ADVANCEMENT OF MARINE SCIENCES 17 



Today, when ocean, intercoastal, coastal, and Great Lakes com- 

 merce all move on the surface, hazards are great and the protection 

 of our shipping a national endeavor requiring the activities of several 

 miportant agencies of our Government. 



Much of this protection is required along our lengthy shores. 



WHERE LAND AND OCEAN MEET— OUR 12,255-MILE 



COASTLINE 



The first technical agency established by our Government, the 

 Coast and Geodetic Survey, was created in 1807 primarily to safe- 

 guard our shipping by charting coastal waters and providing tables 

 of tides and data on currents. 



With the advance of science its duties have increased to include 

 geomagnetic surveys, gravity observations, the recording of earth- 

 quakes, many of undersea origin, and the transmitting throughout 

 the world of warnings of tidal waves. 



States fronting on the ocean have a conibh\ed coastline of 12.255 

 statute miles; a tidal shorehne of 28,909 miles. Our Atlantic coast- 

 line, the most highh' industrialized in the world, is 1,889 miles in 

 length; the gulf coastline is 1,659 miles; Pacific coastline, 1,292 miles; 

 Alaska coastline, 6,640 miles; and that of Hawaii, 775 miles. 



To perform its many duties along this area where land and water 

 meet, a coastline exceeded in length only by that of Canada and the 

 U.S.S.R., the Coast and Geodetic Survey' has 15 ships. 



Only one is new, the 3,150-ton Surveyor, recommended b}' your 

 Committee and Congress in 1957, completed in late 1960, and onl}^ 

 recently assigned to deep ocean studies, and to surveys m the Chuck- 

 chi Sea, which borders Alaska on the north. 



On May 10, 1961, the Comptroller General of the United States 

 communicated to the Senate (?'ommittee on Commerce through its 

 chairman a 74-page review of the Coast and Geodetic Surve^^ The 

 review covers the years 1959-60 and, while just completed, does not 

 include the Surveyor. 



Comptroller General Joseph Campbell, with reference to the Survey 

 fleet, stated: 



At December 31, 1951, the Btn*eau, in carrying out its 

 charting responsibilities, had 14 surve^ang vessels. The fleet 

 consisted of (1) three major long-range vessels designed for 

 operation in exposed waters, (2) one intermediate-range ves- 

 sel designed also for operation in exposed waters, but with 

 more Imiited sin-veying abihties, (3) two short-range inshore 

 vessels with limited seaworthiness and operating abilities, 

 and (4) eight small vessels having a still more limited scope 

 of operations. 



Prior to World War II, the Bureau had eight major vessels 

 engaged in offshore surveys. Because of the uonreplacement 

 of major ships transferred to the Navy during the war and 

 the loss of one ship by disposal because of age and tmfitness 

 for future surveys, the Bureau will have only four major 

 ships in 1961, including one under construction * * *. 



70982 — ^61 2 



