Captain John Callahan was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1944. His family moved to New Jersey, where he attended St. Joseph’s Grammar School and graduated from Don Bosco Preparatory High School in Ramsey, New Jersey, in 1961. John was the first in his family to attend college. He went to the State University of New York Maritime College and graduated with a degree in marine engineering before earning his law degree from Catholic University in 1971. Captain Callahan started his career as a naval architect/marine engineer for M. Rosenblatt and Company in New York before joining the ESSA Corps, the predecessor of the NOAA Corps. He was the first marine engineer commissioned as an officer in the NOAA Corps and served aboard NOAA vessels Oceanographer and Discoverer in that capacity. John was also the first commissioned officer to receive a law degree and served in the Office of General Counsel. Callahan commanded three NOAA vessels, Ferrel, Oceanographer, and Discoverer, and was a “plank owner” on the Oceanographer and the Discoverer circa 1966-1967. He retired as a captain in ’06. In retirement, John founded Puget Sound Science and Engineering Scholarship Fund in Seattle, Washington, to provide scholarships for science and engineering students in the Pacific Northwest.

Scope and Content Note

Session 1: John traces his family history and Irish roots, how his parents’ generation came to and settled in the United States and their lives in the New York/New Jersey area. He shares early memories from his childhood, neighborhood, and schools he attended. John talks about his decision to attend the State University of New York Maritime College at Fort Schuyler and being the first in his family to attend college.  

Session 2: John recalls his experiences at Fort Schuyler and the courses, professors, training cruises, and campus activities. Upon graduation, he was commissioned as an officer. John discusses some of the historical movements and moments of the 1960s that stood out to him, including the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Bay of Pigs invasion, the assassination of John F. Kennedy, and the start of the Vietnam War. After graduation, he worked briefly for a naval architecture and marine engineering firm before he joined Environmental Science Services Administration [ESSA] as a Coast and Geodetic Survey officer. John describes his training at King’s Point, and his first sea assignment was on the Oceanographer and then the Discoverer.  

Session 3: John details his career with the NOAA Corps and various tours of duty and assignments, including Project BOMEX, the ’67 Expo, charting seamounts, and going to law school. His other accomplishments during this time were working to achieve wage parity for uniformed officers and gaining expertise on engine CERC [Central Engine Room Control] systems on ships.

Session 4: John remembers his law school experiences, transferring from Fordham to Catholic University, and adjusting to life in Washington, DC. After law school, John’s next sea assignment was as executive officer on the NOAA Ship Peirce. In 1972, the NOAA Corps started admitting, and John discusses this and the resistance that some in the existing Corps had to the change. His next shore assignment was with the Office of General Counsel, dealing with various suits and investigations, personnel issues, and acquisitions and procurement procedures. Additional topics include changes in navigation technology and citizen science efforts.

Session 5: After serving with the Office of General Counsel, John came aboard the NOAA Ship Ferrell, working in New York Harbor, looking mainly at tides and current data. Subsequently, he worked as a lawyer for the National Advisory Committee on Oceans and Atmospheres. He was put in charge of the National Marine Fisheries Services’ Debt Collection Task Force. Next, John was assigned to the office of the Director of the National Ocean Service and worked under Admiral John Bossler. He also reflects on his experience as a NOAA Corps Officer Training Center lecturer, earning his MBA, and changes in technology throughout his career.  

Session 6: John talks about his role as Deputy Director at the Pacific Marine Center, his impressions of Admiral Moran’s NOAA Corps tenure, and his time on the Bering Sea onboard the Oceanographer. He shares stories from his travels to Panama around the time of the US invasion in 1989 and to Antarctica and many places in between.  

Session 7: John details his last two sea assignments, as Captain of the Oceanographer and then the Discoverer, looking at El Nino/El Nina and uncharted seamounts. He also discusses the NOAA Corps’s fleet modernization efforts and his decision to retire in 1993. After retiring from the Corps, John continued to work and stay active, teaching at the Northwest Procurement Institute; founding the Mastery of Scottish Arts School of Piping, Dancing, and Drumming; and meeting and marrying his wife.

Addendum:  In this additional session, John reflects on challenges for women in the NOAA Corps, his life in retirement, staying in touch with former colleagues, and coping with the COVID-19 pandemic.