https://peertube.dngr.us/videos/watch/c7ca5da0-1483-4d87-9fdc-45a8d77996a5 The US Navy presents “Mission: Oceanography,” a 1966 educational film that examines the history of the Navy’s exploration of life under the sea. A narrator explains how a fledging United States looked to the sea after having expanded westward in the early 18th century. In 1830 the Navy established “The Depot of Charts and Instruments” (mark 03:00), designed as a “repository for knowledge.” Includes shots of a tall ship or clipper navigating through heavy seas at 2:20. The film continues with a look at early seafaring missions which began developing additional tools for exploring the world’s oceans, as well as creating wind and current charts. Matthew Maury, known as "Pathfinder of the Seas,” "Father of Modern Oceanography and Naval Meteorology,” and "Scientist of the Seas,” organized conferences to share oceanographic data (mark 05:10) and established the first astronomical observatory (the US Naval Observatory). Survey ships continued to add oceanographic data as the years progressed, until after World War I when airplanes (mark 07:17) began using hydrography (the science of surveying and charting bodies of water). By the 1920s, oceanographers developed methods to chart the oceans’ bottom, even though large swaths of the ocean remained unexplored as late as the 1940s, though hydrography was instrumental in various amphibious operations during World War II. The war also taught scientists about the lack of information on oceans and land masses. The decades that followed would see an increased devotion to studying the oceans, with the navy and private organization combing efforts. At mark 12:25 we see the USNS Silas Bent (T-AGS-26), a Navy survey ship that spent its entire career surveying the Pacific Ocean, and Sealab. At 13:40 the Argus Island is seen followed by the Bathyscaphe Trieste II and a series of submersible research vessels. The film continues with scenes of various oceanographic endeavors, and we learn how scientific devices can also be used for military applications such as pinpointing the location of enemy submarines (mark 18:09). We also learn of experimental technologies such as a hydrofoil (mark 22:46) and hovercraft. Argus Island was a United States Navy research tower and platform located on Plantagenet Bank off the island of Bermuda. The tower was four-legged with a two-story platform for quarters, instrumentation and support services. The tower had fuel storage, crane and a helicopter pad. The design was made to accommodate a wave height of 70 feet (21.3 m). In its first years the tower was damaged by waves approaching the design height.Typical minimum staffing by contract personnel was eight persons, including electronic technicians, mechanics and housekeeping staff. The prefabricated tower was designed, built and installed in 1960 by J. Ray McDermott & Company of New Orleans to support Project Artemis, an acoustic research program. In July 1966 the work involving the tower was transferred to the Manager, Antisubmarine Warfare Project Office and technical responsibility transferred to the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL).[4] Work involving the tower was suspended on 30 June 1970 with occasional daytime inspections and maintenance work by NRL personnel. On 13 May 1976 the tower was toppled by demolition charges, and on 12 June a Notice to Mariners noted it as an obstruction covered by 16 fathoms (29.3 m). We encourage viewers to add comments and, especially, to provide additional information about our videos by adding a comment! See something interesting? Tell people what it is and what they can see by writing something for example: "01:00:12:00 -- President Roosevelt is seen meeting with Winston Churchill at the Quebec Conference." This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsU_2-DcXd0 Mirrored from Periscope Film (https://www.youtube.com/@PeriscopeFilm) Sat, 13 Jun 2026 12:54:01 GMT https://validator.w3.org/feed/docs/rss2.html PeerTube - https://peertube.dngr.us https://peertube.dngr.us/lazy-static/avatars/41a6fee9-7f57-42d0-a5fc-5db4f1af2e31.png https://peertube.dngr.us/videos/watch/c7ca5da0-1483-4d87-9fdc-45a8d77996a5 All rights reserved, unless otherwise specified in the terms specified at https://peertube.dngr.us/about and potential licenses granted by each content's rightholder.