196 OCEANOGRAPHY IN THE UNITED STATES 



linked by teleijraph cable, a few days' difference in arrival time might 

 mean the difference between profit and bankruptcy. Thus the other 

 maritime nations of the world quickly set up similar organizations, 

 whose work was coordinated by a conference held at Brussels in 1853. 

 International cooperation and coordination in oceanography is there- 

 fore over a century old. 



The other result of Maury's log book analyses was a series of charts 

 showing where and in what months the various kinds of whales were 

 to be found. The development of the Pennsylvania oil-fields, after 

 which kerosene replaced whale-oil in lighting American homes, ended 

 the wliale fishery before the value of these charts could be fully tested. 

 The relationship between oceanography and fisheries has not been for- 

 gotten, however. 



The Hydrographic Office was formally established by Act of Con- 

 gress, approved June 21, 1866, which charged it with — 



improvement of the means for navitating safely the vessels of the Navy and of 

 the mercantile marine, by providing, under the authority of the Secretary of the 

 Navy, accurate and cheap nautical charts, sailing directions, navigators, and 

 manuals of instructions, for the use of all vessels of the United States, and for 

 the benefit and use of navigators generally. 



There are no geographic restrictions on the operations of Hydro- 

 graphic Office. Traditionally, however, the U.S. Coast and Geodetic 

 Survey surveys and charts the coasts of the United States, its Terri- 

 tories and possessions. The Hydrographic Office does not duplicate 

 the work of the Coast and Geodetic Survey in these waters, but con- 

 fines its efforts to offshore and foreign waters. Therefore most yachts- 

 men and fishermen, who mainly operate in coastal waters, are more 

 familiar with the products of the Coast and Geodetic Survey. The 

 American merchant marine, on the other hand, depends wholly on 

 Hydrographic Office products for information on foreign waters. 



Up to 1928, oceanographic information obtained by the Hydro- 

 graphic Office was confined to bathymetric soundings and to such 

 information on the ocean's surface as could be obtained without special 

 gear. The cooperation of merchant ships, begun by Maury, was con- 

 tinued, with the result that hundreds of thousands of observations of 

 waves, sea surface temperatures, and ocean currents were obtained. In 

 1928, as a result of inquiries by the first Committee on Oceanography 

 of the National Academy of Sciences, Secretary of the Navy Wilbur 

 set up a board under Rear Admiral Schofield to investigate the possi- 

 bility of further contributions by the Navy to oceanography. The 

 Schofield Board recommended two pi'ograms. One was the commis- 

 sioning of a full-time research vessel by the Navy. The other was 

 broader participation by civilian scientists in routine voyages of naval 

 vessels. 



The first recommendation was not implemented, but under the sec- 

 ond oceanographers from Scripps Institution of Oceanography and 

 the University of Washington on board naval vessels between 1933 

 and 1939 occuped over 400 oceanographic stations in waters from 

 Panama to Hawaii and Alaska. In the Atlantic, ])r. Vening Meinesz 

 was enabled to carry out over 100 gi'avity observations aboard U.S. 

 submarines during the same ])e.riod. In the thirties, WPA projects 

 were set up under the sponsorship of tlie Hydrograj^hic Office to trans- 

 fer the accumulated surface observations to punched cards in order 

 to facilitate sorting and compiling of the data. 



