 6.7 feet. Crew and scientists 10. UC-owned.
This purse seiner, then named Thaddeus, was bought by Scripps Institution in September 1925, and was renamed Scripps. The following year she was painted University of California colors: a blue hull with gold stripes.
On 13 November 1936 an explosion and fire in the boat sank her at the dock. Living aboard were the captain, Murdock G. Ross, and the cook, Henry Ball. Ball died of his injuries a week later, and Ross never fully recovered. The salvaged hull was later put into use as a garbage scow, and Director Sverdrup asked the owner to change the name, which he did, to Abraham Lincoln. (For additional information, see Raitt and Moulton.[11])
Spencer F. Baird (1951--1965)
L 143 feet; B 33 feet; D 13.5 feet; CS 11.5 knots; R 6,800 miles; E 48 days. Crew 20, scientists 15. Navy-owned.
This former Army tug (LT-581) was acquired by Scripps from the U.S. Maritime Commission in August 1951. The Baird, as she was usually called, and the Horizon often sailed together on two-ship expeditions, and a certain amount of rivalry developed at times. The ship was returned to the Maritime Commission in October 1965. She was later in use by the Vietnamese government, under the name Tien Sa.
Her name had been given by the Navy for the outstanding naturalist, Spencer Fullerton Baird (1823--1887), who was the first director of the U.S. Fish Commission (see Paolina-T). The ship had been used as a research vessel by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service prior to being acquired by Scripps.
Stranger (1955--1965)
L 134 feet; B 24 feet; D 14.5 feet; CS 12 knots; R 6,000 miles; E 40 days. Crew 14, scientists 10. UC-owned.
This yacht was built in 1938 by the Lake Union Dry
Those who rode the Stranger on trips to the Gulf of Alaska in 1956 and 1961 were not favorably impressed with her stability. Alan C. Jones commented after three weeks of Chinook Expedition in 1956:
The crew finally managed to untie the knots that held us in San Diego, and away we rolled in the great yacht. Twasn't long before BTs, oscillators, and roast pork were flying all over, especially in the living room.
Two days later a few of the Stranger Rangers emerged from the basement to become lounge lizards on the sun porch. By the fourth day all were recovered from the strange ailment that hit almost everyone off Point Concepcion.
…Ah yes, it's hard to beat this gracious living out aboard a yacht. The gentle motion (rolling up to and including 52 degrees![*]
[*] Once during this expedition a roll of 58 degrees was registered.
), the attractive, spacious living room (if one is really determined he can crawl through the maze of wires and tubes that completely fill the― 369 ―labs!), and the delicious meals expertly cooked to please the slightest whim of the happy tourist. (I've been trying for three weeks to get a soft boiled egg.)…One fine, moonlightless night the Stranger inmates had to scramble up the walls (or was it down?) to avoid being battered by flying objects when the yacht decided to lie on its side for a while. We were glad the yacht wasn't in the trough of the waves because the sun porch might have gotten damper than it did.[13]
In all fairness to the Stranger, her performance on Naga Expedition in the Gulf of Thailand and South China Sea was very good (see chapter 15).
From 1941 to 1947 the ship was used by the University of California Division of War Research, under the name U.S.S. Jasper (PYC-13). Scripps Institution acquired the ship as a gift from N. A. Kessler on 22 April 1955, and on 9 March 1965 sold her to Charles H. Briley of Newport Beach, California. She was later in use by Teledyne Corporation and for them revisited Thailand. In 1976 she was operating as a cruise ship under the name Explorer.
T-441 (1955--1969)
L 65.6 feet; B 18 feet; D 6 feet; CS 10.5 knots; R 1,830 miles; E 5 days. Crew 5, scientists 4. Navy-owned.
This former Army cargo and passenger T-boat was built in 1953 by National Steel and Shipbuilding Corporation, San Diego, and was provided by the Army to Scripps Institution on 23 March 1955. Scripps gave her up on 20 August 1969, and the Navy provided her to the University of Connecticut.
Thomas Washington (1965-)
L 209 feet; B 39 feet; D 13.7 feet; CS 12 knots; R 10,000 miles; E 29 days. Crew 25, scientists 17. Navy-owned.
This AGOR-10 (Auxiliary General Oceanography Research) was built in 1965 by Marinette Marine Corporation, Marinette, Wisconsin, and was provided by the Navy to Scripps Institution on 29 September 1965. The Washington and her sister ship Thomas Thompson (of the University of Washington) had considerable engine problems during the first few years and had to operate at very reduced speeds until new engines were installed.
The name was given by the Navy for Admiral Thomas Washington, Navy Hydrographer from 1914 to 1916, “who served with distinction in the Navy for 40 years before his retirement in 1929.”
Utility Boat (1959-)
L 32 feet; B 13.5 feet; D 3.5 feet; R 200 miles; E 1 day. Crew and scientists 2. Navy-owned.
This small vessel, built by Jeffries Boat Company, Venice, California, was requested by H. William Menard as a workboat on the Argo, when that ship was being converted for oceanographic work in 1959. The boat was used to some extent as a “second ship” for seismic work with the Argo but proved of limited use in open ocean work. She was kept for nearshore work, chiefly by the diving program, after the Argo was returned to the Navy.
Some tried to call this boat the Argonaut, but the name has never caught on.
