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Edited by Commander John V. Noel, Jr., U. S. Navy Through March 20, 1952
United States................................................................................................................................ 570
Joint Chiefs and U. S. Policy—Automatic Steering for Carriers— 10,000 Mile Rocket Test Range
British Ships Cruise in Baltic—Pirates Attack British Ship—British Destroyer Rescues U. S. Airmen
Satellite Merchant Marine Growing—Siberian Railroad Near Completion—Comments on Soviet Navy
New Navy Fighter in Test Flight—Meteorology and Jet Aircraft
Fresh Water from Salt—Navy to Use Plastic Piping—Radio Controlled Airborne Lifeboat
International................................................................................................................................. 579
Navy Now Controls Formosa Area—Arctic Air Bases to be on Icecap—Four Fleets Join in Operation Grand Slam—Report on Grand Slam—Allied Naval Games a Success
UNITED STATES Joint Chiefs and U. S. Policy
Foreign Policy Bulletin, March 15.—In the brief period of five years the Joint Chiefs of Staff have become one of the most important influences in American public life. An act of Congress in 1947 made the institution a permanent part of the defense establishment, with responsibility chiefly for evolving the military strategy of the United States. Now the four Army, Air Force and Navy officers who are the Joint Chiefs not only make military plans; they also make foreign policy.
The North Atlantic Council’s decision in Lisbon on February 22 to admit Germany to the proposed European army is testimony to the authority of the Joint Chiefs in world political affairs.
The United States supported the continued demilitarization of Germany until General Omar N. Bradley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, told the House Appropriations Committee in May 1950 that a rearmed Germany had become essential to the defense of the West. Three months later the National Security Council recommended that American foreign policy reflect this point of view, and in September 1950, Secretary of State Dean Acheson announced to the North Atlantic Council, then meeting in New York, that the United States favored the remilitarization of Germany as a complement to the military power which the North Atlantic allies themselves were gathering. When subsequently it became obvious that the European neighbors of Germany would not go along with this policy unless the German armed forces were included in an international European army, where German troops could not easily serve purely German purposes, then the Joint Chiefs gradually were won over to the idea of the European army.
During the visit of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill to Washington this January General Bradley privately urged him to support the European army. While Britain has declined to join the army, British support for the idea that such an army should be created helped to carry the day at Lisbon. In the 18 months since Mr. Acheson, to satisfy the Joint Chiefs, put the question before the
North Atlantic Council, the issue of Germany’s military revival has complicated Washington’s diplomatic dealings with our European allies, some of whom regard Germany as a menace rather than a safeguard- The Joint Chiefs, however, consider the rearming of Germany necessary on military grounds, and this point of view has prevailed over civilian objections.
The influence of the Joint Chiefs is visible in American foreign policy regarding many other areas. The policy of aiding General Chiang Kai-shek to strengthen his military force on Formosa has been formulated by the Joint Chiefs (one point on which they agree with General Douglas MacArthur), and the State Department simply goes along with it, principally because military policy in this instance suits the present temper of Congress. The Joint Chiefs have persistently urged the United States to negotiate a mil1' tary agreement with Spain to buttress the Atlantic alliance on the south as German rearmament would buttress it on the east’ Over State Department objections that have grown weaker and weaker until they are now inaudible, the Joint Chiefs apparently are to have their way—again because they have the support of many Congressmen.
The full measure of the effect of the Joint Chiefs on foreign policy is difficult to estimate because these officers hold views that often seem contradictor}'. For one thing, they give the impression that basically they are isolationists. Their long grounding in the proposition that their primary task is to secure the continental United States makes them queasy about American commitments to help nations far from our shores. As a result, they did not enthusiastically support the policies of military aid and of the North Atlantic alliance when these were first broached. Once those policies were adopted, however, they suggested improvements which military logic recommends to then1- Their predisposition toward isolationism lS thus reconciled with their interest in Formosa, Germany, Spain, Greece and Turkey- At the same time their philosophical preoccupation with continental security prevents them from becoming warmongers. For example, the Joint Chiefs did not consider Korea essential to American security. Mr-
Acheson, not the military men, proposed United States and UN intervention in Korea.
Detailed study of the rise of the Joint J-hiefs’ influence within the military estab- !shment and of their role in the realm of °reign policy is seriously needed if the united States is to carry out its foreign Policy responsibilities intelligently.
Automatic Steering for Carriers
Marine Journal, February.—The U. S. Navy flas accepted its first automatic steer- lng system for aircraft carriers, according to ^n announcement by the Sperry Gyroscope The new robot helmsman, developed in no company’s engineering laboratories, will e installed aboard the U.S.S. Oriskany.
The new device is a tubeless version of the ' Perry electronic automatic pilot developed steer destroyer escorts controlled by radio
0rn aircraft in a special project during the War.
^ magnetic “brain” which anticipates peering motions replaces conventional elec- °n tubes used to control earlier automatic P’lots. The magnetic “brain” was developed specially for heavy duty naval use.
Without human aid, the robot will steer Prescribed zig zags and follow course sched- es computed by special navigation devices. will also hold the ship precisely to straight gyro courses, despite disturbing forces of j^nd and sea. It is capable of turning the ship °. a new course in the least possible time "nthout overshooting the course.
Deck personnel can take over and steer the . niP manually at any instant simply by turnS the manual steering wheel. They can also ^ntrol the steering system from remote sta- °ns by means of a portable controller Carried on a shoulder strap.
. ^ne use of the robot will be to steer the aircraft carrier into the wind during the Pnching and landing of aircraft. This opera- 0tl requires keeping the wind a precise Pmber of degrees off the port bow to entralize the turbulent stream of air which °Ws around the ship’s island. This course yJng must be held within close tolerances. The robot can aid the carrier in its role as a Pker for refueling ships while under way at a- Accurate steering of the carrier on a raight course is essential because the receiving ship must sail within a reasonably close distance alongside without being pulled against the carrier. More accurate steering on the carrier makes it easier for the receiving ship to keep station on the carrier.
Advantage of automatic steering is that it can hold the ship’s heading accurately over long periods of time. In smooth weather an expert quartermaster can continue accurate steering for periods up to half an hour, then his control over the course begins to wander because of fatigue.
The robot can follow a prolonged rapid flow of course change commands, such as might be occasioned in automatic tracking of targets or automatic evasive maneuver- ings.
The new robot’s magnetic “brain” anticipates the ship’s steering motions by measuring the ship’s rate of turn. By comparing this rate to the ship’s departure from the desired course, the “brain” is able to calculate how much opposing rudder it must apply to stop the ship’s turn exactly on the desired course. The “brain” also contains an integrator which compensates for wind effects and errors in settling onto the new course.
Although automatic pilots today are common devices aboard merchant vessels, the Navy has not yet made them standard gear aboard combat ships. At present, fewer than nine naval combat vessels carry them. These have been installed for evaluation tests. The Sperry electronic robots now in service on destroyers and submarines are experimental predecessors of the new one developed for the Oriskany.
First automatic pilots for ships, developed originally by Sperry, were used on merchant vessels beginning in 1921. The Navy first used automatic steering in 1926 aboard the submarine S-22. A dozen more ships—submarines, destroyers, battleships, and cruisers —were equipped during the following decade. These earlier ships were either lost during the war or decommissioned. Their robot pilots were not electronic and did not contain anticipating rate devices or integrators.
10,000 mile Rocket Test Range
New York Times, March 9.—Air Force Missile Test Center, Coca, Fla., March 8.—■ This base, which deals in its everyday routine in the language of superlatives and the visions of tomorrow, already has produced—• although it is only half finished—an imposing array of records.
Out of the palmetto jungle and the swamp land between the Banana River and the open Atlantic—land reclaimed from the rattlesnake and the bobcat—is growing what is probably the world’s most complete flight- test proving ground for long-range guided missiles.
“Down-range” stations at Jupiter Inlet on the Florida coast and on Grand Bahama Island already provide instrumentation 200 miles from the missile launching sites on Cape Canaveral. Additional radar and instrumentation stations with supporting air strips are being built or will be built on Eleuthera, San Salvador, Mayaguana and Grand Turk Islands and in the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico.
When completed, these stations, together with the launching base and supporting activities here, will provide a completely calibrated and instrumented flight range 1,000 miles long for the “birds” of weird sizes and shapes that the guided piissile designers are now developing.
When longer ranges are needed the missiles can be guided into the vast spaces of the Southern Atlantic. In time the skies over Ascension Island—5,000 miles away—and the icy loneliness of Antarctica may be streaked by the vapor trails of missiles fired from the white beaches of Florida. A range
10,0 miles long is available against the day when the pilotless robots of the upper air are able to fly that far. That time is not yet at hand, however.
Missiles, according to the commanding general here, Maj. Gen. William L. Richardson, still are in some ways in the “Model T” stage. The ranges of missiles fired here so far have not exceeded 200 miles.
Missile ranges will exceed that, however, as soon as the instrument stations are completed on Eleuthera, San Salvador and the other down-range islands and by the end of 1953 this base, now making about three flight tests a month, expects to be firing about two missiles each day, or sixty a month.
That some of them are expected to be capable of soaring thousands of miles through the stratosphere at supersonic speeds is shown by the elaborate construction and careful mapping already completed and the ambitious projects still planned.
GREAT BRITAIN
Cruise in Baltic Waters by British Ships
Revista Marittima, January.—In September a British naval force consisting of four submarines, one destroyer, one frigate, and one auxiliary vessel made a cruise in the Baltic, calling at the Swedish port of Karl- skrona and the Danish port of Copenhagen-
Such a cruise must have had political significance, to remove any doubt on the freedom of navigation in the Baltic which according to a request advanced by the Soviet Union in 1950 should be navigated only by states actually bordering on that sea. This request has in turn been spurned.
It is noteworthy, however, that the Soviet Union has made the Baltic a Soviet lake, by maintaining in it a preponderant naval force and by building along the coast military installations of great power, such as batteries, missile launching platforms, and naval and air bases.
Pirates Attack British Ship
Manchester Guardian, February 12.-"' Pirates in an armed junk attacked the British steamer Wing Sang (3,560 tons) in the Straits of Formosa to-day and held an American diplomatist, Mr. Edward Stans- bury, and the British master, Captain Stanton, to $10,000 (about £3,500) ransom.
Messages received here by the Navy tonight said that after the ransom had been paid the two men were allowed to return to the Wing Sang, which continued its journey to Keelung, Formosa. Naval authorities pointed out that the signal did not necessarily mean that the ransom had been paid in full. It was unlikely that the Wing Sang had so much money aboard.
The naval authorities said that the pirates fired on the ship wounding one sailor. The junk went alongside and ordered the WiH Sang’s master aboard. The pirates then asked to see Mr. Stansbury, who was returning with his wife to Taipeh, Formosa, from
Hongkong. Mr. Stansbury went aboard the Junk and the two men were told they were being held for ransom.
The Wing Sang is owned by the Indochina Steam Navigation Company and is registered at Hongkong. She left Hongkong yesterday for Formosa with 75 passengers and a general cargo.
American diplomatic sources here said t°night that Mr. Stansbury was an attache at the American Embassy in Taipeh. It is not Known how the pirates knew that an American diplomatic passenger was on board the ^ing Sang.—Reuters.
British. Destroyer Rescues U. S. Airmen
London Times, February 8.—Nicosia, eb- 7.—The British destroyer Chevron today rescued 14 survivors from a United ‘ tates Navy Mercator anti-submarine airCraft which crashed into the sea off the west C°ast of Cyprus with 15 people on board. LA.F. aircraft at Nicosia were sent on a soarch when wireless communication with no Mercator aircraft was broken, j Lhe search for the pilot, who is believed to )e Jn a dinghy, is continuing.
Washington, Feb. 7.—The United States Auvy tonight highly praised the Royal ' avy and the Royal Air Force for the rescue. „ be Navy said that the destroyer displayed daring seamanship in rough water.”— Outers.
RUSSIA
Stellite Merchant Marine Growing
New York Times, February 23.—Stock- 'duij Sweden, Feb. 23 (Reuters).—In line 'C'th the apparent Soviet purpose to keep '°mmunist forces in Korea supplied with buns and ammunition and to insure a steady Stream of similar tools of unrest for troubled jCreas of the Middle East, land-locked ,2echoslovakia is starting a merchant ma- r*Ue of her own.
Hhe Czech ships will join Polish ships now °U the China run and will free additional °lish ships for service to the Middle East, , y reports reaching here from Prague and
'A arsaw.
The advantage to the Kremlin of having e supply ships fly under Czech and Polish ags is that in an event such as Chiang Kai- shek’s Chinese National Navy, for example, moving against Communist supply routes in Korean waters, the shippers could claim they were “neutrals.”
Some of the cargoes of arms are disguised as civilian goods. When a Polish ship recently was unloading crates marked “Porcelain, Handle With Care,” at Alexandria, Egypt one of the crates broke open, spilling revolvers on the dock.
Because Czechoslovakia has no port of her own Poland will permit her to base them at a special free port near Szczecin (Stettin). The ships will fly a Czech flag and be under Prague registry.
The new merchant marine will start off with ten ships. All are second hand and most have been bought through dealers in Hong Kong and other Far Eastern ports. One of them, the 9,000-ton Republica, which formerly sailed under the Panamanian flag, is now being repaired and refitted in Copenhagen.
The Polish China Line now has fifteen ships, including the Kosciusko, Pulaski, Waeynski and the General Beni. All are carrying weapons, food and other supplies to the Communist forces in North Korea and to other Far Eastern areas of unrest.
Three additional ships for this line now are being refitted at Gdynia, Poland.
Czechoslovakia’s ships will be officered by Czechs and Poles. Their crews, like the crews of most of the ships on the Polish China Line, will be mainly Asians. More than 300 Chinese sailors now are quartered at Gdynia waiting to take over Czech ships.
Siberian Railroad Near Completion
New York Times, March 3.—After almost a decade of immense labor the Soviet Union has completed, or almost completed, a series of strategic railroad lines revolutionizing the transport pattern of much of Siberia and Central Asia.
Within the last week the Soviet radio has reported in operation the Stalinsk-Barnaul railroad line, extending more than 120 miles. This new road links the major Kuznetsk iron, steel and coal center with the famous Turke- stan-Siberian railroad, providing a direct link for the first time between the Kuznetsk area and the Kazakh and Uzbek Republics.
Previously shipments between these two regions had to go by way of the heavily loaded Trans-Siberian line, the only complete rail link between European Russia and the Pacific.
Even more significant for the future, however, is the recent announcement in Kazakhstan that the 350-mile Akmolinsk-Pavlodar route will soon go into use on a makeshift basis, apparently even before completion of all work. This is a key section of the projected South Siberian railroad, the major post-war Soviet rail construction project. The Stalinsk-Barnaul line is also part of the South Siberian.
Since previous reports have indicated the completion, or near-completion, of other sections of the South Siberian railroad between Magnitogorsk and Stalinsk, the probability now arises that this vital transport link will soon be open along its entire route. This will provide direct connection between the three major centers of heavy industry in Asiatic Russia, the Urals, the Kuznetsk Basin and the Karaganda coal region. In addition, this line will open for development a large and rich area, the exploitation of which has been hindered up to now by lack of transport.
Finally, it has also been announced that the long-awaited Mointy-Chu line in Kazakhstan will soon be opened, also on a makeshift basis. This 260-mile line will cut by
1,0 miles the present long and roundabout route between the Karaganda coal basin and Alma-Ata, capital of Kazakhstan, substantially lightening the burden of coal shipments now being borne by the Turkestan-Siberian line.
When all these lines have been opened, the net result will be a major redistribution of the heavy flow of traffic in Siberia and Central Asia, which has made the existing lines there among the most intensively used railroad links in the world.
Substantial economies will be achieved because of substantial cuts in distances freight has to be moved, while the speed of freight movement on the key Transsiberian and Turkestan-Siberian roads can be substantially improved as volume on them declines.
For the first time, the Soviet Union will have direct rail links between all the major centers of production in Siberia and Central
Asia. Between many points there will be alternate routes that can be used, depending on the volume of traffic. In addition, the vulnerability of Soviet production from the cutting of the Transsiberian in time of war will be substantially reduced, though far from eliminated.
Another significant rail line has been completed recently in the Ukraine, a ninetv- mile stretch between the cities of Fedorovka and Kakhovka. The latter community is headquarters for present efforts to build major irrigation and electric power works in the southern Ukraine and northern Crimea with the objective of substantially raising agricultural and industrial productivity in this region.
Comments on the Soviet Navy
La Revue Maritime, February.—M. Le Masson makes the following statement in h's treatment of the fleet of the U.S.S.R. in the 1952 edition of Flotles de Combat:
We have not been able to bring up to date the chapter on Soviet fighting ships, since we have received little information on this subject. Our concern for objectivity has prevented us from using the more or less sensational and uncontrolled information published abroad. Numerous indications, however, do permit us to state that the Soviets are endeavoring to bring their naval air up to the level of the army and its aviation. As the Soviet dictators know, they cannot build up in a short time a completely balanced surface force. Hence, they are concentrating on their submarine fleet and their naval aviation. This does not mean that they are neglecting the surface navy, although their major efforts are for the purpose of renewing the units in service which are beginning to be overage. Since our last edition three cruisers of the Tchapayev class, plus some destroyers, have entered service. Still more powerful cruisers and new types of destroyers and escorts are under construction, but as far as we can learn the Russians have not laid down any aircraft carriers.
At the beginning of 1951, we estimated the number of Soviet submarines in service at between 250 and 300, of which number 100 to 150 were rather old and of small tonnage- Competent experts estimate the number of
With
so many new forecasting problems that
submarines now under construction to be ^bout 100. This is the figure we are listing. *hese new vessels are probably derived from lbe German ocean-going submarines of the *Xl type as well as from the coastal XXIII |Tpe, some of which were taken by the °viets at the end of the war.
Numerous indications point to a big development of the Soviet naval air arm. The )r'ef interval between the presentation of the rst Mig 15’s and their appearance in formations leads one to think that the prototypes ; naval aviation presented in the last air (lsplays over Moscow will soon enter service.
AVIATION
Netv Navy Fighter in Test Flight
New York Times, February 22.—Los Ugeles.—A prototype of the Navy’s newest !^TePt-wing jet fighter, the North American J~2 Fury, made its first test flight here tony at the International Airport. Rated in e 650-mile-an-hour class, the plane is an jl.anced model of the Navy’s first opera- '°nal jet fighter, the FJ-1 Fury.
. ^be most noticeable difference in the new is the 35-degree sweepback of its ln> supersonic wing. It is powered by a eneral Electric J-47 turbo-jet engine. The new fighter has four 20-mm. cannons instead •50-caliber machine guns carried in the •1'L It has a range of about 1,000 miles and a Service ceiling of over 45,000 feet.
^ ^ new improved Navy gunsight and new nung radio equipment as well as an im- r°ved Navy ejection seat mechanism are Nuded in the plane’s design changes. The st production models are scheduled for arly delivery.
Meteorology and Jet Aircraft
T/m Aeroplane, February 29.—Jet air. have confronted the meteorologists
tv,6 ^°yal Meteorological Society decided e time had come to give the matter a good ’n8- This it certainly succeeded in doing at 1Scussion on "‘Meteorology and the Opera- 'on of Jet Aircraft,” held at the Institution Electrical Engineers, on February 20, Oder the chairmanship of Sir Charles Nor- an.<I> the Society’s President. lr Commodore G. Silyn Roberts, C.B.E.,
A.F.C., of the Ministry of Supply, led off by listing the meteorological phenomena which affect jet aircraft to a greater degree than piston-engined aeroplanes. Cloud and fog, turbulent air, jet streams, icing, hail, temperature, and precipitation static.
Low cloud and fog can be troublesome by forcing a jet aircraft, which has a high fuel consumption at low altitude, to hang around waiting to land. There is a need for more accurate forecasting of landing conditions if a heavy load of reserve fuel is not to be carried.
Turbulence is probably the most important factor of all. There is not much evidence for the common belief that gusts are worse at high altitudes than low, but the high ones are more difficult to forecast. They are more troublesome to aircraft with spans of over 100 feet than to fighters, and can cause a stall, upset passengers, and put particularly heavy loads on the structure of bombers. But until some alleviating device can be brought into use, either the passengers must put up with it or pilots must try to avoid turbulent air.
Jet streams, the narrow belts of very high winds which have only been discovered and studied In the last few years, blow at their strongest just below the stratosphere, at the very heights where jet aircraft find it most economical to fly.
Ice is deposited on leading edges more rapidly the faster the aircraft flies, at least up to a point; but at very high speeds this may be offset by heating of the impinging air due to compression. High rate of climb also helps to relieve the more severe icing problems of jet aircraft.
Hail, unpleasant enough in piston-engined aircraft, is even more unpleasant in jets, which are reported to have been damaged by hailstones the size of golf balls. Large lumps of ice have also been swallowed by jet engines, but Air Commodore Silyn Roberts knew of no damage to centrifugal compressors. Axial compressors, however, have been damaged in experiments designed to simulate actual conditions. [We have heard also that such lumps of ice have caused the flame to go out during flight.—Ed.] At present the best precaution is to get accurate forecasts, or to install radar for recognizing possible hail- producing clouds.
d
As temperature increases, the thrust of a jet falls off; it is about 16 per cent less in tropical than in temperate climates. This point also was dealt with in more detail later.
Precipitation static was the last problem on the list. Either charged, or uncharged, particles of dust interfere with radio equipment. An aircraft becomes charged by induction in strong electric fields, or by friction, and the rate of increase can be as much as
200,0 volts per second. The intensity is greatest on narrow projections and sharp corners, radiations from which excite radio sets, mostly in the high frequency band.
Rain and humidity are also problems, but their solution lies in the hands of engineers.
In conclusion, Air Cmdre. Silyn Roberts expressed his opinion that the advent of the jet has not made flying more dangerous.
Captain A. M. A. Majendie, M.A., of the Comet Unit of B.O.A.C., recounted much of what he had learned while flying the second prototype Comet around the Mediterranean and Middle East during the Summer and Autumn of last year, and to East and South Africa this year.
His conclusion from all this experience is that there are two serious obstacles to a better meteorological service on the Commonwealth network: the first is a need for more information about the upper air, and the second is for better facilities for distributing it. Speed in distribution is especially important: out-of-date information is almost as bad as none at all.
The effect of air temperature and winds on the performance of jet aircraft is so marked that a forecast of both must be ready at least an hour before the flight begins, to enable the permissible load to be assessed. For each 3 degrees C. rise of temperature or 2 knots increase in headwind, 1 per cent of the fuel reserve is lost; and for a temperature rise of 7 degrees C. or 4 knots more headwind, one less passenger can be carried in the Comet.
Captain Majendie had, he said, found the take-off forecasts excellent. With regard to the upper air, his party were “agreeably surprised” by the accuracy of the forecasts of temperature, which only in a few cases had been over-estimated. But estimates of the winds at upper levels were much less satisfactory, and he mentioned one instance when a 50-knot wind blew from the opposite direction to that forecast.
An accurate forecast of weather at the terminal aerodrome is of the utmost importance, because if a Comet comes down low, only to find itself diverted elsewhere, and has to climb again to cruising height, it will have expended so much fuel as to cut 200 miles off its range. For this reason Captain Majendie recommends getting into direct communication with one’s destination soon after takeoff; relaying messages may cause too much delay in transmission. There are other reasons why the pilot should receive continuous forecasts, such as warnings of jet streams and areas of clear-air turbulence.
He had encountered very little turbulence at high altitudes, but that may have been because most of the route flying so far done had been flown in Summer. When found, it was usually associated with a strong temperature gradient or a change of wind.
Finally, he gave many instances of encountering clouds at far greater heights than the 30,000 ft. which used to be regarded as a maximum. A fair amount of cloud in the tropics reaches up to 50,000 ft. or more, and the “intertropical convergence zone” of Central Africa produced clouds of this height. ^ photo was shown on the screen of a cumulonimbus top at 40,000 ft. over India, and another of an “anvil” at 43,000 ft. above the Irrawady. He had flown through such “anvils” without finding significant turbulence.
Nor do all such clouds consist of isolated cumulo-nimbus tops, for Capt. Majendie has found stratiform cloud at 39,000 ft. even over the Mediterranean, and in the tropi®5 has flown continuously in cloud at 40,000 ft- for hundreds of miles and for over an hour on end. Over Johannesburg, one day in late January, after avoiding some large cumulonimbus on the climb, he entered thin cirro- stratus. This was at first quite stable, bid without warning he suddenly met a sever® gust of up to 2f g, followed by a pattering 0 ice crystals and more bumps of lg, which gradually diminished and died away. It was evidently a thunderstorm pushing up int0 the stable layer.
Summing up, Capt. Majendie declare that once again the aircraft has got ahead 0
meteorological facilities.
Group Captain C. G. Lott, C.B.E., of ; ^hter Command, pointed out that military Jet aircraft had to tackle some of the aforementioned meteorological phenomena from a . Cerent point of view. First, in military fly- lng the aim is primary and the risk secondly; then the aircraft must be flown to the nuts of their performance; and thirdly, ^.operation calls for the optimum number aircraft, which usually means the maximum.
fQJet fighters cannot choose good visibility nr landing; because of their short endurance ney must get down through whatever leather presents itself. At 35-45,000 feet, Vlsibility is a problem even in clear air, and . ner aircraft become difficult to intercept or entify unless they produce condensation Jails, which, Group Capt. Lott said, do per- s; above the tropopause in spite of theory, f he need to fly to the limit of performance nans that temperatures must be forecast, they affect that limit. The same applies winds, which must also be accurately fore- ,as*- >f targets are to be identified by elapsed n^, or the time of arrival of raiders is to be estlmated.
^ turbulence can interfere with accurate 0rnbing, for which a stable platform is |, ,et Its effect on fighters is not so obvious j.ut it puts up the stalling speed and so sets m;ts to the radius and rate of turns. r Meteorological forecasts need to be accu- e all over a defended territory and its ap- Eaches, so that the time available to deploy suters can knowri; or a decision made on lcn type of fighter to employ.
SCIENCE
Sah Process Makes Fresh Water frorri
York Times, February 21.—Boston se^ Evolutionary new process for desalting v d. 'Vater, promising to open vast new reser in ^resh water for use in agriculture Ustry and the home wherever water i: th" Scarce> was demonstrated here today a: e national meeting of the American Re Eh and Development Corporation. ene Process basedon the use of electrica ergy in conjunction with new synthetic mbranes that, according to scientists
makes possible for the first time the continuous economical desalting of sea water, brackish water and industrial solutions.
The membranes do their work by a chemical process known as “ion exchange,” in which positive and negative electrical charges are interchanged, leading to the separation of certain minerals and salts according to the electrical charges they carry.
A stream of sea water fed to a unit using the membranes emerges split into two streams—a freshwater stream, two-thirds of the volume of the feed and containing practically none of the salt, and a brine stream, one-third the volume of the feed and containing all the salt.
The fresh water may be used for drinking or for industrial or agricultural purposes. The brine may be further treated to yield salt, magnesium or other chemicals derived from sea water.
Announcement of the new process was made by Prof. Edwin R. Gilliland, of the Department of Chemical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and president of Ionics, Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., an affiliate of the American Research and Development Corporation.
Dr. Karl T. Compton, former president of M.I.T. and a member of the board of advisors of the development corporation, hailed the new process as offering great promise in many fields of application.
Navy to use Plastic Piping
Marine Journal, February.—As the result of an eight-month sea test aboard a destroyer escort, the Navy plans to install plastic piping in several minesweepers now being built, Rear Admiral Homer N. Wallin, Chief of the Navy Bureau of Ships has announced.
Copper and nickel are used extensively in present ship-board piping systems where corrosion resistance to sea water is essential. In the minesweepers where the plastic installation is planned, about two tons of copper and nickel will be saved, Admiral Wallin said. In addition, there will be savings in copper- brass piping. He also pointed out the following advantages indicated for the use of plastic piping:
Installation costs promise to be considerably less with plastics, once quantity production is begun. The cost of two-inch plastic pipe of 1/8" thickness will be about 70 cents a foot, while similar size copper-nickel pipe costs about $1.55 a foot and stainless steel pipe costs about $2.25 a foot. Black steel pipe, which corrodes and therefore is not used for sea water piping except in times of great material shortages, costs 55 cents a foot.
Maintenance costs should also be less. The tests aboard the destroyer escort have indicated that for many purposes plastics outlast metal. Even in compartments where the air was very hot the plastic pipes did not corrode or burn. Several pieces of plastic pipe were installed just above the boiler drum, where the air temperature reached 180° F. After eight months of service aboard the destroyer escort, this pipe was not affected.
Plastic pipe also does not corrode from salt water and is resistant to shock. Sections of plastic pipe carrying salt water under pressure were installed just aft of the forward guns. They remained good as new while nearby steel pipes had to be removed because they were damaged by the combination of corrosion and shock.
The chief engineer of the destroyer escort also reported that during a storm, in which the pipe was subjected to severe stress and vibration, the plastic pipe was not visibly damaged. Several metallic pipes, however, gave way.
Plastic pipe was installed in representative places throughout the destroyer escort for purposes of the test. Norfolk Naval Shipyard did the installation work under guidance of the U. S. Naval Engineering Experiment Station at Annapolis. For example, plastic fire main piping 3/16" thick was put in locations where resistance to heat, shock, and average salt water conditions could be determined.
The commanding officer of the vessel expressed complete satisfaction with the performance of the pipe and forwarded enthusiastic recommendations to the Bureau of Ships.
Plastic material from which the pipes are made is a fiber glass cloth bonded together with synthetic resin. If a leak or break develops in the pipes, a strip of fiber glass tape can be wrapped around the damaged section and impregnated with plastic. This is expected to prove a quick and practical way 1° make permanent repairs.
Plastic pipe sections are joined together* not by means of threads, but with sleeves which are slightly larger (.006 to .012 inches) than the pipes. The clearance space is filled with synthetic resin and allowed to harden- No joint developed a leak during the service tests.
Tests run on the destroyer escort proved the serviceability of plastic pipe, but some problems of installation must still be solved- For example, techniques are needed which will permit resins used to join the pipes to be applied in all temperatures. As yet, the) have a tendency not to harden in cold weather.
Also, metal socket fittings must still be used for joining the plastic pipe. PlasOc fittings so far used have been hand-made* and consequently difficult and slow to manufacture.
Such problems are now being studied by engineers of the Bureau of Ships.
Radio Controlled Airborne Lifeboat
Maritime Reporter, March.—Westing- house Electric Corporation has announced completion of final acceptance tests on a ne" radio control for an airborne lifeboat that can be dropped by parachute from an an" plane and unerringly guided to survivors 1,1 the water.
An electrical control system designed b> Westinghouse that uses the radio signal froU1 the air to control the engine and equipment for driving and steering the boat has successfully passed trial runs at Lake PymatuU' ing, 25 miles north of the Company’s Transformer Division at Sharon, Pa., as well a5 final tests conducted by the U. S. Air Force at Mobile, Alabama. The Westinghouse Transformer Division holds the develop' ment contract from the U. S. Air Force. Thj5 is the same plant that developed the electro torpedo for the U. S. Navy during Work War II.
The electrical control system for the ltfe' boat was designed by company engineer^ around a transmitter-receiver set developeC1
i'he
engine air vents are opened. The motor
e over control of the boat themselves. If ^ y are too weak for this activity, the air- r°rne operator can guide them to shore or a ^.S<?Ue surface ship. The boat is equipped to > tr'Ple controls, permitting passengers on fea^ rac^0 control at any time and ,(rate it electrically or manually. e . activate the boat’s power plant,” ained Thomas A. Daly, manager of Ord- qu‘1Ce ®n8inerinS at the Sharon plant, “re- r ,res an electrical control system incorpo- lng electronic amplifiers, relays, and Uators. Each signal is used to perform a ecific group of functions, and the electrical
c°ntrol out
Jf the Wright Air Development Center, right-Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton,
,Jhio.
After the 30-foot-long craft is dropped by I>arachute into the sea from the rescue plane, radio signals at five different frequencies take 'rtf1 comPlete control in individual stages.
,e stabilizing fins that hold the boat steady ‘ls >t leaves the plane are jettisoned. A guard -,,rotecting the propeller and rudder is freed.
cranked up and automatically choked, .flowing this, the clutch is engaged and the rottle advanced to send the craft forward her the guidance of the radio controller. ™^en the lifeboat reaches the survivors, e airborne operator can bring it to a halt i l'l the survivors board and then set the oat on its course again. If the physical con-
l0n of the rescued men is good, they can L3.kr
the
system is so designed that it carries ccrde6^ dut^ seParately and in the proper
'str'k16 ^rSt Set °Peratl°ns after the boat staes the water consists of the five separate tr0m S clescrlhed above. The radio signal con- b0ln8 these functions is transmitted to the An& tn ^ a frecluency °1 955 cycles a second. a s° her radio signal—this one at 3000 cycles shiffC-0I1C* now §oes *nto acti°n- The gear at th1S ac^vance(l from neutral to forward and half 6 Same fenre the throttle is advanced to hoatlPeed’ the en8cneer said. To turn the the e^’ a rac^*0 signal of 650 cycles acts on for ma8netic compass steering mechanism. Use(ja r^ht turn, a signal of 300 cycles is
“For • .
r emergencies, the airborne operator
uses a fifth frequency of 1390 cycles,” Mr. Daly added. “In the event that the magnetic compass steering system should not work, this signal by-passes it and works directly on the steering apparatus itself.”
If the survivors are too weak to handle the boat manually—and if contact with the rescue plane is lost—a push button control system is available.
The 3500-pound craft can hold 15 men, with provisions for 10 days and fuel for an 800-mile cruise. It is also equipped with “walkie-talkie” radio sets for boat-plane communications, a machine for distilling fresh drinking water from sea water, and a zipper canopy to protect survivors against the boiling sun.
INTERNATIONAL Navy Now Controls Formosa Area
New York Herald Tribune, March 14.— The Defense Department announced tonight that the Navy, instead of an Army commander, will have responsibility for the Formosa-Philippines area in the Western Pacific.
Adm. Arthur W. Radford, commander-inchief of United States Navy forces in the Pacific, will take over command of the area, now under Gen. Matthew B. Ridgway, the over-all Far Eastern commander, on March 15.
The terse announcement by the Defense Department follows:
“The President has approved a recommendation of the Joint Chiefs of Staff that United States military responsibility in the Philippines-Formosa area be transferred from the Commander-in-Chief, Far East, General Ridgway, to the Commander-inChief, Admiral Radford.
“This transfer of responsibility will become effective on 15 March 1952 and involves no changes in United States policy in the Far East.”
The announcement coincided with the revelation that Admiral Radford, whose base is at Pearl Harbor, will make a trip to his new command area in the near future and that Secretary of the Navy Dan Kimball will leave the west coast March 17 for his first inspection trip to the entire Far Eastern
area, including Japan and Formosa, the status of which is not affected by the new command given Admiral Radford.
The news also coincided with testimony given Congress today by Defense Secretary Robert A. Lovett that the purpose of the United States “in building up Nationalist Chinese forces in Formosa is to insure the integrity of that island.”
The United States military mission on Formosa, incidentally, will come under the command of Admiral Radford in the new set-up, the Defense Department said.
The change in command is strictly one concerning the United States, and not the United Nations command in Korea nor activities under the Japanese peace treaty. The trust islands of the Pacific will remain under the Department of the Interior, and the Ryukyu Islands, south of Japan proper, will remain under General Ridgway.
General of the Army Douglas MacArthur, until relieved of all Far East command, exercised control over United States naval as well as other forces in the area, a command which General Ridgway inherited. For some time, however, the Joint Chiefs have been considering a split in the command in the fashion announced so tersely tonight, it was said.
Reasons for this, informed quarters said, is a logical division of command responsibility, as the Navy has the prime responsibility in the Formosa-Philippines area, as the Army does for Korean operations, and for maintenance and protection of air and other bases in Japan after the peace treaty is ratified.
Arctic Air Bases to Be on Ice Cap
New York Herald Tribune, March 11.— Fairbanks, Alaska.—The United States Air Force and other American armed services are taking dramatic steps to secure freedom of the seas in the ice-choked Arctic Sea, the body of water around which territories of the world’s most powerful nations are grouped.
An Air Force expedition is about to leave here by plane for the North Polar ice cap, where a landing will be made on the ice with the idea of establishing a base for weather observations on the frozen surface of the
Arctic Sea. If ice conditions are favorable the landing may be at the North Pole itself The Air Force is planning to use transport plane types in its Polar expedition, although specially equipped B-29 bombers have been based in Alaska for some time flying to and from the Pole without alighting there. There is no land at the North Pole, and the United States, which traditionally has contended that the seas of the world must be free to all nations, will make no international claim °i any kind for special rights at the Pole.
The expedition is intended to offset Soviet diplomatic claims, which would make the Arctic Sea a sort of “Mare Nostrum,” °r closed sea, along lines once envisioned W Benito Mussolini for the Mediterranean.
Before World War II, four Soviet ski' equipped bombing planes landed at the North Pole and after establishing a camp there radioed to Prime Minister Stalin: “The British say that the seas belong to the nation with the strongest navy—we say that the North Pole belongs to the nation with the most powerful air force.”
For five years Soviet pilots have been making regular training flights to the North Pole, and Soviet diplomatic agencies have claimed Russian jurisdiction over any land areas between the North Pole and the Arctie rim of Siberia.
The interest of the United States and RuS' sia, as well as of all other nations, in the North Polar regions center about the fact that the shortest distances, or “Great Circle Route,” between North America and the Eurasian land mass lie across the Polar ice cap. This has been crossed by plane several times by both American and Russian pilots’ Many United States Navy officers share the centuries-old belief of Bishop Wilkins, oi London, ancestor of Sir Hubert Wilkins, the Arctic explorer, that submarines can negoti' ate the Polar ice cap beneath the ice. Both Great Britain and the United States have sent submarines into the ice pack during the post-war years, but the results of these undersea Arctic explorations are being kept secret.
The Army’s new Otter Arctic Personnel transport can carry ten men in comfort m the sub-zero Arctic cold across snow, ice, open water or land, and the vehicle is easily
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Slam ^^eets J°*n In Operation Grand
^ew York Times, February 26.—Naples— ore than two hundred American, British, rench and Italian warships will move at a'',n tomorrow from Gibraltar and Malta aJ(l from French, Italian and North African .. e<literranean ports to their appointed sta- °ns in the greatest combined naval training exercises ever held.
Several hundreds of carrier-based and n<l-based planes also will participate in the Iterations which will range over the whole 0 the Western Mediterranean.
leld under the over-all direction of Ad- iral Robert B. Carney, Commander in ]ef of Allied forces in Southern Europe, :fctlng on behalf of the Commanders in Chief . he four Mediterranean powers, the exer- ?lses wiH be known as Grand Slam and will p5Ve the wj10je 0£ the United States Sixth . eet, the whole of the French and British It e,(?**;erranean Fleets, the whole of the ^a ian Fleet and the greater part of the ritish Home Fleet participating. The naval U a]r operations will simulate wartime ditions as closely as possible in peacetime.
lat exercases end March 5. Two days v,er ’•he forty admirals of the four countries 0 Participated either as commanders or as jj Servers will meet at Admiral Carney’s ^quarters in Naples to discuss the techni- fessons learned during the nine days.
. • ,, e Purposes of Grand Slam are essen- tla% these:
■ fo provide technical training in com- hined operations over a long period.
• To test communications under fated wartime conditions.
’' 9° test the ability of ships and aircraft °f Allied Nations to work together.
the testanS communications between jge ’feets of four nations will be the basic ature of the exercises. It is believed that w °ne year of intensive effort they have aals °ut a un’fied system of codes and sig-
To carry the test even further, the ad- als of the four nations will alternate in mand of the various operations. The
combined fleets one day may be receiving orders from an American admiral and next from a British, a French or an Italian commander.
The exercises will open with a forty-ship convoy moving under simulated attack from “enemy” submarines and aircraft. The convoy will be guarded by a fast carrier task force from the United States Sixth Fleet, which will rendezvous with a French task force of cruisers and destroyers and with a combined task force of British and Italian warships. Air cover for the convoy will be provided by all four nations. A “hunter- killer” group, composed of carriers and destroyers will go into simulated action against the “enemy” submarines.
Particular importance is attached to this exercise because it is thought that in case of war Russian submarines would be able to enter the Mediterranean and that the Russian submarine menace would be greater than the German ever was in World War II.
Ships taking part in the exercises include the United States carriers Midway and Tarawa, the British carrier Theseus, the French carrier Lafayette, plus cruisers, destroyers, submarines and a variety of escort and cargo vessels from all four nations. Although under the direction of Admiral Carney, the exercises are technically not a North Atlantic Treaty Organization operation because the British have not yet committed their naval forces to the South European Naval Command. The others all have.
Report on Operation Grand Slam
New York Times, February 28.—Naples, Italy.—Two convoys from Malta have successfully negotiated the straits between Sicily and Tunisia and have entered the western Mediterranean after being under constant “attack” since dawn yesterday by air, submarine and surface craft participating in the Allied naval games. Another convoy was at the narrowest point of the straits early this afternoon and sailed into the open sea this evening.
This operation was the principal feature so far of “Exercise Grand Slam,” which is designed to test the ability of United States, British, French and Italian naval forces to work harmoniously together under wartime
conditions. More than 200 warships and several hundred carrier-based and land- based planes are engaged in simulated warfare all over the western Mediterranean.
Admiral Robert B. Carney, Commander in Chief of Allied forces in southern Europe, who watched the convoys from the air this morning as they plowed their way through the narrows between the western end of Sicily and Cap Bon, Tunisia, told newspaper men at this headquarters in Naples that the convoys had “not remained unscathed” in their passage through the straits.
The probable losses that convoys would have suffered if they had been in actual warfare will not be known for another ten days or so, when reports from all “attacking” submarines and escort vessels are received. Officers on Admiral Carney’s staff estimated that the losses were considerably lighter than those suffered by British convoys fighting their way toward Malta during World War II.
After pointing out that in case of war it would be of vital importance for the Western powers to keep the Straits of Sicily open, Admiral Carney declared that all “attacking” submarines had been detected before they had penetrated the protecting screen of escort vessels. This showed that “detection was definitely good,” he added, saying that he was well satisfied with the way the exercises had gone so far. He emphasized that all communications had been received and understood without trouble despite language difficulties, and that all phases had taken place precisely on schedule.
The first accident of the exercises was reported today. A United States fighter plane had engine trouble and was forced to land on the sea west of Sardinia. The pilot was rescued but the plane was lost.
The convoys leaving Malta were attacked by “enemy” submarines almost as soon as they left the shelter of the harbor at dawn yesterday. The Italian admirals commanding the convoys and escort vessels apparently had not expected attacks so early and they found themselves in some difficulty when they had to deal with submarines before the convoys were properly formed.
Two Italian destroyers, reinforced shortly afterward by two British destroyers, were ordered to counter-attack and succeeded in beating the submarines. Less than two hours later the convoys were under air attack from Italian land bases, while “enemy” surface vessels also began to make their appearance- The attacks continued intermittently and still were in progress at a late hour this evening when the ships were in a better position to maneuver, having reached the open sea-
In other aspects of the exercise, simulated war was being fought all over the western Mediterranean. A fast United States carrier task force commanded by Admiral Matthias B. Gardner was moving from north Italia11 ports to a rendezvous west of Sardinia with a French task force from North African ports- Both were under constant submarine and ah attack, while air protection was supplied b)' land-based planes from Gibraltar, North Africa, France and Italy.
The French force, which includes hunter- killer groups from the French carrier Laja' yelte, cooperated with United States planes and surface vessels in beating off the subma' rines. A bomber from Admiral Gardner5 force, meanwhile, carried out a series 01 strikes on targets off the western coast Italy.
Allied Naval Games a Success
New York Times, March 6.—Naples Italy, March 5.—Exercise Grand Slam> which for the last nine days and eight night5 kept more than 200 United States, British) French and Italian warships and hundreds o* aircraft engaged in a realistic simulated waf designed to test their ability to cooperate effectively against a common enemy, ended today.
The exercise was adjudged a success beyond all expectations by an international staff charged with evaluating the teaching5 from it. '
As was to be expected the exercise revealed some defects in the naval and air cooperation of the four Allied powers in the Meditet' ranean, which nevertheless were thought to have demonstrated their ability to wage war in cooperation despite language difficulties-
United States Admiral Robert B. Carne>'> who was in over-all control of the exercises> stated today that “we still have a long roa1 to travel but we are quite definitely on oOf way.”
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gained we are now going to seek out the spots in our defenses and the rough
1 he commander of Atlantic pact forces in S°uthern Europe added that “perhaps the °st important thing we have demonrated is that the senior commanders of all e four powers can take charge of mixed ^ask forces and handle them effectively as °rking units in spite of language barriers. On the basis of the experience we have
in our communications, analyze them ^ improve them,” he said. “Grand Slam ah'r tremendously impressive proof of our j ,* to conduct combined operations, and relieve that our staffs are now fully intend at all levels.”
exercises led to the death of one man, " as revealed today. He was an American arnan who was washed overboard from the rner Midway last Sunday night while eParations were being made for an early horning air strike.
th °n^ °tfier accidents were the loss of ifee United States carrier-based planes at fell into the sea. In all three cases all airmen were rescued.
ne aspect of the exercise that attracted
considerable attention was the apparent success of submarines in attacking both warships and merchant vessels. This caused Admiral Carney to remark jokingly today that “everyone in these exercises has been killed at least once.”
Although Admiral Carney acknowledged that the defense against submarines still had certain weaknesses, especially as far as long range detection was concerned, it was stated that the superiority of submarines over antisubmarine defenses indicated by the exercise did not exist in reality.
Concluding the exercise today was an air strike by about 200 carrier-based and shore- based bombers against the island of Strom- boli, north of Sicily. No live ammunition was used. The operation was considered as culminating the demonstration of the smoothness with which the armed forces of the four nations can cooperate, for the bombers had already left to strike at targets in the Adriatic Sea when the targets were suddenly switched and they were ordered to bomb the island off Sicily instead. Despite this last-minute change the bombing was performed without the slightest hitch.