How Admiralty hydrography became an institution

The institutional history begins with the first Admiralty chart in 1801 and expands through the Naval Chart Committee, public sale of charts, sailing directions, light lists, tide tables, and notices to mariners. Earlier Admiralty charts had been valuable enough that French buyers offered double payment for copies taken from British ships. Francis Beaufort's long tenure connects the Hydrographic Department with the familiar wind-force scale. After the First World War, mines and traffic hazards encouraged international conferences and permanent cooperation, while computers entered Royal Navy survey ships in 1968. The Hydrographic Department's 1978 Queen's Award for Export Achievement also shows that its products became a commercial success. The sequence follows hydrography becoming a permanent information service rather than an occasional task assigned to a ship.