RV Atlantis is a sailboat

Sailboat

A sailboat or sailing boat is a boat propelled partly or entirely by sails. The term covers a variety of boats, larger than small vessels such as sailboards and smaller than sailing ships, but distinctions in the size are not strictly defined and what constitutes a sailing ship, sailboat, or a...

 that served as the first and also the main research vessel for the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution is a private, nonprofit research and higher education facility dedicated to the study of all aspects of marine science and engineering and to the education of marine researchers. Established in 1930, it is the largest independent oceanographic research...

 from 1931 to 1964. Several ships, including RV Atlantis (AGOR-25) and the Space Shuttle Atlantis

Space Shuttle Atlantis

The Space Shuttle Atlantis is a retired Space Shuttle orbiter in the Space Shuttle fleet belonging to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration , the spaceflight and space exploration agency of the United States...

 (OV

Orbiter Vehicle Designation

Each NASA space shuttle designation is composed of a prefix and suffix separated by a dash. The prefix for operational shuttles is OV, for Orbiter Vehicle.The suffix is composed of two parts: the series and the vehicle number.Series:...

-104) were named after Atlantis. The former Atlantis is now commissioned as an oceanographic

Oceanography

Oceanography , also called oceanology or marine science, is the branch of Earth science that studies the ocean...

 research vessel in the Argentine Naval Prefecture

Argentine Naval Prefecture

The Argentine Naval Prefecture, in Spanish Prefectura Naval Argentina or PNA, is a service of the Argentine Interior Ministry charged with protecting the country's rivers and maritime territory...

 as the Dr. Bernardo A. Houssay

Bernardo Houssay

-External links:* * . WhoNamedIt.* . Nobel Foundation....

. Having sailed over 1,300,000 miles to date, she is the oldest serving oceanographic research vessel in the world.

History

Atlantis was the first Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution research vessel and the first ship built specifically for interdisciplinary research in marine biology

Marine biology

Marine biology is the scientific study of organisms in the ocean or other marine or brackish bodies of water. Given that in biology many phyla, families and genera have some species that live in the sea and others that live on land, marine biology classifies species based on the environment rather...

, marine geology

Marine geology

Marine geology or geological oceanography involves geophysical, geochemical, sedimentological and paleontological investigations of the ocean floor and coastal margins...

 and physical oceanography

Physical oceanography

Physical oceanography is the study of physical conditions and physical processes within the ocean, especially the motions and physical properties of ocean waters.Physical oceanography is one of several sub-domains into which oceanography is divided...

. The 460-ton Marconi Ketch

Ketch

A ketch is a sailing craft with two masts: a main mast, and a shorter mizzen mast abaft of the main mast, but forward of the rudder post. Both masts are rigged mainly fore-and-aft. From one to three jibs may be carried forward of the main mast when going to windward...

 originally carried a crew of 17 and had room for 5 scientists. Columbus Iselin II, her first master

Captain (nautical)

A sea captain is a licensed mariner in ultimate command of the vessel. The captain is responsible for its safe and efficient operation, including cargo operations, navigation, crew management and ensuring that the vessel complies with local and international laws, as well as company and flag...

 and a major influence in her design, felt that steadiness, silence and cruising range were of greater importance than speed. After her construction was complete, WHOI searched for an appropriate name for the new vessel. Alexander Forbes (1882—1965), a trustee of WHOI, had recently bought a schooner

Schooner

A schooner is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts with the forward mast being no taller than the rear masts....

 named Atlantis from Iselin. Mr. Forbes rechristened his schooner so the new research vessel could be named Atlantis.

Use of a continuously recording fathometer

Fishfinder

A fishfinder is an instrument used to locate fish underwater by detecting reflected pulses of sound energy, as in SONAR. A modern fishfinder displays measurements of reflected sound on a graphical display, allowing an operator to interpret information to locate schools of fish, underwater debris,...

 on Atlantis cruise #150 enabled Ivan Tolstoy, Maurice Ewing

Maurice Ewing

William Maurice "Doc" Ewing was an American geophysicist and oceanographer.Ewing has been described as a pioneering geophysicist who worked on the research of seismic reflection and refraction in ocean basins, ocean bottom photography, submarine sound transmission , deep sea coring of the ocean...

, and other scientists of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution to locate and describe the first abyssal plain in the summer of 1947. This plain, located to the south of Newfoundland

Newfoundland and Labrador

Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada. Situated in the country's Atlantic region, it incorporates the island of Newfoundland and mainland Labrador with a combined area of . As of April 2011, the province's estimated population is 508,400...

, is now known as the Sohm Abyssal Plain

Sohm Abyssal Plain

The Sohm Abyssal Plain is in the North Atlantic and has an area of around ....

. Following this discovery many other examples were found in all the oceans.

The "A- boat" made 299 cruises and covered 700,000 miles, doing all types of ocean science. In 1966, Atlantis was sold to Argentina, refurbished, and renamed El Austral. It is used as a research vessel and is crewed by Argentine naval personnel. She underwent a major overhaul and refurbishment in 2009 at the Tandanor shipyard in Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...

.