OCEAN STATION VESSELS 



At a conference with the Chief of Naval Operations on 1 March 

 1946 it was agreed, because of personnel limitations, to reduce the 

 Atlantic stations to 6 by 15 March and on that date to return opera- 

 tional control back to the Coast Guard. The British were suffering 

 from similar personnel limitations and progressively withdrew their 

 vessels, until on 1 May 1946 the United States was the only govern- 

 ment maintaining any ocean station vessels. 



The need for the services supplied by the patrol vessels had not 

 decreased since the war, because, as military flying decreased, com- 

 mercial flying operations increased. The first steps to establish the 

 weather patrol on a permanent peacetime basis were taken at the 

 North Atlantic Route Conference of the Provisional International 

 Civil Aviation Organization (PICAO) in March 1946 at Dublin, 

 Ireland. To maintain a North Atlantic weather service that would 

 also provide adequate air navigation facilities, the conference 

 recommended that a minimum of 13 stations be established. These 

 stations were to be maintained continuously by vessels thoroughly 

 equipped with modern meteorological instruments, electronic navi- 

 gational gear, and trained technical personnel. The United States, 

 operating approximately sixty-five percent of the transatlantic 

 aircraft, was to provide seven stations, plus an eighth station in 

 cooperation with Canada. 



The Council of PICAO (now ICAO) approved these recommenda- 

 tions in the latter part of May 1946. To further implement this 

 action, the United States of America was requested to meet with 

 Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Ireland, The Nether- 

 lands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom 

 to investigate the situation thoroughly. This conference was held 

 in London, England, in September 1946 and resulted in a signed 

 International Agreement that 13 permanent Atlantic ocean weather 



stations were to be established not later than 1 July 1947. All terms 

 of the agreement were to come into force 25 August 1947 and remain 

 until 30 June 1950. Further, a conference was to convene not later 

 than 1 April 1949 to consider revision and renewal of this agreement. 



On 1 July 1946 the Coast Guard was assigned directional control 

 of the entire program for stations maintained by the United States. 



Since 1954 there have been 9 ocean station vessels in the North 

 Atlantic and these will apparently remain for many years. 



PACIFIC-HISTORY 



The history of the Pacific ocean station vessels began in 1943 



when the Commander in Chief of the U. S. Fleet ordered the 

 establishment of two weather reporting stations in the Pacific. One 

 was established between the Hawaiian Islands and the California 

 coast, the other in the Gulf of Alaska. 



During the war all stations were manned by the U.S. Navy. 

 Since the war, however the stations have been manned by the U. S. 

 Navy or by the U. S. Coast Guard with U. S. Weather Bureau 

 observational personnel. 



The Pacific network was progressively expanded until 1 

 January 1946 when a total of 24 weather and plane guard stations 

 were in operation. Except for one Canadian-manned station, the 

 U. S. Navy exercised full directional and operational control over 

 the Pacific station vessels. 



Late in February 1946 the Pacific network began to feel the 

 impact of the same obstacles which were forcing a reduction in the 

 Atlantic operation and several stations were discontinued. 



On 15 April 1946 the U. S. Coast Guard took over operational 

 control and on 1 July 1946 assumed directional control. 



Currently a total of 3 ocean station vessels exist in the Pacific. 

 Two of these stations are manned by the United States and one by 

 Canada. 



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