OCEANOGRAPHY IX THE UNITED STATES 191 



Mr. LiLL. Yes, sir. 



Mr. Drewry. Plow man}- scientists does slie carry normally ? 



Mr. LiLL. Between 10 and 15, 1 believe. 



Mr. Drewry, Then you mentioned the SjJencer F. BaircL which 

 is of a different tyf)e. I see the Baird was an ex-Navy tug. Has she 

 been working out well ? 



Mr. LiLL. Yes, sir; very well. She is one of our best ships. She 

 is somewhat limited in the number of people she can carry with the 

 accommodations that they have. Slie has been working ever since 

 the war ended ; since rouglily 1947. 



Mr. Drewry. Was she a war-built vessel ? 



Mr. LiLii. Yes, sir. 



Mr. Drewry. Except for the limitation, you have had no difficulty 

 m adapting the vessel to research purposes? 



Mr. LiLL. That is right. There has been no difficulty. We feel we 

 can do much better if we have ships v.-hich are designed for this work, 

 however. 



Mr. Drewry. But until you get sliips that are designed for the 

 work, there are otlier types that can be made to do and perform 

 effective service? 



Mr. LiLL. That is right. W^e are now using one converted aircraft 

 tender, an ex-Xavy xVVP and two ex-Navy salvage ships wliicli were 

 converted for this use. One is still to be converted. The other two 

 have been converted for oceanographic research. 



We look upon these three ships as interim measures to get launched 

 into a bigger program. 



Mr. Drewry. When you showed your chart of the other countries, 

 the Russians and Japanese and British, you showed no very large 

 ships in the American fleet but you said that we had to depend on and 

 in fact you generally preferred smaller ones and you showed an artist's 

 rendering of the new one. "Wliat tomnage was that ? 



Mr. LiLL. 1,400 ton. 



Mr. Drewry. The screen picture of oceanographic vessels in the 

 United States is not limited only to the Veiiia and the Baird and the 

 1,400 tonner you hope to get or are expecting to get. In other words, 

 there are quite a number of vessels of assorted types that are being 

 used at the present time ? 



Mr. LiLL. Yes, sir. That is right. Of ships that can actually work 

 in the deep sea there are something like 12 in rough numbers in 

 operation. 



Mr. Drewry. Mr. Chairman, I bring this up only because it seems 

 to me to be pertinent to the earlier consideration that we gave of the 

 Albatross III which has been operated by Woods Hole in the past in 

 connection with the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries, and I think 

 that the contrast between the story we heard there about the use of 

 an older vessel and the story we hear now about the use of older vessels 

 being better than nothing is rather interesting. 



Mr. Lill, are you in position to make any comment about the 

 Albatross III as to its usefulness as an oceanographic vessel? 



Mr. Lill. I am afraid I am not. All I know is hearsay and I do 

 not think it is ver}^ good to repeat. 



Mr. Drewry. I did not know but what you might be personally 

 familiar with the ship. 



