Sailing for Science

These are the deck plans for WHOI’s first research ship, Atlantis, which arrived in Woods Hole ready for science on August 31, 1931. The 142-foot-long ketch was built in Copenhagen, Denmark, that year and was the first purpose-built oceanographic research ship in the United States. The ship had room for 17 crew and five scientists and made nearly 300 cruises from 1931 to 1966. These plans, as well as drawings for a number of other WHOI ships, are preserved in the institution’s archives. WHOI’s sea-going legacy continues today—the Institution’s newest ship, Neil Armstrong, is near completion and is expected to arrive in Woods Hole in 2015.(Photo courtesy of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Archives)