USS Albatross (1882) - Fate

Fate

Ultimately decommissioned at Woods Hole on the morning of 29 October 1921, Albatross, minus her equipment, instruments, and library, was sold on 16 June 1924 to Thomas Butler and Co. of Boston, who then refitted her "as closely possible along her old lines" as a school ship. Four years later, fitted out as a training ship for "nautical students or cadets," the vessel departed Boston on 12 July 1927 under the auspices of the American Nautical School, Inc., with 119 pupils on board, bound for European waters. The students, however, departed the ship at a succession of ports on the ship's final voyage — Cork, Le Havre, and Amsterdam — with the result that only 21 remained on board when she arrived at Hamburg. The ship's crew insisted that she be auctioned off to satisfy their demand for wages. On 18 October of the same year, the ship was reportedly tied up at Hamburg, "under attachment for indebtedness." No notice of public auction has been found, and the documentary trail, such as it is, ends in 1928. Her exact fate remains unknown.