The Steamboat Inspection Service was a

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agency created in 1871 to safeguard lives and property at sea. It merged with the

Bureau of Navigation The Bureau of Navigation, later the Bureau of Navigation and Steamboat Inspection and finally the Bureau of Marine Inspection and Navigation — not to be confused with the United States Navys Bureau of Navigation — was an agency of the United ...

in 1932 to form the Bureau of Navigation and Steamboat Inspection, which in 1936 was reorganized into the Bureau of Marine Inspection and Navigation. The Bureau of Marine Inspection and Navigation′s responsibilities were transferred temporarily to the

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in 1942. The Bureau was abolished in 1946, when its functions were transferred permanently to the Coast Guard.

Act of 1838

The safety inspection of merchant vessels documented under the flag of the United States has been authorized in varying degrees by Congress and required by law since 1838. In the early days, the

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hesitated to pass adequate safety laws for fear of interfering with the growing and economically important steamboat industry. The beginning and development of a federal

maritime safety Maritime safety as part of and overlapping with water safety is concerned with the protection of life (search and rescue) and property through regulation, management and technology development of all forms of waterborne transportation. The execut ...

program arose from disasters that caused much death, injury and property loss; experience showed the greatest casualties were caused by

boiler A boiler is a closed vessel in which fluid (generally water) is heated. The fluid does not necessarily boil. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications, including water heating, centr ...

explosions and by fire aboard ship. As the steamboat industry grew, so did the general publics awareness of the need for

marine safety Marine safety is one of the eleven Missions of the United States Coast Guard, missions of the United States Coast Guard. Coast Guard personnel inspect commercial vessels, respond to pollution, investigate marine casualties and merchant mariners, m ...

laws. The publics growing concern over these maritime accidents prompted Congress to begin to act to protect the public, beginning with passing a law on July 7, 1838, to "provide better security of the lives of passengers on board of vessels propelled in whole or in part by steam" (5 Stat. L., 304). The law required owners or masters of vessels propelled in whole or in part by steam to obtain two certificates from appointed inspectors and provide one certificate to a customs official (surveyor or collector) to obtain a license and to be registered. The inspectors were to be chosen and sworn to their duty by the district court judge. Inspections were required to be repeated every 12 or 6 months as outlined in the law. Pag
Coast Guard History
by Dr. Robert Scheina, official US Defense Department website. page number 35. Captain Edward Tripp, who had introduced steamboating to

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, in 1813 with the building of the steamboat ''Chesapeake'', was the first Baltimore hull inspector and was appointed by a federal district judge to perform the safety inspection on the few vessels in Baltimore. Captain Tripp performed these duties between 1838 and 1852. At that time, the law provided a

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5.00 fee for each inspection to be paid by the vessels owner.

Steamboat Act of August 30, 1852

The 1838 law proved inadequate as steamboat disasters increased in volume and severity. The period from 1847 to 1852 was marked by an unusual series of disasters primarily caused by boiler explosions; however, many were also caused by fires and collisions. These disasters resulted in the passage of the Steamboat Act of August 30, 1852 (10 Stat. L., 1852) in which enforcement powers were placed under the

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, rather than under the United States Department of Justice as with the Act of 1838. The important features of the Steamboat Act were the requirement for hydrostatic testing of boilers and the requirement for a boiler steam safety valve. The act further required that both pilots and engineers be licensed by the local inspectors. Under the Steamboat Act, the organization and form of a federal maritime inspection service began to emerge. Nine supervisory inspectors, each responsible for a specific geographic region, were appointed. There were also provisions for the appointment of local inspectors by a commission consisting of the local district collector of customs, the supervisory inspector, and the district judge. Time and further insight proved the Steamboat Act inadequate. Probably its most serious shortcoming was the exemption of freightboats,

ferries A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water tax ...

tugboats A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, su ...

, and

towboats A pusher, pusher craft, pusher boat, pusher tug, or towboat, is a boat designed for pushing barges or car floats. In the United States, the industries that use these vessels refer to them as towboats. These vessels are characterized by a squar ...

, which continued to operate under the superficial inspection requirements of the Act of 1838. However, the Steamboat Act was the beginning of legislation that would lead a federal inspection service.

Act of February 28, 1871, and the creation of the Steamboat Inspection Service

Continued disasters and high loss of life again prompted congressional action through the passage of the Act of February 28, 1871. This new law applied to all steam vessels and sought to protect their crews as well as their passengers. It retained the useful functions of the Act of 1838 and the Steamboat Act and added new requirements that provided a comprehensive Marine Safety Code, which forms the basis of the present marine safety code. The Act of 1871 created the Steamboat Inspection Service. Furthermore, it established a Supervisory Inspector General directly responsible to the

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, extended licensing requirements to all masters and

chief mate A chief mate (C/M) or chief officer, usually also synonymous with the first mate or first officer, is a licensed mariner and head of the deck department of a merchant ship. The chief mate is customarily a watchstander and is in charge of the s ...

s, provided for the revocation of licenses, authorized periodic inspection, and gave the Board of Supervisory Inspectors the authority to prescribe nautical rules of the road.

Transfers and reorganization

On February 14, 1903, congressional action transferred the Steamboat Inspection Service to the newly created

United States Department of Commerce and Labor The United States Department of Commerce and Labor was a short-lived Cabinet department of the United States government, which was concerned with fostering and supervising big business. Origins and establishment Calls in the United States for ...

. When that department was split in 1913, the service came under the control of the new

United States Department of Commerce The United States Department of Commerce is an executive department of the U.S. federal government concerned with creating the conditions for economic growth and opportunity. Among its tasks are gathering economic and demographic data for bus ...

. On June 30, 1932, Congress passed a law (47 Stat. L., 415) under which the Steamboat Inspection Service lost its independent identity and was merged with the

, which had been created in 1884 to oversee the regulation of merchant seamen. The merger formed the new Bureau of Navigation and Steamboat Inspection. The new organization remained within the Department of Commerce.

Act of May 27, 1936 (Public Law 622)

The fire off the coast of

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in 1934, which killed 124 people, paved the way for the Act of May 27, 1936. The law, known as Public Law 622, reorganized the Bureau of Navigation and Steamboat Inspection and renamed it the Bureau of Marine Inspection and Navigation (49 Stat. L., 1380). The Bureau remained under Department of Commerce control. Public Law 622 also required structural fire protection on passenger vessels and required plans for passenger vessels be approved by the Bureau prior to any vessels construction.

Motorboat Act of 1940

The Motorboat Act of 1940 was enacted to cover safety requirements for every vessel propelled by machinery and not more than 65 feet (19.8 meters) in length, with the exception of tugboats and towboats of this length propelled by steam, which were covered under other laws. In addition to covering safety equipment, running lights, and reckless or negligent operations, this law gave the Bureau of Marine Inspection and Navigation the authority to examine the operators of these boats and issue licenses provided they carried passengers for hire.

Executive Order 9083

After the United States entered

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as a wartime measure signed

Executive Order In the United States, an executive order is a directive by the president of the United States that manages operations of the federal government. The legal or constitutional basis for executive orders has multiple sources. Article Two of t ...

9083 on February 28, 1942. It transferred the Bureau of Marine Inspection and Navigations inspection duties, among other things, temporarily to the control of the

Reorganization Plan Number 3

On July 16, 1946, Reorganization Plan Number 3 abolished the Bureau of Marine Inspection and Navigation and transferred all of its functions permanently to the U.S. Coast Guard. This marked the first time in the nations history that all functions of maritime safety came under one agency.

Marine safety under the Coast Guard

The

Marine Safety Marine safety is one of the eleven Missions of the United States Coast Guard, missions of the United States Coast Guard. Coast Guard personnel inspect commercial vessels, respond to pollution, investigate marine casualties and merchant mariners, m ...

program is still administered by the Coast Guard, an agency originally under the control of the

, later under the control of the

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, and now under the control of the

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. In an attempt to promote better service to the maritime industry as well as the general public, the marine inspection and Captain of the Port/

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functions were combined. The marine inspectors of the Coast Guard come from varying backgrounds and careers. Among the officers in the program, some are graduates of the

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, some are graduates of the various maritime academies, and some are prior civilians that attended

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. Many of the officers in this field, including all of the

chief warrant officer Chief warrant officer is a military rank used by the United States Armed Forces, the Canadian Armed Forces, the Pakistan Air Force, the Israel Defense Forces, the South African National Defence Force, the Lebanese Armed Forces and, since 2012, th ...

s in the field, are prior-enlisted Coast Guardsmen who have progressed through the enlisted ranks and earned commissions. Due to an increase in small boat accidents, the

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of May 10, 1956, was passed into law. The requirements of this act became effective on June 1, 1958, and provided that all vessels, regardless of size or propulsion, carrying more than six passengers for hire, be inspected by a Marine Inspector of the Coast Guard, and meet associated safety requirements. These requirements not only cover life saving and fire fighting equipment, but also machinery and electrical installations, hull strength and stability considerations. This law required that operators be licensed by the Coast Guard and minimum manning requirements be met. Additionally, the route or routes on which the vessel may operate and the maximum number of passengers that may be carried are established by the Coast Guard.

Summary history

Predecessor agencies to the Bureau of Marine Inspection and Navigation: *In the Department of the Treasury: **Steamboat Inspection Service (1871–1903) **Bureau of Navigation (1884–1903) *In the Department of Commerce and Labor: **Steamboat Inspection Service (1903–1913) **Bureau of Navigation (1903–1913) *In the Department of Commerce: **Steamboat Inspection Service (1913–1932) **Bureau of Navigation (1913–1932) **Bureau of Navigation and Steamboat Inspection (1932–1936)

References

External links

Official history

* ttp://www.mysticseaport.org/library/initiative/PageImage.cfm?PageNum=1&BibID=27634 Steamboat Inspection Service - Engineers Licenses 1896-1927 {{Authority control Defunct agencies of the United States government Defunct federal law enforcement agencies of the United States History of the United States Coast Guard 1871 establishments in Washington, D.C. 1932 disestablishments in Washington, D.C. United States Department of the Treasury United States Department of Commerce Defunct organizations based in Washington, D.C.