Bureau of Navigation ( United States Navy ) The U . S . Navy ' s Bureau of Navigation was established in 1862 as part of the reorganization of the Navy Department . Principal responsibilities were to provide nautical charts and instruments and to oversee several activities involved navigation research , including the Naval Observatory . In 1889 , the Bureau gained responsibilities for personnel management , and this eventually became its primary function . In 1942 , the Bureau was renamed the Bureau of Naval Personnel ( BuPers ) , under which name it continues today . This bureau is not to be confused with the federal Bureau of Navigation ( later the Bureau of Navigation and Steamboat Inspection ) , established in 1884 to oversee commercial shipping and navigation . Early years , 1862 to 1889 . The Navy ' s Bureau of Navigation was one of three bureaus created by Congress on July 5 , 1862 , to supersede the Bureau of Construction , Equipment , and Repair , one of the original Navy Department bureaus established on August 31 , 1842 , to replace the Board of Navy Commissioners . The new Bureau was initially responsible for providing nautical charts and instruments and for supervising the US Naval Observatory , the Hydrographic Office , and the Nautical Almanac Office . It also had responsibility for the United States Naval Academy , which previously under been under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Ordnance and Hydrography . In 1867 , the Navy Department took the Academy under direct supervision , but for many years the Bureau of Navigation continued to provide routine administration and financial management . From 1865 - 1884 , the Bureau was responsible for the Office of Detail , which handled the assignment and detailing of naval officer s . That Office had been established in March 1861 , just prior to the outbreak of the Civil War , in the Office of the Secretary of the Navy . The Office of Detail reverted to the Secretary ' s office on October 1 , 1884 , but was restored to the Bureau of Navigation a few months later , May 22 , 1885 . The Office of Detail was reorganized within the Bureau in 1889 as the Division of Officers and Fleet . Reorganization and acquisition of personnel functions , 1889 . The Bureau of Navigation permanently acquired personnel responsibilities in the late 1880s , as part of a Navy Department reorganization . The Bureau exchanged functions with the Bureau of Equipment and Recruiting on June 30 , 1889 , becoming responsible for enlisted personnel matters . The Bureau of Equipment and Recruiting ( later renamed the Bureau of Equipment ) acquired responsibility for the Naval Observatory , the Nautical Almanac Office and several other equipment - related offices . Responsibility for the Hydrographic Office was acquired from the Bureau of Navigation nine years , later on May 9 , 1898 . The Hydrographic Office and the Naval Observatory ( which had taken over the Nautical Almanac Office ) returned to the Bureau of Navigation on July 1910 . This followed an act of Congress of June 24 , 1910 which dispersed the functions of the Bureau of Equipment . On November 18 , 1909 , the Bureau of Navigation became part of the Navy Department ' s newly established Division of Personnel . Status as an autonomous bureau was regained when the Division of Personnel was abolished on April 25 , 1913 . Becoming the Bureau of Naval Personnel , 1942 . The shift in focus from navigation to personnel management , brought a change in name during World War II . In 1942 , the Bureau of Navigation was redesignated the Bureau of Naval Personnel ( BuPers ) , under which name it still exists today . The Hydrographic Office and the Naval Observatory were transferred to the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations .