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History of Oceanography
The Early Instruments Collections
Sounding Instruments
Early Instruments
Catalog of Oceanographic Equipment in the Collection of the Oceanographic Museum at Monaco. 5: Sounding Instruments by Christian Carpine.Bulletin de l'Institute Oceanographique, Vol. 75, No. 1441. 1996.
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Figure 1. A drilled roller (round boulder) used as a sounding weight. Figure 2. Ordinary sounding lead weight, sometimes attaining many kilograms. The leaddates from the Christian era. The trapezoidal form with a recess for tallow and acquiring
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Figure 4. A lead fish used for continuous sounding operations at slow speed.This device was invented in 1914 and improved by Pierre Marti in 1920.
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Figure 5. Stellwagen sampling sounder invented by Lieutenant Henry S.Stellwagen, USN, while on Coast Survey duty in 1842. This sampler was undoubtedly one of the first sounder-samplers of simple design that was used in asystematic manner for scient
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Figure 6. Brooke sounder, invented by Midshipman John M. Brooke, USN, at theinstigation of Matthew Fontaine Maury of the United States Naval Observatory in1852. This was the first sounding device to abandon its lead at the bottom andreturn with a s
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Figure 6 (cont.) Brooke sounding device in the descent position.
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Figure 7. Bonnici sounder, invented by Carmelo Bonnici, a blacksmith on HMSSPITFIRE. This device was used in surveys in the Black Sea in 1855. Left:descending. Right: Schematic drawing of the apparatus after striking thebottom.
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Figure 8. Skead sounder invented by Francis Skead during telegraph surveyoperations between Malta and Crete off HMS TARTARUS in 1857. This device wasdesigned to mitigate problems with the Brooke and Bonnici sounders. The firstwould sink in soft se
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Figure 9. Sands sounder invented by Commander Benjamin F. Sands, USN, while onduty with the U. S. Coast Survey in 1857. Compression of the spring actuatedlevers, which separated the symmetric halves of the weight which then fell to the bottom. A v
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Figure 10. Bulldog sounder, invented by Marine Engineer Roughton,assistant engineer Steil, and naturalist George C. Wallich for use in deep water sounding operations by HMS BULLDOG in the North Sea and North Atlantic Ocean in 1860 while under command
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Figure 11. Lightning sounder, designed in 1866 by Lieutenant Charles C. P. Fitzgerald, RN. This model was used on the LIGHTNING during the Faroe Islandsexpedition of 1868. It was used for systematic sounding operations in depths up to 1189 meters
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Figure 12. Hydra sounder, made by Mr. Gibbs and colleagues on the HMS HYDRAduring the 1868 Indian Ocean expedition commanded by Captain Peter F. Shortland. Some of the first deep soundings in the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans weremade with this i
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Figure 13. Bouquet de la Grye sounder, invented by the French hydrographicengineer Anatole Bouquet de la Grye in 1869. The main point about this devicewas a new type of weight release mechanism, based on the action of springreleased at the moment t
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Figure 14. Baillie sounder, a version of the Hydra sounder, was designed in1871 by Lieutenant Charles W. Baillie, RN, when he was on the North Americanstation. This instrument was almost immediately adopted by the British Hydrographic Office. Two
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Figure 15. Wille sounder, first described by Captain Carl Fredrik Wille of theNorwegian naval vessel VORINGEN in 1876.
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Figure 16. Combination water sampling bottle and sounder designed by John Y.Buchanan after his return from the Challenger expedition in 1877. Thisinstrument worked better than preceding models for water sampling and was usedregularly by Prince Albe
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Figure 17. Belknap and Sigsbee sounding device, designed by George Belknap onboard the TUSCARORA in 1873-1874. This instrument, which was a modification ofthe Brooke sounder, was subsequently improved by Lieutenant Charles D. Sigsbee,USN, while in
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Figure 18. Hopfgartner sounding device, invented by the Austrian LieutenantFrance von Hopfgartner. No information has been found regarding tests andsubsequent use of this instrument.
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Figure 19. Hirondelle locking sounder. Prince Albert I of Monaco designed thisapparatus in 1888. His idea was to modify a Baillie or Travailleur sounder byreplacing the various valves with a spigot which closed after sediment enteredthe tube. The
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Figure 19 (cont.) Hirondelle locking sounder in the opened wide position.
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