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Feb 25, 2026
How Fisheries Steamer Albatross lit up the night sea
The United States Fish Commission Steamer Albatross as shown on page 259 of the Bulletin of the United States Fish Commission for 1896. NOAA Central Library Call No. SH11 .A25. (Image credit: Archival Photography by Steve Nicklas)
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February 27, 2026
For centuries, the belief that a large seabird called an albatross brought good luck to sailors has lived on in seafaring mythology. The sailors and researchers of the United States Commission of Fish and Fisheries must have thought the steamer Albatross was lucky to have named it after the bird. And they were right in that it was the first government vessel to be outfitted entirely with electric lights—a rare luxury at the time.
In 1881, Congress approved funds for the United States Commission of Fish and Fisheries to build what would be the first vessel built especially for marine research by any government, the steamer Albatross. Charles W. Copeland of New York drew up the plans, Pusey & Jones of Wilmington, Delaware constructed the ship, and most interestingly, Thomas Edison designed an entire lighting scheme for the steamer, making it the government’s first ship to be fully equipped with electric lights.In 1882 G.W. Baird was made the superintendent engineer of the United States Commission of Fish and Fisheries and started working on the Albatross’ lighting installation with Edison’s company. Baird did not always agree with the choices made by Edison’s engineer.
An illustration of the high-speed engine installed to run the lighting system on the Fisheries Steamer Albatross. The engine had a single steam-cylinder, 8¼ inches in diameter of bore, a stroke of piston of 10 inches, and ran 300 revolutions per minute.(Image credit: Annual report on the electric lighting of the United States Steamer Albatross, December 31, 1883, United States Commission of Fish and Fisheries)Download Image
In fact, he noted one such disagreement in his 1883 annual report on the subject:
“This particular engine is larger than should be employed for this plant… I have been obliged to introduce a pressure-regulating valve, which limits the pressure to what is desired. Previous to introducing this valve, two cross-head keys had been sheared off and one cross-head broken, by water in the steam-cylinder.Had the smaller size of engine (6½ by 8) been used, as I recommended, this difficulty would have been avoided, but the Engineer of the Edison Company… preferred to give us this large engine, even at a greater cost to his Company.”
First page of the December 31, 1883 Annual report on the electric lighting of the United States Steamer Albatross written by G.W .Baird (Image credit: NOAA)Download Image
Interested in reading G.W. Baird’s entire report?You can view and download it here:Annual report on the electric lighting of the United States Steamer Albatross, December 31, 1883
Not only did the steamer’s lighting plan include functional electric lamps in rooms and on the decks, but there were also special lamps to help with their work studying marine organisms. These were used with a 940-foot-long deep-sea cable, which enabled the lamps to be deployed underwater so that the researchers could use them to attract fish and other marine animals for night-time observation and collection. These lights made a major difference in researchers’ ability to study marine organisms and their behaviors at night, allowing them to see further into the depths and to work past sunset.
On deck, the men worked in all kinds of weather, and are shown here examining the contents of a sieve by electric light. (Image credit: Drawn by W. Taber for The Century Magazine.)Download Image
The Albatross and its Edison lamps served the United States Commission of Fish and Fisheries for 39 years, with two details to the Navy, in 1898 for the Spanish-American War and 1917 to 1919 for World War I. After the second deployment with the Navy, the Albatross returned to surveying and scientific studies until finally being decommissioned on October 29, 1921.
The Albatross dredging. (Image credit: Report on the Construction and Outfit of the United States Fish Commission Steamer Albatross, by Lieutenant-Commander Z. L. Tanner, U. S. N. United States Commission of Fish and Fisheries.)
You can learn more about the Fisheries Steamer Albatross’ work here.
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