The United States Hydrographic Office (USHO) prepared and published maps, charts, and nautical books required in navigation.

[3] The impetus for establishing the Hydrographical Office came from a petition submitted to Congress in 1863 by the American Shipmasters Association.

[5] In July 1875 the Commodore responsible for the office, describing the work that had been accomplished in the previous year, called for a permanent building with proper fireproofing instead of the temporary rented premises, and asked for funding to conduct a proper survey of the Pacific Ocean, for which the charts were in many areas inadequate.

[14] In 1946 the U.S. Navy Hydrographic Office published an ice atlas covering the North American Arctic on a scale of about 1:20,000,000.

[15] In 1954 aerial observation of sea ice moved from development into operations, with navy weathermen trained by the Hydrographic Office.