Lieutenant Wilkes led what was the United States' first international exploration. In addition to discovering and circumnavigating the Antarctic continent‹thereby proving Antarctica a continent, he continued on to chart Pacific waters and the west coast of the United States. Some of his charts were used by U.S. forces in World War II.

Wilkes' survey of the Antarctic coast was the opening chapter of the Navy's subsequent history in polar exploration and research. Wilkes was truly a pioneer in the Navy's involvement in scientific research. In the middle of the nineteenth century, the Navy established its first testing laboratories to keep pace with civilian inventions and general progress of technology. In 1923, the Navy opened the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, and today the Navy operates a comprehensive system for research, development, test and evaluation across a wide range of scientific disciplines. Sculptor: Antonio Tobias Mendez