18 ADVANCEMENT OF MARINE SCIENCES 



The last ship referred to, as previously stated, has now been 

 completed. 



The Comptroller General's report continued: 



During fiscal year 1958, a special 3-man board, appointed 

 by the then Under Secretary of Commerce and composed of 

 representatives from the Department's Office of Budget and 

 Management, the Maritime Administration, and the Coast 

 and Geodetic Survey, made a physical inspection and study 

 of the condition of 13 of the Bureau's survey ships. 



The Board reported that, with the exception of three ships, 

 none of the vessels inspected had any projected utilization 

 in an extended charting program and that each of these ves- 

 sels had only limited usefulness for var^nng short periods of 

 operations at below normally accepted standards of efficiency. 



The Board reconnnended that steps be taken toward the 

 establishment of an efficient fleet capable of carrying out the 

 requirements of the nautical charting program and that this 

 be accomplished in a maximum of 6 years. 



What the Comptroller General's report did not mention was the 

 fact that prior to completion of the Surveyor, the Coast and Geodetic 

 Survey had not had a new ship for 18 years, that one of its ships is 

 over a third of a century old, and that the average age of all ships is 

 22 years. 



While perils to our shipping have increased with the expansion of 

 a competitor nation's submarine fleet, and while new demands have 

 been made on science for greater knowledge of the waters that wash 

 our shores and the bottoms beneath them, the floating facilities of 

 the agency charged with charting these waters and the underlying 

 terrain are smaller in number and less capable than before World 

 War II. 



How vital this may be to the Nation is told in a third report, that 

 of a special committee of the National Academy of Sciences, submitted 

 several months ago. It stated in part: 



In the world of geophysics the Coast and Geodetic Survey 

 has long been recognized as a world authority. The Survey's 

 work in oceanography, astronomy (as applied to positioning), 

 gravimetry, geomagnetics, and seismology has furnished an 

 important contribution to the world's knowledge of these 

 subjects. 



* * * * * 



Mankind is now standing on the threshold of the space age 

 and a precise knowledge of physical characteristics of tlie 

 earth is completely essential to the development of this era. 



Scientific and engineering knowledge has expanded at an 

 almost unbelievable rate during the past two decades, the 

 expansion bringing new and complex instruments and 

 devices, new processes, entirely new disciplines in science 

 and engineering. 



In this era of expanding knowledge it is impossible to 

 stand still; a scientific and engineering activity, or a nation, 

 either advances or regresses. 



The Coast and Geodetic Survey, during its 153 years of 

 service, has made splendid contributions to knowledge and 



