INTRODUCTION 



The sea has always beckoned man unto its broad domain: first fishermen, then explorers, 

 then sailors of commerce and then sea fighters to protect that commerce. As man became bolder 

 and ventured farther and longer in ever increasing numbers of ships, his need for protection and 

 knowledge became more demanding. Thus, among its early acts. Congress established in 1790 a 

 sea-going Revenue Service (later the Coast Guard) to enforce our laws at sea. In 1798 it authorized 

 a Navy to defend our coasts and our ocean commerce. The Coast Survey (later the Coast and 

 Geodetic Survey, now the National Ocean Survey of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

 Administration, NOAA) was established in 1807 to improve navigation in coastal waters of the 

 United States. The Depot of Charts and Instruments (now the Naval Oceanographic Office) was 

 created in 1830 to provide charting and routing services to our merchant and naval ships. To 

 improve the management of our fishery resources the U. S. Fish Commission (later the Bureau of 

 Commercial Fisheries and the Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife, both now under NOAA) was 

 established in 1871. The assumption by the federal government of these early responsibilities 

 marked the birth of "oceanographic" sliips. Today our involvement with the oceans is far broader 

 than the original concepts of national security and commerce. The realization that the oceans were 

 no longer limited to highways of commerce awakened the Nation to their tremendous resources 

 and potential. The need to explore and exploit the oceans gave new impetus to the establishment 

 of the necessary oceanographic fleet. 



But new ships, designed and built for a specific mission, evolve with excruciating slowness. 

 In the interim an unbelievable potpourri of ships and conversions had to be utilized. 



This is an attempt to delineate the evolution of oceanographic ships used by the Navy and 

 other agencies— past and present— and to offer a view toward the future. 



388-301 0-11-2 



