This piece reminds me of a story I heard years ago. A student was having trouble with his calculus. His teacher chided him, saying, by the time George Washington was your age, he was already a surveyor! The student replied, yes, but when he was your age, he was President of the United States!
I never knew that NOAA uniformed service, let alone there was such a thing as a non-combat uniformed service. Thank you again for another wonderful video!
Thank you. As a retired NOAA Corps officer it is nice to see something about our service that was not done by our own public affairs. I am also impressed by your cover collection and the fact that you a actually obtained one with a NOAA device. They are quite rare. Your is of the newer stamped metal type. When i joined in 1970 there were too few of us to justify the expense of a set of stamping dies and so our cap devices were hand made using metallic threads by needle crafters. In fact if you go back to the 1930's many orher branches of services had similar hand made devices. If you would like my original cap device I would enjoy you having it. I think you can contact me by email through my youtube account.
As an Air Force veteran, I cannot understate how much I believe more attention should be given to the other uniformed services. Thank you for such an informative video.
NOAA also manages fisheries stocks in Federal waters. I worked for a number of years with them researching fish populations of marine waters of Alaska.
It was a great pleasure performing deep sea exploration on board the NOAA research vessel Atlantis, working with the submersible DSV Alvin as well as with her sister ship the Ronald Brown. Great people and many wonderful stories!
Wow...thanks, I now have a much better appreciation and knowledge of NOAA. The early years of this service are most interesting. I have always been so impressed at how men could so accurately map out land & rivers & coast lines, etc., with just basic surveying tools...long before any modern computer help or GPS or tools like those. The Lewis & Clarke expeditions come to mind. The twisting & turning of rivers and coast lines is particularly fascinating to me as to how accurate the good surveyors could draw it all out and be so close to the real thing. One of my ancestors and his family were among the first permanent white settlers here in Arkansas along the White River in this area back in 1816. Among other skills, Jehoiada was a surveyor and laid out the first streets in Batesville in about 1826. Every time I see road crews surveying I think about my ancestor. As always, Mr. History Guy...very interesting, and your enthusiasm for your topics is what makes it so fun to watch...and learn.
marbleman52 that’s really cool. One of my ancestors (my great, great, great, great, grandpa) was one of the first settlers of Kentucky. He is memorialized on a bottle of whiskey! Although the family has nothing to do with it these days, I still get a kick out of seeing his name on the bottle. I have to admit, however, your ancestor has a much more constructive legacy!
While The American Practical Navigator was still at press, when Lewis and Clark took off, the use of a transit was well known and could be used like a sextant in developing a solution for position. Then it was all pen and paper making a map.
As an Air Traffic Control student in the Military, I was taught to give/make "limited weather observations" and learned about how much NOAA has provided the world. I feel grateful for understanding how weather works and affects us every day. Another gem! Thank you.
Loved this. After finding my first U.S. Geological Survey Marker in 1971, I have been enthralled with the Coast and Geodetic Survey. I still search for Survey Marks. Thank you!
"Carry on, Mr. Bowditch" was a terrific biographical story in my High School library about Nathaniel Bowditch and the incredible contributions he made to seafaring and navigation in the 1800s. His exemplary text is still in use today. Oh, to be able to start again.
Three cheers for all my fellow Surveyors! He’s absolutely right, 90% of people have not a clue what a surveyor is or does. “Whatchu takin pictures of?”
The USS&GS Ship The Pathfinder was lost in the fall of the Philippines in 1942. She had been mapping the Islands for 40+ years and her research was invaluable. Great story.
Wow! I knew about NOAA but didn’t realize its members were part of our military. This was an awesome history lesson and as usual, wasn’t anything I learned in school! I salute current and past members and say thank you for your service to those still serving, who have served and especially those who have lost their lives carrying out their mission! And thank you History Guy for bringing to light something I didn’t know about even after 3 years active duty and over 15 as a military wife!
I very much enjoyed this video. During the 60's I was in high school and sold fishing maps for extra money. It was published yearly here in Southwest Florida and after three years my printer informed me that the original owners of the artwork claimed their copyright. The original map was almost a direct copy of the USCGS chart of the Fort Myers Beach area published in 1958. One end of the Island was labeled Bodwitch Point which I faithfully copied in making my new fishing/advertising map. Here is the point of the whole comment: the end of the island was named after Nathaniel Bowditch, author of The American Practical Navigator. This was a book used as an aid to navigation for which Bowditch became well known. Now whether the USCGS draftsman who drew or edited the 1958 chart made the error, typo or miscopy is not known. When Lee County purchased the property for a park in the 70's and proposed to name it Bodwitch Point Park, it took several calls, letters and presentations of we local navigationally interested people to get the name changed. Nathaniel BOWDITCH deserves to be remembered.
This episode is what inspired my son (aged 14) to want to join the military. It gave him a branch where his love for science combined with his love for his country. Thanks for giving him something to work towards!
Back in 1952 I proudly served on the US Coast and Geodetic Survey ship Pioneer in the Bering Sea. Our captain was Thomas Reed who was a smart and kind gentleman. I was a Yeoman First Class doing lots of chart work, office work, etc. plus being very sick during some monster storms. My basic goal for being on this ship was to save money for college. It was a great, sometimes scary experience that I will always cherish.
Dear History Guy, I don't know how I did not discover you till a couple of months ago. I am now watching several videos a day. I am a history addict especially the lesser known tales. Keep it up my friend.
I have enjoyed your snippets of history and I have always wondered what some of the hats are from. Some of the hats I do recognize and others I don't. Thanks for the education.
I could state this after each video: "BRAVO"! I also love history, and these videos. They should be much more popular, since the length of the time frame plays perfectly to the limited attention span of people......what was I saying? At any rate, well done. I hope you do not run out of history to talk about.
When I was in the coast guard in the late 70's I spent a lot of time in the Bearing sea, enforcing fishing regulations for foreign fishing vessels. We often had a NOAA representative on board who's job was studying fish migrations and numbers. They never wore uniforms on board and we always thought of them as civilian personnel.
love your channel....the picture on the cover of "Coast Pilot" magazine has my hometown on the cover...Eastport Maine.....keep cranking out the history videos...very nice
Great episode! I had no idea that function was performed by a uniformed service, and I never knew NOAA et al was that service. Love the channel, thank you for what you do. Since people have fundamentally not changed since this invention of the type, history is an incredible teacher. You bring history to life, and make its study enjoyable as well as crucial. Thank you.
Another piece filled in, thanks. Had a teacher who was in the Navy in the 1930. They were involved with geophysical survey with these guys where they made surveyed most of the island that would eventually be the ones the US needed if we had to go to war against Japan. He told me they did places like Guam and the Fiji islands. He told that they had to know that war was coming.
My dad served on the USS Niagara PY-9 (SP-136) from 1926 until decommissioned in 1930. They surveyed coast of Venezuela and Central America. Formerly the Yacht Helen Gould it was built in 1898 and commissioned the 6th USS Niagara in 1918. A beautiful ship.
Please feel free to share on any social media or via word of mouth! It is an honor to bring public awareness to many of our topics of forgotten history through this channel.
Your presentations are superb. Oliver Hardy's (the comedian/film star legend) father was likely present at the most significant battle in Knoxville, Fort Sanders. Just a fun tidbit of info.
I like the old surveying history. My brother served on a noaa ship as ships engineer and was an electrician on the uss glacier with noaa personnel when it got stuck trying to rescue an Australian ice breaker
Thank you HG. What a wonderful and enlightening presentation. I had no idea of all the important things NOAA does and how they are on the cutting edge of scientific research.
I served in the Navy attached to a ASW Squadron that flew P3C Orions stationed at NAS JAX FLA between '73>'77. The squadron that occupied the hanger next to us was VP 16 The Hurricane Hunters. Andt they flew the venerable P3C Orion as well. But they were all regular Navy. Whenever all the other squadrons were grounded due to a hurricane blowing around Florida VP16 would be the only squadron pulling a P3 Orion out of the hanger to be readied for a mission to fly into the hurricane. I always thought those guys were nuts. But the aircrew of those planes always talked about how tough the P3 Orion was. I got to fly aboard one belonging to my squadron a couple of times on short "beer run" missions. Short flights to nearby bases to relieve other personnel from their tours of duty. Fun times! ✌🇺🇸
One of America's most important philosopher, Charles Sanders Peirce (1839-1914), spent most of his career as a full-time employ of the Coast and Geodetic Survey, and only intermittently a professor.
Served in the 1381st Geodetic survey Squadron, USAF and later renamed the 1st Geodetic Survey Squadron in the Seventies. We enlisted folks (and some officers) surveyed in the US and outside the US. Our unit also did land surveys, gravity surveys and then satellite surveys. The satellite survey used the GPS system which started as a whole room full of equipment to do the measuring and then engineers got it down to a system you could carry in the back of a truck. Now of course it has been downsized to the cell phone. If I have gotten anything incorrect is is that was 50 years ago and memory is a little faulty. Wish I had known about this rich history back then.
Until 1939 (when it merged with the Coast Guard), there was an 8th uniformed federal service: the Lighthouse Service. Congress established the US Lighthouse Establishment created in 1789 in the Department of the Treasury. Uniformed beginning 1883. Moved to the Department of Commerce in 1903. Reorganized as the Bureau of Lighthouses in 1910.
Yes, I knew about the 7 uniformed services. You did very well in clarifying that the NOAA Corps personnel are all officers. Nice pictures. Good details. Will you be doing a video on the "Public Land Survey System"? If so, the BLM may be a bit prominent in the story. I just want to assert that the US Forest Service works intimately with that system, helps maintain it, and uses it in many practical things. But that system of ranges, townships and sections is not used nationwide. There's a story to that. Canada uses something like it too, but partly upside down. Thank you.
My godfather had been born in Bristol England. During WW II he served in the Royal Navy. After the war he came to the US and moved to the Pacific Northwest. He told me he had gone to work, (this is how he explained it to an 8 year old). The US Coast a Geodetic Survey. His first job they gave him consisted of a row boat, a tent , a compass and paper and pencils and was to survey the coastline of Lake Washington east of Seattle.
As an E8 in the Navy I wasn't sure if I should salute one of these guys. The officer said that I should and began to "dress me down." I quickly informed him that I was a Senior Chief and to change his tone. From that point we had a great conversation.
Another great video! Would you please do a video on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers sometime? There's a lot of fascinating history there tied in with the survey and they even have their own uniform cap for those in the service of the Corps of Engineers fleet of ships and dredges!
I considered joining out of college, but the pool was just too small for a fish like me. I don’t like rules, alas. Big thank to you for shine no a light on these guys! I have some old covers you might like, but I guess you probably already have an example.
🇨🇦we have civilian organizations like our hydrographic survey group that have done similar groundbreaking work in Canada. As a retired meteorologist, I have always been impressed with NOAA and its generally liberal stance on international sharing of their knowledge and technology. Occasionally, politics got in the way for them, but their core stance remained the same...for the most part😎. I enjoyed this episode. The history of meteorology would be fascinating, or how weather shaped history at specific times. Metmen played a significant role in ww2 and much of the applied science of meteorology arose from that period, mainly due to new requirements of aircraft and the great need for met data. Thanks Mr. Guy.
I very much enjoy all of your videos, that I have seen so-far. A number of people have made videos, on the [150th] anniversary, of the "driving of the Golden Spoke"; uniting East & West (USA), by rail. I would live to have your analysis, on that event, if possible.
Great bit of history. Would love to see one on the Army Corps of Engineers if you haven't done one yet. As former member of the Army, I'm always interested it all histories of not only the Army, but all the branches.
Regarding flying through thunderstorms: When I was in graduate school in the early 1970's (Univ of Arizona, Atmospheric Physics) our department chair had participated in what was called the "Thunderstorm Project." This was shortly after WW II and involved experienced USAAC pilots flying instrumented bomber through thunderstorms. He recalled regularly hearing these men screaming, "I have no control over this plane!" They said the controls were like rubber, the planes were just tossed around like the proverbial leaves in a storm. I don't believe any planes were actually lost. In 1985 I flew from Ottumwa, Iowa to St. Louis, in a Shorts 220 (IIRC), through a good, midwestern thunderstorm. Everyone, including the stewardesses were crying and praying. The pilot pulled back the curtain that served as the cockpit door so that everyone could see they were unconcerned. I don't know how much it helped. I haven't flown on an airplane since 1987.
That would take away your enthusiasm for flying. My dad flew in an early DC-3 along the rocky mountains and said the airplane would go up and down with the wind currents even though they were flying straight and level. It was a normal flight according to the crew. But I am sure he wasn't the only passenger that was less than thrilled about the ride. He is 105 years old now but I don't know what year it happened.
At a former employer, we were undergoing an FDA audit (drugs for hobby fish, of all things). Two auditors showed up: A lady in normal business attire and a guy in a military type of uniform. I asked him why. My memory is that he was PHSCC assigned to FDA audits. It confused the heck out of me.
Once again, I had no idea these folks existed. Great video, THG! But you forgot the part about Woody Allen trying to clone 'Our National Leader' from his nose into a suit of clothes... which takes place at the NOAA headquarters in Boulder, CO. My error... I was about to go to bed when I remembered that it's not a NOAA building, but the NCAR lab on the mesa. So my little joke doesn't work... sorry.
Retire as a Navy CPO at 40 with a rating that involves navigation, then seek a commision in the NOAA Corps and you get to wear the uniform for another twenty years.
My Dad was a E5 in the US Coast and Geodetic Survey. He was aboard a old destroyer called the Pioneer. He was a identical twin but he had a bad hip. My Uncle got drafted for Korea so Dad joined the survey. They both survived and worked for the Space sciences Laboratory at Berkeley . They made lots of stuff for Mariner Mars , Viking and others. Dad's maritime background was given away by twin ships propellers tattooed on each buttock under the warning "Caution, twin screws" This was a rumor for most , giggled about at family parties and once or twice revealed when the aquavit at a Danish Smorbrod got a little deep until one day Dad was playing hand ball at the Harmon gym after work and in the locker room a man asked some of the other players about the tattoo and was Dad a Navy man. They told the man he got the tattoo in Alaska with the Coast and Geodetic Survey. Without revealing his name the man told about the tattoo in the newspaper, he was Bill Fisset ,the society editor for the Oakland Tribune. My Dad and Uncle are gone now, they were Eric and Harry Petersen. They loved Oakland and Berkeley and came from Denmark and lived their lives there.
As I watched this, the wind kicked up, so I just went to the local NOAA radar site, could see what was coming, made a couple of quick moves, about 5 minutes, then back for the finish! Thanks as always...
You mentioned a shipping channel in NY Harbor discovered by the Corp. What was the name of that channel? I'd like to read up on it more. BTW, excellent video.
I encountered a NOAA officer when I was in the Navy in Japan. A buddy and I were walking to get some lunch and we approached a khaki wearing very weird insignia but wearing lieutenant’s bars. We stopped and saluted and I asked, “Are we supposed to salute you?” He chuckled, returned our salute, and said yes. I asked, “What... is that uniform?” He replied, “Noah” and kept walking. It wasn’t until several years later I learned “Noah” is how you pronounce NOAA and NOAA is one of the 7 uniformed services.
First heard about the NOAA Corps in late 80's or early 90's. There were severe storms in the area and a possible tornado. For some reason, there was a NOAA Corps officer at the local NWS office. And a newspaper reporter interviewed the officer. So, the quotes about the storm and the assessment of it were from a rear admiral. Of course, that prompted people to ask what a rear admiral had to do with the weather service. And that prompted the local paper to publish a story about the NOAA Corps.
NOAA Corps officers are not subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice unless they are detailed to a component of the armed forces. Sad to say, I guess, web surfing once landed me on the site of a lawyer who did court-martial defense cases. And one of the cases on the lawyer's brag list. (Your results may vary. But defended person X charged with Y and Z. Found not guilty. Negotiated with command, NJP, honorably discharged. And so forth.) And one of the cases was United States v. a NOAA Corps officer.
Obviously since this episode was created an additional branch of the US military, the United States Space Force, has been established.
This piece reminds me of a story I heard years ago. A student was having trouble with his calculus. His teacher chided him, saying, by the time George Washington was your age, he was already a surveyor! The student replied, yes, but when he was your age, he was President of the United States!
Sounds like the teacher wasn't quite as good as he thought. Talk about touche!
I never knew that NOAA uniformed service, let alone there was such a thing as a non-combat uniformed service. Thank you again for another wonderful video!
Don’t know much about your own country, I guess.
Thank you. As a retired NOAA Corps officer it is nice to see something about our service that was not done by our own public affairs. I am also impressed by your cover collection and the fact that you a actually obtained one with a NOAA device. They are quite rare. Your is of the newer stamped metal type. When i joined in 1970 there were too few of us to justify the expense of a set of stamping dies and so our cap devices were hand made using metallic threads by needle crafters. In fact if you go back to the 1930's many orher branches of services had similar hand made devices. If you would like my original cap device I would enjoy you having it. I think you can contact me by email through my youtube account.
Perfect Maps.
It is uplifting to hear about organizations with such beneficial goals.
As an Air Force veteran, I cannot understate how much I believe more attention should be given to the other uniformed services. Thank you for such an informative video.
Outstanding! Thank you for shining a spotlight on the least appreciated uniformed service.
Amen.
I appreciate it!
NOAA also manages fisheries stocks in Federal waters. I worked for a number of years with them researching fish populations of marine waters of Alaska.
It was a great pleasure performing deep sea exploration on board the NOAA research vessel Atlantis, working with the submersible DSV Alvin as well as with her sister ship the Ronald Brown. Great people and many wonderful stories!
Wow...thanks, I now have a much better appreciation and knowledge of NOAA. The early years of this service are most interesting. I have always been so impressed at how men could so accurately map out land & rivers & coast lines, etc., with just basic surveying tools...long before any modern computer help or GPS or tools like those. The Lewis & Clarke expeditions come to mind. The twisting & turning of rivers and coast lines is particularly fascinating to me as to how accurate the good surveyors could draw it all out and be so close to the real thing. One of my ancestors and his family were among the first permanent white settlers here in Arkansas along the White River in this area back in 1816. Among other skills, Jehoiada was a surveyor and laid out the first streets in Batesville in about 1826. Every time I see road crews surveying I think about my ancestor. As always, Mr. History Guy...very interesting, and your enthusiasm for your topics is what makes it so fun to watch...and learn.
marbleman52 right?
I love old map drawings. It's crazy how much detail they have.
marbleman52 that’s really cool. One of my ancestors (my great, great, great, great, grandpa) was one of the first settlers of Kentucky. He is memorialized on a bottle of whiskey! Although the family has nothing to do with it these days, I still get a kick out of seeing his name on the bottle. I have to admit, however, your ancestor has a much more constructive legacy!
While The American Practical Navigator was still at press, when Lewis and Clark took off, the use of a transit was well known and could be used like a sextant in developing a solution for position. Then it was all pen and paper making a map.
As an Air Traffic Control student in the Military, I was taught to give/make "limited weather observations" and learned about how much NOAA has provided the world. I feel grateful for understanding how weather works and affects us every day. Another gem! Thank you.
Loved this. After finding my first U.S. Geological Survey Marker in 1971, I have been enthralled with the Coast and Geodetic Survey. I still search for Survey Marks. Thank you!
Me too.
I watch you classes every night, this is one of the best I have been honored to watch. Thank you
"Carry on, Mr. Bowditch" was a terrific biographical story in my High School library about Nathaniel Bowditch and the incredible contributions he made to seafaring and navigation in the 1800s. His exemplary text is still in use today. Oh, to be able to start again.
Three cheers for all my fellow Surveyors! He’s absolutely right, 90% of people have not a clue what a surveyor is or does. “Whatchu takin pictures of?”
Typical student lament: “why are we learning this? When will I ever use this”. Followed years late with: “whatchu takin pictures of”.
Another eye opening video, living on Canada's west coast I have greatly benefited from several NOAA innovations. And now I know it, thank you.
Was this the same ass holes that was buying up all the amo back under fucking Obama's rule.?
Well said Danny. Hello from Victoria BC.
Canada has a WEST Coast?
Great sequel to your video on what evolved into the Surgeon General
As a geographer/cartographer, I appreciate you recognizing this important organization.
The USS&GS Ship The Pathfinder was lost in the fall of the Philippines in 1942. She had been mapping the Islands for 40+ years and her research was invaluable. Great story.
Once again, you've taken a tid-bit of history and made it compelling ... thank you ...
Wow! I knew about NOAA but didn’t realize its members were part of our military. This was an awesome history lesson and as usual, wasn’t anything I learned in school! I salute current and past members and say thank you for your service to those still serving, who have served and especially those who have lost their lives carrying out their mission! And thank you History Guy for bringing to light something I didn’t know about even after 3 years active duty and over 15 as a military wife!
I very much enjoyed this video. During the 60's I was in high school and sold fishing maps for extra money. It was published yearly here in Southwest Florida and after three years my printer informed me that the original owners of the artwork claimed their copyright. The original map was almost a direct copy of the USCGS chart of the Fort Myers Beach area published in 1958. One end of the Island was labeled Bodwitch
Point which I faithfully copied in making my new fishing/advertising map. Here is the point of the whole comment: the end of the island was named after Nathaniel Bowditch, author of The American Practical Navigator. This was a book used as an aid to navigation for which Bowditch became well known.
Now whether the USCGS draftsman who drew or edited the 1958 chart made the error, typo or miscopy is not known. When Lee County purchased the property for a park in the 70's and proposed to name it Bodwitch Point Park, it took several calls, letters and presentations of we local navigationally interested people to get the name changed. Nathaniel BOWDITCH deserves to be remembered.
This episode is what inspired my son (aged 14) to want to join the military. It gave him a branch where his love for science combined with his love for his country. Thanks for giving him something to work towards!
Back in 1952 I proudly served on the US Coast and Geodetic Survey ship Pioneer in the Bering Sea. Our captain was Thomas Reed who was a smart and kind gentleman. I was a Yeoman First Class doing lots of chart work, office work, etc. plus being very sick during some monster storms. My basic goal for being on this ship was to save money for college.
It was a great, sometimes scary experience that I will always cherish.
Dear History Guy, I don't know how I did not discover you till a couple of months ago. I am now watching several videos a day. I am a history addict especially the lesser known tales. Keep it up my friend.
I've always wondered why the Surgeon General wore a Rear Admiral's uniform. And now I know!
I did enjoy it very much sir. You are a fine storyteller. Thank you very much for taking the time to share.
You really deserve more subs... You earned one here
Where's the money?
This may be the first video older than one year that I've ever seen without any dislikes; thank you for sharing your knowledge and research with us!
How could anyone dislike NOAA? ...
I have enjoyed your snippets of history and I have always wondered what some of the hats are from. Some of the hats I do recognize and others I don't. Thanks for the education.
Excellent documentary. This dovetails with your recounting of the USS Macon dirigible .
I could state this after each video: "BRAVO"! I also love history, and these videos. They should be much more popular, since the length of the time frame plays perfectly to the limited attention span of people......what was I saying? At any rate, well done. I hope you do not run out of history to talk about.
There is an awful lot of history!
Is that even possible? Haha
When I was in the coast guard in the late 70's I spent a lot of time in the Bearing sea, enforcing fishing regulations for foreign fishing vessels. We often had a NOAA representative on board who's job was studying fish migrations and numbers. They never wore uniforms on board and we always thought of them as civilian personnel.
Thank you for this insightful piece.
Thank you so much for this wonderful explanation!
love your channel....the picture on the cover of "Coast Pilot" magazine has my hometown on the cover...Eastport Maine.....keep cranking out the history videos...very nice
Great episode! I had no idea that function was performed by a uniformed service, and I never knew NOAA et al was that service. Love the channel, thank you for what you do. Since people have fundamentally not changed since this invention of the type, history is an incredible teacher. You bring history to life, and make its study enjoyable as well as crucial. Thank you.
Great video. When the U.S. Postal Service was a direct agency of the federal government it was our largest uniformed service.
Have you considered highlighting the Civil Air Patrol?
Another piece filled in, thanks. Had a teacher who was in the Navy in the 1930. They were involved with geophysical survey with these guys where they made surveyed most of the island that would eventually be the ones the US needed if we had to go to war against Japan. He told me they did places like Guam and the Fiji islands. He told that they had to know that war was coming.
My dad served on the USS Niagara PY-9 (SP-136) from 1926 until decommissioned in 1930. They surveyed coast of Venezuela and Central America. Formerly the Yacht Helen Gould it was built in 1898 and commissioned the 6th USS Niagara in 1918. A beautiful ship.
Another great story History guy keep up the good work.
I have been involved in land surveying since 1967 and did not know that USC&GS was a uniformed service. Thank you for that.
It's a shame that more people haven't seen this video. You've really done some great stuff.
Please feel free to share on any social media or via word of mouth! It is an honor to bring public awareness to many of our topics of forgotten history through this channel.
Your presentations are superb. Oliver Hardy's (the comedian/film star legend) father was likely present at the most significant battle in Knoxville, Fort Sanders. Just a fun tidbit of info.
Thanks for this great story. The maps tell a lot, but not all of it.
Wonderful episode!
I like the old surveying history. My brother served on a noaa ship as ships engineer and was an electrician on the uss glacier with noaa personnel when it got stuck trying to rescue an Australian ice breaker
Thank you HG. What a wonderful and enlightening presentation. I had no idea of all the important things NOAA does and how they are on the cutting edge of scientific research.
I served in the
Navy attached to a ASW Squadron that flew P3C Orions stationed at NAS JAX FLA between '73>'77. The squadron that occupied the hanger next to us was VP 16 The Hurricane Hunters. Andt they flew the venerable P3C Orion as well. But they were all regular Navy. Whenever all the other squadrons were grounded due to a hurricane blowing around Florida VP16 would be the only squadron pulling a P3 Orion out of the hanger to be readied for a mission to fly into the hurricane. I always thought those guys were nuts.
But the aircrew of those planes always talked about how tough the P3 Orion was. I got to fly aboard one belonging to my squadron a couple of times on short "beer run" missions. Short flights to nearby bases to relieve other personnel from their tours of duty. Fun times! ✌🇺🇸
Great spotlight on historical events!
I love plane table and alidade surveying... I miss doing it.
I had no idea how much the U.S. Survey of the coast had contributed or that it is now known as NOAA! Thanks for sharing this great story.
I bet you've done a segment on the IGY-the International Geophysical Year of 1959? Would love to see it.
One of America's most important philosopher, Charles Sanders Peirce (1839-1914), spent most of his career as a full-time employ of the Coast and Geodetic Survey, and only intermittently a professor.
Great video THG ! Keep 'em coming !
I just learned something today, thanks.
Served in the 1381st Geodetic survey Squadron, USAF and later renamed the 1st Geodetic Survey Squadron in the Seventies. We enlisted folks (and some officers) surveyed in the US and outside the US. Our unit also did land surveys, gravity surveys and then satellite surveys. The satellite survey used the GPS system which started as a whole room full of equipment to do the measuring and then engineers got it down to a system you could carry in the back of a truck. Now of course it has been downsized to the cell phone. If I have gotten anything incorrect is is that was 50 years ago and memory is a little faulty. Wish I had known about this rich history back then.
Until 1939 (when it merged with the Coast Guard), there was an 8th uniformed federal service: the Lighthouse Service.
Congress established the US Lighthouse Establishment created in 1789 in the Department of the Treasury. Uniformed beginning 1883. Moved to the Department of Commerce in 1903. Reorganized as the Bureau of Lighthouses in 1910.
Add another hat...
Yes, I knew about the 7 uniformed services. You did very well in clarifying that the NOAA Corps personnel are all officers. Nice pictures. Good details.
Will you be doing a video on the "Public Land Survey System"? If so, the BLM may be a bit prominent in the story. I just want to assert that the US Forest Service works intimately with that system, helps maintain it, and uses it in many practical things.
But that system of ranges, townships and sections is not used nationwide. There's a story to that.
Canada uses something like it too, but partly upside down.
Thank you.
Actually, yes, that is on my topic list. The Land Ordinance of 1785 is obscure, but incredibly important.
Another excellent video. I must admit this is the first time I have heard of NOAA but I have found it fascinating.
NOAA used to have a station in Bermuda when I lived there in the early 90s. Always thought that would be an awsome assignment.
Thanks! I've always wanted to know more about NOAA.
My godfather had been born in Bristol England. During WW II he served in the Royal Navy. After the war he came to the US and moved to the Pacific Northwest. He told me he had gone to work, (this is how he explained it to an 8 year old). The US Coast a Geodetic Survey. His first job they gave him consisted of a row boat, a tent , a compass and paper and pencils and was to survey the coastline of Lake Washington east of Seattle.
As an E8 in the Navy I wasn't sure if I should salute one of these guys. The officer said that I should and began to "dress me down." I quickly informed him that I was a Senior Chief and to change his tone. From that point we had a great conversation.
Another great video! Would you please do a video on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers sometime? There's a lot of fascinating history there tied in with the survey and they even have their own uniform cap for those in the service of the Corps of Engineers fleet of ships and dredges!
Thank you . I knew NOAA did a lot of smart work in the sciences but I had no idea about the history of NOAA.
Thank you. I was only familiar with the NOAA weather radio and related.
one of the best of the series
Magnificent session!
It's so sad that I have learned more from your channel, then I did in 16 years of school.
Superb video. Perhaps a future topic could be the other "Little Sister" Uniformed Service mentioned: The Public Health Service Commissioned Corps?
I considered joining out of college, but the pool was just too small for a fish like me. I don’t like rules, alas. Big thank to you for shine no a light on these guys! I have some old covers you might like, but I guess you probably already have an example.
🇨🇦we have civilian organizations like our hydrographic survey group that have done similar groundbreaking work in Canada. As a retired meteorologist, I have always been impressed with NOAA and its generally liberal stance on international sharing of their knowledge and technology. Occasionally, politics got in the way for them, but their core stance remained the same...for the most part😎. I enjoyed this episode. The history of meteorology would be fascinating, or how weather shaped history at specific times. Metmen played a significant role in ww2 and much of the applied science of meteorology arose from that period, mainly due to new requirements of aircraft and the great need for met data. Thanks Mr. Guy.
I never knew... another fabulous vid
I very much enjoy all of your videos, that I have seen so-far. A number of people have made videos, on the [150th] anniversary, of the "driving of the Golden Spoke"; uniting East & West (USA), by rail. I would live to have your analysis, on that event, if possible.
Great bit of history. Would love to see one on the Army Corps of Engineers if you haven't done one yet. As former member of the Army, I'm always interested it all histories of not only the Army, but all the branches.
Have you done one on the Army Corps of Engineers?
There's two dams in my city of Fullerton CA. The flood basins are leased to the city for a dollar.
Would love to see a vid on just the Hurricane Hunters :)
Regarding flying through thunderstorms: When I was in graduate school in the early 1970's (Univ of Arizona, Atmospheric Physics) our department chair had participated in what was called the "Thunderstorm Project." This was shortly after WW II and involved experienced USAAC pilots flying instrumented bomber through thunderstorms. He recalled regularly hearing these men screaming, "I have no control over this plane!" They said the controls were like rubber, the planes were just tossed around like the proverbial leaves in a storm. I don't believe any planes were actually lost.
In 1985 I flew from Ottumwa, Iowa to St. Louis, in a Shorts 220 (IIRC), through a good, midwestern thunderstorm. Everyone, including the stewardesses were crying and praying. The pilot pulled back the curtain that served as the cockpit door so that everyone could see they were unconcerned. I don't know how much it helped. I haven't flown on an airplane since 1987.
That would take away your enthusiasm for flying. My dad flew in an early DC-3 along the rocky mountains and said the airplane would go up and down with the wind currents even though they were flying straight and level. It was a normal flight according to the crew. But I am sure he wasn't the only passenger that was less than thrilled about the ride. He is 105 years old now but I don't know what year it happened.
Very interesting, thank you!
I once dug up one of the coast markers while metal detecting. It was brass and had the placers name and date on it and was set in concrete or stone.
awesome video!
Outstanding!
At a former employer, we were undergoing an FDA audit (drugs for hobby fish, of all things). Two auditors showed up: A lady in normal business attire and a guy in a military type of uniform. I asked him why. My memory is that he was PHSCC assigned to FDA audits. It confused the heck out of me.
Once again, I had no idea these folks existed. Great video, THG!
But you forgot the part about Woody Allen trying to clone 'Our National Leader' from his nose into a suit of clothes... which takes place at the NOAA headquarters in Boulder, CO.
My error... I was about to go to bed when I remembered that it's not a NOAA building, but the NCAR lab on the mesa. So my little joke doesn't work... sorry.
Thank you for this. I bear the shame that I had no awareness of this history.
Retire as a Navy CPO at 40 with a rating that involves navigation, then seek a commision in the NOAA Corps and you get to wear the uniform for another twenty years.
My Dad was a E5 in the US Coast and Geodetic Survey. He was aboard a old destroyer called the Pioneer. He was a identical twin but he had a bad hip. My Uncle got drafted for Korea so Dad joined the survey. They both survived and worked for the Space sciences Laboratory at Berkeley . They made lots of stuff for Mariner Mars , Viking and others.
Dad's maritime background was given away by twin ships propellers tattooed on each buttock under the warning "Caution, twin screws"
This was a rumor for most , giggled about at family parties and once or twice revealed when the aquavit at a Danish Smorbrod got a little deep until one day Dad was playing hand ball at the Harmon gym after work and in the locker room a man asked some of the other players about the tattoo and was Dad a Navy man. They told the man he got the tattoo in Alaska with the Coast and Geodetic Survey. Without revealing his name the man told about the tattoo in the newspaper, he was Bill Fisset ,the society editor for the Oakland Tribune.
My Dad and Uncle are gone now, they were Eric and Harry Petersen. They loved Oakland and Berkeley and came from Denmark and lived their lives there.
I pride myself on being a history junkie..... I never knew this !Thanks!
I knew of NOAA but knew almost nothing about it wonderful content as usual
As I watched this, the wind kicked up, so I just went to the local NOAA radar site, could see what was coming, made a couple of quick moves, about 5 minutes, then back for the finish! Thanks as always...
I love your videos. I also love history. Way too many Americans are very ignorant about our history, including our president!!!
You mentioned a shipping channel in NY Harbor discovered by the Corp. What was the name of that channel? I'd like to read up on it more. BTW, excellent video.
Sir you are amazing.
I encountered a NOAA officer when I was in the Navy in Japan. A buddy and I were walking to get some lunch and we approached a khaki wearing very weird insignia but wearing lieutenant’s bars. We stopped and saluted and I asked, “Are we supposed to salute you?” He chuckled, returned our salute, and said yes. I asked, “What... is that uniform?” He replied, “Noah” and kept walking. It wasn’t until several years later I learned “Noah” is how you pronounce NOAA and NOAA is one of the 7 uniformed services.
Thank you.
My father was on an Auxiliary Geodetic survey Ship. in WW II. He told me of mapping Okinawa waters before the invasion.
Brave men whose contributions are not not as acknowledged as they should be.
@@TheHistoryGuyChannel Well, you're the guy to acknowledge them ....
This is so good I'm getting a headache
First heard about the NOAA Corps in late 80's or early 90's. There were severe storms in the area and a possible tornado. For some reason, there was a NOAA Corps officer at the local NWS office. And a newspaper reporter interviewed the officer. So, the quotes about the storm and the assessment of it were from a rear admiral. Of course, that prompted people to ask what a rear admiral had to do with the weather service. And that prompted the local paper to publish a story about the NOAA Corps.
NOAA Corps officers are not subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice unless they are detailed to a component of the armed forces. Sad to say, I guess, web surfing once landed me on the site of a lawyer who did court-martial defense cases. And one of the cases on the lawyer's brag list. (Your results may vary. But defended person X charged with Y and Z. Found not guilty. Negotiated with command, NJP, honorably discharged. And so forth.) And one of the cases was United States v. a NOAA Corps officer.