William Whitehill Rand Papers

Processed by Jacob Hamblin; latest revision, D. Tambo.

Department of Special Collections

Davidson Library

University of California, Santa Barbara

Santa Barbara, CA 93106

Phone: (805) 893-3062

Fax: (805) 893-5749

Email: special@library.ucsb.edu

URL: http://www.library.ucsb.edu/special-collections/

Guide to the William Whitehill Rand Papers, ca. 1921-1968 [bulk dates 1950s-1968]

Collection number: SBHC Mss 46

Department of Special Collections, Davidson Library, University of California, Santa Barbara

Contact Information:

Department of Special Collections
Davidson Library
University of California, Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, CA 93106
Phone: (805) 893-3062
Fax: (805) 893-5749
Email: special@library.ucsb.edu
URL: http://www.library.ucsb.edu/special-collections/

Processed by:

Jacob Hamblin; latest revision, D. Tambo.

Date Completed:

21 February 2002

Latest Revision:

Apr. 1, 2004

Encoded by:

David C. Gartrell

Descriptive Summary

Title: William Whitehill Rand Papers

Dates: ca. 1921-1968

Bulk Dates: 1950s-1968

Collection Number: SBHC Mss 46

Creator: Rand, William Whitehill, 1902-

Extent: 12 linear feet (8 records containers, 1 box, 3 oversize boxes, and 2 map folders)

Repository: University of California, Santa Barbara. Library. Department of Special Collections

Santa Barbara, California 93106-9010

Physical Location: Boxes 1-9 (SRLF); Boxes 10-12 (Del Sur Oversize); Map folders in Map Cabinet 20/10

Language: English.

Access Restrictions

The majority of the collection is stored off-site; advance notice required for retrieval.

Publication Rights

Copyright has not been assigned to the Department of Special Collections, UCSB. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Special Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Department of Special Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which also must be obtained.

Preferred Citation

William Whitehill Rand Papers. SBHC Mss 46. Department of Special Collections, Davidson Library, University of California, Santa Barbara.

Acquisition Information

Donation, July 2000.

Biography

William Bradford Whitehill Rand was born January 17, 1902, in Salt Lake City. He received his A.B. in Geological Sciences from UC Berkeley in 1926 and his PhD in Geological Sciences from UC Berkeley in 1933, with a dissertation entitled The Geology of Santa Cruz Island, California.

From 1926 to 1946 he worked for Shell Oil Company, as Field Geologist, Senior Geologist, and Area Geologist, the last position being in charge of exploration east of the Mississippi River. He also was Assistant to the President in San Francisco and Assistant to the Vice President in Los Angeles.

Rand lived in Santa Barbara, California from 1946 to 1970. During 1946-1952 he was Division Geologist, Coastal Division, Union Oil Company of California. In 1947 he started offshore exploration. He outfitted two vessels for submarine coring; the second, the M/V 'Submarex' was the first powered vessel equipped for rotary drilling. It drilled the first core holes in the Pacific Ocean.

During 1953-1955 Rand was a contractor engaged in offshore drilling and oceanographic work, mainly off the Pacific coast, but also including [in 1956] the first core drilling from a powered vessel in the Atlantic Ocean, in an area about 90 miles east of New York.

In 1955 Rand formed the Submarex Corp., which specialized in offshore exploration for oil and gas, and which was based in Santa Barbara. He also established [ca. 1955-1956] Submar, Inc., Marex, Inc., Rexmar, Inc., and Mardril, Inc., to convert and operate a number of drilling vessels: La Sciencia, La Busca, Submarex, Exploit, Sand Dab V, Western Explorer, Rincon, and Humble S.M. 1. Each of these had two attendant vessels, one supply and one personnel vessel. These vessels were operated on contract for major oil companies for several years. One of the vessels, the Rincon, drilled the first producing oil well to be drilled from a vessel.

In 1959 Rand also was Vice-President and General Manager of Offshore Constructors, Inc., operating the mobile drilling platform Pacific Driller No. 1, drilling production wells off the California coast. In 1961 he operated the vessel Frances Ann for Defense Research Laboratories of General Motors Corporation in oceanographic research. During 1962-1963 he was engaged in core drilling with the Exploit off California, north of Conception, and off Oregon and Washington. In 1963, with the Ceylon [Sand Dab V], he set the submerged deep-water magnetometer station and Tsunami warning station, in cooperation with the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey. In 1964 the Ceylon also was subcontracted to perform survey work, including bottom sampling, sea floor topographic mapping, and deep-water current studies.

In 1966 Rand became the first director of the Deep Sea Drilling Project at Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, California.

Over the years, Rand patented, invented, and operated several devices for taking oriented submarine cores.

In 1973 he was elected to the National Academy of Engineers for his invention and practical application of processes and equipment for oil drilling from floating vessels. He also was a fellow of the Geological Society of America.

William Rand died March 9, 1988.

[Biographical information drawn from Rand's resume and the Santa Barbara News-Press obituary, 20 Mar. 1988, B3].

Scope and Content of Collection

Papers of William Whitehill Rand (1902-1988), geologist, engineer, and petroleum prospector. The collection includes documents, maps and some artifacts related to Rand's career in geology, marine engineering, and the oil industry. The maps are scientific and some include offshore sounding data. Most are maps of the coast of California, particularly in Santa Barbara, Ventura and Los Angeles counties. The records of his company, Submarex, its subsidiaries, and the ships used, make up the bulk of this collection. These include financial records as well as correspondence regarding work contracts and labor relations. This company, based in Santa Barbara, was heavily involved in the transformation of Santa Barbara from a relatively unknown area (geologically) to a major oil-producing region between 1947 and 1960. The collection also contains correspondence, meeting minutes, journal articles, newspaper clippings, reports, log books, catalogs, and project files on deep sea drilling and ocean exploration.

Some materials have suffered water damage from flooding and are so marked in the container list. Please consult Special Collections staff about condition and access.

Series 1. Biographical/Personal

Box 1

Cartoon, showing Rand and floating rigs, 1959

Box 1

Channel Islands

Box 1

News Clipping, Santa Barbara Daily News, 18 Oct 1921, on oil development on San Miguel

Box 1

Maps of islands in Santa Barbara channel

Box 1

Geologic map of Santa Cruz Island by William W. Rand, 1931

Box 1

College Course Notes, ca. 1925

Box 1

Correspondence (early, pre-Submarex, etc., as well as personal), 1940s-1950s, n.d.

Box 1

Designation of Beneficiary, 1966

Box 1

Dissertation (includes original photos, maps, research files), ca. 1933

Box 1

Estate of Annie May Hempstead Rand, ca. 1960-1961

Box 1

Field Survey Notes, 1920s

Box 1

Finances, ca. 1964

Box 1

Lab Notes (notebook), ca. 1933

Box 1

Organizations

Box 1

American Association of Petroleum Geologists, Pacific Section

Box 1

American Institute of Professional Geologists

Box 1

Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions

Box 1

National Academy of Engineering - Committee on Ocean Engineering

Box 1

Science and Engineering Council of Santa Barbara - Technical Services Directory, 1966

Box 1

United Nations (material re oceanography and the ocean)

Box 1

U.S. Navy (includes material on Navy's role in exploitation of the ocean and military uses of the ocean), 1967-1968

Box 1

Publications by Rand

Box 1

Drilling from Floating Vessels Now Economically Carried Out Off California Coast, Journal of Petroleum Technology 11, 9 (Sept. 1959): 35-36

Box 1

Ventura Basin, Bulletin of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, 35, 2 (Feb. 1951), 231-240

Box 1

Resumes - William Rand and Tom Crawford

Box 1

Talk by Rand - Santa Barbara Channel, Offshore Oil Exploration, ca. 1957

Box 1

Tax Returns - William W. and Gertrude S. Rand

Box 1

Travel - South America, 1957

Series 2. Administrative

Box 2

Arrangement/Organization of Records [lists of categories]

Box 2

Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws (Submar and Marex), 1953

Box 2

Correspondence (includes material re drilling from ship-mounted rigs), ca. 1954

Box 2

Correspondence

Box 2

General, ca. 1940s-1960

Box 2

Gaviota (includes discussion of agreements for use of Gaviota and Goleta piers), 1957-1958

Box 2

Goleta (includes discussion of agreements for use of Goleta and Gaviota piers), 1956-1957

Box 2

Port Hueneme (includes discussion of off-shore oil leases and transporting of oil drilling equipment and supplies), 1956

Box 2

Santa Barbara (includes list of oil companies engaged in marine exploration in the Santa Barbara Channel area), 1957

Box 2

Directional Engineering Co. [DECO]

Box 2

Correspondence, ca. 1957-1961

Box 2

Minutes and by-laws, ca. 1954-1955

Box 2

Macready Oriented Cores, Inc. - Correspondence, 1957-1960

Box 2

Scientia Corp (includes bylaws, minutes, correspondence, memos, articles, biographical information on Scientia members), ca. early 1960s

Box 2

State Tideland Leasing Law [mud and water damage]

Box 2

California State Lands Commission. On petroleum minerals, 3 Feb 1958.

Box 2

Statement of recommended policy.

Box 2

Correspondence, statements re leasing, pollution, etc.

Box 2

"Submarex Corporation" - historical overview

Box 2 - 3

Vessels (includes drawings, photographs, correspondence, some information on operations and operating costs, logs and inventories)

Box 2

General

Box 2

Drawings (showing oil rigs) [water damage]

Box 2

America

Box 2

La Busca

Box 2

Caldrill 1

Box 2

La Ciencia

Box 2

Decatur

Box 2

Exploit

Box 2

Frances Ann

Box 2

Nautilus, ca. 1957

Box 2

Ranger

Box 2

Rincon

Box 3

Sand Dab V (aka Ceylon)

Box 3

Surprise

Box 3

Western Explorer

Box 3

Vessel Sales Correspondence, 1960

Box 3

Western Offshore Drilling and Exploration Co.

Box 3

Miscellany

Series 3. Financial

Box 3

Bank Balances, 1966

Box 3

Combined Balance Sheets and Financial Statements, ca. 1957-1958

Box 3

Consolidated Rand Corporations - Financial Statement, 1957

Box 3

Cost Analysis Forms, ca. 1957, 1959

Box 3

Directional Engineering Company (DECO) - Financial Statements and Tax Returns, 1956-1963

Box 3

Insurance (policies and correspondence), ca. 1954-1964

Box 3

Macready Oriented Cores, Inc. - Financial Statement, 1961

Box 3

Mardril, Inc.

Box 3

Financial Statements and Tax Return, 1955-1963

Box 3

Sale, 1966

Box 3

Statements, bills paid, ca. 1962-1963

Box 3

Marex, Inc.

Box 3

Financial Statements and Tax Returns, 1955-1963

Box 3

Statements and Remittances, Western Gulf Oil Co., 1956-1957

Box 3

Marine Equipment Rentals

Box 3

Offshore Constructors (possible merger with Rand), 1957-1958

Box 3

Rexmar, Inc. - Financial Statements and Tax Returns, 1957-1966

Box 3

Submar, Inc.

Box 3

Financial Statements and Tax Returns, 1955-1963

Box 3

Statements, bills paid, ca. 1964-1965

Box 3

Submarex Corp.

Box 3

Corporation Expense Summaries, 1957-1960

Box 3

Financial Statements and Tax Returns, 1955-1964

Box 3

Sale to Pike Corp. of America, 1966

Series 4. Inventions/Patents

Box 4

Coring Devices - Patents (not Rand's), ca. 1945-1949

Box 4

Directional Engineering Co. [DECO] - including DECO Model 70 and DECO Model 90

Box 4

Drilling Equipment - Patents [not Rand's], 1960

Box 4

Engineer's Field Transit Book [records/notes of Rand's experiments/inventions from 1950 (27 pages), ca. 1955

Box 4

Macready, George A. - Patents, ca. 1920s-1950s

Box 4

Offshore Oil Drilling (not Rand's)

Box 4

Subaqueous Drilling Apparatus, 1964-1966

Box 4

Submarine Drilling Apparatus - Patent Application (includes drawings), ca. 1955-1956

Box 4

Underwater Drilling Device (Rand's), n.d.

Box 4

Miscellany (some Rand's), n.d.

Series 5. Labor Relations

Box 4

Inland Boatmen's Union (IBU), 1956

Box 4

Marine Firemen's Union, 1956

Box 4

Memos to Employees (from Rand), ca. 1956

Box 4

National Labor Relations Board

Box 4

Termination case, 1956-1957

Box 4

Union representation case, 1956-1958

Box 4

Offshore Constructors, Inc. - Agreement, 1959

Box 4

Piledrivers Local Union Bi, 2375, 1956-1957

Box 4

Sailors Union of the Pacific (SUP), ca. 1956-1957

Box 4

Submarex (and affiliated companies) - Health and Welfare Program, n.d.

Box 4

United Mine Workers of America (UMW), 1956

Series 6. Projects

Box 5

Alaska Project, 1964

Box 5

Atlantic Refining Company, 1964

Box 5

Atomic Energy Commission (AEC)

Box 5

General, 1963

Box 5

National Marine Consultants Division of Interstate Electronics Corporation contract (incl. correspondence between Charles Tucker and Tom Crawford, on political topics), 1964-1965

Box 5

Sea Space, Oct. n.y.

Box 5

Trips (Tom Crawford - Santa Cruz Basin Site, Farallon Site), 1960

Box 5

B.O.C. of Australia Limited, 1964-1965

Box 5

Bendix Corporation, 1965

Box 5

California Off-Shore Exploration Work, 1954

Box 5

Deep Sea Drilling Project (Scripps)

Box 5

Deep Sea Drilling Project activities Jun-Sep 1966

Box 5

Abstract, selection procedures for subcontractors, and related papers, ca. 1967

Box 5

Esso (France), 1958

Box 5

Freeport Sulphur Company (New Orleans, LA), 1966

Box 5

General Motors (correspondence re ocean drilling, including map), 1961-1962

Box 5

General Petroleum Corp., 1953-1954

Box 5

Global Marine Exploration Company, ca. 1959

Box 5

Hawaii, 1965

Box 5

Hilo Breakwater Job (Hawaii), 1965

Box 5

Homyer, L. K. - "A Research Programme to Determine the Practicality of a Proposed Method of Drilling and Working Oil and Gas Wells in Ocean Beds Five Hundred Feet Below the Surface of the Sea" (report), 1958

Box 5

Hughes Aircraft Company, 1965

Box 5

Humble Oil & Refining Company, 1953-1958

Box 5

Israeli Project, 1964

Box 5

Lake Erie Project (water damage), 1957-1959

Box 5

McDonald Contractors, Inc. (San Diego) - drilling core samples, 1958

Box 5

Mohole, 1960-1961

Box 5

National Marine Consultants, Inc., n.d.

Box 5

Nissho California Corp. (Asia), 1957

Box 5

Ocean Science and Engineering, Inc., 1965

Box 5

Opple, Kenneth, 1957

Box 5

Persian Gulf Project, 1958

Box 5

Phillips-Pauley, 1956-1959

Box 5

PneumoDynamics Corporation, 1960-1964

Box 5

Richfield - Mobil, 1964

Box 5

Richfield Oil Corporation, 1952-1964

Box 5

Shell Oil Company, 1964-1965

Box 5

Signal Oil & Gas Company, 1954

Box 5

South America (Venezuela), 1957

Box 5

Standard Oil Company (including Carpinteria and California coast), 1953-1964

Box 5

Standard-Humble Alaska Project (including correspondence from Eddie Deal and Lee Gardner about the project), 1965

Box 6

Sumitomo Shoji New York, Inc. (Japan), 1962-1963

Box 6

Texaco, Inc., 1958-1963

Box 6

The Texas Company, n.d.

Box 6

Tidewater Oil Company, 1956-1958

Box 6

Tokyo Tsusho Kaisha Ltd. (Japan) [water damage], 1958-1965

Box 6

Trinidad, 1957

Box 6

Union-Standard Project (Oregon and Washington), 1963

Box 6

US Coast and Geodetic Survey [water damage], 1963-1965

Box 6

Venezuela, 1958

Box 6

Wandtke, Gus, 1956-1957

Box 6

Western Gulf Oil Company, 1954-1955

Box 6

Western Offshore Drilling Co., 1966

Series 7. Research Files

Box 6

California Oil Firms - Foust's Sales and Service Directory, 34th edition, 1963

Box 6

Drilling and Drilling Equipment

Box 6

Engines

Box 6

Floating Rigs

Box 6

Lunar and Planetary Research

Box 6

Marine Equipment and Supplies

Box 6

Mohole

Box 6

Mud

Box 6

Navigational Equipment

Box 6

Oceanographic Equipment

Box 6

Oceanography

Box 6

Offshore Drilling

Box 6

General (includes some articles on Santa Barbara Channel)

Box 6

Howe, Richard - "Evolution of Offshore Mobile Drilling Units," API Paper

Box 6

Offshore (complete issues), 1957-1958

Box 6

Radar

Box 6

Vessels

Series 8. Technical Materials

Box 7

Bollay, William - "Analysis of a Spherical Shell under External Pressure," 1963

Box 7

California, late 1940s, early 1950s (mainly re coring equipment)

Box 7

California Oil Fields

Box 7

Core Hole Locations

Box 7

Core Orientation Field Notes (George A. Macready), 1953-1954

Box 7

Core Orientation Reports (George A. Macready), 1933-1950

Box 8

Core Orientation Reports (George A. Macready), 1951-1955

Box 8

Core Positions (M.V. Surprise)

Box 8

Deepwater Jetting Device

Box 8

Drilling Equipment

Box 8

Equipment

Box 8

Geology

Box 8

Geophysical Prospecting (includes field notes and reports, mainly California, Florida, and Alabama material) [water damage], 1920s-1950s

Box 8

Marine Equipment

Box 8

Off-Shore Sampling - Committee meeting minutes, 1951-1953

Box 8

Offshore Sampling Operation Reports - M/V Submarex, 1952

Box 8

Radar (Raytheon)

Box 8

Santa Barbara - Marine Seismograph Survey, 1948

Box 8

Santa Barbara - Offshore Exploration [water damage], 1940s

Box 8

Santa Barbara/Ventura/Los Angeles (mainly reports and maps), ca. 1930s

Box 8

Submarine Coring Reports - M/V Submarex, 1952

Box 8

Towers

Series 9. Photographs

Box 9

Anacapa Island - Aerial views, 1929

Box 9

B/w prints

Box 9

Slide [of Rand?]

Series 10. Audiovisual

Box 9

Film - 16mm color (small roll) - deck of unidentified ship

Series 11. Oversize

Box 10 - 11

Daily Drilling Reports, 1956-1958 (boxed)

Box 12

Drawings, diagrams, blueprints (vessels, drilling equipment) (boxed)

Cabinet 20: 10

Drawings and Maps (2 folders, map cabinet/drawer)

Cabinet 20: 10

Charts of Santa Barbara Channel

Cabinet 20: 10

Drilling equipment

Cabinet 20: 10

Map - Pt. Buchon

Cabinet 20: 10

Maps - Source data indices of hole sites off Long Beach