ACANIA
ACANIA, designed by J.H. Wells as a luxury diesel yacht, was launched in 1929. Her outfitting reflects the opulence of the 1920's. In 1931 ACANIA became the private yacht of movie actress Constance Bennett. The yacht was taken over by the U.S. Coast Guard during World War II. After the war, ACANIA was used by the Stanford Research Institute for upper-atmospheric research in the Central Pacific until 1971. She was then transferred to the U.S. Navy and operated as an oceanographic research vessel by the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California.
In 1986, Intersea Research Inc. purchased ACANIA from the U.S.
government, for research operations in the Pacific Northwest and
Southeast Alaska. To enhance her research and education capabilities,
the ship was refitted with state-of-the-art electronics, and wherever
it didn't interfere with her research capabilities, her accommodations
were restored to their former luxury. From: http://www.intersea.org/hist.html
June 3, 2002