Before the establishment of the post, captains of Royal Navy ships were responsible for the provision of their own charts.

In practice this meant that ships often sailed with inadequate information for safe navigation, and that when new areas were surveyed, the data rarely reached all those who needed it.

The Admiralty appointed Alexander Dalrymple as hydrographer on 12 August 1795, with a remit to gather and distribute charts to HM Ships.

Beaufort was certainly responsible for a step change in output; by the time he left the office in 1855, the Hydrographic Office had a catalogue of nearly 2,000 charts and was producing over 130,000 charts, of which about half were provided to the Royal Navy and half sold.

As of 2010[update], the post has been renamed Captain (HM Ops), but continues to carry the title Hydrographer of the Navy.