The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps, known informally as the NOAA Corps, is one of eight federal uniformed services of the United States, and operates under the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), a scientific agency overseen by the Department of Commerce. The NOAA Corps is made up of scientifically and technically trained officers. It is one of only two U.S. uniformed services – the other being the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps – that consists only of commissioned officers, with no enlisted or warrant officer ranks. The NOAA Corps' primary mission is to monitor oceanic conditions, support major waterways, and monitor atmospheric conditions.
The National Geodetic Survey (NGS), formerly the United States Survey of the Coast (1807–1836), United States Coast Survey (1836–1878), and United States Coast and Geodetic Survey (USC&GS) (1878–1970), is a United States federal agency that defines and manages a national coordinate system, providing the foundation for transportation and communication; mapping and charting; and a large number of applications of science and engineering. Since its foundation in its present form in 1970, it has been part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), of the United States Department of Commerce.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Office of Marine and Aviation Operations (OMAO) operates a wide variety of specialized aircraft and ships to complete NOAA's environmental and scientific missions. OMAO also manages the NOAA Small Boat Program and the NOAA Diving Program, the latter having as part of its mission the job of ensuring a level of diving skill conducive to safe and efficient operations in NOAA-sponsored underwater activities.
USS Flamingo (AM-32) was a Lapwing-class minesweeper built for the United States Navy near the end of World War I. After service overseas clearing mines after the Armistice, the ship was laid up until 1922 when she was transferred to the United States Department of Commerce for use by the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey. Renamed USC&GS Guide, the ship operated as a survey vessel along the West Coast of the United States for 17 years, making significant contributions to navigation, hydrographic surveying, and oceanography. In June 1941, Guide was transferred back to the Navy, converted into a salvage ship, and renamed USS Viking (ARS-1). As Viking, she worked primarily from bases in California until 1953, when she was sold for scrapping.
George Davidson was a geodesist, astronomer, geographer, surveyor and engineer in the United States.
USS Oceanographer (AGS-3) was a survey ship of the United States Navy during World War II that produced charts chiefly of passages in the Solomon Islands area of the Pacific Ocean. Upon transfer to the Navy, she had initially briefly been named and classed as gunboat USS Natchez (PG-85). Before her World War II Navy service, she had been USC&GS Oceanographer (OSS-26), a survey ship with the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey from 1930.
USS Lydonia (SP-700) was United States Navy patrol vessel in commission from 1917 to 1919 that saw service during World War I. Prior to her U.S. Navy service, she had been William A. Lydon's private yacht, Lydonia II, from 1912 to 1917. She spent most of the war based at Gibraltar, escorting and protecting Allied ships in the Mediterranean and along the Atlantic Ocean coast of Europe. After her U.S. Navy service ended, she served from 1919 to 1947 in the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey as the coastal survey ship USCGS Lydonia (CS-302).
NOAA Ship Surveyor was an oceanographic survey ship in commission in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) from 1970 until 1995. Prior to her NOAA career, she was in commission in the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey from 1960 to 1970 as USC&GS Surveyor. She was the second and last Coast and Geodetic Survey ship named Surveyor and has been the only NOAA ship thus far to bear the name.
USC&GS Natoma was built as the private motorboat Natoma in 1913 for Charles H. Foster, President of the Cadillac Motor Car Company of Chicago. In 1917 the United States Navy acquired the boat for use in World War I. The vessel was commissioned USS Natoma for Section Patrol duties and designated SP-666. Natoma spent the war years patrolling New York harbor and approaches. On 9 April 1919 the boat was transferred to United States Coast and Geodetic Survey surveying on both coasts until 1935.
USS Elsie III (SP-708) was a United States Navy patrol vessel in commission from 1917 to 1919 that saw service during World War I. After the completion of her U.S. Navy career, she was in commission in the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey as the survey launch USC&GS Elsie III from 1919 to 1944.
USC&GS Ranger was a steamer that served in the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey from 1919 to 1930 or 1931.
USC&GS Marindin was a launch that served as a survey ship in the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey from 1919 to 1944. She was the only Coast and Geodetic Survey ship to bear the name.
The second USC&GS Fathomer was a steamer that served as a survey ship in the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey from 1905 to 1942.
USC&GS Marinduque was a steamer, owned by the Philippine Insular Government, that served exclusively in the Philippines. The ship was purchased by the Philippine Bureau of Coast Guard and Transportation to support both government logistical and administrative travel needs as well as the usual functions of a coast guard vessel. The vessel was transferred to the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey serving as a survey ship from 1905 to 1932. Marinduque and Romblon were sister ships, both built in Japan.
NOAAS Davidson was a survey ship in commission in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) from 1970 to 1989. Prior to her NOAA service, she was in commission in the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey from 1967 to 1970 as USC&GS Davidson, the second Coast and Geodetic Survey ship of the name. She was the only sister ship of NOAAS McArthur (S 330).
USC&GS Davidson was the name of two ships of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, and may refer to:
USC&GS Gilbert was a launch that served as a survey ship in the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey from 1930 to 1962.
Rear Admiral Leo Otis Colbert was the third Director of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey and a career officer in the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey Corps, predecessor of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps.
Rear Admiral Raymond Stanton Patton was the second Director of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey and a career officer in the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey Corps, predecessor of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps. He was the first Coast and Geodetic Survey Corps officer to reach flag rank.
MV Brown Bear was an American research vessel in commission in the fleet of the United States Department of Agriculture′s Bureau of Biological Survey and Alaska Game Commission from 1934 to 1940 and in the fleet of the United States Department of the Interior′s Fish and Wildlife Service from 1940 to 1942 and from 1946 to 1951, under the control of the University of Washington from 1952 to 1965, and in commission in the fleet of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service from 1965 to 1970 and of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration′s National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) from 1970 to 1972.
United States