The California Academy of Sciences purchased the decommissioned U. S. Navy schooner Earnest and renamed it Academy. The schooner departed San Francisco for Galápagos on June 28, 1905 and returned to San Francisco on November 29, 1906. On October 4, 1905, the Academy visited the Galápagos Post Office barrel and Joseph Slevin (1931) noted that

Crews of various vessels calling at this anchorage had painted or carved the names of their vessels on the post or barrel. Among those are: His Majesty's ships Amphion and Virago, the French cruiser Protet, the U. S. S. Oregon, and the U. S. F. S. Albatross.

The 144-feet long wooden motor schooner left Oslo for Galápagos in 1926.

See Stein Hoff's Drømmen om Galapagos for details.

Launched in December 1882 for the U. S. Commission of Fish and Fisheries, the Albatross made a collecting expedition to Galápagos in 1891 under the direction of Alexander Agassiz of Harvard University. The ship returned to Galápagos on the third Agassiz Expedition of 1904-05.

The graffiti at Tagus Cove reads “Albatross 72” and a sign reading “3/61 Brigatine [sic] Albatross” is seen on a ca. 1962 postcard of the Post Office barrel at Isla Floreana. These may represent two ships with the same name, or subsequent visits by a single ship. No additional information has been found (yet).

Originally named Concrete due to its ferro-concrete hull, the ship was renamed Albemarle and departed Oslo on September 2, 1926, bound for Galápagos.

See Stein Hoff's Drømmen om Galapagos for details.

The steel-hulled barque, built in Aberdeen, Scotland in 1874, transported coal from Australia to Panamá. After drifting for weeks, the Captain and crew abandoned the ship in May, 1907 and made their way to Galápagos in two small boats.

See Stein Hoff's Drømmen om Galapagos for details.

William Kissam Vanderbilt II made several visits to Galápagos on his yacht Ara. His book To Galápagos on the Ara: 1926 described his visit of that year.

The ship was in Galápagos in December, 1937, in company with U. S. S. Charleston.

The ship in which William Ambrosia Cowley, William Dampier and Lionel Wafer visited Galápagos in 1684. The only known occurrence of the ship's name is in Lionel Wafer's New Voyage and Description of the Isthmus of America:

“Captain Swan, in the Cygnet, was going to the Westward; and Mr. Dampier chose to go with him. I staid with Captain Davis, in the Batchelors Delight: and he was for going again to the Southward.”

Presumably, the Batchelors Delight was the Danish vessel captured off the west coast of Africa in November, 1683 and subsequently renamed by the buccaneers. The original name of the ship is unknown.

H. M. S. Beagle visited Galápagos from September 14 through October 21, 1835. While Captain Robert FitzRoy and the ship's officers surveyed the islands, naturalist Charles Darwin collected specimens and it has been said that he eventually developed a rather interesting theory to explain what he saw here and elsewhere. Illustrations by R. T. (Robert Taylor) Pritchett are from the 1890 first illustrated edition of Darwin's Journal of Researches.

Named after Nathaniel Bowditch (1773-1838), the Bowditch was launched in 1929 in Copenhagen, Denmark, as the passenger ship Santa Inez. It was purchased by the U. S. Navy, outfitted as a surveying vessel, and commissioned 1 July 1940, Commander E. E. Duvall in command. In 1942 the Bowditch conducted a survey in the Galápagos Islands and elsewhere. The ship was decommissioned in 1947.

Sailing in company with H. M. S. Tagus in search of the American frigate Essex, both ships arrived at Charles Island (Isla Santa María/Floreana) on July 25, 1814, then continued to other islands before departing for the Marquesas on August 4. The visit―including a brief mention of Lt. Cowan's grave―is described in John Shillibeer's Narrative …

Built in Scotland in 1884, the ship was acquired by Ecuador in 1886 and given the name Cotapaxi. After the assassination of Manuel J. Cobos, the Cotopaxi was sent to Galápagos to investigate the conditions under which his laborers were forced to work. In 1927 the ship was renamed Calderón in honor of Abdón Calderón, a distinguished leader in Ecuador's independence. The Calderón made several visits to Galápagos, and after being decommissioned it was placed in Guayaquil's Parque de la Armada as a historical museum. [Painting at Museo Naval, 2005 photo at Parque de la Armada.]

The steel-hulled yacht was built in Germany in 1930 and later purchased by Leon Mandel, who named it after his wife Carola. The Carola visited Galápagos with the Leon Mandel/Field Museum Galápagos Expedition in 1940-41. Purchased by the U. S. Navy in 1942, Carola was converted to the Patrol Gunboat U. S. S. Beaumont (PG- 60).

Margret Wittmer wrote that the Charleston and Babbitt visited Isla Floreana in December 1937. She stated that a Dr. Mueller from Panama diagnosed her step-son Harry's rheumatic fever. U. S. Navy records show that the Charleston paid a return visit to Galápagos in December, 1939.

The armed tender H. M. S. Chatham, sailing in company with H. M. S. Discovery, passed several Galápagos islands in February, 1795. A carved “Chatham” inscription has been discovered on one of the islands that were seen from the ship, but no record has been found to verify that the inscription was actually the work of the Chatham crew. See H. M. S. Discovery for details about the voyage.

An envelope postmarked May 29, 1936 indicates the ship was at Valparaiso, Chile on that date. Information on another envelope indicates the Chicago passed Galápagos northbound at 92° 35' West longitude (some 55 nautical miles west of Isla Fernandina), presumably enroute to the Hawaiian Islands. Although killer bars on the envelope include the legend galapagos island, the ship apparently did not actually visit the islands.

The Porter-class destroyer was in Galápagos in August, 1936, where a ship's report stated that “The fishing is unbelievably good.” Whatever other business brought the Clark here is unknown. An envelope postmarked July 15, 1938 bears an illustration with the legend “President F. D. Roosevelt Aboard U. S. Navy Warship on Fishing Cruise to South America.” In fact, President Roosevelt boarded U. S. S. Houston on July 14 for a “fishing cruise” to Galápagos, escorted by the U. S. S. McDougal. There is no known record of particpation by the U. S. S. Clark, so the purpose of this envelope illustration remains a mystery. To add to the mystery, the ship depicted in the illustration looks like a WWI heavy cruiser, bearing no resemblance to the U. S. S. Clark.

See Calderon.

Other than the painted graffiti recording its 1931 visit, no information about this vessel is known.

The Polish sailing ship Dar Pomorza (“Gift of Pomorza” [Pomerania]) made a round-the-world cruise in 1934-35, stopping in Galápagos in December, 1934. The Dar Pomorza is currently a branch of the Polish Central Maritime Museum, and is moored in the city of Gdynia, Poland.

While at Post Office Bay on December 14, the ship's company replaced the Post Office barrel at Isla Floreana. Several years later (January 24, 1938) a photo of Captain G. Allan Hancock at Post Office Bay shows the sign placed at the Barrel by the Dar Pomorza crew.

On its voyage between Islas Coco and Juan Fernandez, the Sloop of War H. M. S. Discovery, Captain George Vancouver, passed the islands of Darwin, Wolf, Isabela and Fernandina in February, 1795, sailing in company with H. M. S. Chatham. A shore party headed by Joseph Whidbey, Surgeon-Botanist, and Archibald Menzies, Master, briefly visited Isla Isabela, landing to the south of Cape Berkeley.

Built in 1906 in England, the sailing yacht was purchased in Hongkong in 1923 by Dr. Robert H. Ellis, who sailed the ship across the Pacific, arriving in Astoria Oregon on July 19 of that year. It was purchased later in the 1920s by Eugene Overton. The Dwyn Wen was used by the U. S. Navy from 19 February 1942 until 18 July, 1944, then sold to an unknown buyer. The date of its visit to Galápagos is presumed to have been shortly before ca. 1962 when the “Dwyn Wen” sign was photographed at the Post Office barrel. Dwyn Wen is the Welsh patron saint of lovers.

Built in Baltimore in 1875, the U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey Schooner Earnest was transferred to the U. S. Navy in 1898. After sustaining damage in a storm, the ship was purchased in 1905 by the California Academy of Sciences and renamed as the Academy.

The U. S. S. Erie visited Galápagos in December, 1938. Panama Canal Department Commander Major General David L. Stone, U. S. Army, had permission from the War Department and the Ecuadorian government to reconnoiter the islands, and spent eight days aboard the ship there, visiting Wreck Bay at Isla San Cristóbal (12th), Post Office Bay at Isla Santa María (13th—See envelope), Port Villamil at Isla Isabela (14th), Academy Bay at Isla Santa Cruz (date unknown; 15-16?), and Sulivan Bay at Isla San Salvador (17th). The ship paid a return visit to Islas Floreana and Santa Cruz, January 23-27, 1942, gathering intelligence about some of the residents. On November 12, 1942, the U. S. S. Erie was torpedoed by the German submarine U-163 in the Caribbean, and sank a few weeks later while being towed back to the United States for repairs. The U. S. S. Erie envelope mentioned above bears an illustration of a three-stack WWI heavy cruiser. Like the U. S. S. Clark envelope cited earlier, it bears no resemblance to the ship.

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The Swedish three-masted schooner Start was renamed Floreana and departed Norway for Galápagos in May, 1925.

See Stein Hoff's Drømmen om Galapagos for details.

See U. S. S. Teal.

The first tourist vessel in Galápagos, the three-masted schooner arrived from Plymouth, England in 1969. (Photo unavailable—illustration is postal cover from maiden voyage.)

The yacht was built in 1929 for Fleischmann Yeast's Max C. Fleischmann, who named it after a native tribe living on the Queen Charlotte Islands off the northwest coast of British Columbia, Canada. The Haida was in Galápagos in February and March, 1938 and was discovered taking soundings. For reasons unknown, the Haida hastily departed when local authorities approached it.

Fleischmann sold the yacht to the U. S. Navy in 1940, after which it served as U. S. S. Argus (PY 14). In 1946 it was decommissioned and subsequently sold to a private owner. The following year Fleischmann acquired a second yacht, which he also named Haida.

Presumably a whaler, but no information has been found about the ship Halard.

On December 4, 1871, the United States Coast Survey sent the steamer Hassler (named after the Survey's first Superintendent Ferdinand R. Hassler) from Boston to San Francisco. Survey Superintendent Benjamin Pierce had invited his friend Louis Agassiz to participate in the expedition, with the object of performing dredging operations along the way. The ship arrived in Galápagos on June 10, 1872 and spent about one week there. Although Agassiz, a creationist and strong opponent of Darwin, wrote nothing of this visit, his wife Elizabeth Cary Hassler wrote “A Cruise Through the Galapagos” for the May, 1873 issue of The Atlantic Monthly.

The Houston brought President Franklin Delano Roosevelt to Galápagos on the Third Presidential Voyage. While there, the ship's company unsuccessfully searched for the gravesite of Lieutenant John Cowan on Isla San Salvador. Smithsonian scientist Waldo Schmitt accompanied the President on the voyage.

Built in 1897, the 51-foot yawl Inyala departed England in August 1930, bound for the South Pacific. With a crew of two, the yawl's captain Temple Utley arrived in Galápagos in early May, 1931. At Isla Floreana, Utley became friendly with Captain Paul Bruun, and in June accompanied him in Bruun's ship Norge to Isla Isabela. On the return trip, Norge ran out of fuel and Bruun managed to bring the ship into Bahia San Pedro on Isla Isabela. From there, Bruun went back to Puerto Villamil for fuel and on his return to the Norge, the small boat he was in capsized and Bruun was drowned. Utley and the others buried him on shore, and in August Utley resumed his own voyage to the Marquesas, Tahiti and Fiji. He resided in Suva, and died there on April 2, 1935.

The famous Captain Paul Bruun with a crew of two brought the former Olav Tryggvasson to Galápagos in 1926.

See Stein Hoff's Drømmen om Galapagos for details.

On January 16, 2001, the Ecuadorian tanker Jessica ran aground at Schiavoni Reef, about 800 meters from Puerto Baquerizo Moreno on San Cristóbal Island. The vessel had just arrived from the port of Guayaquil on the Ecuadorian mainland, carrying diesel and bunker fuel. News Releases from the Charles Darwin Foundation and elsewhere reported details.

While cruising off the Galápagos Islands (exact location unknown) in 1941, the German Hilfskreuzer (Auxiliary Cruiser) Komet sank the New Zealand trader Australind on August 14 and the British-India ship Devon on August 19. The Dutch freighter Kota Nopan was captured on August 17, and a German prize crew took the ship to Bordeaux.

Commissioned in April 1904, the armored cruiser H. M. S. Lancaster was the fourth ship in the British Navy to bear that name. She visited Galápagos in 1917, presumably searching for German warships in the Pacific. The Lancaster was decommissioned two years later.

The minesweeper U. S. S. Lapwing (AM-1) was launched 14 March 1918, decommissioned 11 April 1922, and recommissioned 1 September 1932, Lt. R. J. Arnold in command. The Lapwing was redesignated as a Small Seaplane Tender (AVP-1) and visited Galápagos in January 1936, in company with the U. S. S. Ranger, Wright, and other vessels. In a 1978 letter, Victor Wolfgang von Hagen states that he was on board the Lapwing and wrote the first Intelligence Report about the Galápagos Islands for the U. S. Navy.

The fourth ship with this name, H. M. S. Leander was launched in 1872 and completed in 1885. In company with H. M. S. Virago, the ship visited Galápagos in 1897, calling at Tagus Cove (December 8-10), where they met the American Lila and Mattie (see below). The ships also visited Post Office Bay, where the Leander put up a new barrel. It is unknown if this was a replacement for an older barrel which had deteriorated, or was the first barrel to be placed here. When the 1905-06 voyage of the schooner Academy visited the same location, the barrel bore a sign that read “Erected by H. M. S. Leander.” The names of H. M. S. Virago, U. S. S. Oregon and others were also seen on the barrel. The illustration is from an unknown English paper, dated December 29, 1883.

The two-masted schooner was built by John F. Peterson in 1888 for Henry Witherbee. Charles Miller Harris chartered the Lila and Mattie for the Webster-Harris Galápagos Expedition of 1897.

The Lina A was the second tourist ship in Galápagos, where it went into service in 1969, shortly after the arrival of the Golden Cachalot.

The U. S. S. Mallard was commissioned as a minesweeper, AM-44, in 1918 and reclassifed as a Submarine Rescue Ship, ASR-4, in 1929. She was attached to Submarine Squadron Three, whose home port was Coco Solo, Panama before and during WWII. In April, 1941, she accompanied four submarines (S-44 - S-47) to Galápagos, where they charted the waters surrounding Isla Baltra. See Picking, Sherwood for more details.

(Info to follow)

The ship was in Galápagos in 1909, in company with U. S. S. Colorado (ACR-7), Pennyslvania (ACR-4) and West Virginia (ACR-5). According to a February 14 entry in a log kept by Seaman Fred Sanford Rice, “We are to take surveys, some say the Government is looking for a good site for a coaling station.”

Gifford Pinchot's 148-foot three-masted schooner was built in Wilmington, Delaware in 1902 as the Ariadne and later named Cutty Sark. When Pinchot acquired the vessel he re-named it Mary Pinchot in honor of his mother. He sailed from New York on April 1, 1929, bound for Tahiti. The voyage, including a five-week stopover in Galápagos, is described in his book To the South Seas.

Launched in 1926 at Newport News, Virginia, the yacht was acquired a few years later by Zenith Radio Corporation founder Eugene F. McDonald, named Allegro and in 1929, re-named as Mizpah. The following year, McDonald sailed to Galápagos and visited Friedrich Ritter and Dore Strauch. Strauch wrote a chapter about the Mizpah in her book Satan Came to Eden, and even Dr. Ritter recalled McDonald's gift of a wheelbarrow, as reported later by J. F. Schimpff. Strauch reported the visit occurred on January 18th, but McDonald gives the date as January 25. Ritter subsequently corresponded with McDonald, and with Dr. Baker Brownell, a Professor of Contemporary Thought at Northwestern University and McDonald's guest on the Mizpah. The yacht was subsequently acquired by the U. S. Navy and commissioned as U. S. S. Mizpah (PY-29) in 1942, decommissioned in 1946 and scuttled as part of an artificial reef off Palm Beach, Florida in 1968.

Bernard Gorsky's Moana departed St. Malo, France on June 28, 1954, arrived at Isla Genovesa on March 29, 1955 and departed Isla Santa Cruz on April 20 on a course for the Marquesas Islands.

The ship was a UNOLS (University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System) research vessel commissioned in 1973 and operated by the University of Hawaii. It may have visited Galápagos in 1974 and if so, that might account for the “Moana 74” graffiti at Tagus Cove.

The whaling bark Morning Star of New Bedford, Connecticut made several visits to Galápagos ca. 1858-61. Source: Townsend, The Galápagos Tortoises in their Relation to the Whaling Industry (Figure 20).

The Noma was built in 1902 for John Jacob Astor, father of William Vincent Astor. After the elder Astor's death by drowning when H. M. S. Titanic sank in 1912, ownership passed to his son, who loaned the Noma to the U. S. Navy in 1917 for use during the First World War. After the war's end, the ship was decommissioned in 1919 and returned to her owner. In 1923, the Noma, now owned by Harrison Williams, was used by William Beebe and other members of the Harrison Williams Galápagos Expedition, as described in Beebe's Galápagos: World's End. [See also Nourmahal below.]

Norwegian Paul Edvard Bruun served for a time as captain of the Manuel J. Cobos, and later settled on Isla Floreana. From there, he operated his own ship Norge. In June, 1931, Bruun sailed the Norge over to Isla Isabela, accompanied by author Temple Utley, who had arrived in Galápagos on his yawl Inyala. Utley describes Bruun's death at Bahia San Pedro in his book A Modern Sea Beggar.

William Vincent Astor's first yacht Nourmahal, built in 1921, replaced his previous yacht Noma. It was in turn replaced by a second yacht of the same name (seen here), built in 1928 at the Krupp Iron Works in Kiel, Germany. In April, 1930, Astor took a group of scientists to Galápagos aboard the yacht, and made additional visits in 1932, 33, 36, 37 & 38 (see graffiti). Acquired by the U. S. Coast Guard 21 March 1940, the yacht was subsequently assigned to the U. S. Navy in 1942 and designated U. S. S. Nourmahal (PG-72).
In Thomas Moore's Lalla Rookh: An Oriental Romance, the Princess Nourmahal is the heroine of the poem “Light of the Harem.”

The ship stopped at Post Office Bay in January, 1898 on a voyage from Callao, Peru to Honolulu, Hawaii. [See Academy note above.]

George Washington Vanderbilt III visited Isla Floreana on June 4, 1941 on his yacht Pioneer. While there, an expedition member picked up an envelope mailed from the Post Office Barrel by commanding officer Lieutenant Ian C. Eddy on the submarine S-45.

There is conflicting information about the yacht's early history. One account states it was the former German yacht Cressida, captured as a war prize during WWII and subsequently sold to Vanderbilt, who re-named it as Pioneer. However, a June 7, 1937 Time Magazine account indicates Vanderbilt was on his yacht Cressida in Hawaii, and the above envelope indicates his Pioneer was in Galápagos shortly before the war. Pending further investigation, about all that can be stated for sure is that the former Pioneer is now operated by Windjammer Barefoot Cruises as the S. V. Yankee Clipper, shown in the thumbnail image (larger photo not yet available).

Other than its name, nothing is known of the Radio, which is thought to have been a tuna fishing vessel. The photo was taken on one of the Hancock Expeditions between 1931 and 1935. Today, all that remains of the Radio is an engine casing lying in a tide pool, which some naturalist guides inform their passengers was dropped there during WWII by American military forces.

The USS Ranger—the first U. S. Navy ship built from the keel up as an aircraft carrier—was commissioned on 4 June 1934, Captain Arthur L. Bristol in command. The Ranger arrived in the Pacific in April 1935. In January, 1936, she visited Galápagos in company with U. S. S. Wright and other vessels.

The ship in which William Ambrosia Cowley, William Dampier and others departed Virginia in August of 1683. The authors contradict each other on describing the vessel though.

• Cowley: “I departed from Cape Charles in Virginia … in the good Ship called the Revenge, of 8 Guns and 52 Men, Capt. John Cook Commander, … .”
• Dampier: “The best of their Prizes carried 18 Guns; this they fitted up there with Sails, and every thing necessary for so long a Voyage … our whole Crew consist(ed) of about 70 Men. We sailed from Achamack in Virginia, under the Command of Capt. Cook bound for the South-Seas.”

These four vessels in Submarine Squadron Three visited Galápagos in April, 1941, accompanied by the U. S. S. Mallard. Captain Sherwood Picking was Squadron Commander.

The British three-masted barquentine departed Dartmouth, England on April 9, 1924 on a voyage to the Marquesas and Society Islands and back. The St. George arrived at James Island on July 24, and later visited several other islands. In The South Seas of To-Day, author P. H. Johnson wrote about the names of ships seen at Tagus Cove:

“Previous visitors had a habit of inscribing their ships' names and the date of their visit on the sides of the gully. Unfortunately, Darwin's ship, the Beagle, seems to have omitted to do so, though there is a record of the visit of the Phoenix in 1836, the same year as he was here. [sic, Darwin was there in 1835―JW.] However, the St. George's name has not been forgotten, and now stands there are large as any of them.” [The ship's company also erected a new Post Office barrel in August, 1924―JW.]

See Manuel J. Cobos.

The tuna fishing boat's crew were the first to discover the bodies of Rudolph Lorenz and Trygve Nuggerud on Isla Marchena. The ship's name is frequently seen misspelled as Santa Amaro.

The four-masted schooner Georgette was acquired by Phillips Lord in 1933, who re-named it Seth Parker after the country preacher character he played on his radio show. On November 13, 1934, Lord visited Dr. Ritter and watched as Ritter tossed some pork to his chickens. While visiting the Wittmers the following day, the ship's crew reported that the chickens had died of meat poisoning. The second image shows the endpaper illustrations from a 32-page Aboard the Seth Parker booklet published by Frigidaire Sales Corporation to publicize the use of Frigidaire equipment on the ship.

Yacht used by Tucker McClure construction company during WWII occupation of Galápagos by American military forces. No other information is available.

On September 1, 1919, the U. S. S. South Dakota was ordered to the Pacific to serve as flagship of the Asiatic Fleet. On September 15, the ship left the Panama Canal, bound for the Galápagos Islands. She departed Galápagos on September 18 and after several more stops, arrived in Manila on October 27.

Launched in 1927 by Norway's Bergenske Dampskipsselskap (Bergen Line), the ship visited Post Office Bay on January 30, 1934, at which time Captain G. Allan Hancock was also there on the 3rd voyage of his Velero III, as was Danish journalist Hakon Mielche on the yacht Monsunen (“Monsoon”).

Frederick E. Lewis brought his 230-foot, 297-ton diesel yacht from New York to Long Beach, California in 1935-36, with an extended visit to Galápagos along the way. A group of Orange County California Sea Scouts served in the crew, and in Galápagos collected iguanas, penguins and other birds which were subsequently given to the San Diego Zoo. According to Victor Wolfgang von Hagen (p. 3 of his “Chronology” sent to Corley Smith), he boarded the ship in Galápagos and the Sea Scouts served as his assistants. The Stranger returned to Galápagos in February-March, 1937, again with Sea Scouts serving in the crew.

Sailing in company with H. M. S. Briton in search of the American frigate Essex, both ships visited Galápagos in July and August, 1814.

Launched in 1918 and 1919 respectively, the Teal and Gannet (shown in photo above) were reclassified AVP-5 and AVP-8 (small seaplane tender) in 1936. The ships traveled to Galápagos in company with U. S. S. Wright and other vessels in February of that year.

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Constructed in 1919, the wooden motor-schooner was overhauled prior to its 1926 departure for Galápagos.

See Stein Hoff's Drømmen om Galapagos for details.

Captain G. Allan Hancock made five voyages (1931-1938) to Galápagos on his cruiser, which was equipped for scientific research expeditions.

Commissioned in 1862, the Sloop of War was active in the Pacific from 1880 until 1885. In 1884, the Wachusett visited Galápagos, where Dr. William H. Jones collected mollusks on Chatham Island (Isla San Cristóbal) for the Smithsonian Institution.

The ship was in Galápagos in 1909, in company with U. S. S. Colorado (ACR-7), Maryland (ACR-8) and Pennyslvania (ACR-4). The ships visited Charles (Isla Floreana), Albemarle (Isla Isabela), and (U. S. S. Maryland only) Indefatigable (Isla Santa Cruz). Charles E. Ellis, one of the crewmen, apparently photographed an officer, in civilian clothes, trying to kill a sea lion at Charles Island.

Gerry Trobridge designed and built the White Seal in South Africa and set out on a circumnavigation in 1953, returning to Durban in 1959. He met and married Marie in 1957, and they arrived in Galápagos in mid 1958. [Source: Holm's The Circumnavigators.]

The U. S. S. Wright was commissioned at the New York Navy Yard on 16 December, 1921, and designated as a lighter-than-air aircraft tender (AZ-1). She was reclassifed as a heavier-than-air aircraft tender (AV-1) on 1 December, 1926. Between 16 January and 28 February, 1936, she participated in an aviation support cruise which visited Post Office Bay, Galápagos Islands, Santa Elena, Ecuador and Balboa, Canal Zone. She traveled in company with the U. S. S. Gannet, Lapwing, Ranger and Teal. Renamed San Clemente in 1945, the ship was sold for scrap in 1948.

Hans and Lotte Hass visited Galápagos as part of a 1953 underwater filming expedition on their three-masted research vessel Xarifa (“Charming Lady” in Arabic)

Photo source is postcard sent by Lotte Hass to Dr. Hugo Mauerhofer.

Built in 1897, the Dutch pilot schooner Loodschooner 4 was purchased at a 1926 auction by a Captain Claude Monson and renamed Texel. Irving Johnson subsequently purchased the schooner, renamed it Yankee, started on a world cruise on November 5, and arrived off Isla San Cristóbal on December 25, 1933. Johnson and the Yankee made several additional visits to Galápagos over the years, and eventually sold the ship to Derek Lumbers, who was captain when the Yankee called at Isla Floreana on April 7, 1963. It was on this trip that passenger Saydee Reiser disappeared on the island. Her remains weren't discovered until 1980. As for the schooner, the Yankee ran aground off Rarotonga in the Cook Islands in 1963.

Info to follow