Papers of oceanographer and deep-sea explorer Fred Noel Spiess, including his correspondence, research files, professional materials and writings. The collection also includes some family papers, such as early correspondence between Spiess and his wife, Sally, and materials documenting their joint interests.
Fred N. Spiess Papers, 1890-2006, bulk 1940-2006 (SMC 36)
OFF-SITE STORAGE: COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE. ALLOW ONE WEEK FOR RETRIEVAL OF MATERIALS.
Restrictions: Original media formats are restricted. Viewing/listening copies may be available for
researchers.
Extent: 64.4 Linear feet (156 archives boxes, 2 flat boxes, and 1 map case folder), + 2.83 GB of digital files
Digital Content
The collection includes some digital photographs, and a small amount of audiovisual material has been digitized.
Fred Noel Spiess (1919-2006) was an oceanographer, deep-sea ocean explorer and ocean engineer. His research interests in deep-sea imaging, stable ocean platforms, long-range underwater systems and seafloor technology pioneered the development of innovative oceanographic instruments, including the near-bottom sonar system Deep Tow. As Director of the Marine Physical Laboratory, he co-invented R/P FLIP during the early 1960s alongside MPL researcher Frederick H. Fisher.
Spiess received a B.A. in Physics from University of California, Berkeley in 1941 and went directly to the U.S. Navy Submarine School in New London, Connecticut, where he was the first Navy Reservist to graduate first in his class. He served on 13 war patrols on submarines in the Pacific during World War II and was awarded both a Bronze Star and a Silver Star. He remained in the Navy as a reserve officer, retiring at the rank of Captain in 1974. After the war, he received an M.S. in Communication Engineering from Harvard University in 1946; he then returned to Berkeley, where he completed a Ph.D. in Physics in 1951. Spiess worked briefly for General Electric's Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory before joining the Marine Physical Laboratory (MPL) at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) in 1952. He directed MPL from 1958 to 1980. He served as associate director of SIO from 1965 until 1980, serving as acting director while Roger Revelle was on leave 1962-63 and as director for the academic year 1964-1965 following Revelle's resignation and preceding the appointment of Bill Nierenberg. Spiess was chairman of the Scripps Graduate Department intermittently between 1963 and 1977. He also served as director of the University of California's Institute of Marine Resources from 1980 to 1988, which was headquartered at UC San Diego. This assignment allowed him to continue his academic work at SIO while pursuing research and ocean policy interests through MPL.
Spiess was highly active at sea for more than 40 years and led numerous expeditions. As an expert in seafloor search technology, he was routinely sought after to search for deep-sea ship wreckages, including the Titanic. He also participated in the NSF-sponsored manganese nodule surveys which studied the acoustic properties of the world's sea floors throughout the 1980s. In 1989, he pioneered the development of a wireline re-entry system used to deploy oceanographic instruments from research vessels into deep-sea boreholes. He further advanced this technology during an August 2001 operation aboard R/V Roger Revelle in which MPL researchers installed wireline CORKs in crustal boreholes 504B and 896A to study the earth's crust.
Spiess composed numerous technical articles throughout his career and contributed widely on a number of working committees and research groups, including the Naval Research Advisory Committee, the National Academy of Sciences Committee on Undersea Warfare, the Ocean Science Board and the National Science Foundation RIDGE program. He was awarded the Franklin Institute's Wetherill Medal in 1965 for his development of R/P FLIP, the Marine Technology Society's Distinguished Achievement Award in 1971, the AGU Maurice Ewing Medal in 1983 and the Pioneers of Underwater Acoustics medal of the Acoustical Society of America in 1985 in addition to other awards. He received the Navy's highest award for scientific achievement, the Capt. Robert Dexter Conrad Award, in 1974, and the Navy's highest civilian award, the Distinguished Public Service Award, in 1991. In addition to his scientific pursuits, Spiess was an active participant and committee member for UC San Diego and the greater University of California system. He served in the statewide UC Academic Senate when chair, served on the UC Board of Regents. He was a member and chair of the UC Academic Senate Task Force for the development of the UC Merced campus. In 1985 he was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering. He and his wife, Sarah "Sally" Whitton Spiess, were particularly active in SIO culture and historic preservation and worked together to establish the Old Scripps Building as a national historic landmark.
Fred Spiess died in 2006.
Papers of oceanographer and deep-sea explorer Fred Noel Spiess, including his correspondence, research files, professional materials and writings. The collection also includes some family papers, such as early correspondence between Spiess and his wife, Sally, and materials documenting their joint interests.
The bulk of the papers consists of correspondence and research files from Spiess' decades in the fields of ocean engineering and physical oceanography, as well as a significant amount of material from his various leadership roles within the University of California, Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) and the Marine Physical Laboratory. Subjects of note include fine-scale sea floor research, ocean engineering and technology, deep sea drilling and borehole projects, SIO marine operations, and the research platform FLIP. The collection includes expedition files and project notes, research proposals and technical writings, as well as documentation of the historical preservation of the George H. Scripps Memorial Marine Biological Laboratory ("Old Scripps Building") on the SIO campus.
Arranged in fifteen series: 1) BIOGRAPHICAL FILES, 2) CORRESPONDENCE, 3) FAMILY MATERIALS, 4) GROUPS & ORGANIZATIONS, 5) CONFERENCES & EVENTS, 6) SUBJECT FILES, 7) TEACHING & LECTURES, 8) WRITINGS, 9) RESEARCH PROPOSALS, 10) SIO, 11) OLD SCRIPPS BUILDING, 12) UC SAN DIEGO / SHARED GOVERNANCE, 13) UNIVERSITY NATIONAL OCEANOGRAPHIC LABORATORY SYSTEM (UNOLS), 14) PHOTOGRAPHS & SLIDES and 15) AUDIOVISUAL MATERIALS.