132 OCEANOGRAPHY IN THE UNITED STATES 



ments which was unforeseen at the close of World "War II. This 

 status has come about largely through the Navy's interest in the 

 oceans. Even prior to the famous cruise of the Challenger in 1873, 

 which is usually considered as the beginning of modem oceanography, 

 the Navy had carried out several scientific expeditions in the Atlantic, 

 Pacific, and Ajitarctic Oceans. The Navy's formal interest in the 

 oceans began in 1842 when Lt. Matthew Fontaine Maury was ap- 

 pointed Superintendent of the Depot of Charts and Instruments, 

 which later became the Hydrographic Office. Today all active ships 

 of the fleet and some MSTS ships collect soundings and bathythermo- 

 graph information dunng transits and forward this information to 

 the Hydrographic Office, The number of ships which supply this 

 type of information is approximately 900. 



Prior to the last war, the Navy carried out a program in oceano- 

 graphic research through the Bureau of Ships and later through the 

 National Defense Research Council. During the war this program 

 became vital in combating the German submarine wolfpacks because 

 of the effects of the ocean on the transmission of underwater sound. 

 The bathythermograph which was useful to submarines in diving and 

 evasive tactics came directly from the inventive mind of the oceano- 

 grapher and without a doubt was one of the most valued auxiliary 

 marine instruments used during the war. After the war, the Bureau 

 of Ships sponsored oceanographic research for many years and em- 

 phasized the more applied aspects of oceanography in antisubmarine 

 warfare. In 1946 a Division of Oceanography was established by 

 the U.S. Navy Hydrogi^aphic Office. In 1947, the Office of Naval Re- 

 search established a program in oceanography which has been ex- 

 panded to the point that nearly all oceanographic institutes are spon- 

 sored to some extent. In addition to sponsoring the research pro- 

 gram, ONR has assumed a position of leadership in this field. In 

 1957, together with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the 

 Atomic Energy Commission, The Chief of Naval Research requested 

 the National Academy of Sciences to form a committee on oceano- 

 graphy to advise the Government on a coordinated national program 

 in oceanography and to act as a focal point for international coopera- 

 tion. 



Within the Department of Defense, the Navy has the major respon- 

 sibility for research at sea, for looking after many of the marine in- 

 terests of this country, for international discussions about the oceans, 

 and for controlling commerce on the sea when dictated by war 

 conditions. 



Since the oceans are the Navy's primary domain and since the Navy 

 must move ships about in the oceans, under the oceans, and aircraft 

 in the air over the oceans, it goes without saying that a complete un- 

 derstanding of the oceans, the ocean bottom, and the atmosphere 

 above must be obtained if the Navy is to wage modern war success- 

 fully. In the design of ships and aircraft, the oceanic environment 

 must be taken into account and its effects on these instruments of war 

 must be understood. By understandnig the envh-onment we mean 

 that the cuiTent systems must be Icnown from the surface to tlie bot- 

 tom, the bottom topography must be known in detail, the temperature 

 structure from day to day must be known, sea and swell forecasting 

 must be efficient, the formation and breakup of Arctic Ocean ice must 



