USS Albatross (1882) - 1907

1907

Following upkeep and voyage repairs, the steamer departed San Francisco on 16 October 1907, beginning what would be her longest cruise. Steaming by way of Hawaii, Midway, and Guam, the ship proceeded to the Philippine Islands and, over the next two and a half years, surveyed the fisheries and aquatic resources of the Philippines and neighboring regions before returning home on 4 May 1910.

That summer, Albatross returned to the waters off Alaska, and the Pribilof Islands, on an inspection tour of various "government activities in which the Department of Commerce and Labor" harbored an interest. After returning to San Francisco on 20 September 1910, she cruised to the Gulf of California and back between 23 February and 28 April 1911, to carry out a scientific expedition to Lower California and adjacent islands in cooperation with the American Museum of Natural History. The research vessel again departed San Francisco on 17 May 1911 and proceeded to Alaskan waters, to examine the existing halibut and cod fishing grounds and to search for new ones. She operated off the territory's southeast coast and in the Gulf of Alaska before returning home on 2 September 1911.