USApedia

Office of Coast Survey: Difference between revisions

Page Discussion

Office of Coast Survey (view source)

Revision as of 00:58, 15 February 2025

778 bytes added ,  15 February
m
Text replacement - "|ParentOrganization=National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), U.S. Department of Commerce" to "|ParentOrganization=National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration |TopOrganization=Department of Commerce"
VisualWikitext
m (1 revision imported)
m (Text replacement - "|ParentOrganization=National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), U.S. Department of Commerce" to "|ParentOrganization=National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration |TopOrganization=Department of Commerce")
 
(6 intermediate revisions by one other user not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{Organization
|OrganizationName=Office of Coast Survey
|OrganizationType=Independent Agencies (Sub-organization)
|Mission=The Office of Coast Survey ensures the safe, efficient, and environmentally sound movement of maritime commerce by providing accurate, up-to-date nautical charts, hydrographic surveys, and navigation-related services for the nation's coastal and ocean waters.
|ParentOrganization=National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
|TopOrganization=Department of Commerce
|OrganizationExecutive=Director
|Services=Hydrographic Surveying; Nautical Charting; Navigation Products; Tide and Current Predictions; Electronic Navigational Charts (ENCs)
|HeadquartersLocation=38.99248, -77.03077
|HeadquartersAddress=1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910
|Website=https://nauticalcharts.noaa.gov
}}
{{Short description|Chartmaker of the United States of America}}
{{Short description|Chartmaker of the United States of America}}
The '''Office of Coast Survey''' is the official [[Nautical chart|chartmaker]] of the [[United States]]. It is an element of the [[National Ocean Service]] in the [[National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration]], which is part of the [[United States Department of Commerce]].
The '''Office of Coast Survey''' is the official [[Nautical chart|chartmaker]] of the [[United States]]. It is an element of the [[National Ocean Service]] in the [[National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration]], which is part of the [[United States Department of Commerce]].


Line 27: Line 40:


=== Civil War ===
=== Civil War ===
[[Alexander Dallas Bache]], great-grandson of [[Benjamin Franklin]], was the second U.S. Coast Survey superintendent. Bache was a physicist, scientist, and surveyor who established the first magnetic observatory and served as the first president of the [[National Academy of Sciences]]. Under Bache, the Coast Survey quickly applied its resources to the [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] cause during the [[American Civil War]] (1861–1865). In addition to setting up additional [[Lithography|lithographic]] presses to produce the thousands of charts required by U.S. Navy ships and other vessels, Bache made a critical decision to send Coast Survey parties to work with U.S. Navy [[Blockade|blockading]] [[Squadron (naval)|squadrons]] and [[Union Army]] formations in the field, producing hundreds of maps and charts.<ref>[http://www.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/history/CivilWar/index.html Maps and charts]</ref> Bache detailed these activities in his annual reports to the U.S. Congress.<ref>[http://docs.lib.noaa.gov/rescue/cgs/data_rescue_cgs_annual_reports.html Annual reports to Congress]</ref> Maps were of paramount importance in wartime:
[[Alexander Dallas Bache]], great-grandson of [[Benjamin Franklin]], was the second U.S. Coast Survey superintendent. Bache was a physicist, scientist, and surveyor who established the first magnetic observatory and served as the first president of the [[National Academy of Sciences]]. Under Bache, the Coast Survey quickly applied its resources to the Union cause during the American Civil War (1861–1865). In addition to setting up additional [[Lithography|lithographic]] presses to produce the thousands of charts required by U.S. Navy ships and other vessels, Bache made a critical decision to send Coast Survey parties to work with U.S. Navy [[Blockade|blockading]] [[Squadron (naval)|squadrons]] and [[Union Army]] formations in the field, producing hundreds of maps and charts.<ref>[http://www.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/history/CivilWar/index.html Maps and charts]</ref> Bache detailed these activities in his annual reports to the U.S. Congress.<ref>[http://docs.lib.noaa.gov/rescue/cgs/data_rescue_cgs_annual_reports.html Annual reports to Congress]</ref> Maps were of paramount importance in wartime:


{{quote|text=It is certain that accurate maps must form the basis of well-conducted military operations, and that the best time to procure them is not when an attack is impending, or when the army waits, but when there is no hindrance to, or pressure upon, the surveyors. That no coast can be effectively attacked, defended, or blockaded without accurate maps and charts, has been fully proved by the events of the last two years, if, indeed, such a proposition required practical proof.|sign=Alexander Dallas Bache|source=1862 report<ref>[http://www.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/history/CivilWar/docs/Coast_Survey_Report_1862.pdf Annual report, Nov. 7, 1862]</ref>}}
{{quote|text=It is certain that accurate maps must form the basis of well-conducted military operations, and that the best time to procure them is not when an attack is impending, or when the army waits, but when there is no hindrance to, or pressure upon, the surveyors. That no coast can be effectively attacked, defended, or blockaded without accurate maps and charts, has been fully proved by the events of the last two years, if, indeed, such a proposition required practical proof.|sign=Alexander Dallas Bache|source=1862 report<ref>[http://www.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/history/CivilWar/docs/Coast_Survey_Report_1862.pdf Annual report, Nov. 7, 1862]</ref>}}


Bache was also one of four members of the government's [[Blockade Strategy Board]], planning strategy to essentially strangle the [[Confederate States of America]] economically and militarily. On April 16, 1861, President [[Abraham Lincoln]] issued a proclamation declaring the [[Union blockade]] of ports from [[South Carolina]] to [[Texas]]. Bache's ''Notes on the Coast''<ref>[http://www.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/nsd/hcp_notesoncoast.html Notes on the Coast]</ref> provided valuable information for Union naval forces.
Bache was also one of four members of the government's [[Blockade Strategy Board]], planning strategy to essentially strangle the [[Confederate States of America]] economically and militarily. On April 16, 1861, President Abraham Lincoln issued a proclamation declaring the [[Union blockade]] of ports from [[South Carolina]] to [[Texas]]. Bache's ''Notes on the Coast''<ref>[http://www.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/nsd/hcp_notesoncoast.html Notes on the Coast]</ref> provided valuable information for Union naval forces.


In 1861, Coast Survey cartographer Edwin Hergesheimer created a map showing the density of the [[Slavery in the United States|slave]] population<ref>[https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Map_showing_the_distribution_of_the_Slave_Population_of_the_Southern_States_of_the_United_States,_compiled_from_the_census_of_1860._Series_No._3033._-_Cgs05194.jpg Hergesheimer's 1861 map showing the density of the slave population using the 1860 census data]</ref> in the [[Southern United States]].<ref>[http://historicalcharts.noaa.gov/historicals/preview/image/CWSLAVE Distribution of the slave population of the Southern States of the United States – 1860]</ref><ref>[[Susan Schulten]],[http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/09/visualizing-slavery/ "Visualizing Slavery"], ''The New York Times Opinionator'', Dec. 9, 2010</ref>
In 1861, Coast Survey cartographer Edwin Hergesheimer created a map showing the density of the [[Slavery in the United States|slave]] population<ref>[https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Map_showing_the_distribution_of_the_Slave_Population_of_the_Southern_States_of_the_United_States,_compiled_from_the_census_of_1860._Series_No._3033._-_Cgs05194.jpg Hergesheimer's 1861 map showing the density of the slave population using the 1860 census data]</ref> in the [[Southern United States]].<ref>[http://historicalcharts.noaa.gov/historicals/preview/image/CWSLAVE Distribution of the slave population of the Southern States of the United States – 1860]</ref><ref>[[Susan Schulten]],[http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/09/visualizing-slavery/ "Visualizing Slavery"], ''The New York Times Opinionator'', Dec. 9, 2010</ref>
Line 38: Line 51:
After the conclusion of the American Civil War, the Coast Survey attracted some of the best and brightest scientists and [[naturalist]]s. It commissioned the naturalist [[Louis Agassiz]] to conduct the first scientific study of the [[Florida Reef|Florida reef system]]. [[James McNeill Whistler]], who went on to paint the iconic ''[[Whistler's Mother]]'', was a Coast Survey [[engraving|engraver]]. The naturalist [[John Muir]] was a guide and artist on a survey of the [[39th parallel north|39th parallel]] across the [[Great Basin]] of [[Nevada]] and [[Utah]].
After the conclusion of the American Civil War, the Coast Survey attracted some of the best and brightest scientists and [[naturalist]]s. It commissioned the naturalist [[Louis Agassiz]] to conduct the first scientific study of the [[Florida Reef|Florida reef system]]. [[James McNeill Whistler]], who went on to paint the iconic ''[[Whistler's Mother]]'', was a Coast Survey [[engraving|engraver]]. The naturalist [[John Muir]] was a guide and artist on a survey of the [[39th parallel north|39th parallel]] across the [[Great Basin]] of [[Nevada]] and [[Utah]].


The agency was renamed the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey in 1878.<ref name="NOAA"/><ref name="timeline18071899"/><ref name=archivescatalog/> Its men and women (women professionals were hired as early as 1845) led scientific and engineering activities through the decades. They supported the U.S. war effort during the [[Spanish American War]] (1898) and [[World War I]] (1917–1918). In 1926, they started production of [[aeronautical chart]]s.<ref name="NOAA"/><ref name="timeline18071899"/> During the height of the [[Great Depression in the United States|Great Depression]] in the 1930s, the Coast and Geodetic Survey organized surveying parties and field offices that employed over 10,000 people, including many out-of-work engineers.<ref>[http://www.lib.noaa.gov/noaainfo/heritage/coastandgeodeticsurvey/index.html Coast and Geodetic Survey Heritage] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151219185106/http://www.lib.noaa.gov/noaainfo/heritage/coastandgeodeticsurvey/index.html |date=2015-12-19 }}</ref>
The agency was renamed the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey in 1878.<ref name="NOAA"/><ref name="timeline18071899"/><ref name=archivescatalog/> Its men and women (women professionals were hired as early as 1845) led scientific and engineering activities through the decades. They supported the U.S. war effort during the [[Spanish American War]] (1898) and World War I (1917–1918). In 1926, they started production of [[aeronautical chart]]s.<ref name="NOAA"/><ref name="timeline18071899"/> During the height of the [[Great Depression in the United States|Great Depression]] in the 1930s, the Coast and Geodetic Survey organized surveying parties and field offices that employed over 10,000 people, including many out-of-work engineers.<ref>[http://www.lib.noaa.gov/noaainfo/heritage/coastandgeodeticsurvey/index.html Coast and Geodetic Survey Heritage] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151219185106/http://www.lib.noaa.gov/noaainfo/heritage/coastandgeodeticsurvey/index.html |date=2015-12-19 }}</ref>


In  [[World War II]], the Coast and Geodetic Survey sent over 1,000 civilian members and more than half of its [[NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps|commissioned officers]] to serve as [[Hydrography|hydrographers]], [[artillery]] surveyors, [[cartography|cartographers]], U.S. Army engineers, intelligence officers, and [[Geophysics|geophysicists]] in all theaters of the war. Coast and Geodetic Survey civilians on the home front produced over 100 million maps and charts for the [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] Forces. Eleven members of the Survey were killed during the war.
In  [[World War II]], the Coast and Geodetic Survey sent over 1,000 civilian members and more than half of its [[NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps|commissioned officers]] to serve as [[Hydrography|hydrographers]], [[artillery]] surveyors, [[cartography|cartographers]], U.S. Army engineers, intelligence officers, and [[Geophysics|geophysicists]] in all theaters of the war. Coast and Geodetic Survey civilians on the home front produced over 100 million maps and charts for the [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] Forces. Eleven members of the Survey were killed during the war.
Retrieved from ‘https://openusaproject.com/wiki/Special:MobileDiff/14878...28765’