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The continental shelf break and continental slope were discovered (scientific research).
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James Alden discovered California's Monterey Canyon which is a long, deep depression in the ocean floor (navigation).
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The Meteor, a German vessel, sailed around the Atlantic Ocean and used echo-sounding equipment to gather detailed measurements of the ocean floor in order to create a map (navigation).
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The Sonobuoy, the first offshore automatic telemetering radio instrument, eliminated the need for manned station ships during navigation operations (navigation).
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Off the coast of South Africa a coelacanth fish, thought to be extinct around the time of the dinosaurs, was found alive (scientific research).
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The Navy identified the crackling sound that interfered with submarine detection to be a result of crustacean and discovered a way to mimic the sound to better conceal the submarines from the enemy (military).
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Walter Munk and Harald Sverdrup discovered swell height and were able to predict the surf which allowed the Navy to plan their Allied landings on Normandy Beach and the beaches of North Africa and the Pacific (military).
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The U.S. Navy and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography towed the first marine magnetometer and found magnetic striping on the seafloor off the West Coast contributing to the theory of plate tectonics (scientific research).
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Robert Ballard and his team discover hydrothermal vents as well as an ecosystem that survives without the sun adding to the information on chemosynthesis (scientific research).
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Thirty-seven specimens of the Mariana snailfish (Pseudoliparis swirei) at depths of up to 26,200ft (7,985m) were collected in the deepest part of the sea, the Mariana Trench (scientific research).