RV Vema

The research vessel Vema was a three-masted schooner of the Lamont Geological Observatory (now the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory [LDEO]), a research unit of Columbia University. The 202 ft (62 m). vessel, with her almost indestructible Swedish wrought iron hull, became renowned as one of the world’s most productive oceanographic research vessels. The ship had been first sailed for pleasure under the name Hussar, and after its career as a research vessel entered a new career as the cruising yacht Mandalay.^[2]

E.F. Hutton's luxury yacht, Hussar

Designed by Cox & Stevens and built in 1923 by Burmeister & Wain in Copenhagen for E. F. Hutton and his wife Marjorie Merriweather Post, the 585-ton luxury yacht Hussar had an iron-hull and was at its time the epitome of maritime luxury and glamour in its class.^[1] In 1934 Hutton had built the Hussar (II) (later Sea Cloud), an even larger yacht than his first Hussar. In 1935, the Hussar was sold to Norwegian shipping magnate, G. Unger Vetlesen and his wife Maude Monell and renamed Vema, a combination of Vetlesen and Maude. The Vetlesens spent many pleasurable days at sea.

Vema during WWII

During World War II, Maude Monell donated Vema to the American war effort. The vessel was put into service as a merchant marine cadet training ship. The Vema was first put to use patrolling coastal waters for the US Coast Guard.^[1] Having lost her glitter, the vessel patrolled coastal waters and later served as a barrack and a training ship for the United States Merchant Marine. Assigned to the US Maritime Service Training Station on Hoffman Island, her sailing area was listed as 14,000 sqf.^[4] After the war she was abandoned off Staten Island until Louis Kenedy, a captain from Nova Scotia, salvaged the vessel.^[1][5] LDEO leased the vessel in 1953 and soon bought it for $100,000.^[1]

Research Vessel Vema

Vema started circling the globe as the first of the Lamont Geological Observatory's research vessels. Displaying a black hull, it was used to collect samples of seawater and sediment cores, measure currents and heat flows, perform underwater photography and seismic studies, and map out ocean floors. The work on the ship helped to confirm the continental drift theory. By the time of her retirement in 1981, the Vema had collected data on a record track of 1,225,000 nautical miles (2,269,000 km).^[1] Notable scientists who worked aboard the Vema include Maurice Ewing, Bruce C. Heezen, Ralph (Ralphy) Roessler, J. Lamar Worzel,^[6] Jack Nafe, Frank Press, and Walter Pitman, all of whose work was greatly facilitated by Marine Technical Coordinator Robert Gerard, who was responsible for the fitting and refitting of LDEO marine research vessels from the Vema through its successors, the Conrad, Eltanin, and RV Maurice Ewing, including the design and installation of numerous pieces of customized scientific measurement equipment critical to their research.

Seafloor features

• The Vema was instrumental in the exploration of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.^[7] The Vema Fracture Zone, crossing the Mid-Atlantic Ridge at 10°43′34″N 42°19′59″W / 10.726°N 42.333°W / 10.726; -42.333, was named for her. G.R. Hamilton aboard RV Vema discovered this feature in 1956.^[8]
• Vema Trench in the Indian Ocean is in fact a fracture zone named trench to avoid confusion with the Vema Fracture Zone in the Atlantic Ocean mentioned above. Vema Trench crosses the Central Indian Ridge at 8°59′S 67°34′E / 8.98°S 67.57°E / -8.98; 67.57. RV Vema discovered it in 1958.^[9]
• During the seafloor explorations the Vema Seamount was discovered in 1959; the seamount is located in the South Atlantic about 1,000 km west-north-west of Cape Town, at 31°38′S 8°20′E / 31.633°S 8.333°E / -31.633; 8.333.^[10]
• Vema Knoll at 23°40′N 66°58′W / 23.667°N 66.967°W / 23.667; -66.967 and Vema Gap at 23°30′N 67°00′W / 23.500°N 67.000°W / 23.500; -67.000 are located adjacent to each other, 500 km north of Puerto Rico.^[9]
• The Vema Channel is a deep trough in the Rio Grande Rise of the South Atlantic at 31°18′S 39°24′W / 31.3°S 39.4°W / -31.3; -39.4. Discovered during one of Vema's journeys, it has a depth of 4,646 m and a width of 18 km, serving as a conduit for the Antarctic Bottom Water and Weddell Sea bottom water.^[11]

Cruising yacht Mandalay

The ship was refitted again as a cruising yacht for the Caribbean under the name SV Mandalay (also Mandalay of Tortola)^[2] with a sail area of > 20,000 square feet (1,900 m²).^[3] The ship was operated by Windjammer Barefoot Cruises from 1982 until the operator went out of business in 2008.^[12] Mandalay subsequently was purchased at auction, refurbished,and used as specialty cruise ship in the Galapagos islands off Ecuador by Angermeyer Cruises. The SV Mandalay is currently run by Sail Windjammer and sails weekly out of Grenada for week-long cruises in the Grenadines.

Other research vessels of the LDEO

• USNS Robert D. Conrad, 1962–1989
• USNS Eltanin, 1962–1974
• RV Maurice Ewing, 1988–2005
• RV Marcus G. Langseth, 2004-^[1]

Note

The Miramar Ship Index lists the vessel incorrectly as Verna instead of Vema.^[2]

References

External links

• RV Vema's science tracks of 1,225,000 nautical miles
• S/V Mandalay