Carlile Pollock Patterson (August 24, 1816–August 15, 1881) was the fourth superintendent of the United States Coast Survey. He was born in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi

Bay St. Louis, Mississippi

Bay Saint Louis is a city located in Hancock County, Mississippi. It is part of the Gulfport–Biloxi, Mississippi Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 8,209. It is the county seat of Hancock County...

, the son of Commodore D. T. Patterson. He was appointed a midshipman

Midshipman

A midshipman is an officer cadet, or a commissioned officer of the lowest rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Kenya...

 in the United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

 in 1830. He graduated from Georgetown College

Georgetown College (Georgetown University)

Georgetown College, infrequently Georgetown College of Arts and Sciences, is the oldest school within Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. The College is the largest undergraduate school at Georgetown, and until the founding of the Medical School in 1850, was the only higher education division...

 in 1838 and entered the Navy full time, assigned to work with the Coast Survey. In 1849, he was given command of the USC&GS Oregon and the USC&GS Golden Gate in 1851. He resigned from the Navy in 1853 as a passed midshipman

Passed midshipman

A Passed Midshipman, sometimes called as Midshipman, Passed, is an unused and historic term which describes a Midshipman who had passed the Lieutenant exam and was eligible for promotion to Lieutenant as soon as there was a vacancy in that grade....

. During his time in civilian life, he captained a mail steamer in the Pacific Ocean

Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...

. In 1861, as a civilian, he was appointed as a Hydrographic Inspector of the Coast Survey. In 1874, he was made Superintendent of the Coast Survey (and then the successor United States Coast and Geodetic Survey), a position he held until his death.

The ship USC&GS Carlile P. Patterson

USC&GS Carlile P. Patterson

The USC&GS Carlile P. Patterson was a survey ship of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey in operation between 1883 and 1918. Subsequently she had a brief period of naval service and fifteen seasons as a merchant vessel before she was wrecked on the Alaska coast in 1938.-Construction:The...

was subsequently named in his honor.