Leo Otis Colbert

Leo Otis Colbert
Born	(1883-12-31)31 December 1883 Cambridge, Massachusetts
Died	24 December 1968(1968-12-24) (aged 84) Bethesda, Maryland
Place of burial	Baltimore National Cemetery Baltimore, Maryland
Allegiance	United States
Service/branch	United States Coast and Geodetic Survey Corps
Years of service	1907-1950
Rank	Rear Admiral
Commands held	United States Coast and Geodetic Survey
Battles/wars	World War I Atlantic U-boat campaign of World War I World War II Cold War

Rear Admiral Leo Otis Colbert (31 December 1883 - 24 December 1968) was the third Director of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey and a career officer in the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey Corps, predecessor of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps.

Early life

Colbert was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on 31 December 1883. After primary and secondary education in Boston, Massachusetts, he attended Tufts University, from which he graduated with a degree in civil engineering in 1907.^[1]

Career

On 1 July 1907, Colbert began his career with the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, which at the time was an entirely civilian organization. He served in coastal waters of the United States, Philippines, and Territory of Alaska as an civilian officer aboard ships of the Coast and Geodetic Survey's fleet of survey ships, serving as navigator and executive officer, and in 1912 he became a commanding officer for the first time, taking command of a survey ship in Alaskan waters.^[1]

After the United States entered World War I on the side of the Allies on 6 April 1917, Colbert became one of the original 119 commissioned officers of the Coast and Geodetic Survey Corps upon its creation as a new uniformed service of the United States on 22 May 1917. As a lieutenant commander in the new service, he was transferred to wartime duty under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of the Navy, which assigned him to service aboard the United States Navy troop transport USS Northern Pacific. He made nine voyages aboard Northern Pacific carrying troops from New York City to Brest, France, through Atlantic Ocean waters in which German submarines were conducting an antishipping campaign against Allied ships.^[1]

World War I ended in November 1918, and in 1919 Colbert returned to duty in the Coast and Geodetic Survey Corps. In April 1920, the U.S. Steamboat Inspection Service issued him a certificate as Master of Steam Vessels, Unlimited Tonnage, Any Ocean.^[1] He had a tour of duty at Coast and Geodetic Survey headquarters, then served as Director of Coast Surveys in the Philippines from 1928 to 1930. From 1933 to 1938, he was the Chief of the Division of Charts at the Coast and Geodetic Survey's Washington, D.C., office, and during his tour the Division of Charts completed 87 aeronautical charts and began work on other series of special charts for long-distance flying.^[1] Tufts University awarded him an honorary doctoral degree in science in 1938 or 1939 (sources vary).^[1]

In 1938, Colbert became the third Director, Coast and Geodetic Survey, reaching the rank of rear admiral. During his 12 years as director, he oversaw the expanded activities of the Coast and the Geodetic Survey as it supported the U.S. war effort during the U.S. participation in World War II from December 1941 to August 1945.^[1] He later guided the Coast and Geodetic Survey through the earliest years of the Cold War.

Colbert was a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, the American Geophysical Union, the American Society of Photogrammetry, the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers, the Institute of Navigation, the American Shore and Beach Preservation Association, and the advisory council of the department of civil engineering at Princeton University. He was a director of the Society of American Military Engineers, a fellow of the Arctic Institute of North America, a life trustee of the National Geographic Society, and an honorary trustee of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.^[1]

Colbert retired as director of the Coast and Geodetic Survey on 7 April 1950 after a career of nearly 43 years, nearly 33 of them as an officer in the Coast and Geodetic Survey Corps.^[1]

Death

Colbert died on 24 December 1968 at Bethesda Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, survived by his wife and two daughters. He was buried at Baltimore National Cemetery in Baltimore, Maryland, on 27 December 1968.^[1]

References