Editing Weather ship (section)

==History of the fleet==

===Late 1940s===
The establishment of weather ships proved to be so useful during World War II that the [[International Civil Aviation Organization]] (ICAO) had established a global network of 13&nbsp;weather ships by 1948, with seven operated by the United States, one operated jointly by the United States and Canada, two supplied by the United Kingdom, one maintained by France, one a joint venture by the [[Netherlands]] and [[Belgium]], and one shared by the United Kingdom, [[Norway]], and [[Sweden]].<ref name="PM January 1948">{{cite magazine | title = Britain's First Weather Ship |magazine= Popular Mechanics | volume = 89 | issue = 1 | page =136 | publisher = Hearst Magazines | date = January 1948| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QtkDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA136 | issn = 0032-4558}}</ref> The United Kingdom used [[Royal Navy]] [[corvette]]s to operate their two stations, and staffed crews of 53 Met Office personnel. The ships were out at sea for 27&nbsp;days, and in port for 15&nbsp;days. Their first ship was deployed on July 31, 1947.<ref name="BritishShips"/>

During 1949, the Weather Bureau planned to increase the number of United States Coast Guard weather ships in the Atlantic from five at the beginning of the year to eight by its end.<ref>{{cite journal|url= https://library.oarcloud.noaa.gov/docs.lib/htdocs/rescue/wb_topicsandpersonnel/1949.pdf|journal=Weather Bureau Topics|author=United States Weather Bureau|page=353|date=February 1949|volume=8|title=AWP Headquarters Moves to New York|access-date=January 22, 2011|issue=37|author-link=United States Weather Bureau}}</ref>  Weather Bureau employees aboard the vessels worked 40 to 63&nbsp;hours per week.<ref>{{cite journal|url= https://library.oarcloud.noaa.gov/docs.lib/htdocs/rescue/wb_topicsandpersonnel/1949.pdf|journal=Weather Bureau Topics|author=United States Weather Bureau|page=488|date=October 1949|volume=8|access-date=January 22, 2011|title=Ocean Weather Duty|issue=46|author-link=United States Weather Bureau}}</ref> Weather ship G ("George") was dropped from the network on July 1, 1949, and Navy weather ship "Bird Dog" ceased operations on August 1, 1949.<ref name="ByGeorge">{{cite journal|url= https://library.oarcloud.noaa.gov/docs.lib/htdocs/rescue/wb_topicsandpersonnel/1949.pdf|journal=Weather Bureau Topics|author=United States Weather Bureau|title=Two Ocean Stations Dropped|page=457|date=August 1949|volume=8|access-date=January 22, 2011|issue=44|author-link=United States Weather Bureau}}</ref> In the Atlantic, weather vessel F ("Fox") was discontinued on September 3, 1949, and there was a change in location for ships D ("Dog") and E ("Easy") at the same time.<ref name="DEF">{{cite journal|url= https://library.oarcloud.noaa.gov/docs.lib/htdocs/rescue/wb_topicsandpersonnel/1949.pdf|journal=Weather Bureau Topics|author=United States Weather Bureau|page=489|date=October 1949|volume=8|access-date=January 22, 2011|title=Changes in Ocean Stations|issue=46|author-link=United States Weather Bureau}}</ref>  Navy weather ship J ("Jig") in the north-central Pacific Ocean was placed out of service on October 1, 1949.<ref>{{cite journal|url= https://library.oarcloud.noaa.gov/docs.lib/htdocs/rescue/wb_topicsandpersonnel/1949.pdf|journal=Weather Bureau Topics|author=United States Weather Bureau|page=503|date=November 1949|volume=8|access-date=January 22, 2011|title=Navy Ocean Station Discontinued|issue=47|author-link=United States Weather Bureau}}</ref>  The original international agreement for a 13&nbsp;ship minimum was later amended downward. In 1949, the minimum number of weather ships operated by the United States was decreased to ten, and in 1954 the figure was lowered again to nine, both changes being made for economic reasons.<ref name="1965physics"/>  Weather vessel O ("Oboe") entered the Pacific portion of the network on December 19, 1949. Also in the Pacific, weather ship A ("Able") was renamed ship P ("Peter") and moved {{convert|200|mi|km}} to the east-northeast in December 1949, while weather vessel F ("Fox") was renamed N ("Nan").<ref name="NOP">{{cite journal|url= https://library.oarcloud.noaa.gov/docs.lib/htdocs/rescue/wb_topicsandpersonnel/1950.pdf|journal=Weather Bureau Topics|author=United States Weather Bureau|page=7|date=January 1950|volume=9|access-date=January 22, 2011|title=Changes Made in Pacific Stations|issue=1|author-link=United States Weather Bureau}}</ref>

===1950s===
[[Image:Pacific Weather Ships.jpg|thumb|right|Locations of weather ships in the northern Pacific Ocean]]
Weather ship B ("Baker"), which had been jointly operated by Canada and the United States, became solely a United States venture on July 1, 1950. The Netherlands and the United States began to jointly operate weather ship A ("Able") in the Atlantic on July 22, 1950. The [[Korean War]] led to the discontinuing of weather vessel O ("Oboe") on July 31, 1950 in the Pacific, and ship S ("Sugar") was established on September 10, 1950.<ref name="ABS">{{cite journal|url=http://docs.lib.noaa.gov/rescue/wb_topicsandpersonnel/1950.pdf|journal=Weather Bureau Topics|author=United States Weather Bureau|page=132|date=October 1950|volume=9|access-date=January 22, 2011|title=Changes Made in Ocean Projects|issue=10|author-link=United States Weather Bureau}}</ref>  Weather ship P's ("Peter") operations were taken over by Canada on December 1, 1950, which allowed the Coast Guard to begin operating station U ("Uncle") {{convert|2000|km|mi}} west of northern [[Baja California]] on December 12, 1950. As a result of these changes, ship N ("Nan") was moved {{convert|400|km|mi}} to the southeast on December 10, 1950.<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://docs.lib.noaa.gov/rescue/wb_topicsandpersonnel/1951.pdf|journal=Weather Bureau Topics|author=United States Weather Bureau|page=12|date=January 1951|volume=10|access-date=January 31, 2011|title=Changes in Pacific Ocean Station Program|issue=1|author-link=United States Weather Bureau}}</ref>

Responsibility for weather ship V ("Victor") transferred from the United States Navy to the United States Coast Guard and Weather Bureau on September 30, 1951.<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://docs.lib.noaa.gov/rescue/wb_topicsandpersonnel/1951.pdf|journal=Weather Bureau Topics|author=United States Weather Bureau|page=157|date=August 1951|volume=10|access-date=January 31, 2011|title=Bureau to Operate Pacific Station "V"|issue=8|author-link=United States Weather Bureau}}</ref>  On March 20, 1952, Vessels N ("November") and U ("Uncle") were moved {{convert|32|to|48|km|mi}} to the south to lie under airplane paths between the western United States coast and [[Honolulu]], Hawaii.<ref name="NU">{{cite journal|url=http://docs.lib.noaa.gov/rescue/wb_topicsandpersonnel/1952.pdf|journal=Weather Bureau Topics|author=United States Weather Bureau|page=48|date=April 1952|volume=11|access-date=January 31, 2011|title=Pacific Stations Relocated|issue=4|author-link=United States Weather Bureau}}</ref>  In 1956 {{USCGC|Pontchartrain|WHEC-70|6}}, while stationed at N ("November"), rescued the crew and passengers of [[Pan Am Flight 6]] after the crippled aircraft diverted to the cutter's position and ditched in the ocean.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thisdayinaviation.com/tag/ocean-station-november/ |title=16 October 1956 |date=October 16, 2018 |work=This Day in Aviation |publisher=Bryan R. Swopes}}</ref>  Weather vessel Q ("Quebec") began operation in the north-central Pacific on April 6, 1952,<ref name="Q">{{cite journal|url=http://docs.lib.noaa.gov/rescue/wb_topicsandpersonnel/1952.pdf|journal=Weather Bureau Topics|author=United States Weather Bureau|page=79|date=May 1952|volume=11|access-date=January 31, 2011|title=Station "Q" Established|issue=5|author-link=United States Weather Bureau}}</ref> while in the western Atlantic, the British corvettes used as weather ships were replaced by newer Castle-class [[frigate]]s between 1958 and 1961.<ref name="BritishShips"/>

===1960s===
In 1963, the entire fleet won the [[Flight Safety Foundation]] award for their distinguished service to aviation.<ref name="BritishShips"/>  In 1965, there were a total of 21&nbsp;vessels in the weather ship network. Nine were from the United States, four from the United Kingdom, three from France, two from the [[Netherlands]], two from [[Norway]], and one from Canada. In addition to the routine hourly weather observations and upper air flights four times a day, two [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] ships in the northern and central Pacific Ocean sent [[sounding rocket|meteorological rockets]] up to a height of {{convert|80|km|mi}}. For a time, there was a Dutch weather ship stationed in the Indian Ocean. The network left the [[Southern Hemisphere]] mainly uncovered.<ref name="1965physics">{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/physicsofmarinea0007roll|url-access=registration|title=Physics of the marine atmosphere|author=Hans Ulrich Roll|pages=[https://archive.org/details/physicsofmarinea0007roll/page/14 14]–15|publisher=Academic Press|isbn=978-0-12-593650-7|year=1965}}</ref>  South Africa maintained a weather ship near latitude [[40th parallel south|40° South]], longitude [[10th meridian east|10° East]] between September 1969 and March 1974.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://wavenet.csir.co.za/history.htm|title=History of Ocean Wave Recording in South Africa|author=Ursula von St Ange|year=2002|publisher=Council for Scientific and Industrial Research|access-date=March 25, 2011}}</ref>