PNA ''Dr. Bernardo A. Houssay'' (MOV-1) is a

ketch A ketch is a two- masted sailboat whose mainmast is taller than the mizzen mast (or aft-mast), and whose mizzen mast is stepped forward of the rudder post. The mizzen mast stepped forward of the rudder post is what distinguishes the ketch fr ...

rigged

sail training From its modern interpretations to its antecedents when maritime nations would send young naval officer candidates to sea (e.g., see Outward Bound), sail training provides an unconventional and effective way of building many useful skills on an ...

and research vessel for the

Argentine Naval Prefecture The Argentine Naval Prefecture ( es, Prefectura Naval Argentina or PNA) is a service of Argentina's Security Ministry charged with protecting the country's rivers and maritime territory. It therefore fulfills the functions of other countries' coa ...

. Originally named the RV ''Atlantis'', she served as the first and main

research vessel A research vessel (RV or R/V) is a ship or boat designed, modified, or equipped to carry out research at sea. Research vessels carry out a number of roles. Some of these roles can be combined into a single vessel but others require a dedicated ...

for the

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI, acronym pronounced ) is a private, nonprofit research and higher education facility dedicated to the study of marine science and engineering. Established in 1930 in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, it i ...

from 1931 to 1966. Several ships, including RV ''Atlantis'' (AGOR-25) and the ( OV-104) were named after ''Atlantis''. Having sailed over 1,300,000 miles to date, she is the oldest serving oceanographic research vessel in the world. __TOC__

Woods Hole history

''Atlantis'' was the first Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution research vessel and the first ship built specifically for interdisciplinary research in

marine biology Marine biology is the scientific study of the biology of marine life, organisms in the sea. Given that in biology many phyla, families and genera have some species that live in the sea and others that live on land, marine biology classifies s ...

marine geology Marine geology or geological oceanography is the study of the history and structure of the ocean floor. It involves geophysical, geochemical, sedimentological and paleontological investigations of the ocean floor and coastal zone. Marine geolog ...

and

physical oceanography Physical oceanography is the study of physical conditions and physical processes within the ocean, especially the motions and physical properties of ocean waters. Physical oceanography is one of several sub-domains into which oceanography is divi ...

. The 460-ton Marconi Ketch originally carried a crew of 17 and had room for 5 scientists. Columbus Iselin II, her first

master Master or masters may refer to: Ranks or titles * Ascended master, a term used in the Theosophical religious tradition to refer to spiritually enlightened beings who in past incarnations were ordinary humans *Grandmaster (chess), National Master ...

and a major influence in her design, felt that steadiness, silence and cruising range were of greater importance than speed. After her construction was complete, WHOI searched for an appropriate name for the new vessel. Alexander Forbes (1882–1965), a trustee of WHOI, had recently bought a

schooner A schooner () is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schoon ...

named ''Atlantis'' from Iselin. Mr. Forbes rechristened his schooner so the new research vessel could be named ''Atlantis''. Use of a continuously recording

fathometer Echo sounding or depth sounding is the use of sonar for ranging, normally to determine the depth of water (bathymetry). It involves transmitting acoustic waves into water and recording the time interval between emission and return of a pulse; ...

on ''Atlantis'' cruise No. 150 enabled Ivan Tolstoy,

Maurice Ewing William Maurice "Doc" Ewing (May 12, 1906 – May 4, 1974) was an American geophysicist and oceanographer. Ewing has been described as a pioneering geophysicist who worked on the research of seismic reflection and refraction in ocean basin ...

, and other scientists of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution to locate and describe the first

abyssal plain An abyssal plain is an underwater plain on the deep ocean floor, usually found at depths between and . Lying generally between the foot of a continental rise and a mid-ocean ridge, abyssal plains cover more than 50% of the Earth's surface. T ...

in the summer of 1947. This plain, located to the south of

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

, is now known as the

Sohm Abyssal Plain The Sohm Abyssal Plain An abyssal plain is an underwater plain on the deep ocean floor, usually found at depths between and . Lying generally between the foot of a continental rise and a mid-ocean ridge, abyssal plains cover more than 50% o ...

. Following this discovery many other examples were found in all the oceans. The "A- boat" made 299 cruises and covered 700,000 miles, doing all types of ocean science.

Argentine service

In 1966, ''Atlantis'' was sold to

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

, refurbished, and renamed ''El Austral''. She was used as a

by Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas ( CONICET), crewed by Argentine naval personnel. In 1996, she was transferred to the

and renamed after

Bernardo Houssay Bernardo Alberto Houssay (April 10, 1887 – September 21, 1971) was an Argentine physiologist. Houssay was a co-recipient of the 1947 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for discovering the role played by pituitary hormones in regulating th ...

. She went through an extensive 3-year overhaul and keel-up refit in 2009 at the

Tandanor Tandanor (an acronym for Talleres Navales Dársena Norte) is an Argentine shipyard located south of Buenos Aires port which together with Almirante Storni yard constitutes CINAR (Argentina's Industrial and Naval Compound) dedicated to shipbuildin ...

shipyard A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance a ...

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

References

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Atlantis Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Research vessels of the United States Tall ships of Argentina Training ships of the Argentine Navy Research vessels of Argentina Ships built in Copenhagen 1930 ships