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,