View source for United States Coast and Geodetic Survey

{{Short description|Former U.S. government scientific agency}}
{{Hatnote|"Survey of the Coast" and "United States Coast Survey" redirect here. Not to be confused with [[United States Coast Guard]], [[Office of Coast Survey]], [[National Ocean Service]], [[U.S. National Geodetic Survey]], or [[United States Geological Survey]].}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2020}}
{{Use American English|date=July 2022}}
{{Infobox government agency
| agency_name     = United States Coast and Geodetic Survey
| nativename      = '''Survey of the Coast''' (1807–1836)<br/>'''United States Coast Survey''' (1836–1878)<br/>'''United States Coast and Geodetic Survey''' (1878–1970)
| seal            = U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey emblem.jpg
| seal_width      = 
| seal_caption    = The seal of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey
| logo            = Flag of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey.svg
| logo_width      = 165px
| logo_caption    = The United States Coast and Geodetic Survey flag, in use from 1899&nbsp;to&nbsp;1970
| formed          = {{Start date and age|1807|2|10}}
| preceding1      = none
| preceding2      = 
| dissolved       = {{End date and age|1970|10|3}}
| superseding     = [[National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration]]
| jurisdiction    = [[Federal government of the United States|United States federal government]]
| headquarters    = 
| employees       = 
| budget          = 
| chief1_name     = 
| chief1_position = 
| parent_agency   = *[[United States Department of the Treasury|U.S. Department of the Treasury]] (1816–1818; 1832–1834)
* [[United States Department of the Navy|U.S. Department of the Navy]] (1834–1836)
* U.S. Department of the Treasury (1836–1903)
* [[United States Department of Commerce and Labor|U.S. Department of Commerce and Labor]] (1903–1913)
* [[United States Department of Commerce|U.S. Department of Commerce]] (1913–1965)
* [[Environmental Science Services Administration]] (1965–1970)
| child2_agency   = [[NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps|Coast and Geodetic Survey Corps]] (1917–1965)
| website         = 
| footnotes       = 
}}

The '''United States Coast and Geodetic Survey''' ({{small|abbreviated}} '''USC&GS'''; known as the '''Survey of the Coast''' from 1807 to 1836, and as the '''United States Coast Survey''' from 1836 until 1878) was the first scientific agency of the [[Federal government of the United States|United States Government]]. It existed from 1807 to 1970, and throughout its history was responsible for mapping and charting the coast of the [[United States]], and later the coasts of [[Territories of the United States|U.S. territories]]. 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]], [[cartography]], [[metrology]], [[meteorology]], [[geology]], [[geophysics]], [[hydrography]], [[navigation]], [[oceanography]], exploration, [[Piloting|pilotage]], [[tide]]s, and [[topography]]. 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 vessel|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 [[NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps|Coast and Geodetic Survey Corps]] was created as a new [[Uniformed services of the United States|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]] (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 [[U.S. National Geodetic Survey|National Geodetic Survey]], [[Office of Coast Survey]], and [[Office of Marine and Aviation Operations|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]], 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===
[[File:FerdinandHassler.jpg|thumb|[[Ferdinand Rudolph Hassler]] was the first superintendent of the Survey of the Coast, renamed the U.S. Coast Survey during his tenure.]]
[[Image:US-NOAA-200thLogo.svg|right|thumb|Logo celebrating the 200th anniversary of the founding of the Survey of the Coast]]

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]] by an [[Act of Congress]] on February 10, 1807, to conduct a "Survey of the Coast."<ref name="NOAA">[http://www.lib.noaa.gov/noaainfo/heritage/coastandgeodeticsurvey/index.html NOAA, ''Coast and Geodetic Survey Heritage''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151219185106/http://www.lib.noaa.gov/noaainfo/heritage/coastandgeodeticsurvey/index.html |date=December 19, 2015 }}</ref><ref name="timeline18071899">[http://www.history.noaa.gov/legacy/time1800.html noaa.gov NOAA History: NOAA Legacy Timeline 1807–1899]</ref><ref name=archivescatalog>[https://catalog.archives.gov/id/10469069National Archives Catalog: Department of Commerce. Coast and Geodetic Survey. 1913-7/13/1965 Organization Authority Record Accessed 29 October 2022]</ref><ref name=orglawp97>''Organization and Law of the Department of Commerce and Labor'', p. 97.</ref> The Survey of the Coast, the [[Federal government of the United States|United States government]]{{'}}s first scientific agency,<ref name="timeline18071899" /> represented the interest of the [[Administration (government)#United States|administration]] of [[President of the United States|President]] [[Thomas Jefferson]] 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 people|Swiss]] immigrant with expertise in both surveying and the standardization of [[Unit of measurement|weights and measures]], [[Ferdinand Rudolph Hassler|Ferdinand R. Hassler]], was selected to lead the Survey.<ref name="theberge1">[http://www.lib.noaa.gov/noaainfo/heritage/coastsurveyvol1/TITLE.html#TITLE 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.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140906160411/http://www.lib.noaa.gov/noaainfo/heritage/coastsurveyvol1/TITLE.html |date=September 6, 2014 }}</ref>

Hassler submitted a plan for the survey work involving the use of [[triangulation]] to ensure scientific accuracy of surveys, but [[international relations]] prevented the new Survey of the Coast from beginning its work; the [[Embargo Act of 1807]] brought American overseas trade virtually to a halt only a month after Hassler{{'}}s appointment and remained in effect until Jefferson left office in March 1809. It was not until 1811 that Jefferson{{'}}s successor, President [[James Madison]], sent Hassler to [[Europe]] 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]], the [[War of 1812]] 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.<ref name="theberge1" /> The Survey finally began surveying operations in 1816, when Hassler started work in the vicinity of [[New York City]].<ref name="theberge1" /><ref name=orglawp97/> The first [[Baseline (surveying)|baseline]] was measured and verified in 1817.<ref name="theberge1" />

===Suspension of work===
With surveying work barely underway, Hassler was taken by surprise when the [[United States Congress]] – 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]] and [[United States Navy]] [[Officer (armed forces)|officers]] 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]] and [[United States Department of the Navy]], 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.<ref name="theberge1"/><ref name=orglawp97/>

During the 14 years from 1818 to 1832, the Survey existed without a superintendent or civilian workforce and without conducting any surveys.<ref name="theberge1"/> During these years, the Army conducted no surveys, those the Navy carried out achieved unsatisfactory results, and the [[United States Secretary of the Navy]] and others repeatedly called on Congress to revive the 1807 law.<ref name=orglawp97/>

===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,<ref name=archivescatalog/> and permitting the hiring of civilians to carry it out. Hassler was reappointed as the Survey{{'}}s superintendent that year. As authorized by the 1832 law, the administration of President [[Andrew Jackson]] expanded and extended the Survey of the Coast{{'}}s scope and organization.<ref name="howe">{{cite book|title=What hath God Wrought, The Transformation of America, 1815–1848|last=Howe|first=Daniel W.|year=2007|publisher=Oxford University Press, Inc.|isbn=978-0-19-507894-7|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/whathathgodwroug00howe}}</ref>{{rp|468}} The Survey of the Coast resumed field work in April 1833.

In July 1833, Edmund E. Blunt, the son of hydrographer [[Edmund March Blunt|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]], [[nautical chart]]s, 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, Blunt{{'}}s employment with the Survey began a relationship between the ''American Coast Pilot'' and the Survey in which the Survey{{'}}s findings were incorporated into the ''American Coast Pilot'' and the Survey{{'}}s 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 Survey{{'}}s ''[[United States Coast Pilot]]'' publications in the latter part of the 19th century.<ref name="coastpilot">[http://www.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/nsd/cp-history.html noaa.gov "The United States Coast Pilot – A Short History"], Theberge, Albert E., [[Captain (United States O-6)|Captain]], [[NOAA Corps]]</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.<ref name="timeline18071899"/><ref name=archivescatalog/> 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.<ref>{{cite book |title=Report Of The Superintendent of the Coast And Geodetic Survey Showing The Progress Of The Survey During The Year 1874 |last=U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey |year=1877 |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |location=Washington, D.C. |page=3 <!--|access-date=March 2, 2012-->}}</ref> Under this system, which persisted until the Survey was granted the authority to crew its ships in 1900, nearly half the Survey's ships were crewed and officered by U.S. Navy personnel over the 50-year period between 1848 and 1898; U.S. Navy officers and Coast Survey civilians served alongside one another aboard ship, and many of the most famous names in hydrography for both the Survey and Navy of the period are linked.<ref name=orglawp98>''Organization and Law of the Department of Commerce and Labor'', p. 98.</ref> In addition, the [[United States Department of War]] 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 today{{'}}s [[NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps|National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Corps]].<ref name="theberge3">[http://www.lib.noaa.gov/noaainfo/heritage/coastsurveyvol1/HASSLER3.html#REBIRTH 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.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141109093503/http://www.lib.noaa.gov/noaainfo/heritage/coastsurveyvol1/HASSLER3.html |date=November 9, 2014 }}</ref>

===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 as [[astronomy]], [[cartography]], [[meteorology]], [[geodesy]], [[geology]], [[geophysics]], [[hydrography]], [[navigation]], [[oceanography]], [[exploration]], [[Piloting|pilotage]], [[tide]]s, and [[topography]]. The Survey published important articles by [[Charles Sanders Peirce]] on the design of experiments and on [[Peirce's criterion|a criterion]] for the statistical treatment of [[outlier]]s.<ref>{{cite journal|first=Charles Sanders|last=Peirce|author-link=Charles Sanders Peirce|title=Appendix No. 21. On the Theory of Errors of Observation|journal=Report of the Superintendent of the United States Coast Survey Showing the Progress of the Survey During the Year 1870|quote=1870 [published 1873]|pages=200–224}}. NOAA [http://docs.lib.noaa.gov/rescue/cgs/001_pdf/CSC-0019.PDF#page=215 PDF Eprint] (goes to Report p. 200, PDF's p. 215). U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey Annual Reports [http://docs.lib.noaa.gov/rescue/cgs/data_rescue_cgs_annual_reports.html links for years 1837–1965]. Reprinted in ''[[Charles Sanders Peirce bibliography#W|Writings of Charles S. Peirce]]'', v. 3, pp. 140–160.</ref><ref>[[Charles Sanders Peirce|Peirce, C. S.]] (1876 [published 1879]), "Appendix No. 14. Note on the Theory of the Economy of Research" in ''Report of the Superintendent of the United States Coast Survey Showing the Progress of the Survey for Fiscal Year Ending with June 1876'', pp.&nbsp;197–201, [http://docs.lib.noaa.gov/rescue/cgs/001_pdf/CSC-0025.PDF#page=222 NOAA PDF Eprint], goes to p. 197, PDF's page 222. Reprinted in ''[[Charles Sanders Peirce bibliography#CP|Collected Papers of Charles Sanders Peirce]]'', v. 7, paragraphs 139–157 and in ''[http://or.journal.informs.org/cgi/content/abstract/15/4/643 Operations Research]'' v. 15, n. 4, July–August 1967, pp. 643–648, [https://www.jstor.org/stable/168276 abstract at JSTOR] {{cite journal|last1=Peirce|first1=C. S.|title=Note on the Theory of the Economy of Research|journal=Operations Research|volume=15|pages=643–648|year=1967|doi=10.1287/opre.15.4.643|issue=4}}</ref> Ferdinand Hassler became the first Superintendent of Weights and Measures beginning in November 1830, and the Office of Weights and Measures, the ancestor of today{{'}}s [[National Institute of Standards and Technology]], 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.<ref name="timeline18071899"/><ref name="theberge3"/>

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]]) for surveying operations afloat, the U.S. Department of the Navy worked around the law by allowing [[Lieutenant]] [[Thomas R. Gedney]] to purchase the [[schooner]] ''Jersey'' for the Navy, then deeming ''Jersey'' suited only for use by the Survey. Under Gedney{{'}}s command, ''Jersey'' began the Survey{{'}}s 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.<ref name="theberge3"/> Gedney was in command of the Revenue-Marine [[revenue cutter]] {{USRC|Washington|1837|6}} on August 26, 1839, when she discovered and seized the Spanish [[schooner]] {{ship||La Amistad||2}} off [[Culloden Point]] on [[Long Island]], [[New York (state)|New York]]. A [[slave ship]], ''La Amistad'' had been taken over by [[African people]] on board who were being transported to the United States to be sold as [[Slavery in the United States|slaves]], and Gedney's seizure of ''La Amistad'' led to the [[freedom suit]] ''[[United States v. The Amistad|United States v. Schooner Amistad]]'', argued before the [[United States Supreme Court]] in 1841.<ref>{{ussc|name=United States v. The Amistad|40|518|1841|Pet.|15}}.</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.africanamericans.com/Amistad.htm |title=The U.S. Navy and the Amistad |access-date=May 20, 2007 |work=AfricanAmericans.com |publisher=Americans.net}}</ref><ref>[https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-supreme-court/40/518.html#587 ''US v. The Amistad''], pp. 587–588</ref>

In 1838, U.S. Navy Lieutenant [[George M. Bache]], while attached to the Survey, suggested standardizing the markings of [[buoy]]s 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 the early 1840s, the Survey began work in [[Delaware Bay]] to chart the approaches to [[Philadelphia]], [[Pennsylvania]].<ref name="theberge3"/>

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]] 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.<ref name=orglawp97/>

===The Bache years===
Professor [[Alexander Dallas Bache]] became superintendent of the U.S. Coast Survey after Hassler{{'}}s death in 1843.<ref name="timeline18071899"/> 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 the [[East Coast of the United States|United States East Coast]] into the [[Florida Keys]]. In 1846 the Survey began to operate a ship, [[USCS Phoenix|''Phoenix'']], on the [[Gulf Coast of the United States|United States Gulf Coast]] for the first time. By 1847, Bache had expanded the Survey{{'}}s operations from nine [[U.S. state]]s to seventeen, and by 1849 it also operated along the [[West Coast of the United States|United States West Coast]], giving it a presence along all coasts of the United States.<ref>[http://www.lib.noaa.gov/noaainfo/heritage/coastsurveyvol1/BACHE1.html#CHANGING 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 BACHE YEARS: CHANGING THE GUARD", no publisher listed, NOAA History, 1998.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120209235310/http://www.lib.noaa.gov/noaainfo/heritage/coastsurveyvol1/BACHE1.html |date=February 9, 2012}}</ref> In 1845, he instituted the world{{'}}s 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, [[Geology|geological]] oceanography, [[Biology|biological]] oceanography, and [[Chemistry|chemical]] oceanography. Bache{{'}}s initial orders for the Gulf Stream study served as a model for all subsequent integrated oceanographic cruises.<ref name="timeline18071899" /> Bache also instituted regular and systematic observations of the [[tide]]s and investigated [[Magnetism|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 [[Telegraphy|telegraph]] to provide highly accurate determinations of [[longitude]]; known as the "[[History of longitude#AmericanMethod|American Method]]," it soon was emulated worldwide.<ref name="bache2">[http://www.lib.noaa.gov/noaainfo/heritage/coastsurveyvol1/BACHE2.html#EARLY 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.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131014180304/http://www.lib.noaa.gov/noaainfo/heritage/coastsurveyvol1/BACHE2.html |date=October 14, 2013}}</ref>

Disaster struck the Coast Survey on September 8, 1846, when the survey [[brig]] [[Washington (1837)|''Peter G. Washington'']] encountered a [[Tropical cyclone|hurricane]] while she was conducting studies of the [[Gulf Stream]] in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of [[North Carolina]]. 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–American War|Mexican War]] of 1846–1848 saw the withdrawal of virtually all U.S. Army officers from the Coast Survey and the Coast Survey [[brig]] {{USS|Washington|1837|2}} was taken over for U.S. Navy service in the war, but overall the war effort had little impact on the Coast Survey{{'}}s 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]] and [[California]].<ref name="bache2" /> The famous [[Natural history|naturalist]] [[Louis Agassiz]] studied marine life off [[New England]] from the Coast Survey [[Steamship|steamer]] [[USCS Bibb|''Bibb'']] in 1847 and also conducted the first scientific study of the [[Florida]] [[reef]] system in 1851 under a Coast Survey commission;<ref name="timeline18071899"/> his son, [[Alexander Agassiz]], later also served aboard Coast Survey ships for technical operations.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://celebrating200years.noaa.gov/rarebooks/blake/welcome.html |title=Three Cruises of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey Steamer "Blake": In the Gulf of Mexico, in the Caribbean Sea, and Along the Atlantic Coast of the United States, from 1877 to 1880 |author=Alexander Agassiz |year=1888 |publisher=Houghton, Mifflin and Company, Boston & New York |access-date=March 2, 2012}}</ref> In the 1850s, the Coast Survey also conducted surveys and measurements in support of efforts to reform the Department of the Treasury{{'}}s [[United States Lighthouse Board|Lighthouse Establishment]],<ref name="bache4">[http://www.lib.noaa.gov/noaainfo/heritage/coastsurveyvol1/BACHE4.html#DISCOVERIES 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.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141108111752/http://www.lib.noaa.gov/noaainfo/heritage/coastsurveyvol1/BACHE4.html |date=November 8, 2014 }}</ref> and it briefly employed the artist [[James Abbott McNeill Whistler|James McNeill Whistler]] as a [[Drawing|draughtsman]] in 1854–1855.<ref name="bache7">[http://www.lib.noaa.gov/noaainfo/heritage/coastsurveyvol1/BACHE7.html#INFORMATION 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.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141108112222/http://www.lib.noaa.gov/noaainfo/heritage/coastsurveyvol1/BACHE7.html |date=November 8, 2014}}</ref>

[[File:United States Coast and Geodetic Survey emblem from 1853 U.S.C.S. Map or Chart of Northwestern Washington State ( Vancouver Island ) - Geographicus - WesternCoastUSA-uscs-1853 (cropped).jpg|left|thumb|United States Coast Survey emblem from 1853 map]]

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]] – coastlines were dynamic and required return visits by Coast Surveyors to keep charts up to date.<ref name="bache4"/> 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.<ref>[http://www.lib.noaa.gov/noaainfo/heritage/coastsurveyvol1/BACHE3.html#RUNNING 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 GOLDEN YEARS 1850–1860," no publisher listed, NOAA History, 1998.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131014180315/http://www.lib.noaa.gov/noaainfo/heritage/coastsurveyvol1/BACHE3.html |date=October 14, 2013 }}</ref>

Another significant moment in the Survey{{'}}s history that occurred in 1858 was the first publication of what would later become the ''United States Coast Pilot'', when Survey employee [[George Davidson (geographer)|George Davidson]] adapted an article from a [[San Francisco]], California, newspaper into an addendum to that year{{'}}s ''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.<ref name="coastpilot"/>

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]] [[USCS Robert J. Walker (1844)|''Robert J. Walker'']] in the [[Atlantic Ocean]] off [[New Jersey]]. ''Robert J. Walker'' sank with the loss of 20 men.<ref>[http://www.history.noaa.gov/ships/ship22.html#walker NOAA History, A Science Odyssey: Tools of the Trade: Ships: Coast and Geodetic Survey Ships: Robert J. Walker]</ref><ref name="story">[http://www.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/RobertJWalker/The%20Story%20of%20the%20Robert%20J.%20Walker.pdf 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]], 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.<ref>[http://www.lib.noaa.gov/noaainfo/heritage/coastsurveyvol1/BACHE5.html#SHIPS 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'', "LIFE IN THE FIELD", no publisher listed, NOAA History, 1998.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714212518/http://www.lib.noaa.gov/noaainfo/heritage/coastsurveyvol1/BACHE5.html |date=July 14, 2014 }}</ref>

===American Civil War===
[[Image:Reconnaissance of the Mississippi River.jpg|thumb|right|A survey of the [[Mississippi River]] in [[Louisiana]] below [[Fort Jackson, Louisiana|Fort Jackson]] and [[Fort St. Philip]] made by the U.S. Coast Survey to prepare for the [[Battle of Forts Jackson and St. Philip|bombardment of the forts]] by [[David Dixon Porter]]'s [[Mortar (weapon)|mortar]] fleet in April 1862 during the [[American Civil War]].<ref>''Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies'', Series I, Volume 18, p. 362.</ref>]]

The outbreak of the [[American Civil War]] 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 (American Civil War)|Union]] sympathies, all but seven of them stayed on with the Survey rather than resigning to serve the [[Confederate States of America]], and their work shifted in emphasis to support of the [[Union Navy]] and [[Union Army]]. 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]], who supported [[Rear admiral (United States)|Rear Admiral]] [[David Farragut|David G. Farragut]] and his [[Union blockade|Western Gulf Blockading Squadron]] in the [[Battle of Forts Jackson and St. Philip]] in 1862; this survey work was particularly valuable to [[Commander (United States)|Commander]] [[David Dixon Porter]] and his [[Mortar (weapon)|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 [[Espionage|spies]] if captured by the Confederates while working in support of Union forces.<ref name="timeline18071899"/><ref name="noaahistoryuscgs">[http://www.history.noaa.gov/legacy/corps.html NOAA History: NOAA Corps and the Coast and Geodetic Survey]</ref>

===Post–Civil War===
[[File:USC&GS Headquarters 1888.JPG|250px|thumb|right|The [[Richards Building]], U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey headquarters from 1871 to 1929, on New Jersey Avenue in [[Washington, D.C.]], from ''[[Harper's Weekly]]'', October 1888.]]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 the [[Department of Alaska]] in 1867 expanded its responsibilities, as did the progressive exploration, settlement, and enclosure of the [[Contiguous United States|continental United States]].<ref name="NOAA" /><ref name="noaahistoryuscgs"/> George W. Blunt sold the [[copyright]] 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 Department, [[District of Alaska|District]], and [[Territory of Alaska]] in the coming years.<ref name="coastpilot"/> 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.<ref name="coastpilot" />

In 1871, Congress officially expanded the Coast Survey{{'}}s responsibilities to include geodetic surveys in the interior of the country,<ref name="NOAA" /><ref name="noaahistoryuscgs" /><ref name="timeline18071899" /> and one of its first major projects in the interior was to survey the [[39th parallel north|39th Parallel]] across the entire country. Between 1874 and 1877, the Coast Survey employed the naturalist and author [[John Muir]] as a guide and artist during the survey of the 39th Parallel in the [[Great Basin]] of [[Nevada]] and [[Utah]].<ref name="timeline18071899" /> 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.<ref name="NOAA" /><ref name="timeline18071899" /><ref name=orglawp97/><ref name="noaahistoryuscgs" />

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 {{convert|76|ft|m|abbr=off|sp=us|adj=on}} [http://www.history.noaa.gov/ships/ship6.html#drift schooner ''Drift''] was constructed and sent out under U.S. Navy Acting Master and Coast Survey Assistant Robert Platt to the [[Gulf of Maine]] to anchor in depths of up to {{convert|140|fathom|ft m|0|abbr=off|sp=us}} to measure currents.<ref>{{cite book|title=Report Of The Superintendent of the Coast And Geodetic Survey Showing The Progress Of The Work for the Fiscal Year Ending With June, 1877 |author=U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey |year=1877 |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |location=Washington, D.C. |page=9 <!--|access-date=March 2, 2012-->}}</ref> The Survey's requirement to update sailing directions led to the development of early [[Ocean current|current]] measurement technology, particularly the [http://www.photolib.noaa.gov/htmls/ship4033.htm Pillsbury current meter] invented by [[John E. Pillsbury]], [[United States Navy|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|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 of Monaco|Oceanographic Museum (Musée Océanographique)]] in [[Monaco]] 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."<ref name=GSBNOAA>{{cite web |url=http://www.history.noaa.gov/ships/blake.html |title=''George S. Blake'' |year=2006 |work=NOAA History: Coast and Geodetic Survey Ships |publisher=National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), NOAA Central Library |access-date=February 9, 2012}}</ref>

===Mid-1880s crisis===

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 the [[spoils system]] 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]] and [[United States House of Representatives]] – 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 [[Signal Corps (United States Army)|United States Army Signal Corps]] (responsible for studying and predicting weather at the time), and the [[United States Navy]]'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.<ref name="close2">[http://www.lib.noaa.gov/noaainfo/heritage/coastandgeodeticsurvey/Thornchapter.pdf ''Sailing Close to the Wind: Superintendent Thorn Rescues the Coast and Geodetic Survey (1885–1889)'', p. 2.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160717022359/http://www.lib.noaa.gov/noaainfo/heritage/coastandgeodeticsurvey/Thornchapter.pdf |date=July 17, 2016 }}</ref>

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]] 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 [[United States 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 Erasmus Hilgard|Julius Hilgard]], was exposed as a drunkard and forced to resign in disgrace along with four of his senior staff members at Survey headquarters.<ref>''Sailing Close to the Wind'', pp. 3–4.</ref>

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 Service|Internal Revenue Bureau]], [[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.<ref name="close4">''Sailing Close to the Wind'', p. 4</ref><ref name="centennial">[https://archive.org/stream/centennialceleb02survgoog/centennialceleb02survgoog_djvu.txt Anonymous, ''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.<ref>''Sailing Close to the Wind'', pp. 5, 8–10.</ref>

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.<ref name="close11">''Sailing Close to the Wind'', p. 11.</ref> Thorn described the Coast and Geodetic Survey's essential mission as, in its simplest form, to produce "a perfect map,".<ref>''Sailing Close to the Wind'', p. 13.</ref> 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]], [[Astronomy|astronomical observations]], [[levelling]], [[Tide|tidal observations]], [[physical geodesy]], [[topography]], [[hydrography]], and [[Magnetism|magnetic]] observations.<ref>''Sailing Close to the Wind'', pp. 14–15.</ref> 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.<ref name="close11"/> 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.<ref name="close11"/> 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]] 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.<ref>''Sailing Close to the Wind'', pp. 41–42.</ref>

=== Later 19th century and early 20th century ===
[[File:United States Coast and Geodetic Survey emblem from 1891 map of Nehalem River, Oregon (cropped).jpg|thumb|United States Coast and Geodetic Survey emblem from 1891 map]]
[[File:Geodesy - the eastern oblique arc of the United States and osculating spheroid - by Chas. A. Schott (1902) (14595293889).jpg|thumb|Coast and Geodetic Survey headquarters—the [[Richards Building]]—in 1902, with the [[United States Capitol]] visible in the distance.]]

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.<ref name=orglawp98/> 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.<ref>''Organization and Law of the Department of Commerce and Labor'', p. 99.</ref>

On April 5, 1893, Survey Superintendent [[Thomas Corwin Mendenhall]], with the approval of [[United States Secretary of the Treasury]] [[John Griffin Carlisle]], formally issued the [[Mendenhall Order]], which required the Office of Weights and Measures to change the fundamental standards of length and mass of the United States from the customary [[Imperial unit|English system]] to the [[metric system]].{{sfn|Mendenhall|1922}} The metric standards defined under the order remained the U.S. standard until July 1, 1959, by which time increasing precision in measurement required their revision.{{sfn|Barbrow|Judson|1976|p=20}}

[[File:Sigsbee Sounding Machine-Blake.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Sigsbee Sounding Machine – invented by [[Charles Dwight Sigsbee]] and modified from the Thomson Sounding Machine. Basic design of ocean sounding instruments stayed the same for the next 50 years. Here the sounding machine is used to set a Pillsbury current meter at a known depth. In: ''The Gulf Stream'', by John Elliott Pillsbury, 1891. Note caption on photo: "Sounding Machine And Current Meter In Place, Steamer ''Blake''."]] During the 1890s, while attached to the Coast and Geodetic Survey as [[commanding officer]] of ''George S. Blake'', [[Lieutenant commander (United States)|Lieutenant Commander]] [[Charles Dwight Sigsbee]], [[United States Navy|USN]], Assistant in the Coast Survey,{{NoteTag|The formal title given these officers in reports is for example: "Lieut. Commander John A. Howell, U.S.N., ''Assistant in the Coast Survey''" with "Assistant" being a title for both high office and topographic survey management positions and ship's commanding officers.}} developed the [[Sigsbee sounding machine]] while conducting the first true bathymetric surveys in the [[Gulf of Mexico]].

With the outbreak of the [[Spanish–American War]] 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 [[The Philippine Islands, 1493–1898|Philippine Islands]] and [[Puerto Rico]], and surveying their waters became part of the Coast and Geodetic Survey's duties.<ref name="noaahistoryuscgs" /> The Survey opened a field office in [[Seattle]], [[Washington (state)|Washington]] in 1899, to support survey ships operating in the [[Pacific Ocean]] as well as survey field expeditions in the [[western United States]]; this office eventually would become the modern [[National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration]] Pacific Marine Center.<ref name="timeline18071899" />

The system of U.S. Navy officers and men crewing the Survey{{'}}s 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 Survey{{'}}s ships remained aboard until the first call at each ship{{'}}s [[home port]], where they transferred off, with the Survey reimbursing the Navy for their pay accrued after July 1, 1900.<ref>{{cite book |title=Report Of The Superintendent of the Coast And Geodetic Survey Showing The Progress Of Work From July 1, 1900 To June 30, 1901 |author=U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey |year=1901 |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |location=Washington, D.C. |pages=15, 17, 109 }}</ref> 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]] in 1988.<ref name="timeline19001969">[http://www.history.noaa.gov/legacy/time1900_1.html 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]].<ref name=archivescatalog/> By the time of its transfer, the Survey had established suboffices at [[San Francisco]], [[California]], and at [[Manila]] in the [[Philippines]] and had expanded the scope of its operations to include [[Lake Champlain]], the [[Pacific Ocean|Pacific]] coast of [[North America]] from [[San Diego]], California, to [[Panama]], a transcontinental triangulation between the United States [[East Coast of the United States|East]] and [[West Coast of the United States|West]] Coasts, the [[Hawaiian Islands]], [[Alaska]], and "other coasts under the jurisdiction of the United States," which by then included also included the Philippines, [[Guam]], [[American Samoa]], and Puerto Rico.<ref>''Organization and Law of the Department of Commerce and Labor'', pp. 98–99.</ref> 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."<ref>''Organization and Law of the Department of Commerce and Labor'', pp. 97–98.</ref>
[[File:Wiredrag boat in Puerto Rico in 1921.jpg|thumb|A wire-drag boat in [[Puerto Rico]] in 1921.]]
In 1904, the Coast and Geodetic Survey introduced the [[Hydrographic survey|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.<ref>[http://www.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/hsd/hydro_history.html noaa.gov History of Hydrographic Surveying]</ref>

The Department of Commerce and Labor was abolished in 1913 and divided into the [[United States Department of Commerce]] and the [[United States Department of Labor]]. With this change, the Coast and Geodetic Survey came under the jurisdiction of the Department of Commerce.<ref name=archivescatalog/>

===World War I===
[[File:Richards Building 1923.jpg|thumb|The [[Richards Building]] in 1923. It served as Coast and Geodetic Survey headquarters from 1871 to 1929.]]
[[File:US National Geodetic Survey marker.jpg|thumb|A 1932 marker at [[Fort McAllister Historic State Park|Fort McAllister Historic Park]] in [[Bryan County, Georgia|Bryan County]], [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]].]]
[[File:Roy Bixby Palo Colorado Canyon 1932.jpg|thumb|A Coast and Geodetic Survey [[pack train]], part of a survey team, in [[Sequoioideae|redwoods]] in [[Palo Colorado Canyon, California|Palo Colorado Canyon]] in [[California]] in&nbsp;1932.]]

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 entered [[World War I]] 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]], giving the Survey{{'}}s officers a [[Officer (armed forces)|commissioned]] status that protected them from treatment as spies if captured, as well as providing the [[United States Armed Forces|United States armed forces]] with a ready source of officers skilled in surveying that could be rapidly assimilated for wartime support of the armed forces.<ref name="noaahistoryuscgs" />

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 [[Minelayer|minelaying]] officers in the [[North Sea]] (where they supported the laying of the [[North Sea Mine Barrage]]), as [[Troopship|troop transport]] navigators, as [[Military intelligence|intelligence]] officers, and as officers on the staff of U.S. Army [[General (United States)|General]] [[John J. Pershing|John "Black Jack" Pershing]],<ref name="noaahistoryuscgs"/> commander of the [[American Expeditionary Forces]] on the [[Western Front (World War I)|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]], and [[oceanography]].<ref name="noaahistoryuscgs"/> In 1923 and 1924, it began the use of [[Acoustics|acoustic]] sounding systems and developed [[radio acoustic ranging]], which was the first marine [[navigation]] system in history that did not rely on a visual means of position determination. These developments led to the Survey{{'}}s 1924 discovery of the [[SOFAR channel|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 [[Telemetry|telemetering]] radio [[sonobuoy]]s and marine [[Seismology|seismic]] exploration techniques.<ref name="timeline19001969"/> The [[United States government role in civil aviation|Air Commerce Act]], which went into effect on May 20, 1926, among other things directed that the [[Airway (aviation)|airways]] of the United States be charted for the first time and assigned this mission to the Coast and Geodetic Survey.<ref name="timeline19001969"/>

In 1933, the Coast and Geodetic Survey opened a ship base in [[Norfolk, Virginia|Norfolk]], [[Virginia]]. From 1934 to 1937, it organized surveying parties and field offices to employ over 10,000 people, including many unemployed [[engineer]]s, during the height of the [[Great Depression in the United States|Great Depression]].<ref name="timeline19001969"/><ref>{{cite web |title=Some Notes From Lieutenant Charles Pierce Part 1: The California Coast 1932–1933 |first=Albert "Skip" |last=Theberge |date=August 20, 2016 |access-date=September 19, 2016 |magazine=The American Surveyor |url=http://www.amerisurv.com/content/view/15402/153/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160829121107/http://www.amerisurv.com/content/view/15402/153/ |archive-date=August 29, 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===World War II===
When the United States entered [[World War II]] 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]], while those who remained in the Coast and Geodetic Survey also operated in support of military and naval requirements. About half of the Survey{{'}}s civilian work force, slightly over 1,000 people, joined the armed services.<ref name="noaahistoryuscgs" />

Officers and civilians of the Survey saw service in [[North African campaign|North Africa]], [[European theatre of World War II|Europe]], and the [[Asian and Pacific theatre of World War I|Pacific]] and in the defense of [[North America]] and its waters, serving as artillery surveyors, [[Hydrography|hydrographers]], [[Amphibious warfare|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]], [[Missouri]]. Coast and Geodetic Survey civilians who remained in the United States during the war produced over 100 million maps and charts for the [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] forces. Three Coast and Geodetic Survey officers and eleven members of the agency who had joined other services were killed during the war.<ref name="noaahistoryuscgs"/>

===Post–World War II===
[[File:Coast & Geodetic Survey 3c 1957 issue U.S. stamp.jpg|thumb|right|150th anniversary commemorative stamp, issued by the [[United States Post Office Department]] in 1957.]]
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]]{{'}}s [[Gee (navigation)|Gee]] [[radio navigation]] system to hydrographic surveying, ushering in a new era of marine electronic navigation. In 1948 it established the [[Pacific Tsunami Warning Center]] in [[Honolulu]] [[Hawaii]].<ref name="timeline19001969" /> 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]] ranges, performing oceanographic work for the U.S. Navy, and monitoring [[Nuclear weapon|nuclear]] tests.<ref name="timeline19001969" />

In 1955, the Coast and Geodetic Survey ship [[USS Mobjack (AGP-7)|USC&GS ''Pioneer'' (OSS 31)]] conducted a survey in the Pacific Ocean off the [[West Coast of the United States|United States West Coast]] towing a [[magnetometer]] invented by the [[Scripps Institution of Oceanography]]. The first such survey in history, it discovered [[Plate tectonics|magnetic striping]] on the seafloor, a key finding in the development of the theory of [[plate tectonics]].<ref name="timeline19001969" />

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 science]]s – [[aurora]] and [[airglow]], [[cosmic ray]]s, [[Earth's magnetic field|geomagnetism]], [[gravity]], [[ionosphere|ionospheric physics]], [[longitude]] and [[latitude]] determinations for precision mapping, [[meteorology]], [[oceanography]], [[seismology]], and [[Space weather|solar activity]].<ref name="timeline19001969" />

In 1959, the Coast and Geodetic Survey{{'}}s charter was extended to give it the responsibility for U.S. government oceanographic studies worldwide.<ref name="noaahistoryuscgs" /> In 1963, it became the first U.S. government scientific agency to take part in an international cooperative oceanographic/[[Meteorology|meteorological]] project when the survey ship [[USC&GS Explorer (OSS 28)|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.<ref>[http://www.history.noaa.gov/ships/explorer2.html NOAA History, A Science Odyssey: Tools of the Trade: Ships: Coast and Geodetic Survey Ships: Explorer]</ref><ref>[http://www.st.nmfs.noaa.gov/copepod/data/equalant/index.html nmfs.noaa.gov EQUALANT]</ref><ref>[http://www.st.nmfs.noaa.gov/copepod/data/equalant/html_src/cruises.html nmfs.noaa.gov SHIP & CRUISE SUMMARY] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924105405/http://www.st.nmfs.noaa.gov/copepod/data/equalant/html_src/cruises.html |date=September 24, 2015 }}</ref> In 1964, a Coast and Geodetic Survey ship operated in the [[Indian Ocean]] for the first time, when ''Pioneer'' took part in the [[International Indian Ocean Expedition]], an international effort to study the Indian Ocean that lasted from 1959 to 1965.<ref>[http://www.history.noaa.gov/ships/pioneer3.html NOAA History, A Science Odyssey: Tools of the Trade: Ships: Coast and Geodetic Survey Ships: Pioneer]</ref>

===ESSA years===
 
On July 13, 1965, the [[Environmental Science Services Administration]] (ESSA), was established within the Department of Commerce and became the new parent organization of both the Coast and Geodetic Survey and the [[National Weather Service|United States Weather Bureau]].<ref name="NOAA" /><ref name="timeline19001969" /><ref name=archivescatalog/> At the same time, the Coast and Geodetic Survey Corps was removed from the Survey{{'}}s 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.<ref name="NOAA" /><ref name="noaahistoryuscgs" /><ref name="timeline19001969" />

===Creation of NOAA===
On October 3, 1970, ESSA was abolished and its components were reorganized and merged with those of other U.S. government agencies to form the [[National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration]] (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.<ref name=archivescatalog/>

===Legacy===
Under NOAA, the Coast and Geodetic Survey's constituent parts lived on. Its geodetic responsibilities were assigned under the NOS to the new '''[[U.S. National Geodetic Survey|National Geodetic Survey]]''', its hydrographic survey duties to the NOS{{'}}s new '''[[Office of Coast Survey]]''', and its ships to the NOS itself, while the ESSA Corps became the new '''[[NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps|National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps]]''', or '''"NOAA Corps"'''.<ref name="NOAA" /><ref name="noaahistoryuscgs" /> 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 ships and aircraft|NOAA fleet]]''', operated by the National Ocean Survey's Office of Fleet Operations.<ref name=afsctimeline>[https://www.afsc.noaa.gov/History/timeline/default.htm#1970 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,<ref name=archivescatalog/> 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]], 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)===
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!width="25" style="text-align:center" | No.
!width="75" style="text-align:center" | Portrait 
!width="125" style="text-align:center" | Name
!width="75" style="text-align:center" | Tenure
!width="900" style="text-align:center" | Notes
|-
|style="text-align:center"|1
|style="text-align:center"|[[File:FerdinandHassler.jpg|75px]]
|style="text-align:center"|[[Ferdinand Rudolph Hassler]]<br>{{nowrap|(1770–1843)}}
|style="text-align:center"|1816–1818; 1832–1843
|Superintendency interrupted from 1818 to 1832 by Congressional prohibition of the employment of civilians by the Survey of the Coast. Survey renamed United States Coast survey in 1836.
|-
|style="text-align:center"|2
|style="text-align:center"|[[File:Alexander Dalls Bache pers0117.jpg|75px]]
|style="text-align:center"|[[Alexander Dallas Bache]]<br>{{nowrap|(1806–1867)}}
|style="text-align:center"|1843–1867
|
|-
|style="text-align:center"|3
|style="text-align:center"|[[File:BenjaminPeirce5.jpg|75px]]
|style="text-align:center"|[[Benjamin Peirce]]<br>{{nowrap|(1809–1880)}}
|style="text-align:center"|1867–1874
|
|-
|style="text-align:center"|4
|style="text-align:center"|[[File:Carlile Pollock Patterson NOAAtheb3545.PNG|75px]]
|style="text-align:center"|[[Carlile Pollock Patterson]]<br>{{nowrap|(1816–1881)}}
|style="text-align:center"|1874–1881
|United States Coast Survey renamed United States Coast and Geodetic Survey in 1878.
|-
|style="text-align:center"|5
|style="text-align:center"|[[File:PSM V07 D530 Julius Erasmus Hilgard.jpg|75px]]
|style="text-align:center"|[[Julius Erasmus Hilgard]]<br>{{nowrap|(1825–1891)}}
|style="text-align:center"|1881–1885
|
|-
|style="text-align:center"|6
|style="text-align:center"|[[File:Frank Thorn NOAA.jpg|75px]]
|style="text-align:center"|[[Frank Manly Thorn]]<br>{{nowrap|(1836–1907)}}
|style="text-align:center"|1885–1889
|First non-scientist to serve as superintendent.
|-
|style="text-align:center"|7
|style="text-align:center"|[[File:T.C.Mendenhall-1918.jpg|75px]]
|style="text-align:center"|[[Thomas Corwin Mendenhall]]<br>{{nowrap|(1841–1924)}}
|style="text-align:center"|1889–1894
|
|-
|style="text-align:center"|8
|style="text-align:center"|[[File:William Ward Duffield.jpg|75px]]
|style="text-align:center"|[[William Ward Duffield]]<br>{{nowrap|(1823–1907)}}
|style="text-align:center"|1894–1897
|
|-
|style="text-align:center"|9
|style="text-align:center"|[[File:Pritchett 5455605787 c74a68412d o.jpg|75px]]
|style="text-align:center"|[[Henry Smith Pritchett]]<br>{{nowrap|(1857–1939)}}
|style="text-align:center"|1897–1900
|
|-
|style="text-align:center"|10
|style="text-align:center"|[[File:Tittman.jpg|75px]]
|style="text-align:center"|[[Otto Hilgard Tittmann]]<br>{{nowrap|(1850–1938)}}
|style="text-align:center"|1900–1915
|
|-
|style="text-align:center"|11
|style="text-align:center"|[[File:Ernest Lester Jones.jpg|75px]]
|style="text-align:center"|[[Ernest Lester Jones]]<br>{{nowrap|(1876–1929)}}
|style="text-align:center"|1915–1919
|Became Director of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey in 1919. Also served as Director of the Coast and Geodetic Survey Corps from 1917 to 1929.
|- class=sortbottom
!scope=row colspan=5 | '''Source:'''<ref name="leaderscoast survey">[http://www.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/staff/docs/Leaders_of_Coast_Survey.pdf noaa.gov Leaders of Coast Survey]</ref>
|}

===Directors (1919–1970)===
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!width="25" style="text-align:center" | No.
!width="75" style="text-align:center" | Portrait 
!width="125" style="text-align:center" | Name
!width="75" style="text-align:center" | Tenure
!width="900" style="text-align:center" | Notes
|-
|style="text-align:center"|1
|style="text-align:center"|[[File:Ernest Lester Jones.jpg|75px]]
|style="text-align:center"|[[Ernest Lester Jones]]<br>{{nowrap|(1876–1929)}}
|style="text-align:center"|1919–1929
|Previously Superintendent of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey from 1915 to 1919. Also Director of the Coast and Geodetic Survey Corps from 1917 to 1929.
|-
|style="text-align:center"|2
|style="text-align:center"|[[File:Raymond Stanton Patton.jpg|75px]]
|style="text-align:center"|[[Captain (United States O-6)|Captain]]/[[Rear admiral (United States)#Rear admiral|Rear Admiral]]<br/>[[Raymond Stanton Patton|Raymond S. Patton]]<br>{{nowrap|(1882–1937)}}
|style="text-align:center"|1929–1937
| Also Director of the Coast and Geodetic Survey Corps from 1929 until 1937. Promoted from [[Captain (United States O-6)|captain]] to [[Rear admiral (United States)|rear admiral]] in 1936.
|-
|style="text-align:center"|3
|style="text-align:center"|[[File:Rear Admiral Leo Otis Colbert.jpg|75px]]
|style="text-align:center"|Rear Admiral<br/>[[Leo Otis Colbert|Leo O. Colbert]]<br>{{nowrap|(1883–1968)}}
|style="text-align:center"|1938–1950
| Also Director of the Coast and Geodetic Survey Corps from 1938 to 1950.<ref name=leaders>{{cite web|title=Leaders of Coast Survey|url=http://www.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/staff/docs/Leaders_of_Coast_Survey.pdf|publisher=National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration|access-date=August 29, 2013}}</ref>
|-
|style="text-align:center"|4
|style="text-align:center"|[[File:Robert Francis Anthony Studds.JPG|75px]]
|style="text-align:center"|Rear Admiral<br/>[[Robert Francis Anthony Studds|Robert F.A. Studds]]<br>{{nowrap|(1896–1962)}}
|style="text-align:center"|1950–1955
| Also Directorof the Coast and Geodetic Survey Corps from 1950 to 1955.<ref name=leaders/>
|-
|style="text-align:center"|5
|style="text-align:center"|[[File:Admiral KARO NOAA obit.jpg|75px]]
|style="text-align:center"|Rear Admiral<br/>[[Henry Arnold Karo|H. Arnold Karo]]<br>{{nowrap|(1903–1986)}}
|style="text-align:center"|1955–1965
| Also Director of the Coast and Geodetic Survey Corps from 1955 to 1965.<ref name=leaders/>
|-
|style="text-align:center"|6
|style="text-align:center"|[[File:Rear Admiral James C. Tison, Jr.jpg|75px]]
|style="text-align:center"|Rear Admiral<br/>[[James C. Tison Jr.]]<br>{{nowrap|(1908–1991)}}
|style="text-align:center"|1965–1968
| Also Director of the ESSA Corps from 1965 to 1968.<ref name=leaders/>
|-
|style="text-align:center"|7
|style="text-align:center"|[[File:RADM Don A. Jones.JPG|75px]]
|style="text-align:center"|Rear Admiral<br/>[[Don A. Jones]]<br>{{nowrap|(1912–2000)}}
|style="text-align:center"|1968–1970
| Also Director of the ESSA Corps from 1968 to 1970. Later was the first Director of the [[National Ocean Service|National Ocean Survey]] from 1970 to 1972.<ref name=leaders/>
|- class=sortbottom
!scope=row colspan=5 | '''Source:'''<ref name="leaderscoast survey"/>
|}

===Superintendents of Weights and Measures===
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!width="25" style="text-align:center" | No.
!width="75" style="text-align:center" | Portrait 
!width="125" style="text-align:center" | Name
!width="75" style="text-align:center" | Tenure
!width="900" style="text-align:center" | Notes
|-
|style="text-align:center"|1
|style="text-align:center"|[[File:FerdinandHassler.jpg|75px]]
|style="text-align:center"|[[Ferdinand Rudolph Hassler]]<br>{{nowrap|(1770–1843)}}
|style="text-align:center"|{{circa|1818}}–1843
|Also Superintendent of the Survey of the Coast from 1816 to 1818 and from 1832 to 1836, and then of the United States Coast Survey from 1836 to 1843.
|-
|style="text-align:center"|2
|style="text-align:center"|[[File:Joseph Saxton (ca. 1850).jpg|75px]]
|style="text-align:center"|[[Joseph Saxton]]<br>{{nowrap|(1799–1873)}}
|style="text-align:center"|1843–1873
|-
|style="text-align:center"|?
|style="text-align:center"|[[File:Samuel Wesley Stratton.jpg|75px]]
|style="text-align:center"|[[Samuel Wesley Stratton]]<br>{{nowrap|(1861–1931)}}
|style="text-align:center"|1899–1901
|Served as first director of the [[National Bureau of Standards]] (1901–1923)
|}

===Directors of the Coast and Geodetic Survey Corps (1917–1965)===
{{main|NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps}}
# [[Colonel (United States)|Colonel]] [[Ernest Lester Jones]] (1917–1929)
# [[Captain (United States O-6)|Captain]]/[[Rear admiral (United States)|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]] (1955–1965)

==Ranks==
; Relative rank of Coast and Geodetic Survey officers in 1918

As of 1917, if the [[President 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,<ref name=williamsuniforms>Williams, Dion (1918). [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.$b261918&view=1up&seq=308 ''Army and Navy Uniforms and Insignia'']. New York: Frederick A. Stokes Company, pp. 186–187.</ref> [[commissioned officer]]s of the Coast and Geodetic Survey assumed the following relative ranks while serving under U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps, or [[United States Coast Guard]] control:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!  Grade !! Title  !! Rank with and after<br>([[United States Army|Army]] and<br>[[United States Marine Corps|Marine&nbsp;Corps]]) !! Rank with and after ([[United States Navy|Navy]]) || Rank with and after {{nowrap|([[United States Coast Guard|Coast Guard]])}}
|-
|  1|| Hydrographic and Geodetic Engineer || [[Colonel (United States)|Colonel]] || [[Captain (United States O-6)|Captain]] || [[Captain-commandant#U.S. Revenue Cutter Service and U.S. Coast Guard|Captain-Commandant]]
|-
|  2|| Hydrographic and Geodetic Engineer || [[Lieutenant Colonel (United States)|Lieutenant Colonel]] || [[Commander (United States)|Commander]] || [[Senior captain#United States Revenue Cutter Service|Senior Captain]]
|-
| 3  || Hydrographic and Geodetic Engineer || [[Major (United States)|Major]] || [[Lieutenant Commander (United States)|Lieutenant Commander]] || [[Captain (naval)|Captain]]
|-
| 4  || Hydrographic and Geodetic Engineer || [[Captain (United States O-3)|Captain]] || [[Lieutenant (navy)|Lieutenant]] || [[First lieutenant#U.S. Revenue Cutter Service|First lieutenant]]
|-
| 5  || Junior Hydrographic and Geodetic Engineer || [[First Lieutenant]] || [[Lieutenant (junior grade)]] || [[Second Lieutenant]]
|-
| 6 || Aid || [[Second Lieutenant]] || [[Ensign (rank)|Ensign]] || [[Third Lieutenant]]
|-
|colspan=5|'''Sources:'''<ref name=williamsuniforms/><ref>Bunkley J. W. (1917). [https://books.google.com/books?id=Qt09AAAAYAAJ ''Military and Naval Recognition Book'']. New York: D. Van Nostrand Company, p. 76.</ref>
|-
|}

Upon transfer of the Coast and Geodetic Survey to U.S. War Department or U.S. Navy Department control, its civilian ship's officers—[[Engine officer|engineers]], [[Naval surgeon|ship's surgeons]], [[watch officer]]s, [[Mate (naval officer)|mates]], and [[deck officer]]s—received commissions in either the [[United States Army Reserve]] or [[United States Naval Reserve Force]] commensurate with their qualifications.<ref name=williamsuniforms/>

;Coast and Geodetic Survey Ranks in 1943
{| class="wikitable"
|-
![[Officer (armed forces)|Commissioned officers]]!!Ship's officers
|-
|  [[Rear admiral (United States)|Rear Admiral]] || – 
|-
| [[Captain (United States O-6)|Captain]] ||  –
|-
| [[Commander (United States)|Commander]] || –
|-
| [[Lieutenant Commander (United States)|Lieutenant Commander]] || – 
|-
| [[Lieutenant (navy)|Lieutenant]] || Chief Marine [[Engine officer|Engineer]]<br>[[Naval surgeon|Ship's Surgeon]]
|-
| [[Lieutenant (junior grade)]] || [[Mate (naval officer)|Mate]]
|-
| [[Ensign (rank)|Ensign]] || [[Deck Officer]]
|-
|colspan=2| '''Source:'''<ref name="Bunkley">Bunkley J. W. (1943). ''Military and Naval Recognition Book.'' New York: D. Van Nostrand Company, pp. 230–231.</ref>
|-
|}

[[Petty officer]] ranks were [[Chief petty officer (United States)|chief petty officer]], [[petty officer first class]], [[petty officer second class]], and [[petty officer third class]].<ref name="Bunkley"/>

==Awards and decorations==
Coast and Geodetic Survey Corps officers, as well as other Coast and Geodetic Survey personnel such as civilian ship's officers and crew members, were eligible for [[United States Department of Commerce]] awards as well as the awards and decorations of other [[Uniformed services of the United States|uniformed services]] with which they served. However, although the Coast and Geodetic Survey traced its history to 1807, it had no awards of its own until 21 July 1945, when [[President of the United States|President]] [[Harry S. Truman]] signed [[Executive order|Executive Order]] 9590, authorizing six awards in recognition of Coast and Geodetic Survey service during [[World War II]], the national emergency preceding it, or its aftermath.<ref name=EO9590>[https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/codification/executive-order/09590.html Office of the Federal Register (OFR): Executive Orders: Executive Order 9590—Establishing certain awards for the Coast and Geodetic Survey, 21 July 1945 Accessed 13 November 2023]</ref><ref name=NHHC>[https://www.history.navy.mil/our-collections/artifacts/uniforms-and-personal-equipment/awards/medals/us-coast-and-geodetic-survey-medals/distinguished-service-medal-us-coast-and-geodetic-survey.html Naval History and Heritage Command: Distinguished Service Medal, US Coast and Geodetic Survey date 13 November 20203]</ref><ref name=federalregister>[https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/codification/executive-order/09590.html National Archives: Federal Register: Executive Order 9590—Establishing certain awards for the Coast and Geodetic Survey]</ref><ref name=JOMSAvol45>{{cite magazine |author=<!--Excerpt from article without identfication of author--> |date=<!--Date not included in excerpt--> |title=Excerpt from article without inclusion of title |url=http://www.omsa.org/files/jomsa_arch/Splits/1994/187197_JOMSA_Vol45_3_19.pdf |magazine=JOMSA: Journal of the Orders and Medals Society of America  |location= |publisher=Orders and Medals Society of America |volume=45 |issue=3 |pages=19–20 |access-date=2 February 2024}}</ref><ref>[https://picasaweb.google.com/105861955697485892280/1946CoastGeodeticSurveyAwardsOfWorldWarTwo Coast and Geodetic Survey Awards of World War Two, Page 18.]</ref><ref>[https://www.history.navy.mil/our-collections/artifacts/uniforms-and-personal-equipment/awards/medals/us-coast-and-geodetic-survey-medals.html Naval History and Heritage Command Medals of the US Coast and Geodetic Survey Access date 13 November 20203]</ref>

For budgetary reasons, Executive Order 9590 established the awards as ribbons only, but it also authorized the [[United States Secretary of Commerce]] to "provide and issue an appropriate medal, with suitable appurtenances, to the recipient of any ribbon at such time as he may determine, and when necessary funds are available therefore."<ref name=EO9590/><ref name=JOMSAvol45/><ref name=JOMSAvol61>{{cite magazine |last1=Carr |first1=Steve |last2=Menke |first2=Allen |date=January–February 2010 |title=For Service in the Defense of America: The American Defense Service Medal |url=https://www.omsa.org/files/Carr%20&%20Menke%20ADSM.pdf |magazine=JOMSA: Journal of the Orders and Medals Society of America  |location= |publisher=Orders and Medals Society of America |volume=61 |issue=1 |pages=17–18 |access-date=2 February 2024}}</ref> However, it was not until after the [[United States Congress]] passed the [[Merchant Marine Decorations and Medals Act]] in 1988 that the [[National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration]] (NOAA), as the Coast and Geodetic Survey's successor organization, took action to create a medal for each of the awards. Later in 1988, via [[NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps|NOAA Corps]] Bulletin 880401, NOAA authorized medals to supplement the ribbons previously awarded.<ref name=JOMSAvol45/><ref name=JOMSAvol61/>

A member of the Coast and Geodetic Survey was eligible to receive each ribbon only once during his career, although he was authorized to wear a ribbon device indicating each additional deed or service justifying a similar award.<ref name=EO9590/> Except for the [[Coast and Geodetic Survey Good Conduct Medal]], the awards were authorized only for service under the jurisdiction of the [[United States Secretary of Commerce]]; Coast and Geodetic Survey personnel were not eligible for these awards for their service during periods that they were under the jurisdiction of the [[United States Department of War]] or [[United States Department of the Navy]].<ref name=EO9590/> 

*[[File:USA Coast & Geodetic Survey Distinguished Service Ribbon.png|80px]] '''[[Coast and Geodetic Survey Distinguished Service Medal]]'''<br>  Awarded to any Coast and Geodetic Survey commissioned officer or to any ship's officer or member of the crew of any Coast and Geodetic Survey ship who distinguished himself by outstanding conduct or service in the line of duty between 8 September 1939 and 28 April 1952.<ref>[https://www.history.navy.mil/our-collections/artifacts/uniforms-and-personal-equipment/awards/medals/us-coast-and-geodetic-survey-medals/distinguished-service-medal-us-coast-and-geodetic-survey.html Naval History and Heritage Command: Distinguished Service Medal, US Coast and Geodetic Survey date 13 November 20203]</ref>
*[[File:USA Coast & Geodetic Survey Meritorious Service Ribbon.png|80px]] '''[[Coast and Geodetic Survey Meritorious Service Medal]]'''<br>  Awarded to any Coast and Geodetic Survey commissioned officer or to any ship's officer or member of the crew of any Coast and Geodetic Survey ship who rendered service of a meritorious character between 8 September 1939 and 28 April 1952 but not of such an outstanding character as would warrant an award of the Coast and Geodetic Survey Distinguished Service Medal.<ref>[https://www.history.navy.mil/our-collections/artifacts/uniforms-and-personal-equipment/awards/medals/us-coast-and-geodetic-survey-medals/meritorious-service-coast-and-geodetic-survey.html Naval History and Heritage Command: Meritorious Service Medal, US Coast and Geodetic Survey Access date 13 November 2023]</ref>
*[[File:USA Coast & Geodetic Survey Good Conduct Ribbon.png|80px]] '''[[Coast and Geodetic Survey Good Conduct Medal]]'''<br>  Awarded to enlisted members of the crews of Coast and Geodetic Survey vessels for exemplary behavior, efficiency, and fidelity during service between 8 September 1939 and 28 April 1952.<ref>[https://www.history.navy.mil/our-collections/artifacts/uniforms-and-personal-equipment/awards/medals/us-coast-and-geodetic-survey-medals/good-conduct-medal-coast-and-geodetic-survey.html Naval History and Heritage Command: Good Conduct Medal, US Coast and Geodetic Survey Access date 13 November 2023]</ref>
*[[File:USA Coast & Geodetic Survey American Defense Ribbon.png|80px]] '''[[Coast and Geodetic Survey Defense Service Medal]]'''<br>  Awarded to any Coast and Geodetic Survey commissioned officer or to any ship's officer or member of the crew of any Coast and Geodetic Survey ship who served at any time during the period between 8 September 1939 and 6 December 1941.<ref>[https://www.history.navy.mil/our-collections/artifacts/uniforms-and-personal-equipment/awards/medals/us-coast-and-geodetic-survey-medals/defense-service-medal-coast-and-geodetic-survey.html Naval History and Heritage Command: Defense Service Medal, US Coast and Geodetic Survey Access date 13 November 2023]</ref>
*[[File:USA Coast & Geodetic Survey Atlantic War Zone Ribbon.png|80px]] '''[[Coast and Geodetic Survey Atlantic War Zone Medal]]'''<br> Awarded to any Coast and Geodetic Survey commissioned officer or to any ship's officer or member of the crew of any Coast and Geodetic Survey ship who served outside the [[Contiguous United States|continental limits]] of the United States in the [[Atlantic Ocean|Atlantic]] War Zone between 7 December 1941 and 8 November 1945.<ref>[https://www.history.navy.mil/our-collections/artifacts/uniforms-and-personal-equipment/awards/medals/us-coast-and-geodetic-survey-medals/atlantic-warzone-medal-coast-and-geodetic-survey.html Naval History and Heritage Command: Atlantic War Zone Medal, US Coast and Geodetic Survey date 13 November 20203]</ref>
*[[File:USA Coast & Geodetic Survey Pacific War Zone Ribbon.png|80px]] '''[[Coast and Geodetic Survey Pacific War Zone Medal]]'''<br> Awarded to any Coast and Geodetic Survey commissioned officer or to any ship's officer or member of the crew of any Coast and Geodetic Survey ship who served outside the continental limits of the United States in the [[Pacific War]] Zone between 7 December 1941 and 2 March 1946.<ref>[https://www.history.navy.mil/our-collections/artifacts/uniforms-and-personal-equipment/awards/medals/us-coast-and-geodetic-survey-medals/pacific-warzone-coast-and-geodetic-survey.html Naval History and Heritage Command: Pacific War Zone Medal, US Coast and Geodetic Survey date 13 November 20203]</ref>

==Fleet==
{{Category see also|Ships of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey}}
[[Image:USS Pathfinder NOAA.jpg|thumb|right|[[USC&GS Pathfinder (OSS 30)|USC&GS ''Pathfinder'' (OSS 30)]] was transferred to the [[United States Navy]] while under construction and served in the Navy as {{USS|Pathfinder|AGS-1}} from 1942 to 1946 before being returned to the Coast and Geodetic Survey.]]

===Fleet history===
The Survey of the Coast{{'}}s 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 (renamed the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service in 1894), 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–American War|Mexican War]] (1846–1848), the [[brig]] {{USRC|Washington|1837|6}}, a [[revenue cutter]] 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]] (1861–1865), the [[Spanish–American War]] (1898), [[World War I]] (1917–1918), and World War II (1941–1945), some of the Survey{{'}}s ships served in the U.S. Navy and U.S. Revenue-Marine, U.S. Revenue Cutter Service, or [[United States Coast Guard]], while others supported the war effort while remaining part of the Survey{{'}}s fleet.

The Coast and Geodetic Survey applied the abbreviation "USC&GS" as a prefix to the names of its ships, analogous to the "[[United States Ship|USS]]" abbreviation employed by the U.S. Navy. In the 20th century, the Coast and Geodetic Survey also instituted a [[hull classification symbol]] 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 [[USS Oceanographer (AGS-3)|USC&GS ''Oceanographer'' (OSS 26)]], while the ''Oceanographer'' that served from 1966 to 1970 was [[NOAAS Oceanographer (R 101)|USC&GS ''Oceanographer'' (OSS 01)]].

When the [[Environmental Science Services Administration]] (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 [[Fishery|fisheries]] [[Research vessel|research ships]] of the [[United States Fish and Wildlife Service]]{{'}}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 ships and aircraft|NOAA fleet]], operated by the National Ocean Survey's Office of Fleet Operations.<ref name=afsctimeline/> For a time, NOAA continued to use the Coast and Geodetic Survey{{'}}s classification system for its survey ships, but it later abandoned it and instituted a [[Hull classification symbol#National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration|new classification scheme]].

===Ships===
[[File:Ship5586 (25153063907).jpg|thumb|Pacific Marine Center, the USC&GS ship base]]
[[Image:EXPLORER in Aleutians 1944.jpg|thumb|right|[[USC&GS Explorer (OSS 28)|USC&GS ''Explorer'' (OSS 28)]] in the [[Aleutian Islands]] in 1944]]
[[File:USC&GS Oceanographer (OSS O1) off Seattle c1974.jpg|thumb|right|{{nowrap|{{ship|NOAAS|Oceanographer|R 101}}}} off [[Seattle]], [[Washington (state)|Washington]], ca.&nbsp;1974. As USC&GS ''Oceanographer'' (OSS 01), she was [[flagship]] of the Coast and Geodetic Survey fleet from her [[Ship commissioning|commissioning]] in 1966 until the creation of [[NOAA]] in 1970.]]

A partial list of the Coast and Geodetic Survey{{'}}s ships:

{{Div col}}
* {{Ship|USC&GS|A. D. Bache|1871}} (in service {{circa|1871}} – 1900)
* {{Ship|USC&GS|A. D. Bache|1901}} (in service 1901–1917; 1919–1927)
* {{Ship|USCS|Active}} (in service 1852–1861)
* {{Ship|USC&GS|Arago|1854}} (in service 1854–1881)
* {{Ship|USC&GS|Arago|1871}} (in service 1871–1890)
* {{Ship|USCS|Arctic}} (in service 1856–1858)
* {{Ship|USC&GS|Audwin}} (in service 1919–1927)
* {{Ship|USCS|Baltimore}} (in service 1851–1858)
* {{Ship|USCS|Bancroft}} (in service 1846–1862)
* {{Ship|USC&GS|Barataria|1867|6}} (in service 1867–1885)
* {{Ship|USC&GS|Baton Rouge|1875|6}} (in service 1875–1880)
* {{Ship|USCS|Belle}} (in service 1848–1857)
* {{Ship|USCS|Benjamin Peirce}} (in service 1855–1868)
* {{Ship|USCS|Bowditch}} (in service 1854–1874)
* {{Ship|USC&GS|Bowie|CSS 27}} (in service 1946–1967)
* {{Ship|USC&GS|Carlile P. Patterson}} (in service 1884–1918)
* {{Ship|USC&GS|Cosmos}} (in service 1887–1927)
* {{Ship|USC&GS|Dailhache|1913|6}} (in service 1919–1934)
* {{Ship|USC&GS|Davidson|1925}} (in service 1933–1935)
* {{Ship|USC&GS|Davidson|CSS 31}} (in service 1967–1970, then with NOAA 1970–1989)
* {{Ship|USC&GS|Discoverer|1918}} (in service 1922–1941)
* {{Ship|USC&GS|Discoverer|OSS 02}} (in service 1967–1970, then with NOAA 1970–1996)
* {{Ship|USC&GS|Drift}} (in service 1876–1893)
* {{Ship|USC&GS|Eagre}} (in service {{circa|1870s}}–1903)
* {{Ship|USC&GS|Elsie III|1912|6}} (in service 1919–1944)
* {{Ship|USC&GS|Explorer|1904}} (in service 1904–1918; 1919–1939)
* {{Ship|USC&GS|Explorer|OSS 28}} (in service 1940–1968)
* {{Ship|USC&GS|Fairweather|MSS 20}} (in service 1968–1970, then with NOAA 1970–1989 and 2004–present)
* {{Ship|USC&GS|Fathomer|1871}} (in service 1871–1881)
* {{Ship|USC&GS|Fathomer|1904}} (in service 1905–1942)
* {{Ship|USC&GS|Ferrel|ASV 92}} (in service 1968–1970, then with NOAA 1970–2002)
* {{Ship|USRC|Gallatin|1830}} (in service 1840–1848 and from 1849)
* {{Ship|USC&GS|George S. Blake}} (in service 1874–1905; famous as pioneer ship in deep-ocean survey and oceanography)
* {{Ship|USC&GS|Gilbert}} (in service 1930–1962)
* {{Ship|USC&GS|Guide|1918}} (in service 1923–1941)
* {{Ship|USC&GS|Guide|1929}} (in service 1941–1942)
* [[Hassler (vessel)|''Hassler'']] (in service 1871–1895)
* {{Ship|USC&GS|Heck|ASV 91}} (in service 1967–1970, then with NOAA 1970–1995)
* {{Ship|USC&GS|Helianthus}} (in service 1919–1939)
* {{Ship|USC&GS|Hilgard|ASV 82}} (in service 1942–1967)
* {{Ship|USC&GS|Hodgson|CSS 26}} (in service 1946–1967)
* {{Ship|USC&GS|Hydrographer|1901}} (in service 1901–1917; 1919–1928)
* {{Ship|USC&GS|Isis}} (in service 1915–1917; 1919–1920)
* {{Ship|USC&GS|Lester Jones|ASV-79}} (in service 1940–1967)
* {{Ship|USC&GS|Lydonia|CS 302}} (in service 1919–1947)
* {{Ship|USCS|Madison}} (in service 1850–1858)
* {{Ship|USC&GS|Marindin}} (in service 1919–1944)
* {{Ship|USC&GS|Marinduque}} (in service 1905–1932)
* {{Ship|USC&GS|Marmer}} (in service 1957–1968)
* {{Ship|USC&GS|Matchless}} (in service 1885–1919)
* {{Ship|USC&GS|McArthur|1874}} (in service 1876–1915)
* {{Ship|USC&GS|McArthur|MSS 22}} (in service 1966–1970, then with NOAA 1970–2003)
* {{Ship|USCS|Meredith}} (in service 1851–1872)
* {{Ship|USC&GS|Mikawe}} (in service 1920–1939)
* {{Ship|USC&GS|Mitchell}} (in service 1919–1944)
* {{Ship|USCS|Morris}} (in service 1849–1855)
* {{Ship|USC&GS|Mount Mitchell|MSS 22}} (in service 1968–1970, then with NOAA 1970–1995)
* {{Ship|USC&GS|Natoma||6}} (in service 1919–1935)
* {{Ship|USC&GS|Oceanographer|OSS 26}} (in service 1930–1942)
* [[NOAAS Oceanographer (R 101)|USC&GS ''Oceanographer'' (OSS 01)]] (in service 1966–1970, then with NOAA 1970–1996)
* {{Ship|USC&GS|Ogden}} (in service 1919–1944)
* {{Ship|USC&GS|Onward}} (in service 1919–1920)
* [[USC&GSS Pathfinder (1899–1941)|USC&GS ''Pathfinder'' (1898)]] (in service 1899–1942, renamed USC&GS ''Researcher'' 1941)
* {{Ship|USC&GS|Pathfinder|OSS 30}} (in service 1946–1970, then with NOAA 1970–1971)
* {{Ship|USC&GS|Patton|ASV-80}} (in service 1941–1967)
* {{Ship|USC&GS|Peirce|CSS 28}} (in service 1963–1970, then with NOAA 1970–1992) 
* {{Ship|USCS|Phoenix}} (in service 1845–1857)
* {{Ship|USC&GS|Pioneer|1918}} (in service 1922–1941)
* {{Ship|USC&GS|Pioneer|1929}} (in service 1941–1942)
* {{Ship|USC&GS|Pioneer|OSS 31}} (in service 1946–1966)
* {{Ship|USC&GS|Ranger}} (in service 1919–1930 or 1931)
* {{Ship|USC&GS|Research|1901}} (in service 1901–1918)
* {{Ship|USC&GS|Researcher|OSS 03}} (in service 1970, then with NOAA 1970–1996)
* [[USCS Robert J. Walker (1844)|USCS ''Robert J. Walker'']] (in service 1848–1860)
* {{Ship|USC&GS|Romblon}} (in service 1905–1921)
* {{Ship|USC&GS|Scandinavia}} (acquired 1919)
* {{Ship|USC&GS|Silliman}} (in service 1871–1888)
* {{Ship|USC&GS|Surveyor|1917}} (in service 1917 and 1919–1956)
* {{Ship|USC&GS|Surveyor|OSS 32}} (in service 1960–1970, then with NOAA 1970–1995 or 1996)
* {{Ship|USC&GS|Taku}} (in service 1898–1917)
* [[USRC Taney (1833)|USRC ''Taney'' (1833)]] (in service 1847–1850)
* {{Ship|USC&GS|Thomas R. Gedney}} (in service 1875–1915)
* [[USCS Vanderbilt|USCS ''Vanderbilt'']] (in service 1842–1855)
* [[USCS Varina|USCS ''Varina'']] (in service 1854–1875)
* {{USS|Vixen|1861}} )(in service 1860s)
* {{Ship|USC&GS|Wainwright|ASV 83}} (in service 1942–1967)
* {{Ship|USC&GS|Westdahl}} (in service 1929–1946)
* {{Ship|USC&GS|Whiting|CSS 29}} (in service 1963–1970, then with NOAA 1970–2003)
* {{Ship|USC&GS|Wildcat|1919}} (in service 1919–1941)
* {{Ship|USC&GS|Yukon|1873}} (in service 1873–1894)
* {{Ship|USC&GS|Yukon|1898}} (in service 1898–1923)
{{Div col end}}

==Flags and pennants==
[[File:Flag of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey.svg|thumb|upright=0.7|The United States Coast and Geodetic Survey flag, flown by commissioned ships of the Survey as a [[Maritime flag#Distinctive marks|distinctive mark]] from 1899 to 1970.]]
{{multiple image
| align = right
| direction = vertical
| image1 = NOAA commission pennant Class I vessels.PNG
| width1 = 300
| alt1 = 
| caption1 = 
| image2 = NOAA commission pennant Class II, III, and IV vessels.PNG
| width2 = 300
| alt2 = 
| caption2 = 
| footer = [[Commissioning pennant|Commission pennants]] for U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey ships. The largest ships flew a pennant with 13 triangles (top), while smaller vessels flew a pennant with seven (above).
}}

The Coast and Geodetic Survey was authorized its own flag on January 16, 1899.<ref name=seaflags>[https://www.seaflags.us/noaa/noaa.html 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.<ref name=seaflags/> The triangle symbolized the discipline of [[triangulation]] used in [[surveying]].<ref name=seaflags/>

Commissioned ships of the Coast and Geodetic Survey flew the [[flag of the United States]] as their [[Ensign (flag)|ensign]].<ref name=seaflags/> After the Survey's flag was authorized, they also flew it at the highest point on the forwardmost mast, where it served as a [[Maritime flag#Distinctive marks|distinctive mark]] of the Survey as a separate seagoing service from the U.S. Navy,<ref name=seaflags/> with which the Survey shared a common ensign.

Ships of the Coast and Geodetic Survey fleet also flew a "[[Commissioning pennant|commission pennant]]" in a similar manner to U.S. Navy and [[United States Coast Guard]] ships.<ref>[https://www.noaa.gov/organization/administration/nao-201-6-official-flags-of-noaa#:~:text=Commission%20Pennant%2D%20A%20long%20tapering,a%20personal%20flag%20or%20pennant. NAO 201-6 A: Official Flags of NOAA March 15, 2015]</ref> The fleet had three commission pennants, one for its largest ships and two for smaller vessels.<ref name=seaflags/> The pennant for the largest ships was {{convert|15|ft}} 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 {{convert|9|and|4|ft}} long and had seven red triangles but otherwise are identical in design to the pennant for the largest ships.<ref name=seaflags/><ref>[https://www.noaa.gov/sites/default/files/legacy/document/2020/Mar/NAO_201-6A_Attachment_1_Authorized_Flags.pdf NAO 201-6A Attachment 1: Authorized Flags of the Department of Commerce, NOAA, and the NOAA Commissioned Corps March 15, 2015]</ref> As in the Coast and Geodetic Survey flag, the red triangles symbolized triangulation.<ref name=seaflags/>

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.<ref name=seaflags/> 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.<ref>[http://www.photolib.noaa.gov/htmls/cgs00970.htm NOAA Photo Library Image ID: cgs00970]</ref><ref>[http://www.photolib.noaa.gov/htmls/cgs00971.htm NOAA Photo Library Image ID: cgs00971]</ref>

The [[National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration#Flag|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 [[Gull|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.<ref>[http://mysite.verizon.net/vzeohzt4/Seaflags/noaa/noaa.html Sea Flags: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration] at [[Verizon]] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081224142440/http://mysite.verizon.net/vzeohzt4/Seaflags/noaa/noaa.html |date=December 24, 2008}}</ref> In the NOAA fleet, ships fly the NOAA flag as a distinctive mark as well as commission pennants identical to those of ships of the Coast and Geodetic Survey fleet.<ref name=seaflags/>

==See also==
* [[Awards and decorations of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration#United States Coast and Geodetic Survey decorations and awards|Awards and decorations of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey]]
* [[Height Modernization]]
* [[Hydrographic survey#United States]]
* [[Hydrography]]
* [[International maritime signal flags]]
* [[Lists of flags]]
* [[Radio acoustic ranging]]
* [[Nautical chart]]
* [[Naval Oceanographic Office]]
* [[Seconds pendulum]]
* [[Surveying]]
* [[Topography]]
* [[United States Hydrographic Office]]
* [[US Coast and Geodetic Survey Seismological and Geomagnetic House]]

== Explanatory notes ==
{{NoteFoot}}

==References==
===Citations===
{{Reflist|2}}

=== General and cited references ===
* {{cite book |last1=Barbrow |first1=Louis E. |last2=Judson |first2=Lewis V. |date=1976 |orig-date=1963 |title=Weights and Measures Standards of the United States: A Brief History |url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GOVPUB-C13-691a9b38e29a85d0925f4db586b60735/pdf/GOVPUB-C13-691a9b38e29a85d0925f4db586b60735.pdf |series=NBS Special Publication 447 |location=Washington D.C. |publisher=National Bureau of Standards, US Department of Commerce}}
* {{cite journal |last=Mendenhall |first=T.C. |date=6 October 1922 |title=The United States Fundamental Standards of Length and Mass |journal=Science |series=New Series |volume=56 |issue=1449 |pages=337–380 |issn=0036-8075 |doi=10.1126/science.56.1449.377 |jstor=1647062 |pmid=17833047 |bibcode=1922Sci....56..377M |access-date=8 May 2021 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1647062}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|United States Coast and Geodetic Survey}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090628110735/http://www.lib.noaa.gov/noaainfo/heritage/coastsurveyvol1/CONTENTS.html Early history of the Coast Survey]
* [http://www.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/ NOAA Office of Coast Survey]
* [https://library.noaa.gov/Collections/Digital-Collections/USCGS-Annual-Reports U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey Annual Reports, years 1837–1965]
* [http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/uscgs.htm United States Coast & Geodetic Survey] at ArlingtonCemetery.net, an unofficial website
* [http://www.peakbagging.com/Benchmark.htm Explanation of survey monuments]
* 1858 map: [http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20160516224401/http://texashistory.unt.edu/permalink/meta-pth-2473 ''Preliminary chart of entrance to Brazos River'']—hosted by the [[Portal to Texas History]]
* 1853 map: [http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20160516224429/http://texashistory.unt.edu/permalink/meta-pth-2481 ''Preliminary chart of San Luis Pass, Texas'']—hosted by the Portal to Texas History
* 1854 map: [http://texashistory.unt.edu/permalink/meta-pth-2480 ''Preliminary survey of the entrance to the Rio Grande, Texas'']—hosted by the Portal to Texas History

{{United States government agencies involved in environmental science}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Exploration of North America]]
[[Category:Geodesy organizations]]
[[Category:Geographic data and information organizations in the United States]]
[[Category:Government agencies established in 1807]]