James Kearney replaced Williams in 1845, relocating the survey to Detroit. Work was temporarily halted for most of the Mexican–American War. After the war, work resumed and the west end of Lake Erie was completed in 1849. John N. Macomb took command of the lake survey in 1851. It greatly increased in size and appropriations. It published its first charts in 1852–covering all of Lake Erie. During the 1852–55 seasons, the areas surveyed by the Lake Survey included the Straits of Mackinac and the approaches to either side of Mackinac Island, part of the north end of Lake Michigan, all of the St. Marys River, and a few harbors on Lake Superior. As a result of this work the Lake Survey published three new charts. A second steamer, the Jefferson Davis (after Jefferson Davis) was launched in 1856, and soon renamed Search.
