United States Coast and Geodetic Survey on:
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Disaster struck the Coast Survey on September 8, 1846 when the survey brig ''Peter G. Washington'' encountered a
and it briefly employed the artist James McNeill Whistler as a draughtsman in 1854–1855.Theberge, Captain Albert E., ''The Coast Survey 1807–1867: Volume I of the History of the Commissioned Corps of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration'', "THE INFORMATION FACTORY," no publisher listed, NOAA History, 1998.
Ever since it began operations, the Coast Survey had faced hostility from politicians who believed that it should complete its work and be abolished as a means of reducing U.S. Government expenditures, and Hassler and Bache had fought back periodic attempts to cut its funding. By 1850, the Coast Survey had surveyed enough of the U.S. coastline for a long enough time to learn that – with a few exceptions, such as the rocky coast of
/ref> A Coast Survey ship took part in an international scientific project for the first time when ''Bibb'' observed a solar eclipse from a vantage point off Aulezavik,
/ref>
schooner ''Drift''
was constructed and sent out under U.S. Navy Acting Master and Coast Survey Assistant Robert Platt to the
Pillsbury current meter
invented by John E. Pillsbury, USN, while on duty with the Survey. It was in connection with intensive studies of the Gulf Stream that the Coast and Geodetic Survey ship USC&GS ''George S. Blake'' became such a pioneer in oceanography that she is one of only two U.S. ships with her name inscribed in the façade of the Oceanographic Museum (Musée Océanographique) in
At the Coast and Geodetic Survey, at least some scientists were not prone to following bureaucratic requirements related to the funding of their projects, and their lax financial practices led to charges of mismanagement of funds and corruption. When
/ref> Thorn, a lawyer and journalist who was the first non-scientist to serve as superintendent, quickly concluded that the charges against Coast and Geodetic Survey personnel largely were overblown, and he set his mind to the issues of rebuilding the Survey's integrity and reputation and ensuring that it demonstrated its value to its critics. Ignorant of the Survey's operations and the scientific methods that lay behind them, he left such matters to his assistant, Benjamin J. Colonna, and focused instead on reforming the Survey's financial and budgetary procedures and improving its operations so as to demonstrate the value of its scientific program in performing accurate mapping while setting and meeting production deadlines for maps and charts. To the Survey's critics, Thorn and Colonna championed the importance of the Coast and Geodetic Survey's inland geodetic work and how it supported, rather than duplicated, the work of the Geological Survey and was in any event an important component of the Coast and Geodetic Survey's hydrographic work along the coasts. Thorn also advocated civilian control of the Coast and Geodetic Survey, pointing out to Cleveland and others that earlier experiments with placing it under U.S. Navy control had fared poorly.''Sailing Close to the Wind'', p. 11. Thorn described the Coast and Geodetic Survey's essential mission as, in its simplest form, to produce "a perfect map,". and to this end he and Colonna championed the need for the Survey to focus on the broad range of geodetic disciplines Colonna identified as necessary for accurate chart- and mapmaking: triangulation, astronomical observations,
Before Thorn left the superintendency, the
In the 1890s, while attached to the Coast and Geodetic Survey as commanding officer of ''George S. Blake'',
/ref> In 1903, the Coast and Geodetic Survey was transferred from the Department of the Treasury to the newly created
Over half of all Coast and Geodetic Survey Corps officers served in the U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, and U.S. Marine Corps during World War I, and Coast and Geodetic Survey personnel were active as artillery orienteering officers, as
During the period between the world wars, the Coast and Geodetic Survey returned to its peaceful scientific and surveying pursuits, including land surveying, sea floor charting, coastline mapping,
Following World War II, the Coast and Geodetic Survey resumed its peacetime scientific and surveying efforts. In 1945 it adapted the British
/ref> The National Ocean Survey was renamed the National Ocean Service in 1983, and thus the National Ocean Service, National Geodetic Survey, Office of Coast Survey, and NOAA Corps all trace their ancestry to the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, and the NOAA fleet does in part as well. Outside NOAA, the U.S. Department of Commerce′s
/ref>
/ref> commissioned officers of the Coast and Geodetic Survey assumed the following relative ranks while serving under U.S. Army or U.S. Navy control: Upon transfer of the Coast and Geodetic Survey to U.S. War Department or U.S. Navy Department control, its civilian ship's officers —
/ref> For a time, NOAA continued to use the Coast and Geodetic Surveys classification system for its survey ships, but it later abandoned it and instituted a new classification scheme.
* (in service ca. 1871–1900)
* (in service 1901–1917; 1919–1927)
* (in service 1852–1861)
* (in service 1854–1881)
* (in service 1871–1890)
* (in service 1856–1858)
* (in service 1919–1927)
* (in service 1851–1858)
* (in service 1846–1862)
* (in service 1867–1885)
* (in service 1875–1880)
* (in service 1848–1857)
* (in service 1855–1868)
* (in service 1854–1874)
* (in service 1946–1967)
* (in service 1884–1918)
* (in service 1887–1927)
* (in service 1919–1934)
* (in service 1933–1935)
* (in service 1967–1970, then with NOAA 1970–1989)
* (in service 1922–1941)
* (in service 1967–1970, then with NOAA 1970–1996)
* (in service 1876–1893)
* (in service ca. 1870s–1903)
* (in service 1919–1944)
* (in service 1904–1918; 1919–1939)
* (in service 1940–1968)
* (in service 1968–1970, then with NOAA 1970–1989 and 2004–present)
* (in service 1871–1881)
* (in service 1905–1942)
* (in service 1968–1970, then with NOAA 1970–2002)
* (in service 1840–1848 and from 1849)
* (in service 1874–1905; famous as pioneer ship in deep-ocean survey and oceanography)
* (in service 1930–1962)
* (in service 1923–1941)
* (in service 1941–1942)
* ''Hassler'' (in service 1871–1895)
* (in service 1967–1970, then with NOAA 1970–1995)
* (in service 1919–1939)
* (in service 1942–1967)
* (in service 1946–1967)
* (in service 1901–1917; 1919–1928)
* (in service 1915–1917; 1919–1920)
* (in service 1940–1967)
* (in service 1919–1947)
* (in service 1850–1858)
* (in service 1919–1944)
* (in service 1905–1932)
* (in service 1957–1968)
* (in service 1885–1919)
* (in service 1876–1915)
* (in service 1966–1970, then with NOAA 1970–2003)
* (in service 1851–1872)
* (in service 1920–1939)
* (in service 1919–1944)
* (in service 1849–1855)
* (in service 1968–1970, then with NOAA 1970–1995)
* (in service 1919–1935)
* (in service 1930–1942)
* (in service 1966–1970, then with NOAA 1970–1996)
* (in service 1919–1944)
* (in service 1919–1920)
* USC&GS ''Pathfinder'' (1898) (in service 1899–1942, renamed USC&GS ''Researcher'' 1941)
* (in service 1946–1970, then with NOAA 1970–1971)
* (in service 1941–1967)
* (in service 1963–1970, then with NOAA 1970–1992)
* (in service 1845–1857)
* (in service 1922–1941)
* (in service 1941–1942)
* (in service 1946–1966)
* (in service 1919–1930 or 1931)
* (in service 1901–1918)
* (in service 1970, then with NOAA 1970–1996)
* USCS ''Robert J. Walker'' (in service 1848–1860)
* (in service 1905–1921)
* (acquired 1919)
* (in service 1871–1888)
* (in service 1917 and 1919–1956)
* (in service 1960–1970, then with NOAA 1970–1995 or 1996)
* (in service 1898–1917)
* USRC ''Taney'' (1833) (in service 1847–1850)
* (in service 1875–1915)
* USCS ''Vanderbilt'' (in service 1842–1855)
* USCS ''Varina'' (in service 1854–1875)
* )(in service 1860s)
* (in service 1942–1967)
* (in service 1929–1946)
* (in service 1963–1970, then with NOAA 1970–2003)
* (in service 1919–1941)
* (in service 1873–1894)
* (in service 1898–1923)
The Coast and Geodetic Survey was authorized its own flag on January 16, 1899.Sea Flags: National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration Accessed 26 October 2022
/ref> The flag, which remained in use until the Survey merged with other agencies to form NOAA on October 3, 1970, was blue, with a central white circle and a red triangle within the circle. The triangle symbolized the discipline of triangulation used in surveying. Commissioned ships of the Coast and Geodetic Survey flew the flag of the United States as theirSea Flags: National Oceanic and Atmoshperic Administration
at In the NOAA fleet, ships fly the NOAA flag as a distinctive mark as well as commission pennants identical to the those of ships of the Coast and Geodetic Survey fleet.
Early history of the Coast Survey
NOAA Office of Coast Survey
U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey Annual Reports, years 1837–1965
at ArlingtonCemetery.net, an unofficial website
* 1858 map
''Preliminary chart of entrance to Brazos River''hosted by the Portal to Texas History
* 1853 map
''Preliminary chart of San Luis Pass, Texas''hosted by the Portal to Texas History.
* 1854 map
''Preliminary survey of the entrance to the Rio Grande, Texas''hosted by the Portal to Texas History.
{{Authority control Geodesy organizations Geographic data and information organizations in the United States Government agencies established in 1807 Exploration of North America
The United States Coast and Geodetic Survey (abbreviated USC&GS), known from 1807 to 1836 as the Survey of the Coast and from 1836 until 1878 as the United States Coast Survey, was the first scientific agency of the
The United States Coast and Geodetic Survey began its existence as the United States Survey of the Coast, created within the
/ref>Archives Catalog: Department of Commerce. Coast and Geodetic Survey. 1913-7/13/1965 Organization Authority Record Accessed 29 October 2022
/ref>''Organization and Law of the Department of Commerce and Labor'', p. 97. The Survey of the Coast, the
Hassler submitted a plan for the survey work involving the use of triangulation to ensure scientific accuracy of surveys, but
,
.Theberge, Captain Albert E., ''The Coast Survey 1807–1867: Volume I of the History of the Commissioned Corps of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration'', "THE HASSLER LEGACY: FERDINAND RUDOLPH HASSLER and the UNITED STATES COAST SURVEY: THE REBIRTH OF THE SURVEY," no publisher listed, NOAA History, 1998.United States Government
The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a feder ...
. It existed from 1807 to 1970, and throughout its history was responsible for mapping and charting the coast of the United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
, and later the coasts of U.S. territories
Territories of the United States are sub-national administrative divisions overseen by the federal government of the United States. The various American territories differ from the U.S. states and tribal reservations as they are not sover ...
. In 1871, it gained the additional responsibility of surveying the interior of the United States and geodesy became a more important part of its work, leading to it being renamed the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey in 1878.
Long the U.S. Government's only scientific agency, the Survey accumulated other scientific and technical responsibilities as well, including astronomy
Astronomy () is a natural science that studies celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and evolution. Objects of interest include planets, moons, stars, nebulae, g ...
, cartography
Cartography (; from grc, χάρτης , "papyrus, sheet of paper, map"; and , "write") is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an i ...
, meteorology
Meteorology is a branch of the atmospheric sciences (which include atmospheric chemistry and physics) with a major focus on weather forecasting. The study of meteorology dates back millennia, though significant progress in meteorology did no ...
, geology
Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Ea ...
, geophysics
Geophysics () is a subject of natural science concerned with the physical processes and physical properties of the Earth and its surrounding space environment, and the use of quantitative methods for their analysis. The term ''geophysics'' so ...
, hydrography
Hydrography is the branch of applied sciences which deals with the measurement and description of the physical features of oceans, seas, coastal areas, lakes and rivers, as well as with the prediction of their change over time, for the primar ...
, navigation
Navigation is a field of study that focuses on the process of monitoring and controlling the movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another.Bowditch, 2003:799. The field of navigation includes four general categories: land navigation, ...
, oceanography, exploration, pilotage
Piloting or pilotage is the process of navigating on water or in the air using fixed points of reference on the sea or on land, usually with reference to a nautical chart or aeronautical chart to obtain a fix of the position of the vessel or air ...
, tide
Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another.
Tide tables ...
s, and topography
Topography is the study of the forms and features of land surfaces. The topography of an area may refer to the land forms and features themselves, or a description or depiction in maps.
Topography is a field of geoscience and planetary sc ...
. It also was responsible for the standardization of weights and measures throughout the United States from 1836 to 1901. In 1959, it was assigned the responsibility for U.S. Government oceanographic studies worldwide.
By the mid-19th century, the Coast and Geodetic Survey operated a fleet of survey ships that constituted a distinct seagoing service of the United States until 1970. The Survey supported U.S. military operations in wartime, and in 1917 the Coast and Geodetic Survey Corps was created as a new uniformed service of the United States to carry out both wartime and peacetime surveying and related operations.
In 1970, the Coast and Geodetic Survey was abolished when it merged with other government agencies to create the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (abbreviated as NOAA ) is an United States scientific and regulatory agency within the United States Department of Commerce that forecasts weather, monitors oceanic and atmospheric conditio ...
(NOAA), but its elements were reorganized and incorporated into NOAA as the National Ocean Survey, later renamed the National Ocean Service. In addition to the National Ocean Service, NOAA's National Geodetic Survey
The National Geodetic Survey (NGS) is a United States federal agency that defines and manages a national coordinate system, providing the foundation for transportation and communication; mapping and charting; and a large number of applications ...
, Office of Coast Survey The Office of Coast Survey is the official chartmaker of the United States. It is an element of the National Ocean Service in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which is part of the United States Department of Commerce.
Mission
...
, and NOAA fleet all trace their ancestry in whole or in part to the Coast and Geodetic Survey, and the NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps is the descendant of the Coast and Geodetic Survey Corps. In addition, the modern National Institute of Standards and Technology
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is an agency of the United States Department of Commerce whose mission is to promote American innovation and industrial competitiveness. NIST's activities are organized into physical s ...
, although long separated from the Coast and Geodetic Survey, traces its ancestry to the Coast and Geodetic Survey's Office of Weights and Measures.
History
Earliest years
The United States Coast and Geodetic Survey began its existence as the United States Survey of the Coast, created within the United States Department of the Treasury
The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States, where it serves as an executive department. The department oversees the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and ...
by an Act of Congress on February 10, 1807, to conduct a "Survey of the Coast."NOAA, ''Coast and Geodetic Survey Heritage''/ref>Archives Catalog: Department of Commerce. Coast and Geodetic Survey. 1913-7/13/1965 Organization Authority Record Accessed 29 October 2022
/ref>''Organization and Law of the Department of Commerce and Labor'', p. 97. The Survey of the Coast, the
United States government
The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a feder ...
s first scientific agency, represented the interest of the administration
Administration may refer to:
Management of organizations
* Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal
** Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an administrative officer, admini ...
of President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
* President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was previously the natio ...
in science and the stimulation of international trade by using scientific surveying methods to chart the waters of the United States and make them safe for navigation. A Swiss immigrant with expertise in both surveying and the standardization of weights and measures
A unit of measurement is a definite magnitude of a quantity, defined and adopted by convention or by law, that is used as a standard for measurement of the same kind of quantity. Any other quantity of that kind can be expressed as a multi ...
, Ferdfinand R. Hassler, was selected to lead the Survey.Theberge, Captain Albert E., ''The Coast Survey 1807–1867: Volume I of the History of the Commissioned Corps of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration'', "THE HASSLER LEGACY: FERDINAND RUDOLPH HASSLER and the UNITED STATES COAST SURVEY: THE EARLY YEARS," no publisher listed, NOAA History, 1998.Hassler submitted a plan for the survey work involving the use of triangulation to ensure scientific accuracy of surveys, but
international relations
International relations (IR), sometimes referred to as international studies and international affairs, is the scientific study of interactions between sovereign states. In a broader sense, it concerns all activities between states—such a ...
prevented the new Survey of the Coast from beginning its work; the Embargo Act of 1807
The Embargo Act of 1807 was a general trade embargo on all foreign nations that was enacted by the United States Congress. As a successor or replacement law for the 1806 Non-importation Act and passed as the Napoleonic Wars continued, it repr ...
brought American overseas trade virtually to a halt only a month after Hasslers appointment and remained in effect until Jefferson left office in March 1809. It was not until 1811 that Jeffersons successor, President James Madison
James Madison Jr. (March 16, 1751June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Father. He served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison is hailed as the "Father of the Constitution" for h ...
, sent Hassler to Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
to purchase the instruments necessary to conduct the planned survey, as well as standardized weights and measures. Hassler departed on August 29, 1811, but eight months later, while he was in England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, the War of 1812
The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States, United States of America and its Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom ...
broke out, forcing him to remain in Europe until its conclusion in 1815. Hassler did not return to the United States until August 16, 1815. The Survey finally began surveying operations in 1816, when Hassler started work in the vicinity of New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
. The first baseline was measured and verified in 1817.
Suspension of work
With surveying work barely underway, Hassler was taken by surprise when theUnited States Congress
The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...
– frustrated by the slow and limited progress the Survey had made in its first decade, unwilling to endure the time and expense involved in scientifically precise surveying, unconvinced of the propriety of expending U.S. Government funds on scientific endeavors, and uncomfortable with Hassler leading the effort because of his foreign birth – enacted legislation on April 14, 1818, which repealed most of the 1807 statute. Congress believed that United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...
and United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
officers
An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," f ...
could achieve surveying results adequate for safe navigation during their routine navigation and charting activities and could do so more quickly and cheaply than Hassler, so its 1818 law removed the Survey of the Coast from the Department of the Treasury, prohibited the U.S. Government from employing civilians to conduct coastal surveys, and gave the U.S. Army and U.S. Navy responsibility for such surveys under the auspices of the United States Department of War
The United States Department of War, also called the War Department (and occasionally War Office in the early years), was the United States Cabinet department originally responsible for the operation and maintenance of the United States Army, ...
and United States Department of the Navy
The United States Department of the Navy (DoN) is one of the three military departments within the Department of Defense of the United States of America. It was established by an Act of Congress on 30 April 1798, at the urging of Secretary o ...
, respectively. Although the 1818 law did not abolish the Survey of the Coast, it had the effect of removing Hassler from the superintendency and suspending the Survey's operations.
During the 14 years from 1818 to 1832, the Survey existed without a superintendent or civilian workforce and without conducting any surveys. During these years, the Army conducted no surveys, those the Navy carried out achieved unsatisfactory results, and the United States Secretary of the Navy
The secretary of the Navy (or SECNAV) is a statutory officer () and the head (chief executive officer) of the Department of the Navy, a military department (component organization) within the United States Department of Defense.
By law, the se ...
and others repeatedly called on Congress to revive the 1807 law.
Work resumes
On July 10, 1832, Congress passed a law renewing the original law of 1807 and somewhat extending its scope, placing the responsibility for coastal surveying back in the Survey of the Coast, returning it to the Department of the Treasury, and permitting the hiring of civilians to carry it out. Hassler was reappointed as the Surveys superintendent that year. As authorized by the 1832 law, the administration of PresidentAndrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, planter, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, he gained fame as ...
expanded and extended the Survey of the Coasts scope and organization. The Survey of the Coast resumed field work in April 1833.
In July 1833, Edmund E. Blunt, the son of hydrographer Edmund B. Blunt, accepted a position with the Survey. The elder Blunt had begun publication of the ''American Coast Pilot'' – the first book of sailing directions, charts, and other information for mariners in North American waters to be published in North America – in 1796. Although the Survey relied on articles it published in local newspapers to provide information to mariners in the next decades, Blunts employment with the Survey began a relationship between the ''American Coast Pilot'' and the Survey in which the Surveys findings were incorporated into the ''American Coast Pilot'' and the Surveys charts were sold by the Blunt family, which became staunch allies of the Survey in its disputes with its critics. Eventually, the relationship between the Survey and the Blunts would lead to the establishment of the Surveys '' United States Coast Pilot'' publications in the latter part of the 19th century.Captain">noaa.gov, Theberge, Albert E., Captain,
/ref>
''Organization_and_Law_of_the_Department_of_Commerce_and_Labor'',_p._98._In_addition,_the_United_States_Department_of_War _
The_United_States_Department_of_War,_also_called_the_War_Department_(and_occasionally_War_Office_in_the_early_years),_was_the__United_States_Cabinet_department_originally_responsible_for_the_operation_and_maintenance_of_the_United_States_Army,__...
_provided_U.S._Army_officers_for_service_with_the_Survey_during_its_early_years._Hassler_believed_that_expertise_in_coastal_surveys_would_be_of_importance_in_future_wars_and_welcomed_the_participation_of_Army_and_Navy_personnel,_and_his_vision_in_this_regard_laid_the_foundation_for_the_commissioned_corps_of_officers_that_would_be_created_in_the_Survey_in_1917_as_the_ancestor_of_todays_NOAA_Commissioned_Officer_Corps.html" "title="NOAA Corps, "The United States Coast Pilot – A Short History"./ref>
_Association_with_United_States_Navy
The_Survey_had_barely_resumed_its_work_when_President_Jackson_transferred_it_from_the_Department_of_the_Treasury_to_the_Department_of_the_Navy_on_March_11,_1834._Survey_results_under_Navy_Department_authority_again_were_unsatisfactory,_and_on_March_26,_1836,_Jackson_ordered_the_Department_of_the_Treasury_to_resume_the_administration_of_the_Survey,_which_was_renamed_the_United_States_Coast_Survey_in_1836.Association with United States Navy
The Survey had barely resumed its work when President Jackson transferred it from the Department of the Treasury to the Department of the Navy on March 11, 1834. Survey results under Navy Department authority again were unsatisfactory, and on March 26, 1836, Jackson ordered the Department of the Treasury to resume the administration of the Survey, which was renamed the United States Coast Survey in 1836. However, the Navy retained a close connection with the hydrographic efforts of the Coast Survey under law requiring Survey ships to be commanded and crewed by U.S. Navy officers and men when the Navy could provide such support. Under this system, which persisted until the Survey was granted the authority to crew its ships in 1900, many of the most famous names in hydrography for both the Survey and Navy of the period are linked, as U.S. Navy officers and Coast Survey civilians served alongside one another aboard ship, and nearly half the Survey's ships were crewed and officered by U.S. Navy personnel over the 50-year period between 1848 and 1898.''Organization and Law of the Department of Commerce and Labor'', p. 98. In addition, theUnited States Department of War
The United States Department of War, also called the War Department (and occasionally War Office in the early years), was the United States Cabinet department originally responsible for the operation and maintenance of the United States Army, ...
provided U.S. Army officers for service with the Survey during its early years. Hassler believed that expertise in coastal surveys would be of importance in future wars and welcomed the participation of Army and Navy personnel, and his vision in this regard laid the foundation for the commissioned corps of officers that would be created in the Survey in 1917 as the ancestor of todays NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps">National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Corps
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps, known informally as the NOAA Corps, is one of eight federal uniformed services of the United States, and operates under the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administ ...Growth years under Hassler
During the nineteenth century, the remit of the Survey was rather loosely drawn and it had no competitors in federally funded scientific research. Various superintendents developed its work in fields as diverse asastronomy
Astronomy () is a natural science that studies celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and evolution. Objects of interest include planets, moons, stars, nebulae, g ...
, cartography
Cartography (; from grc, χάρτης , "papyrus, sheet of paper, map"; and , "write") is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an i ...
, meteorology
Meteorology is a branch of the atmospheric sciences (which include atmospheric chemistry and physics) with a major focus on weather forecasting. The study of meteorology dates back millennia, though significant progress in meteorology did no ...
, geodesy, geology
Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Ea ...
, geophysics
Geophysics () is a subject of natural science concerned with the physical processes and physical properties of the Earth and its surrounding space environment, and the use of quantitative methods for their analysis. The term ''geophysics'' so ...
, hydrography
Hydrography is the branch of applied sciences which deals with the measurement and description of the physical features of oceans, seas, coastal areas, lakes and rivers, as well as with the prediction of their change over time, for the primar ...
, navigation
Navigation is a field of study that focuses on the process of monitoring and controlling the movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another.Bowditch, 2003:799. The field of navigation includes four general categories: land navigation, ...
, oceanography, exploration, Piloting, pilotage, tide
Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another.
Tide tables ...
s, and topography
Topography is the study of the forms and features of land surfaces. The topography of an area may refer to the land forms and features themselves, or a description or depiction in maps.
Topography is a field of geoscience and planetary sc ...
. The Survey published important articles by Charles Sanders Peirce
Charles Sanders Peirce ( ; September 10, 1839 – April 19, 1914) was an American philosopher, logician, mathematician and scientist who is sometimes known as "the father of pragmatism".
Educated as a chemist and employed as a scientist for t ...
on the design of experiments and on a criterion for the statistical treatment of outliers. Ferdinand Hassler became the first Superintendent of Weights and Measures beginning in November 1830, and the Office of Weights and Measures, the ancestor of todays National Institute of Standards and Technology
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is an agency of the United States Department of Commerce whose mission is to promote American innovation and industrial competitiveness. NIST's activities are organized into physical s ...
, was placed under the control of the Coast Survey in 1836; until 1901, the Survey thus was responsible for the standardization of weights and measures throughout the United States.
When it resumed operations in 1833, the Survey returned to surveys of the New York City area and its maritime approaches. Although U.S. law prohibited the Survey from procuring its own ships, requiring it to use existing public ships such as those of the Navy and the United States Revenue-Marine (which in 1894 became the United States Revenue Cutter Service
)
, colors=
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) for surveying operations afloat, the U.S. Department of the Navy worked around the law by allowing Lieutenant
A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations.
The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...
Thomas R. Gedney to purchase the schooner ''Jersey'' for the Navy, then deeming ''Jersey'' suited only for use by the Survey. Under Gedneys command, ''Jersey'' began the Surveys first depth sounding operations in October 1834, and made its first commercially and militarily significant discovery in 1835 by discovering what became known as the Gedney Channel at the entrance to New York Harbor, which significantly reduced sailing times to and from New York City. Gedney was in command of the Revenue-Marine revenue cutter
A cutter is a type of watercraft. The term has several meanings. It can apply to the rig (or sailplan) of a sailing vessel (but with regional differences in definition), to a governmental enforcement agency vessel (such as a coast guard or bor ...
on August 26, 1839, when she discovered the and seized the Spanish schooner off Culloden Point on Long Island, New York. A slave ship
Slave ships were large cargo ships specially built or converted from the 17th to the 19th century for transporting slaves. Such ships were also known as "Guineamen" because the trade involved human trafficking to and from the Guinea coast ...
, ''La Amistad'' had been taken over by African people on board who were being transported to the United States to be sold as slaves, and Gedney's seizure of ''La Amistad'' led to the freedom suit
Freedom suits were lawsuits in the Thirteen Colonies and the United States filed by slaves against slaveholders to assert claims to freedom, often based on descent from a free maternal ancestor, or time held as a resident in a free state or ter ...
'' United States v. Schooner Amistad'', argued before the United States Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
in 1841.
In 1838, U.S. Navy Lieutenant George M. Bache, while attached to the Survey, suggested standardizing the markings of buoys and navigational markers ashore by painting those on the right when entering a harbor red and those on the left black; instituted by Lieutenant Commander John R. Goldsborough in 1847, the "red right return" system of markings has been in use in the United States ever since. In August 1839, the Coast Survey made another kind of history when the U.S. Revenue-Marine revenue cutter
A cutter is a type of watercraft. The term has several meanings. It can apply to the rig (or sailplan) of a sailing vessel (but with regional differences in definition), to a governmental enforcement agency vessel (such as a coast guard or bor ...
, conducting sounding surveys for the Coast Survey off Long Island under Gedneys command, intercepted the slave ship
Slave ships were large cargo ships specially built or converted from the 17th to the 19th century for transporting slaves. Such ships were also known as "Guineamen" because the trade involved human trafficking to and from the Guinea coast ...
''La Amistad
''La Amistad'' (; Spanish for ''Friendship'') was a 19th-century two- masted schooner, owned by a Spaniard colonizing Cuba. It became renowned in July 1839 for a slave revolt by Mende captives, who had been captured and sold to European slave ...
'' and brought her into port. In the early 1840s, the Survey began work in Delaware Bay
Delaware Bay is the estuary outlet of the Delaware River on the northeast seaboard of the United States. It is approximately in area, the bay's freshwater mixes for many miles with the saltwater of the Atlantic Ocean.
The bay is bordered inland ...
to chart the approaches to Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
.
Amid renewed calls for the Survey again to be transferred to the Department of the Navy, Congress enacted legislation on March 3, 1843, providing for President John Tyler
John Tyler (March 29, 1790 – January 18, 1862) was the tenth president of the United States, serving from 1841 to 1845, after briefly holding office as the tenth vice president in 1841. He was elected vice president on the 1840 Whig tick ...
to establish a board to study the Survey and recommend a permanent organization for it. Its report recommended an organization which Tyler approved on April 29, 1843, and still was in place when the Survey left the Department of the Treasury in 1903.
The Bache years
Professor Alexander Dallas Bache became superintendent of the U.S. Coast Survey after Hasslers death in 1843. During his years as superintendent, he reorganized the Coast Survey in accordance with the plan President Tyler approved and expanded the Survey′s work southward along theUnited States East Coast
The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, the Atlantic Coast, and the Atlantic Seaboard, is the coastline along which the Eastern United States meets the North Atlantic Ocean. The eastern seaboard contains the coa ...
into the Florida Keys. In 1846 the Survey began to operate a ship, ''Phoenix'', on the United States Gulf Coast
The Gulf Coast of the United States, also known as the Gulf South, is the coastline along the Southern United States where they meet the Gulf of Mexico. The coastal states that have a shoreline on the Gulf of Mexico are Texas, Louisiana, Missis ...
for the first time. By 1847, Bache had expanded the Surveys operations from nine states to seventeen, and by 1849 it also operated along the United States West Coast
The West Coast of the United States, also known as the Pacific Coast, Pacific states, and the western seaboard, is the coastline along which the Western United States meets the North Pacific Ocean. The term typically refers to the contiguous U.S. ...
, giving it a presence along all coasts of the United States. In 1845, he instituted the worlds first systematic oceanographic project for studying a specific phenomenon when he directed the Coast Survey to begin systematic studies of the Gulf Stream and its environs, including physical oceanography, geological
Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other E ...
oceanography, biological oceanography, and chemical
A chemical substance is a form of matter having constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Some references add that chemical substance cannot be separated into its constituent elements by physical separation methods, i.e., w ...
oceanography. Baches initial orders for the Gulf Stream study served as a model for all subsequent integrated oceanographic cruises. Bache also instituted regular and systematic observations of the tide
Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another.
Tide tables ...
s and investigated magnetic forces and directions, making the Survey the center of U.S. Government expertise in geophysics for the following century. In the late 1840s, the Survey pioneered the use of the telegraph
Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas p ...
to provide highly accurate determinations of longitude
Longitude (, ) is a geographic coordinate that specifies the east– west position of a point on the surface of the Earth, or another celestial body. It is an angular measurement, usually expressed in degrees and denoted by the Greek lette ...
; known as the " American Method", it soon was emulated worldwide.Theberge, Captain Albert E., ''The Coast Survey 1807–1867: Volume I of the History of the Commissioned Corps of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration'', "BACHE's EARLY YEARS," no publisher listed, NOAA History, 1998.Disaster struck the Coast Survey on September 8, 1846 when the survey brig ''Peter G. Washington'' encountered a
hurricane
A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...
while she was conducting studies of the Gulf Stream in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of North Carolina
North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...
. She was dismasted in the storm with the loss of 11 men who were swept overboard, but she managed to limp into port.
The Mexican War of 1846–1848 saw the withdrawal of virtually all U.S. Army officers from the Coast Survey and the Coast Survey brig was taken over for U.S. Navy service in the war, but overall the war effort had little impact on the Coast Surveys operations. Army officers returned after the war, and the expansion of U.S. territory as a result of the war led to the Coast Survey expanding its operations to include the newly acquired coasts of Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
and California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
. The famous naturalist Louis Agassiz studied marine life off New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the Can ...
from the Coast Survey steamer ''Bibb'' in 1847 and also conducted the first scientific study of the Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
reef
A reef is a ridge or shoal of rock, coral or similar relatively stable material, lying beneath the surface of a natural body of water. Many reefs result from natural, abiotic processes— deposition of sand, wave erosion planing down rock o ...
system in 1851 under a Coast Survey commission; his son, Alexander Agassiz, later also served aboard Coast Survey ships for technical operations. In the 1850s, the Coast Survey also conducted surveys and measurements in support of efforts to reform the Department of the Treasurys Lighthouse Establishment
The United States Lighthouse Board was the second agency of the U.S. federal government, under the Department of Treasury, responsible for the construction and maintenance of all lighthouses and navigation aids in the United States, between 1852 ...
,Theberge, Captain Albert E., ''The Coast Survey 1807–1867: Volume I of the History of the Commissioned Corps of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration'', "THE FIELD WORK," no publisher listed, NOAA History, 1998.and it briefly employed the artist James McNeill Whistler as a draughtsman in 1854–1855.Theberge, Captain Albert E., ''The Coast Survey 1807–1867: Volume I of the History of the Commissioned Corps of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration'', "THE INFORMATION FACTORY," no publisher listed, NOAA History, 1998.
Ever since it began operations, the Coast Survey had faced hostility from politicians who believed that it should complete its work and be abolished as a means of reducing U.S. Government expenditures, and Hassler and Bache had fought back periodic attempts to cut its funding. By 1850, the Coast Survey had surveyed enough of the U.S. coastline for a long enough time to learn that – with a few exceptions, such as the rocky coast of
New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the Can ...
– coastlines were dynamic and required return visits by Coast Surveyors to keep charts up to date. In 1858, Bache for the first time publicly stated that the Coast Survey was not a temporary organization charged with charting the coasts once, but rather a permanent one that would continually survey coastal areas as they changed over time.
Another significant moment in the Surveys history that occurred in 1858 was the first publication of what would later become the ''United States Coast Pilot'', when Survey employee George Davidson adapted an article from a San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
, California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
, newspaper into an addendum to that years ''Annual Report of the Superintendent of the Coast Survey''. Although the Survey had previously published its work indirectly via the Blunts ''American Coast Pilot'', it was the first time that the Survey had published its sailing directions directly in any way other than through local newspapers.
On June 21, 1860, the greatest loss of life in a single incident in the history of NOAA and its ancestor agencies occurred when a commercial schooner collided with the Coast Survey paddle steamer
A paddle steamer is a steamship or steamboat powered by a steam engine that drives paddle wheels to propel the craft through the water. In antiquity, paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, where the first uses we ...
''Robert J. Walker'' in the Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...
off New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
. ''Robert J. Walker'' sank with the loss of 20 men.noaa.gov The Story of the Coast Survey Steamer Robert J. Walker/ref> A Coast Survey ship took part in an international scientific project for the first time when ''Bibb'' observed a solar eclipse from a vantage point off Aulezavik,
Labrador
, nickname = "The Big Land"
, etymology =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Canada
, subdivision_type1 = Province
, subdivision_name1 ...
, on July 18, 1860, as part of an international effort to study the eclipse. ''Bibb'' became the first Coast Survey vessel to operate in subarctic waters.
American Civil War
The outbreak of theAmerican Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...
in April 1861 caused a dramatic shift in direction for the Coast Survey. All U.S. Army officers were withdrawn from the Survey, as were all but two U.S. Navy officers. Since most men of the Survey had Union
Union commonly refers to:
* Trade union, an organization of workers
* Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets
Union may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment
Music
* Union (band), an American rock group
** ''Un ...
sympathies, all but seven of them stayed on with the Survey rather than resigning to serve the Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America (CSA), commonly referred to as the Confederate States or the Confederacy was an unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United States that existed from February 8, 1861, to May 9, 1865. The Confeder ...
, and their work shifted in emphasis to support of the Union Navy
The Union Navy was the United States Navy (USN) during the American Civil War, when it fought the Confederate States Navy (CSN). The term is sometimes used carelessly to include vessels of war used on the rivers of the interior while they were un ...
and Union Army
During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union of the collective states. It proved essential to th ...
. Civilian Coast Surveyors were called upon to serve in the field and provide mapping, hydrographic, and engineering expertise for Union forces. One of the individuals who excelled at this work was Joseph Smith Harris
Joseph Smith Harris (April 29, 1836 – June 1, 1910) was an American surveyor, civil engineer, and railroad executive. Largely self-taught, he worked on several projects for the U.S. government, including the Coast Survey of the Mississippi ...
, who supported Rear Admiral David G. Farragut and his Western Gulf Blockading Squadron in the Battle of Forts Jackson and St. Philip
The Battle of Forts Jackson and St. Philip (April 18–28, 1862) was the decisive battle for possession of New Orleans in the American Civil War. The two Confederate forts on the Mississippi River south of the city were attacked by a Union Nav ...
in 1862; this survey work was particularly valuable to Commander David Dixon Porter and his mortar bombardment fleet. Coast Surveyors served in virtually all theaters of the war and were often in the front lines or in advance of the front lines carrying out mapping duties, and Coast Survey officers produced many of the coastal charts and interior maps used by Union forces throughout the war. Coast Surveyors supporting the Union Army were given assimilated military rank while attached to a specific command, but those supporting the U.S. Navy operated as civilians and ran the risk of being executed as spies
Spies most commonly refers to people who engage in spying, espionage or clandestine operations.
Spies or The Spies may also refer to:
* Spies (surname), a German surname
* Spies (band), a jazz fusion band
* Spies (song), "Spies" (song), a song by ...
if captured by the Confederates while working in support of Union forces.NOAA History: NOAA Corps and the Coast and Geodetic Survey/ref>
Post–Civil War
Army officers never returned to the Coast Survey, but after the war Navy officers did, and the Coast Survey resumed its peacetime duties. The acquisition of theAlaska
Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S. ...
in 1867 expanded its responsibilities, as did the progressive exploration, settlement, and enclosure of the continental United States
The contiguous United States (officially the conterminous United States) consists of the 48 adjoining U.S. states and the Federal District of the United States of America. The term excludes the only two non-contiguous states, Alaska and Hawaii ...
. George W. Blunt sold the copyright
A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, educatio ...
for the ''American Coast Pilot'' – the Blunt family publication which had appeared in 21 editions since 1796 and had come to consist almost entirely of public information produced by the Survey anyway – in 1867, and the Survey thus took responsibility for publishing it regularly for the first time, spawning a family of such publications for the various coasts of the United States and the Territory of Alaska in the coming years. In 1888, the publications for the United States East and Gulf coasts took the name '' United States Coast Pilot'' for the first time, and the publications for the United States West Coast took this name 30 years later. NOAA produces the ''United States Coast Pilots'' to this day.
In 1871, Congress officially expanded the Coast Surveys responsibilities to include geodetic surveys in the interior of the country, and one of its first major projects in the interior was to survey the 39th Parallel across the entire country. Between 1874 and 1877, the Coast Survey employed the naturalist and author John Muir
John Muir ( ; April 21, 1838December 24, 1914), also known as "John of the Mountains" and "Father of the National Parks", was an influential Scottish-American naturalist, author, environmental philosopher, botanist, zoologist, glaciologist ...
as a guide and artist during the survey of the 39th Parallel in the Great Basin of Nevada
Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...
and Utah
Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...
. To reflect its acquisition of the mission of surveying the U.S. interior and the growing role of geodesy in its operations, the U.S. Coast Survey was renamed the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey (USC&GS) by a statute passed on June 20, 1878.
The ''American Coast Pilot'' had long been lacking in current information when the Coast Survey took control of it in 1867, and the Survey had recognized that deficit but had been hindered by a lack of funding and the risks associated with mooring vessels in deep waters or along dangerous coasts in order to collect the information necessary for updates. The U.S. Congress specifically appropriated funding for such work in the 1875–1876 budget under which the 76-foot (23-meterschooner ''Drift''
was constructed and sent out under U.S. Navy Acting Master and Coast Survey Assistant Robert Platt to the
Gulf of Maine
, image =
, alt =
, caption =
, image_bathymetry = GulfofMaine2.jpg
, alt_bathymetry =
, caption_bathymetry = Major features of the Gulf of Maine
, location = Northeast coast of the ...
to anchor in depths of up to 140 fathoms (840 feet; 256 meters) to measure currents. The Survey's requirement to update sailing directions led to the development of early current
Currents, Current or The Current may refer to:
Science and technology
* Current (fluid), the flow of a liquid or a gas
** Air current, a flow of air
** Ocean current, a current in the ocean
*** Rip current, a kind of water current
** Current (stre ...
measurement technology, particularly thPillsbury current meter
invented by John E. Pillsbury, USN, while on duty with the Survey. It was in connection with intensive studies of the Gulf Stream that the Coast and Geodetic Survey ship USC&GS ''George S. Blake'' became such a pioneer in oceanography that she is one of only two U.S. ships with her name inscribed in the façade of the Oceanographic Museum (Musée Océanographique) in
Monaco
Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...
due to her being "the most innovative oceanographic vessel of the Nineteenth Century" with development of deep ocean exploration through introduction of steel cable for sounding, dredging and deep anchoring and data collection for the "first truly modern bathymetric map of a deep sea area."
Crisis in the mid-1880s
By the mid-1880s, the Coast and Geodetic Survey had been caught up in the increased scrutiny of U.S. Government agencies by politicians seeking to reform governmental affairs by curbing thespoils system
In politics and government, a spoils system (also known as a patronage system) is a practice in which a political party, after winning an election, gives government jobs to its supporters, friends (cronyism), and relatives (nepotism) as a reward ...
and patronage common among office holders of the time. One outgrowth of this movement was the Allison Commission – a joint commission of the United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and pow ...
and United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...
– which convened in 1884 to investigate the scientific agencies of the U.S. Government, namely the Coast and Geodetic Survey, the United States Geological Survey
The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, ...
, the United States Army Signal Corps
The United States Army Signal Corps (USASC) is a branch of the United States Army that creates and manages communications and information systems for the command and control of combined arms forces. It was established in 1860, the brainchild of Ma ...
(responsible for studying and predicting weather at the time), and the United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
's United States Hydrographic Office. The commission looked into three main issues: the role of geodesy in the U.S. Government's scientific efforts and whether responsibility for inland geodetics should reside in the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey or the U.S. Geological Survey; whether the Coast and Geodetic Survey should be removed from the Department of the Treasury and placed under the control of the Department of the Navy, as it had been previously from 1834 to 1836; and whether weather services should reside in a military organization or in the civilian part of the government, raising the broader issue of whether U.S. government scientific agencies of all kinds should be under military or civilian control.''Sailing Close to the Wind: Superintendent Thorn Rescues the Coast and Geodetic Survey (1885–1889)'', p. 2.At the Coast and Geodetic Survey, at least some scientists were not prone to following bureaucratic requirements related to the funding of their projects, and their lax financial practices led to charges of mismanagement of funds and corruption. When
Grover Cleveland
Stephen Grover Cleveland (March 18, 1837June 24, 1908) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 22nd and 24th president of the United States from 1885 to 1889 and from 1893 to 1897. Cleveland is the only president in American ...
became president in 1885, James Q. Chenoweth became First Auditor of the Department of the Treasury, and he began to investigate improprieties at the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, U.S. Geological Survey, and United States Commission of Fish and Fisheries, more commonly referred to as the U.S. Fish Commission. He had little impact on the Geological Survey or the Fish Commission, but at the Coast and Geodetic Survey he found many improprieties. Chenoweth found that the Coast and Geodetic Survey had failed to account for government equipment it had purchased, continued to pay retired personnel as a way of giving them a pension even though the law did not provide for a pension system, paid employees whether they worked or not, and misused '' per diem'' money intended for the expenses of personnel in the field by paying ''per diem'' funds to employees who were not in the field as a way of augmenting their very low authorized wages and providing them with fair compensation. Chenoweth saw these practices as embezzlement. Chenoweth also suspected embezzlement in the Survey's practice of providing its employees with money in advance for large and expensive purchases when operating in remote areas because of the Survey's inability to verify that the expenses were legitimate. Moreover, the Superintendent of the Coast and Geodetic Survey, Julius Hilgard, was exposed as a drunkard and forced to resign in disgrace along with four of his senior staff members at Survey headquarters.
To address issues at the Coast and Geodetic Survey raised by the Allison Commission and the Chenoweth investigation, Cleveland made the Chief Clerk of the Internal Revenue Bureau
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting U.S. federal taxes and administering the Internal Revenue Code, the main body of the federal statutory tax ...
, Frank Manly Thorn, Acting Superintendent of the Coast and Geodetic Survey on July 23, 1885, and appointed him as the permanent superintendent on September 1.''Sailing Close to the Wind'', p. 4Anonymous, ''Centennial Celebration of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey'', Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1916, p. 139./ref> Thorn, a lawyer and journalist who was the first non-scientist to serve as superintendent, quickly concluded that the charges against Coast and Geodetic Survey personnel largely were overblown, and he set his mind to the issues of rebuilding the Survey's integrity and reputation and ensuring that it demonstrated its value to its critics. Ignorant of the Survey's operations and the scientific methods that lay behind them, he left such matters to his assistant, Benjamin J. Colonna, and focused instead on reforming the Survey's financial and budgetary procedures and improving its operations so as to demonstrate the value of its scientific program in performing accurate mapping while setting and meeting production deadlines for maps and charts. To the Survey's critics, Thorn and Colonna championed the importance of the Coast and Geodetic Survey's inland geodetic work and how it supported, rather than duplicated, the work of the Geological Survey and was in any event an important component of the Coast and Geodetic Survey's hydrographic work along the coasts. Thorn also advocated civilian control of the Coast and Geodetic Survey, pointing out to Cleveland and others that earlier experiments with placing it under U.S. Navy control had fared poorly.''Sailing Close to the Wind'', p. 11. Thorn described the Coast and Geodetic Survey's essential mission as, in its simplest form, to produce "a perfect map,". and to this end he and Colonna championed the need for the Survey to focus on the broad range of geodetic disciplines Colonna identified as necessary for accurate chart- and mapmaking: triangulation, astronomical observations,
levelling
Levelling or leveling (American English; see spelling differences) is a branch of surveying, the object of which is to establish or verify or measure the height of specified points relative to a datum. It is widely used in geodesy and cartogra ...
, tidal observations, physical geodesy
Physical may refer to:
*Physical examination
In a physical examination, medical examination, or clinical examination, a medical practitioner examines a patient for any possible medical signs or symptoms of a medical condition. It generally co ...
, topography
Topography is the study of the forms and features of land surfaces. The topography of an area may refer to the land forms and features themselves, or a description or depiction in maps.
Topography is a field of geoscience and planetary sc ...
, hydrography
Hydrography is the branch of applied sciences which deals with the measurement and description of the physical features of oceans, seas, coastal areas, lakes and rivers, as well as with the prediction of their change over time, for the primar ...
, and magnetic observations. To those who advocated transfer of the Coast and Geodetic Survey's work to the Navy Hydrographic Office, Thorn and Colonna replied that although the Navy could perform hydrography, it could not provide the full range of geodetic disciplines necessary for scientifically accurate surveying and mapping work.
In 1886, the Allison Commission wrapped up its investigation and published its final report. Although it determined that all topographic responsibility outside of coastal areas would henceforth reside in the U.S. Geological Survey, it approved of the Coast and Geodetic Survey continuing its entire program of scientific research, and recommended that the Coast and Geodetic Survey remain under civilian control rather than be subordinated to the U.S. Navy. It was a victory for Thorn and Colonna. Another victory followed in 1887, when Thorn headed off a congressional attempt to subordinate the Survey to the Navy despite the Allison Commission's findings, providing Cleveland with information on the previous lack of success of such an arrangement. When Thorn left the superintendency in 1889, the Coast and Geodetic Survey's position in the U.S. Government had become secure.
Before Thorn left the superintendency, the United States Congress
The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...
passed a bill requiring that henceforth the president would select the superintendent of the Coast and Geodetic Survey with the consent of the U.S. Senate. This practice has continued for senior positions in the Coast and Geodetic Survey and its successor organizations ever since.
Later 19th century and early 20th century
On February 5, 1889, by a joint resolution of Congress, the U.S. Government accepted an invitation by the government of the German Empire to become a party to the International Geodetic Association. By law, the U.S. delegate to the association was a Coast and Geodetic Survey officer appointed by the President. By a resolution of April 12, 1892, Congress granted the use of the facilities of the Coast and Geodetic Survey for research and study by scientific investigators and students of any institution of higher education.In the 1890s, while attached to the Coast and Geodetic Survey as commanding officer of ''George S. Blake'', Lieutenant Commander
Lieutenant commander (also hyphenated lieutenant-commander and abbreviated Lt Cdr, LtCdr. or LCDR) is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander. The corresponding ran ...
Charles Dwight Sigsbee, USN, Assistant in the Coast Survey, developed the Sigsbee sounding machine while conducting the first true bathymetric surveys in the Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United ...
.
With the outbreak of the Spanish–American War
, partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence
, image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg
, image_size = 300px
, caption = (cloc ...
in April 1898, the U.S. Navy again withdrew its officers from Coast and Geodetic Survey duty. As a result of the war, which ended in August 1898, the United States took control of the Philippine Islands
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
and Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...
, and surveying their waters became part of the Coast and Geodetic Survey's duties. The Survey opened a field office in Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
, Washington
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
in 1899, to support survey ships operating in the Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contin ...
as well as survey field expeditions in the western United States
The Western United States (also called the American West, the Far West, and the West) is the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the meaning of the term ''the We ...
; this office eventually would become the modern National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (abbreviated as NOAA ) is an United States scientific and regulatory agency within the United States Department of Commerce that forecasts weather, monitors oceanic and atmospheric conditio ...
Pacific Marine Center.
The system of U.S. Navy officers and men crewing the Surveys ships that had prevailed for most of the 19th century came to an end when the appropriation law approved on June 6, 1900, provided for "all necessary employees to man and equip the vessels" instead of Navy personnel. The law went into effect on July 1, 1900; at that point, all Navy personnel assigned to the Surveys ships remained aboard until the first call at each ships home port, where they transferred off, with the Survey reimbursing the Navy for their pay accrued after July 1, 1900. Thereafter, the Coast and Geodetic Survey operated as an entirely civilian organization until May 1917.
In 1901, the Office of Weights and Measures was split off from the Coast and Geodetic Survey to become the separate National Bureau of Standards. It became the National Institute of Standards and Technology
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is an agency of the United States Department of Commerce whose mission is to promote American innovation and industrial competitiveness. NIST's activities are organized into physical s ...
in 1988.noaa.gov NOAA History: NOAA Legacy Timeline 1900–1969/ref> In 1903, the Coast and Geodetic Survey was transferred from the Department of the Treasury 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 ...
. By the time of its transfer, the Survey had established suboffices at San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
, California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
, and at Manila
Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...
in the Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
and had expanded the scope of its operations to include Lake Champlain
Lake Champlain ( ; french: Lac Champlain) is a natural freshwater lake in North America. It mostly lies between the US states of New York and Vermont, but also extends north into the Canada, Canadian province of Quebec.
The New York portion of t ...
, the Pacific
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...
coast of North America from San Diego
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...
, California, to Panama
Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...
, a transcontinental triangulation between the United States East
East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth.
Etymology
As in other languages, the word is formed from the fac ...
and West
West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth.
Etymology
The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...
Coasts, the Hawaiian Islands, Alaska
Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S. ...
, and "other coasts under the jurisdiction of the United States," which by then included also included the Philippines, Guam
Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...
, American Samoa
American Samoa ( sm, Amerika Sāmoa, ; also ' or ') is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of the island country of Samoa. Its location is centered on . It is east of the Internationa ...
, and Puerto Rico. In 1903, the ''Organization and Law of the Department of Commerce and Labor'' stated that from the time the Survey began scientific activities in the early 19th century it had produced "a stimulus to all educational and scientific work. The methods used by the Survey have been the standard for similar undertakings in the United States, and many commendations of their excellence have been received from abroad. The influence of the Survey in the various operations resulting from the advancing scientific activity of the country can hardly be overestimated."
In 1904, the Coast and Geodetic Survey introduced the wire-drag technique into hydrography, in which a wire attached to two ships or boats and set at a certain depth by a system of weights and buoys was dragged between two points. This method revolutionized hydrographic surveying, as it allowed a quicker, less laborious, and far more complete survey of an area than did the use of lead lines and sounding poles that had preceded it, and it remained in use until the late 1980s.
The Department of Commerce and Labor was abolished in 1913 and divided into the 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 ...
and the United States Department of Labor
The United States Department of Labor (DOL) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It is responsible for the administration of federal laws governing occupational safety and health, wage and hour standards, unemploy ...
. With this change, the Coast and Geodetic Survey came under the jurisdiction of the Department of Commerce.
World War I
Although some personnel aboard Coast and Geodetic Survey ships wore uniforms virtually identical to those of the U.S. Navy, the Survey operated as a completely civilian organization from 1900 until after the United States enteredWorld War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
in April 1917. To avoid the dangerous situation Coast Survey personnel had faced during the American Civil War, when they could have been executed as spies if captured by the enemy, a new Coast and Geodetic Survey Corps was created on May 22, 1917, as one of the uniformed services of the United States
The United States has eight federal uniformed services that commission officers as defined by Title 10 and subsequently structured and organized by Titles 10, 14, 32, 33 and 42 of the U.S. Code.
Uniformed services
The uniformed services ...
, giving the Surveys officers a commissioned status that protected them from treatment as spies if captured, as well as providing the United States armed forces
The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is ...
with a ready source of officers skilled in surveying that could be rapidly assimilated for wartime support of the armed forces.
Over half of all Coast and Geodetic Survey Corps officers served in the U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, and U.S. Marine Corps during World War I, and Coast and Geodetic Survey personnel were active as artillery orienteering officers, as minelaying
A minelayer is any warship, submarine or military aircraft deploying explosive mines. Since World War I the term "minelayer" refers specifically to a naval ship used for deploying naval mines. "Mine planting" was the term for installing contro ...
officers in the North Sea
The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea, epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the ...
(where they supported the laying of the North Sea Mine Barrage), as troop transport navigators, as intelligence
Intelligence has been defined in many ways: the capacity for abstraction, logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning, emotional knowledge, reasoning, planning, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving. More generally, it can be des ...
officers, and as officers on the staff of U.S. Army General
A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry.
In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...
John "Black Jack" Pershing, commander of the American Expeditionary Forces
The American Expeditionary Forces (A. E. F.) was a formation of the United States Army on the Western Front of World War I. The A. E. F. was established on July 5, 1917, in France under the command of General John J. Pershing. It fought along ...
on the Western Front.
Interwar period
During the period between the world wars, the Coast and Geodetic Survey returned to its peaceful scientific and surveying pursuits, including land surveying, sea floor charting, coastline mapping, geophysics
Geophysics () is a subject of natural science concerned with the physical processes and physical properties of the Earth and its surrounding space environment, and the use of quantitative methods for their analysis. The term ''geophysics'' so ...
, and oceanography. In 1923 and 1924, it began the use of acoustic sounding systems and developed radio acoustic ranging
Radio acoustic ranging, occasionally written as "radio-acoustic ranging" and sometimes abbreviated RAR, was a method for determining a ship's precise location at sea by detonating an explosive charge underwater near the ship, detecting the arriv ...
, which was the first marine navigation
Navigation is a field of study that focuses on the process of monitoring and controlling the movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another.Bowditch, 2003:799. The field of navigation includes four general categories: land navigation, ...
system in history that did not rely on a visual means of position determination. These developments led to the Surveys 1924 discovery of the sound fixing and ranging (SOFAR) channel or deep sound channel (DSC) – a horizontal layer of water in the ocean at which depth the speed of sound is at its minimum – and to the development of telemetering radio sonobuoy
A sonobuoy (a portmanteau of sonar and buoy) is a relatively small buoy – typically diameter and long – expendable sonar system that is dropped/ejected from aircraft or ships conducting anti-submarine warfare or underwater acoustic rese ...
s and marine seismic
Seismology (; from Ancient Greek σεισμός (''seismós'') meaning "earthquake" and -λογία (''-logía'') meaning "study of") is the scientific study of earthquakes and the propagation of elastic waves through the Earth or through other ...
exploration techniques. The Air Commerce Act
The Air Commerce Act of 1926 created an Aeronautic Branch of the United States Department of Commerce. Its functions included testing and licensing of pilots, certification of aircraft and investigation of accidents.
In 1934, the Aeronautics Bran ...
, which went into effect on May 20, 1926, among other things directed that the airways of the United States be charted for the first time and assigned this mission to the Coast and Geodetic Survey.
In 1933, the Coast and Geodetic Survey opened a ship base in Norfolk
Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...
, Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
. From 1934 to 1937, it organized surveying parties and field offices to employ over 10,000 people, including many unemployed engineer
Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the limit ...
s, during the height of the Great Depression.
World War II
When the United States enteredWorld War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
in December 1941, all of this work was suspended as the Survey dedicated its activities entirely to support of the war effort. Over half of the Coast and Geodetic Corps commissioned officers were transferred to either the U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps, or United States Army Air Forces
The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...
, while those who remained in the Coast and Geodetic Survey also operated in support of military and naval requirements. About half of the Surveys civilian work force, slightly over 1,000 people, joined the armed services.
Officers and civilians of the Survey saw service in North Africa
North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...
, Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
, and the Pacific
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...
and in the defense of North America and its waters, serving as artillery surveyors, hydrographers, amphibious engineers, beachmasters (i.e., directors of disembarkation), instructors at service schools, and in a wide range of technical positions. Coast and Geodetic Survey personnel also worked as reconnaissance surveyors for a worldwide aeronautical charting effort, and a Coast and Geodetic Survey Corps officer was the first commanding officer of the Army Air Forces Aeronautical Chart Plant at St. Louis
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
, Missouri
Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...
. Coast and Geodetic Survey civilians who remained in the United States during the war produced over 100 million maps and charts for the Allied forces. Three Coast and Geodetic Survey officers and eleven members of the agency who had joined other services were killed during the war.
Post–World War II
Following World War II, the Coast and Geodetic Survey resumed its peacetime scientific and surveying efforts. In 1945 it adapted the British Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...
s Gee radio navigation
Radio navigation or radionavigation is the application of radio frequencies to determine a position of an object on the Earth, either the vessel or an obstruction. Like radiolocation, it is a type of radiodetermination.
The basic principles a ...
system to hydrographic surveying, ushering in a new era of marine electronic navigation. In 1948 it established the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) is one of two tsunami warning centers that are operated by NOAA in the United States. Headquartered on Ford Island, HI, the PTWC is part of an international tsunami warning system (TWS) program and s ...
in Honolulu
Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...
. The onset of the Cold War in the late 1940s led the Survey also to make a significant effort in support of defense requirements, such as conducting surveys for the Distant Early Warning Line and for rocket
A rocket (from it, rocchetto, , bobbin/spool) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using the surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entirely fr ...
ranges, performing oceanographic work for the U.S. Navy, and monitoring nuclear tests.
In 1955, the Coast and Geodetic Survey ship USC&GS ''Pioneer'' (OSS 31) conducted a survey in the Pacific Ocean off the United States West Coast
The West Coast of the United States, also known as the Pacific Coast, Pacific states, and the western seaboard, is the coastline along which the Western United States meets the North Pacific Ocean. The term typically refers to the contiguous U.S. ...
towing a magnetometer invented by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. The first such survey in history, it discovered magnetic striping on the seafloor, a key finding in the development of the theory of plate tectonics
Plate tectonics (from the la, label=Late Latin, tectonicus, from the grc, τεκτονικός, lit=pertaining to building) is the generally accepted scientific theory that considers the Earth's lithosphere to comprise a number of large ...
.
The Coast and Geodetic Survey participated in the International Geophysical Year (IGY) of July 1, 1957, to December 31, 1958. During the IGY, 67 countries cooperated in a worldwide effort to collect, share, and study data on eleven Earth sciences – aurora
An aurora (plural: auroras or aurorae), also commonly known as the polar lights, is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly seen in high-latitude regions (around the Arctic and Antarctic). Auroras display dynamic patterns of bri ...
and airglow
Airglow (also called nightglow) is a faint emission of light by a planetary atmosphere. In the case of Earth's atmosphere, this optical phenomenon causes the night sky never to be completely dark, even after the effects of starlight and diffu ...
, cosmic ray
Cosmic rays are high-energy particles or clusters of particles (primarily represented by protons or atomic nuclei) that move through space at nearly the speed of light. They originate from the Sun, from outside of the Solar System in our own ...
s, geomagnetism, gravity
In physics, gravity () is a fundamental interaction which causes mutual attraction between all things with mass or energy. Gravity is, by far, the weakest of the four fundamental interactions, approximately 1038 times weaker than the stro ...
, ionospheric physics, longitude
Longitude (, ) is a geographic coordinate that specifies the east– west position of a point on the surface of the Earth, or another celestial body. It is an angular measurement, usually expressed in degrees and denoted by the Greek lette ...
and latitude
In geography, latitude is a coordinate that specifies the north– south position of a point on the surface of the Earth or another celestial body. Latitude is given as an angle that ranges from –90° at the south pole to 90° at the north pol ...
determinations for precision mapping, meteorology
Meteorology is a branch of the atmospheric sciences (which include atmospheric chemistry and physics) with a major focus on weather forecasting. The study of meteorology dates back millennia, though significant progress in meteorology did no ...
, oceanography, seismology
Seismology (; from Ancient Greek σεισμός (''seismós'') meaning "earthquake" and -λογία (''-logía'') meaning "study of") is the scientific study of earthquakes and the propagation of elastic waves through the Earth or through other ...
, and solar activity
Solar phenomena are natural phenomena which occur within the atmosphere of the Sun. These phenomena take many forms, including solar wind, radio wave flux, solar flares, coronal mass ejections, coronal heating and sunspots.
These phenomena are ...
.
In 1959, the Coast and Geodetic Surveys charter was extended to give it the responsibility for U.S. Government oceanographic studies worldwide. In 1963, it became the first U.S. Government scientific agency to take part in an international cooperative oceanographic/ meteorological project when the survey ship USC&GS ''Explorer'' (OSS 28) made a scientific cruise in support of the EQUALANT I and EQUALANT II subprojects of the International Cooperative Investigations of the Tropical Atlantic (ICITA) project. In 1964, a Coast and Geodetic Survey ship operated in the Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by t ...
for the first time, when ''Pioneer'' took part in the International Indian Ocean Expedition
The International Indian Ocean Expedition (IIOE) was a large-scale multinational hydrographic survey of the Indian Ocean which took place from September 1, 1959, to December 31, 1965. It involved over 45 research vessels from 14 countries. It was s ...
, an international effort to study the Indian Ocean that lasted from 1959 to 1965.
ESSA years
On July 13, 1965, theEnvironmental Science Services Administration
The Environmental Science Services Administration (ESSA) was a United States Federal executive agency created in 1965 as part of a reorganization of the United States Department of Commerce. Its mission was to unify and oversee the meteorologica ...
(ESSA), was established within the Department of Commerce and became the new parent organization of both the Coast and Geodetic Survey and the United States Weather Bureau
The National Weather Service (NWS) is an agency of the United States federal government that is tasked with providing weather forecasts, warnings of hazardous weather, and other weather-related products to organizations and the public for the ...
. At the same time, the Coast and Geodetic Survey Corps was removed from the Surveys direct control, subordinated directly to ESSA, and renamed the Environmental Science Services Administration Corps, or "ESSA Corps." As the ESSA Corps, it retained the responsibility of providing commissioned officers to man Coast and Geodetic Survey ships.
Creation of NOAA
On October 3, 1970, ESSA was expanded and reorganized to form theNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (abbreviated as NOAA ) is an United States scientific and regulatory agency within the United States Department of Commerce that forecasts weather, monitors oceanic and atmospheric conditio ...
(NOAA), a new component of the Department of Commerce. The Coast and Geodetic Survey was abolished that day as it merged with other government scientific agencies to form NOAA. The Coast and Geodetic Survey′s organizational existence lingered until October 9, 1970, when its successor organization, NOAA's National Ocean Survey (NOS), took over its mission, assets, personnel, and responsibilities.
Legacy
Under NOAA, the Coast and Geodetic Survey's constituent parts lived on. Its geodetic responsibilities were assigned under the NOS to the newNational Geodetic Survey
The National Geodetic Survey (NGS) is a United States federal agency that defines and manages a national coordinate system, providing the foundation for transportation and communication; mapping and charting; and a large number of applications ...
, its hydrographic survey duties to the NOSs new Office of Coast Survey The Office of Coast Survey is the official chartmaker of the United States. It is an element of the National Ocean Service in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which is part of the United States Department of Commerce.
Mission
...
, and its ships to the NOS itself, while the ESSA Corps became the new National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps, known informally as the NOAA Corps, is one of eight federal uniformed services of the United States, and operates under the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administ ...
, or "NOAA Corps". Via a phased process during 1972 and 1973, the ships of the NOS joined ships temporarily assigned to NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service or the Environmental Research Laboratories in forming a consolidated and unified NOAA fleet, operated by the National Ocean Survey's Office of Fleet Operations.noaa.gov AFSC Historical Corner - Timeline of Significant Events Retrieved August 23, 2018/ref> The National Ocean Survey was renamed the National Ocean Service in 1983, and thus the National Ocean Service, National Geodetic Survey, Office of Coast Survey, and NOAA Corps all trace their ancestry to the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, and the NOAA fleet does in part as well. Outside NOAA, the U.S. Department of Commerce′s
National Institute of Standards and Technology
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is an agency of the United States Department of Commerce whose mission is to promote American innovation and industrial competitiveness. NIST's activities are organized into physical s ...
, although long separated from the Coast and Geodetic Survey, traces its ancestry to the Coast and Geodetic Survey's Office of Weights and Measures.
Coast and Geodetic Survey leadership
Superintendents (1816–1919)
Sourcenoaa.gov Leaders of Coast Survey/ref>
Directors (1919–1970)
SourceSuperintendents of Weights and Measures
Directors of the Coast and Geodetic Survey Corps (1917–1965)
#Colonel
Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations.
In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...
Ernest Lester Jones (1917–1929)
# Captain/ Rear Admiral Raymond Stanton Patton (1929–1937)
# Rear Admiral Leo Otis Colbert (1938–1950)
# Rear Admiral Robert Francis Anthony Studds (1950–1955)
# Rear Admiral Henry Arnold Karo
Henry Arnold Karo (December 24, 1903 – May 23, 1986) was a vice admiral in the former United States Coast and Geodetic Survey Corps, which is today known as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps. Vice ...
(1955–1965)
Ranks
;Relative rank of Coast and Geodetic Survey officers in 1918 As of 1917, if thePresident of the United States
The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...
transferred the Coast and Geodetic Survey during a national emergency from the U.S. Department of Commerce to either the U.S. Department of War or the U.S. Department of the Navy,Williams, Dion (1918). ''Army and Navy Uniforms and Insignia.'' New York: Frederick A. Stokes Company, pp. 186–187./ref> commissioned officers of the Coast and Geodetic Survey assumed the following relative ranks while serving under U.S. Army or U.S. Navy control: Upon transfer of the Coast and Geodetic Survey to U.S. War Department or U.S. Navy Department control, its civilian ship's officers —
engineers
Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the ...
, ship's surgeons, watch officers, mates
Mates is an English surname, and may refer to:
* Mates (born 1964), British newsreader and journalist
* Michael Mates (born 1934), British politician
* Frederick S. Mates, founded the Mates Investment Fund in 1967 that crashed in the bear market ...
, and deck officers — received commissions in either the United States Army Reserve
The United States Army Reserve (USAR) is a reserve force of the United States Army. Together, the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard constitute the Army element of the reserve components of the United States Armed Forces.
Since July 2020 ...
or United States Naval Reserve Force
The United States Navy Reserve (USNR), known as the United States Naval Reserve from 1915 to 2005, is the Reserve Component (RC) of the United States Navy. Members of the Navy Reserve, called Reservists, are categorized as being in either the Se ...
commensurate with their qualifications.
;Coast and Geodetic Survey Ranks in 1943
Petty officer
A petty officer (PO) is a non-commissioned officer in many navies and is given the NATO rank denotation OR-5 or OR-6. In many nations, they are typically equal to a sergeant in comparison to other military branches. Often they may be super ...
ranks were chief petty officer
A chief petty officer (CPO) is a senior non-commissioned officer in many navies and coast guards.
Canada
"Chief petty officer" refers to two ranks in the Royal Canadian Navy. A chief petty officer 2nd class (CPO2) (''premier maître de deuxi ...
, petty officer first class
Petty officer first class (PO1) is a rank found in some navies and maritime organizations.
Canada
Petty officer, 1st class, PO1, is a Naval non-commissioned member rank of the Canadian Forces. It is senior to the rank of petty officer 2nd-clas ...
, petty officer second class
Petty officer second class is the fifth enlisted rank in the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Coast Guard, just above petty officer third class and below petty officer first class, and is a non-commissioned officer. It is equivalent to the rank of ser ...
, and petty officer third class.
Fleet
Fleet history
The Survey of the Coasts first ship, the schooner ''Jersey'', was acquired for it in 1834 by the U.S. Department of the Navy. By purchasing commercial vessels, through transfers from the U.S. Navy and U.S. Revenue-Marine (later renamed the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service), and later through construction of ships built specifically for the Survey, the Coast Survey and later the Coast and Geodetic Survey operated a fleet of ships until the formation of NOAA in October 1970. During the Mexican War (1846–1848), the brig , arevenue cutter
A cutter is a type of watercraft. The term has several meanings. It can apply to the rig (or sailplan) of a sailing vessel (but with regional differences in definition), to a governmental enforcement agency vessel (such as a coast guard or bor ...
on loan from the U.S. Revenue-Marine, became the first Coast Survey ship to see U.S. Navy service. During the American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...
(1861–1865), the Spanish–American War
, partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence
, image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg
, image_size = 300px
, caption = (cloc ...
(1898), World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
(1917–1918), and World War II (1941–1945), some of the Surveys ships served in the U.S. Navy and U.S. Revenue-Marine, U.S. Revenue Cutter Service, or United States Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mu ...
, while others supported the war effort while remaining part of the Surveys fleet.
The Coast and Geodetic Survey applied the abbreviation "USC&GS" as a prefix to the names of its ships, analogous to the " USS" abbreviation employed by the U.S. Navy. In the 20th century, the Coast and Geodetic Survey also instituted a hull classification symbol
The United States Navy, United States Coast Guard, and United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) use a hull classification symbol (sometimes called hull code or hull number) to identify their ships by type and by ind ...
system similar to the one that the U.S. Navy began using in 1920. Each ship was classified as an "ocean survey ship" (OSS), "medium survey ship" (MSS), "coastal survey ship" (CSS), or "auxiliary survey vessel" (ASV), and assigned a unique hull number, the abbreviation for its type and its unique hull number combining to form its individual hull code. For example, the ocean survey ship ''Oceanographer'' that served from 1930 to 1942 was USC&GS ''Oceanographer'' (OSS 26), while the ''Oceanographer'' that served from 1966 to 1970 was USC&GS ''Oceanographer'' (OSS 01).
When the Environmental Science Services Administration
The Environmental Science Services Administration (ESSA) was a United States Federal executive agency created in 1965 as part of a reorganization of the United States Department of Commerce. Its mission was to unify and oversee the meteorologica ...
(ESSA) was created in 1965, the Coast and Geodetic Survey came under its control but retained its distinct identity, continuing to operate its own fleet. When ESSA was abolished and NOAA replaced it on October 3, 1970, the Coast and Geodetic Survey was dissolved, and its ships were assigned to NOAA's National Ocean Survey (NOS), which later was renamed the National Ocean Service, while the fisheries research ships of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service
The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS or FWS) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior dedicated to the management of fish, wildlife, and natural habitats. The mission of the agency is "working with othe ...
s Bureau of Commercial Fisheries, abolished at the same time, temporarily were assigned to NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). Via a phased process during 1972 and 1973, the ships temporarily assigned to the NOS or the NMFS joined ships formerly assigned to ESSA′s Environmental Research Laboratories in forming a consolidated and unified NOAA fleet, operated by the National Ocean Survey's Office of Fleet Operations.noaa.gov AFSC Historical Corner - Timeline of Significant Events Retrieved August 23, 2018/ref> For a time, NOAA continued to use the Coast and Geodetic Surveys classification system for its survey ships, but it later abandoned it and instituted a new classification scheme.
Ships
A partial list of the Coast and Geodetic Surveys ships:
* (in service ca. 1871–1900)
* (in service 1901–1917; 1919–1927)
* (in service 1852–1861)
* (in service 1854–1881)
* (in service 1871–1890)
* (in service 1856–1858)
* (in service 1919–1927)
* (in service 1851–1858)
* (in service 1846–1862)
* (in service 1867–1885)
* (in service 1875–1880)
* (in service 1848–1857)
* (in service 1855–1868)
* (in service 1854–1874)
* (in service 1946–1967)
* (in service 1884–1918)
* (in service 1887–1927)
* (in service 1919–1934)
* (in service 1933–1935)
* (in service 1967–1970, then with NOAA 1970–1989)
* (in service 1922–1941)
* (in service 1967–1970, then with NOAA 1970–1996)
* (in service 1876–1893)
* (in service ca. 1870s–1903)
* (in service 1919–1944)
* (in service 1904–1918; 1919–1939)
* (in service 1940–1968)
* (in service 1968–1970, then with NOAA 1970–1989 and 2004–present)
* (in service 1871–1881)
* (in service 1905–1942)
* (in service 1968–1970, then with NOAA 1970–2002)
* (in service 1840–1848 and from 1849)
* (in service 1874–1905; famous as pioneer ship in deep-ocean survey and oceanography)
* (in service 1930–1962)
* (in service 1923–1941)
* (in service 1941–1942)
* ''Hassler'' (in service 1871–1895)
* (in service 1967–1970, then with NOAA 1970–1995)
* (in service 1919–1939)
* (in service 1942–1967)
* (in service 1946–1967)
* (in service 1901–1917; 1919–1928)
* (in service 1915–1917; 1919–1920)
* (in service 1940–1967)
* (in service 1919–1947)
* (in service 1850–1858)
* (in service 1919–1944)
* (in service 1905–1932)
* (in service 1957–1968)
* (in service 1885–1919)
* (in service 1876–1915)
* (in service 1966–1970, then with NOAA 1970–2003)
* (in service 1851–1872)
* (in service 1920–1939)
* (in service 1919–1944)
* (in service 1849–1855)
* (in service 1968–1970, then with NOAA 1970–1995)
* (in service 1919–1935)
* (in service 1930–1942)
* (in service 1966–1970, then with NOAA 1970–1996)
* (in service 1919–1944)
* (in service 1919–1920)
* USC&GS ''Pathfinder'' (1898) (in service 1899–1942, renamed USC&GS ''Researcher'' 1941)
* (in service 1946–1970, then with NOAA 1970–1971)
* (in service 1941–1967)
* (in service 1963–1970, then with NOAA 1970–1992)
* (in service 1845–1857)
* (in service 1922–1941)
* (in service 1941–1942)
* (in service 1946–1966)
* (in service 1919–1930 or 1931)
* (in service 1901–1918)
* (in service 1970, then with NOAA 1970–1996)
* USCS ''Robert J. Walker'' (in service 1848–1860)
* (in service 1905–1921)
* (acquired 1919)
* (in service 1871–1888)
* (in service 1917 and 1919–1956)
* (in service 1960–1970, then with NOAA 1970–1995 or 1996)
* (in service 1898–1917)
* USRC ''Taney'' (1833) (in service 1847–1850)
* (in service 1875–1915)
* USCS ''Vanderbilt'' (in service 1842–1855)
* USCS ''Varina'' (in service 1854–1875)
* )(in service 1860s)
* (in service 1942–1967)
* (in service 1929–1946)
* (in service 1963–1970, then with NOAA 1970–2003)
* (in service 1919–1941)
* (in service 1873–1894)
* (in service 1898–1923)
Flags and pennants
The Coast and Geodetic Survey was authorized its own flag on January 16, 1899.Sea Flags: National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration Accessed 26 October 2022/ref> The flag, which remained in use until the Survey merged with other agencies to form NOAA on October 3, 1970, was blue, with a central white circle and a red triangle within the circle. The triangle symbolized the discipline of triangulation used in surveying. Commissioned ships of the Coast and Geodetic Survey flew the flag of the United States as their
ensign
An ensign is the national flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality. The ensign is the largest flag, generally flown at the stern (rear) of the ship while in port. The naval ensign (also known as war ensign), used on warships, may be diffe ...
. After the Survey′s flag was authorized, they also flew it at the highest point on the forwardmost mast, where it served as a distinctive mark
A maritime flag is a flag designated for use on ships, boats, and other watercraft. Naval flags are considered important at sea and the rules and regulations for the flying of flags are strictly enforced. The flag flown is related to the country ...
of the Survey as a separate seagoing service from the U.S. Navy, with which the Survey shared a common ensign.
Ships of the Coast and Geodetic Survey fleet also flew a " commission pennant" in a similar manner to U.S. Navy and United States Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mu ...
ships. The fleet had three commission pennants, one for its largest ships and two for smaller vessels. The pennant for the largest ships was long and had 13 red triangles on a white background at the hoist, with the remainder of the pennant blue, while the pennants for smaller ships were long and had seven red triangles but otherwise are identical in design to the pennant for the largest ships. As in the Coast and Geodetic Survey flag, the red triangles symbolized triangulation.
Under ESSA, the Coast and Geodetic Survey retained its distinct identity, and its ships continued to fly the Coast and Geodetic Survey flag as a distinctive mark, as well as the Coast and Geodetic Survey commission pennants, during the ESSA years. However, the ESSA flag, in use from 1965 to 1970, was adapted from the Coast and Geodetic Survey flag by adding a blue circle to the center of the Survey flag, with a stylized, diamond-shaped map of the world within the blue circle. The blue circle containing the map lay entirely within the red triangle.
The NOAA flag also was adapted from the Coast and Geodetic Survey flag by adding the NOAA emblem – a circle divided into two parts by the white silhouette of a flying seagull, with the roughly triangular portion above the bird being dark blue and the portion below it a lighter blue – to the center of the old Survey flag. The NOAA emblem lies entirely within the red triangle.at
Verizon
Verizon Communications Inc., commonly known as Verizon, is an American multinational telecommunications conglomerate and a corporate component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The company is headquartered at 1095 Avenue of the Americas ...
See also
* Awards and decorations of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey *Height Modernization
Height Modernization is the name of a series of state-by-state programs recently begun by the United States' National Geodetic Survey, a division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The goal of each state program is to place GPS ...
* Herbert Grove Dorsey
* Hydrographic survey#United States
* Hydrography
Hydrography is the branch of applied sciences which deals with the measurement and description of the physical features of oceans, seas, coastal areas, lakes and rivers, as well as with the prediction of their change over time, for the primar ...
* International maritime signal flags
* Lists of flags
* Radio acoustic ranging
Radio acoustic ranging, occasionally written as "radio-acoustic ranging" and sometimes abbreviated RAR, was a method for determining a ship's precise location at sea by detonating an explosive charge underwater near the ship, detecting the arriv ...
* Nautical chart
A nautical chart is a graphic representation of a sea area and adjacent coastal regions. Depending on the scale of the chart, it may show depths of water and heights of land ( topographic map), natural features of the seabed, details of the co ...
* Naval Oceanographic Office
The Naval Oceanographic Office (NAVOCEANO), located at John C. Stennis Space Center in south Mississippi, comprises approximately 1,000 civilian, military and contract personnel responsible for providing oceanographic products and services to al ...
* Seconds pendulum
A seconds pendulum is a pendulum whose period is precisely two seconds; one second for a swing in one direction and one second for the return swing, a frequency of 0.5 Hz.
Pendulum
A pendulum is a weight suspended from a pivot so that ...
* Surveying
* Topography
Topography is the study of the forms and features of land surfaces. The topography of an area may refer to the land forms and features themselves, or a description or depiction in maps.
Topography is a field of geoscience and planetary sc ...
* United States Hydrographic Office
Notes
References
External links
Early history of the Coast Survey
NOAA Office of Coast Survey
U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey Annual Reports, years 1837–1965
at ArlingtonCemetery.net, an unofficial website
* 1858 map
''Preliminary chart of entrance to Brazos River''
* 1853 map
''Preliminary chart of San Luis Pass, Texas''
* 1854 map
''Preliminary survey of the entrance to the Rio Grande, Texas''
{{Authority control Geodesy organizations Geographic data and information organizations in the United States Government agencies established in 1807 Exploration of North America