Page 8: of Marine Technology Magazine (November 2021)

LEADING OFF OPINION

How to Honor

America’s Greatest

Oceanographer?

CALL FOR THE USNS

WALTER MUNK

By Rear Admiral Tim Gallaudet, Ph.D., U.S. Navy (retired)

Walter Munk (center) with the author (left) and his wife Mary (right) at Scripps in 2018

Photo courtesy the Author n the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act, Con- highest levels of the U.S. Government. At every step, Wal- gress established a commission to rename several mili- ter Munk served as a beacon, lighting the way and inspiring tary bases and ships that commemorate members of the me along with many others. While volumes could be written

Confederacy. One of these is the Naval oceanographic about why a ship should bear his name, I share three points

I ship USNS Maury (T-AGS 66), named after oceanogra- here that are both compelling and personal.

pher Matthew Fontaine Maury, who resigned his commission Walter’s ? rst contribution was to national security when he in the U.S. Navy to join the Confederacy at the outbreak of worked with Dr. Harald Sverdrup at Scripps during World War the American Civil War. The USNS Maury is an asset of the II to predict surf conditions for Allied landings in the Paci? c 1

Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command (NMOC), theater. Walter actually enlisted in the Army before Scripps which I led from 2014-2017. I attended the ship’s commis- and the Navy found more effective applications for his tal- sioning in 2017, where I praised Maury’s recognition as the ent. This began a highly impactful partnership with the Navy father of modern oceanography. I did the same on other occa- that lasted throughout Walter’s life and saw him make critical sions when I served as the Superintendent of the U.S. Naval advances in physical oceanography and underwater acoustics.

Observatory, which Maury founded in 1842. Notwithstand- These directly underpinned the U.S. Navy’s competitive ad- ing this association, I agree with others who have called it vantage in Antisubmarine Warfare against the Soviet Union disgraceful for any military unit to be named after someone during the Cold War. His accomplishments not only inspired who fought against our government to maintain a system that me as a junior of? cer at Scripps, they were foundational for enslaved other human beings. the resurgence of ocean science within the Navy that I led

The most appropriate individual after which to rename USNS with the establishment of Task Force Ocean. This included ad-

Maury would be an American who made signi? cant contribu- vancements in ocean technology and unmanned systems and tions to Naval oceanography and re? ected the diversity of our built upon similar work by the Navy to address climate change population. Among the pantheon of our greatest ocean scien- impacts on national security.

tists, there is no better candidate than the renowned ocean- More remarkable were Walter’s accomplishments in science ographer Dr. Walter Munk. I ? rst met Walter when I was a as a whole. From unlocking the nature of ocean currents that newly-minted Ensign in the Navy while earning a Master’s is the basis of modern numerical models, pioneering research 2 degree at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, where he was in ocean acoustic tomography and internal waves, developing a Professor and research scientist. This was over 30 years ago, modern methods of tidal time series analysis, to exploring un- long into his career which spanned nearly eight decades. Since explainable characteristics of sea level rise, the expanse of his then, I climbed a long ladder in ocean science and technology impact on the ? eld of geophysics is simply dizzying. When I that carried me to multiple sea-going expeditions, brought me was given the opportunity to steer National policy regarding back to Scripps to earn a Ph.D., and led me to serve at the ocean science and technology, I did not ignore the example 8 November/December 2021

MTR #8 (1-17).indd 8 11/23/2021 10:23:27 AM