THE 1800 s -(Cont'd) 



his involvement in an unsuccessful scheme for the colonization of Mexico by Virginia expatriates. 

 In 1863 the National Academy of Sciences was established, primarily through the efforts of 

 Jean Louis Randolphe Agassiz of Harvard University, with the stated mission "to investigate, 

 examine, experiment and report upon any subject of science or art . . . whenever called upon by 

 any Department of the Government." One of the first acts of the new Academy was to examine 

 the desirability of continuing Maury's charts and sailing directions. The results of this examination, 

 which was requested by Rear Admiral C. H. Davis, Chief of the Bureau of Navigation, and a 

 veteran of service with the Coast Survey in the 1850s, determined that they ". . . embrace much 

 which is unsound in philosophy and little that is practically useful." Fortunately, these sentiments 

 were not shared by the seafaring conimunity. 



In 1 866 Congress established the Hydrographic Office as a separate institution and divorced 

 it from the Naval Observatory. The Act consummating this separation stated in part: 



"There shall be a Hydrographic Office attached to the Bureau of Navigation in 

 the Navy Department, for the improvement of the means for navigating 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." 

 Oceanographic interest was revived again shortly after the Civil War, motivated primarily by 

 the need for survey data required for submarine telegraph cable routes in the North Pacific and for 

 interoceanic canal routes across Central America. Typical of the Navy ships used for these surveys 

 were the 250-foot gunboat Alaska, the 250-foot sloop Benicia. the 137-foot gunboat Pahs, the 

 130-foot gunboat Kansas, the 237-foot sloop Lackawanna, the 265-foot sidewheel gunboat 

 Monocacy, the 201-foot sloop Wachusett, the 237-foot sloop Shenandoah, the 186-foot sloop 

 Narrangansett and the 198-foot sloop Tuscarora. 



The Coast Survey, after the War, resumed its exploration of the Gulf Stream using their 

 150-foot steamer Bibb, which was the first steam propelled survey vessel, the 148-foot steamer 

 Blake and the 76-foot schooner Drift. The Revenue Cutter Lincoln was meanwhile dispatched to 

 work with the Survey on the first official U.S. exploration of Alaskan waters after the Territory 

 was acquired from Imperial Russia. 



In 1871, the famous zoologist and naturalist, Spencer Fullerton Baird, Assistant Secretary of 

 the Smithsonian Institution, and newly appointed by President Ulysses Grant, first U.S. 

 Commissioner of Fisheries arrived in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. His arrival initiated a long series 

 of events which changed a small New England fishing settlement into an internationally famous 

 center of research in marine sciences and oceanic fisheries. 



The creation of the U.S. Fish Commission in 1871 was prompted by the alarming decrease in 

 catches of fish which had continued for more than 15 years. This decline was particularly 

 noticeable in the waters of Vineyard Sound. Being centrally located in relation to the principal 

 fishing grounds of New England and having good dock facilities and water depth. Woods Hole was 

 selected by Baird as the first base of sea coast operations for the Fish Commission. Interestingly, 

 Woods Hole was something less than a significant fishing center. In the 1880 census, the fishing 

 activity at Woods Hole is described in the following words: 



"Of the male inhabitants only seven are regularly engaged in fishing, the 

 remainder being employed in the guano factory, in farming and other minor 

 pursuits . . . There is one ship carpenter in Woods Hole, but he finds 

 employment in his legitimate business only at long intervals. Of sailmakers, 

 riggers, caulkers, and other artisans there are none. Four men are employed by 

 Mr. Spindel, during the height of the fishing season, in icing and boxing fish. The 



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