It is that name, apparently not formally recognized by Navy that maintained title to the vessel, found in the scientific literature and public releases about her wide ranging research voyages.

Snatch was laid down on 28 September 1943 by the Basalt Rock Company in Napa, California; launched on 8 April 1944; sponsored by Mrs. S. B. Johnson; and commissioned on 11 December 1944.

From 5 to 9 April, she participated in salvage operations of SS Esso Washington which was grounded near the entrance of Eniwetok Passage.

Snatch's crew was eligible for the following medals: The U. S. Navy, largely through the Office of Naval Research (ONR), was a major funding source throughout the early days of oceanography.

As RV Argo the ship conducted much significant research during what was termed the "Golden Age of Oceanography," by Roger Revelle.

[4] The ship's work added information of submarine topography (bathymetry) and geophysical properties in that relatively unexplored ocean that contributed to understanding the global ridge system and geology as well as collecting data in other disciplines.

During the Circe Expedition (1968–1969) concentrating on the geology and geophysics of the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic,[8] Argo worked in the Southwest Indian Ridge and collected specimens of "lower crustal matic and upper mantle ultramatic rocks never before recovered in oceanic areas" while also field-testing a shipboard computer linked to a prototype satellite navigation system.

Mapped in 1968, Circe Expedition"[10]After seven years of service under Office of Naval Research funding and sponsorship at Scripps and the buildup of national oceanographic resources ship formally became part of the Navy's new Auxiliary General Oceanographic Research (AGOR)[11] fleet.