148 



OCEANOGRAPHY IN THE UNITED STATES 



the era of exploratory oceanographlc cruises, which 

 in a certain sense is now coming to an end, 82 years 

 later. 



The expedition of the German research ship, 

 METEOR (Fig. 2), in the North and South Atlantic 

 from 1925 to 1927 established our knowledge of the 

 general circulation in the Atlantic. The METEOR 

 was an auxiliary steamer of 1200 displacement tons 

 and carrying a total crew of 114.2 Together with 

 other famous ships, such as the DISCOVERY, DIS- 

 COVERY n, DANA, EXPLORER, and WILLIAM 

 SCORESBY, she was a part of the grand era of oce- 

 anic exploration when oceanic expeditions were fitted 

 out by governments, sent on long cruises, and dis- 

 mantled upon their return, whereupon the scientist's 

 attention was given over to working up the scientific 

 results of the trip. 



Since World War n, with the exception of the 

 cruises of the ALBATROSS and GALATHEA out of 

 Scandinavia, shorter individual cruises of a continu- 

 ing nature and for particular scientific purposes are 

 the fashion In oceanography, both In the United States 

 and abroad. 



In all of the cruises mentioned, the Navys of the 

 particular countries involved were vitally Interested 

 in the work and often provided the ships. The United 

 States Navy first took official notice of the oceans 

 when, at the recommendation of Lieutenant L. M. 

 Goldsborough, a "Depot of Charts and Instruments" 

 was set up at the seat of the government. This Office was established as the Hydro- 

 graphic Office In 1866.3 



To show the Intimate and vital connection of the U. S. Navy with the science of oceanography, 

 in particular for the last 30 years, this quotation from Vaughan's "International Aspects of 

 Oceanography" Is presented: 



"On April 27, 1927, the National Academy of Sciences adopted a resolution which read as 

 follows: THAT 'The President of the Academy be requested to appoint a Committee on Ocea- 

 nography from the sections of the Academy concerned to consider the share of the United States 

 of America in a world wide program of oceanographlc research and report to the Academy. . .' 



"In the hope that the United States Navy might find It feasible to extend its activities In 

 oceanographlc Investigations, the members of the National Academy Committee on Oceanog- 

 raphy called on the Secretary of the Navy, at that time the Honorable Charles Francis Adams. 

 The conference led to the appointment of a Naval Committee on Oceanography under the chair- 

 manship of Rear Admiral Frank H. Schofield, now retired. This Committee made several rec- 

 onmiendations, one of which was that Naval vessels equipped with sonic-sounding apparatus 

 should, when feasible, follow routes which would carry them over oceanic areas for which 

 information on oceanic depths was Inadequate. This recommendation was adopted and It has 

 led to probably the most extensive systematic program of sounding for bottom configuration 

 undertaken by any country. Since about 1928 most of the North Pacific north of a line from the 

 California coast to the Hawaiian Islands and thence to the Philippines has been covered by a 

 series of closely spaced lines from east to west and these lines have been crossed by other 

 lines, north and south between the Aleutian and the Hawaiian Islands and toward the northeast 



Fig. 2. METEOR. German (Hydro- 

 graphic Department) research ship 

 of the late 1920's. 



^Thomas Wayland Vaughan (and others), International Aspects of Oceanography (National Acad- 

 emy of Sciences, Washington, D. C, 193Ty! 

 Thomas Wayland Vaughan, Op. cit. 



