USCS Robert J. Walker (1844)
| Career (United States) | 100x35px |
|---|---|
| Name: | Robert J. Walker |
| Namesake: | Robert J. Walker (1801-1869), United States Senator from Mississippi (1836-1845), Secretary of the Treasury (1845-1849), and Governor of Kansas Territory (1857) |
| Builder: | Joseph Tomlinson, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
| Completed: | 1844 |
| Acquired: | 1848 |
| In service: | 1848 |
| Fate: | Sunk in collision 21 June 1860 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Survey ship |
| Length: | 133 ft (41 m) |
| Beam: | 31 ft (9.4 m) |
| Draft: | 9 ft 3 in (2.82 m) |
| Propulsion: | Steam engine |
USCS Robert J. Walker was a survey ship that served in the United States Coast Survey, a predecessor of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, from 1848 to 1860.
Robert J. Walker was built in 1844 by Joseph Tomlinson at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She entered Coast Survey service in 1848.
Robert J. Walker suffered deaths among her crew in 1852 when two men -- her second and third assistant engineers -- died of disease during an epidemic along the United States Gulf Coast.
On the night of 20 January 1858, Robert J. Walker was at Pensacola, Florida, when a major fire broke out at the United States Army's Fort Pickens. Her men and boats, along with the hydrographic party of the Coast Survey steamer USCS Varina, promptly assisted in fighting the fire. The next day, Robert J. Walker's commanding officer received a communication from Captain John Newton of the Army Corps of Engineers, commanding the harbor of Pensacola, acknowledging the important firefighting service rendered by Robert J. Walker.
On 21 June 1860, Robert J. Walker collided with another ship and sank in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of New Jersey approximately 12 nautical miles (22 kilometers) southeast of Absecon Inlet Light, with a loss of twenty of her crew. It was the greatest disaster ever to occur in any ancestor agency of the modern-day National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. No inquiry was ever conducted into the cause of the Robert J. Walker disaster and the remains of the ship have never been found.
References
- NOAA History, A Science Odyssey: Tools of the Trade: Ships: Coast and Geodetic Survey Ships: Robert J. Walker
- NOAA History, A Science Odyssey: Hall of Honor: In the Line of Duty 1846-1936
- NOAA History, A Science Odyssey: Hall of Honor: Lifesaving and Protection of Property by the Coast & Geodetic Survey 1845-1937
