Bureau of Steam Engineering The Bureau of Steam Engineering was a bureau of the United States Navy , created by the act of 5 July 1862 , receiving some of the duties of the former Bureau of Construction , Equipment and Repair . It became , by the Naval Appropriation Act of 4 June 1920 , the Bureau of Engineering . In 1940 it combined with the Bureau of Construction and Repair and became the Bureau of Ships . Historical background . " Engineering , both in operating the shipboard machinery and in the design and construction of ships , became critically important with the outbreak of the Civil War . The Navy had to blockade a ‘ coastline stretching over 3 , 000 miles from the Potomac to the Mexican border . It had to support the Army on the rivers ; it had to search out and destroy Confederate raiders . For all these purposes , the steam engine and the engineer were indispensable . On the day of battle , steam engines drove the " Monitor " and the " Merrimack " , the " Kearsarge " and the " Alabama " , as well as the gunboats which supported Grant before Fort Donelson and Vicksburg . In 1862 , Congress recognized the importance of engineering by creating the Bureau of Steam Engineering . " When Lee surrendered , the United States Navy was the most effective sea power in the world . That position depended upon engineering which , in turn , was based on the skill of Benjamin F . Isherwood , first Chief of the Bureau of Steam Engineering . He designed and built engines rugged enough to withstand the shock of combat , as well as ill - treatment by poorly trained operating engineers . He also designed and constructed a well - armed cruiser which was faster than any abroad . In addition , American naval leadership rested upon ingenious civilian engineers and inventors such as John Ericsson , who designed and built the " Monitor " . " The Navy ' s first marine engineer was a civilian appointment in 1836 . Congress authorized the establishment of an Engineer Corps in 1842 . The 1862 reorganization gave officers of the Engineer Corps their own bureau with dedicated billets to avoid competition from Construction Corps officers ( naval architects ) in the separated Bureau of Construction and Repair . In 1864 Congress authorized establishment of a separate United States Naval Academy curriculum for naval constructors and steam engineers ; and the academy offered parallel tracks for cadet - midshipmen and cadet - engineers . Shipboard commanding officers became uncomfortable with their increasing dependency on the skills and advice of subordinates trained in matters unfamiliar to them ; so a common naval academy curriculum was re - instituted in 1882 , and Engineer Corps officers were merged into the unrestricted line in 1899 . Junior Engineer Corps officers qualified for general line duties at sea , and senior Engineer Corps officers were restricted to shore assignments in their specialties . The restricted line officer concept of " engineering duty only " ( EDO ) was revived in 1916 when the Engineer Corps officers proved inadequately prepared for the expanded shipbuilding programs of World War I . The EDO designation expanded to include naval architects of the former Construction Corps when the two Corps were merged into the Bureau of Ships in 1940 . Commanding officers . Commanding and senior officers of the " Bureau of Steam Engineering " were :