Dispatch from R/O Donald Hamilton

[D.J.J. Ring, Jr.]

I stumbled across this video about an Atlantic Ocean weather ship (1965). The commentary says that the ship's master has 7 officers to run the ship but also notes that there are 5 R/O's and 2 techs. I'm sure I saw an advert many years ago for R/O's with PMG/MRGC but they were accorded petty officer status (Radio Operator not Radio Officer) - can anyone confirm if that's true? https://youtu.be/dfHSWfdkNmg?si=6pemGxZ3XzTXGtx-

[John Davies]

I understand these ships were manned by civilians and were therefore merchant navy. There would have been no such ranks as petty officers.

The technicians would have had interesting lives maintaining those weather balloons. 

John 9V1VV

On Thu, 6 Aug 2026, 00:33 D.J.J. Ring, Jr., <djri...@gmail.com> wrote:

I stumbled across this video about an Atlantic Ocean weather ship (1965). The commentary says that the ship's master has 7 officers to run the ship but also notes that there are 5 R/O's and 2 techs. I'm sure I saw an advert many years ago for R/O's with PMG/MRGC but they were accorded petty officer status (Radio Operator not Radio Officer) - can anyone confirm if that's true? https://youtu.be/dfHSWfdkNmg?si=6pemGxZ3XzTXGtx-

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[Dr Jim Kennedy]

Atlantic weather ships used both military and civilian crews, depending on the nation and the decade. In the United States, North Atlantic ocean weather stations were primarily manned by military crews from the U.S. Coast Guard, while European nations frequently utilized civilian merchant fleets and civilian meteorological personnel.

73, Doc - K2PHD

Dr. Jim Kennedy

 

Sent from my iPad

On Aug 6, 2026, at 1:32 AM, John Davies <coup...@gmail.com> wrote:



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[D.J.J. Ring, Jr.]

Could someone explain this to John?

United States Merchant Marine petty officers were in-between unlicensed and licensed officers. 

Radio telegraph operators used to be "Radio Operators", a petty officer rating before being issued officer licenses by the USCG. 

Electrician was another petty officer rating. 

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[John Davies]

Thanks.  I wonder if you actually watched the video? It was a British ship. British weather ships in 1965 were civilian manned . No petty officers.

It was interesting to learn about the Atlantic weather ships in general though. I didn't know such a multinational organisation existed. Even the Russians contributed. It's a shame those days of cooperation have gone.

John 

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[Radio KH6O]

Today, surface weather observations are conducted by over 100 buoys along the coasts and in deep water, operated in the US by the National Data Buoy Center, an agency of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Here's the map -- use the Select Region drop-down menu to zero in on a particular area. You can then zoom in and click on an individual buoy to read present and past data.

https://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/

Jeff KH6O