NOAAS Researcher (R 103)  NOAAS "Researcher" (R 103), was an American oceanographic research vessel in commission in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) from 1970 to 1996. She had been delivered to the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey in 1970 as USC&GS "Researcher" (OSS 03), but did not enter commission until after her transfer to NOAA later that year. In 1988, "Researcher" was renamed NOAAS "Malcolm Baldrige" (R 103). After her United States Government career came to an end, "Malcolm Bainbridge" became the cruise ship MV "Ushuaia", operating between Argentina and Antarctica. Designed by the Maritime Administration, "Researcher" was built of welded steel with an ice-strengthened hll as an "ocean survey ship" (OSS) for the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey by the American Shipbuilding Company at Toledo, Ohio. Launched in October 1968, she was delivered in June 1970 to the Coast and Geodetic Survey at the Atlantic Maritime Center in Norfolk, Virginia, and accepted there on 18 June 1970 by the Survey, which planned to commission her as USC&GS "Researcher" (OSS 03). She had not yet been commissioned when the Coast and Geodetic Survey and other United States Government agencies merged to form NOAA on 3 October 1970. "Researcher" was commissioned that month and became a part of the new NOAA fleet as NOAAS "Researcher" (OSS 03). In the mid-1970s, her hull number was changed, and she became NOAAS "Researcher" (R 103). "Researcher" operated as an all-purpose oceanographic research ship in all the worlds oceans, conducting oceanographic and atmospheric research. In 1987, the long-serving United States Secretary of Commerce, Malcolm Baldrige, Jr., died in office of injuries suffered in a rodeo accident. In his honor, "Researcher" was renamed NOAAS "Malcolm Baldrige" (R 103) in a ceremony at Pier 1 at the Washington Navy Yard in Washington, D.C., on 1 March 1988. She was the first ship to be outfitted with an upgraded oceanographic system, the Scientific Computer System (SCS), which consisted of two MicroVAX computer systems that were networked to provide for both data acquisition and data processing functions. One of the MicroVAX systems was dedicated to acquiring, logging, and displaying data in real time and performing real-time data quality assurance functions, while the second MicroVAX was allocated to scientists embarked on the ship for data analysis and direction of their research.