THE 1800 s -(Cont'd) 



During the late 1800s, ships of other countries were embarking on extended oceanographic 

 cruises. In December 1872, the British research ship H.M.S. Challenger, converted from a 

 2,300-ton spar decked corvette witli auxiliary steam propulsion, set sail from Portsmouth, England 

 on a scientific expedition which would take over three years, cover almost 69,000 miles and visit 

 every ocean. The Germans sent out the S.M.S. Gazelle from 1874 to 1876 and shortly thereafter 

 came research vessels from Russia, Sweden, Denmark and Norway. 



The discovery of gold in southeastern Alaska in 1882 necessitated a rapid systematic survey 

 of Alaska. The Coast and Geodetic Survey dispatched their s\\\p% Hassler, Patterson and McArthur 

 and work progressed in southeastern Alaska, out along the Alaska peninsula in the Aleutians, and 

 along the coast to Point Barrow. The Klondike gold rush in 1898 gave even greater impetus to 

 these Alaskan surveys and the Survey's new 168-foot ship Pathfinder (Tenamed Research in 1940) 

 was, upon completion of her construction in 1899, assigned to conduct surveys of Norton Sound 

 and Fox Islands in the Aleutians. 



The year 1898 was also a time of chaos for the Coast and Geodetic Survey. By Congressional 

 action all Navy personnel were withdrawn from the Coast and Geodetic Survey. Gone were the 

 Navy men who had for so long operated the Survey's ships, conducted the surveys, improved 

 equipment and techniques, and added to the Survey's luster. The list is long and notable with such 

 names as T. R. Gedney, George Blake, Charles H. Davis, J. E. Pillsbury, C. M. Chester, W. B. 

 Fremont, George M. Bache, and Charles D. Sigsbee. This loss of Navy personnel required a major 

 reorganization of the Survey's hydrographic work. To man their ships the Survey had to hire 

 experienced seamen, establish the ranks of deck officer, junior officer and senior officer and 

 provide appropriate uniforms. 



Also in 1898, the Spanish-American War brought the Philippines, Guam and Puerto Rico 

 under U.S. control which, with their need to be charted, created further problems for the Survey. 

 The Pathfinder together with the Philippine Insular Government owned ships Fathorner, 

 Marinduque and Romblon. which were under the command of Survey officers, were assigned to 

 survey the Philippines. Native seamen and workers were employed and the problems of training 

 were great. Add to this local insurrections, unfriendly natives, tropical heat with pests and fever, 

 and violent typhoons, it is a wonder that charts were obtained-yet they were. 



Before the century closed even a prince had become attracted to oceanography. This was 

 Prince Albert I of Monaco who equipped his successive royal yachts, Hirondclle, Princess Alice, 

 Hirondelle If and Princess Alice II, as research vessels and made extensive studies of the 

 Mediterranean and North Atlantic. 



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