Hi, I’m the History Guy. I have a degree in history and I love
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You are most likely familiar with the five branches of the United States Armed Forces,
the Army, the Navy, the Marines, the Air Force and the Coast Guard. And while most Americans
know that we have those five armed services, many Americans don't seem to know that there are in
fact seven uniformed services. And those other two services, the United States Public Health Service
Commissioned Corps and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Corps,
while they have much smaller and more narrowly defined roles, play vital services to the United
States, even though most Americans don't even seem to know that they exist. And not only that,
but they both have rich histories of contributing to the nation, and so today
we are going to talk about the smallest of the US uniformed services. One with a rich history,
the oldest scientific agency in America, the agency that is today known as the NOAA Corps.
The history of the NOAA Corps goes all the way back to 1807 in the administration of Thomas
Jefferson, when Congress created, by an act of Congress, the United States Survey of the
Coast. The reason that America's first scientific agency was created was to increase trade in the
United States, by using scientific methods to map the nation's coastlines and waterways, and make
them safe for navigation. Or as it would later be described, ‘the quest to create the perfect map’.
From the start of the survey included serving US Navy and Army officers, because there was
a belief that the functions of the survey would be vital in time of war. Those serving officers
were predecessors of the NOAA Commissioned Corps. In 1871 the responsibilities of the Survey were
expanded to include the geodetic study of the interior of the United States, and so
the name was changed to the US Coast and Geodetic Survey. There was a problem in that the scientists
of the Survey who were not serving in the military, but were in time of war serving,
were not in uniform. And had they been captured they could be shot as spies, and so in 1917,
Congress made them all Commissioned Officers and made them part of the US uniformed services.
In 1959, the responsibilities of the survey were expanded again,
to include all oceanographic research across the world.
In 1965, the Environmental Sciences Service Administration, or ESSA was created. The Corps
was removed from the responsibility of the survey and placed directly under ESSA, it was called the
ESSA Corps, and it would provide the officers who would man the ships and planes of the US
Coast and Geodetic Survey. Then in 1970 when ESSAs role was expanded to become the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Corps got its final name the NOAA Commissioned Corps.
In its time, the Survey was responsible for so many massive scientific discoveries and new
technologies, that it would be impossible to try to list them all here. But it made major advances
not just in cartography, but in fields like astronomy,hydrology, geophysics and meteorology.
Among its many important discoveries and inventions, in 1834, the Survey discovered
the Getty Channel at the mouth of New York Harbor which significantly reduced sealing times to and
from New York City. In 1838, they developed the system of standardizing the marking of buoys at
a harbor which is called Red Right Return; that system is still in use today. In 1845,
the Survey engaged in the world's first systematic oceanographic project for
studying a specific phenomena, studying the Gulf Stream and its environs. In the 1920s
the survey developed Radio Acoustic Ranging, the first navigational system in history,
that did not rely on visual means for positioning. In 1955 the Survey's use of a magnetometer,
identified magnetic striping on the ocean floor, which helped develop the theory of
plate tectonics. Since 1867, the Survey has published its scientific discoveries and
important navigational information in its regular publication, the United States Coastal Pilot.
From the very start it was recognized that the functions of the Survey might be vital
in time of war, and one of the reasons the survey was created was to maintain a Corps
of professionals who could easily assimilate into the military in time of war. In all major wars,
members of the Survey had been right with the combat troops in The Front, sometimes even
IN front, of those combat troops. At times the Survey has played direct combat roles,
for example in the Civil War they helped to direct Coastal Bombardment Ships. In many wars they've
played lots and lots of functions, like Artillery Orienteering Officers or Mine Laying Officers,
Troop Transport Navigators, Intelligence Officers, Amphibious Engineers or the
Beach Masters who direct embarkation and instructors in technical schools.
They played a part in critical functions of the Cold War, for example, developing early warning
systems and monitoring nuclear tests. Of course one of the most important functions of the Survey
in time of war is to provide maps, which are very valuable in combat. For example, their knowledge
of the coast very much aided in blockading the Confederacy in the Civil War, and to give you an
idea how much they can do, during the Second World War, the US Coast and Geodetic Survey produced an
astounding, 100 million maps and charts, for the use of the United States and its allies.
Members of the Corps faced all of the risks of combat, and members have died
in every major war. In addition they face the risks of ocean navigation,
the greatest loss of life in the history of the Corps occurred in 1860,
when a collision at sea sunk the Coast Survey Steamer Robert J Walker, with a loss of 20 hands.
Today the NOAA officer Corps consists of three hundred and seventy-nine officers,
operating sixteen ships and ten aircraft. There are no enlisted or warrant officer
ranks. The NOAA Corps is under the Department of Commerce, they operate NOAA ships and aircraft,
manage research programs, conduct diving operations and serve in administrative roles,
not just in NOAA but throughout the Department Defense and in NASA. One of the more spectacular
roles includes the famous NOAA Hurricane Hunters, flying their sturdy P-3 Orion aircraft into the
heart of the world's most violent storms, to help weather forecasters and to gather scientific data.
Since 1917 the Corps has been uniformed non-combatants,
today they wear the dress uniform of the United States Navy and the
operational dress of the United States Coast Guard, but with NOAA insignia.
In their 211 year history, the officers of the United States Survey of the Coast, in their quest
to create the Perfect Map, have redefined our understanding of the world and in doing
so they have redefined our world view. In times of peace and in war they have risked all in the
name of scientific discovery, and they are still today on the frontlines of scientific discovery.
Discoveries that make our world a safer place. And so there is every reason, that we should every
day, remember and admire the outsize contribution of the nation's smallest uniformed service.
I’m the History Guy. I hope you enjoyed this edition of my series 5 minutes of history,
short snippets of forgotten history 5 to 10 minutes long. If you did enjoy it then
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