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A SAILING GUNROOM* FOR THE ITALIAN NAVY
Prepared for the Proceedings by The Italian Naval Yacht Squadron
Italian naval authorities, who still believe that a naval officer should first be a gentleman-sailor, have recently commissioned Corsaro II, a 42-ton yawl. Especially designed for advanced seamanship training for junior officers, in groups of ten, the yawl is 69.4 feet over all.
In 1959, naval architects Sparkman and Stephens of New York were asked by the Italian Naval Yacht Squadron (Sport Velico della Marina Militare) to design a yacht of medium displacement and to plan her (so to speak) “around” a 10-berth gunroom.
“We definitely do not want luxury,” ran the letter, “Instead we want a boat with sufficient seaworthiness to be able to ride out a gale in any ocean and with interior accommodations to enable a crew consisting of captain, navigator, ten ensigns, a petty officer, and two ratings to live comfortably on board during long ocean voyages and also while in port.”
The yacht, built by Cantiere Costaguta of Genova-Voltri, was launched in December 1960. After a winter shakedown cruise along the home coasts during which her skipper Gapitano di Fregata Agostino Straulino, the Well known Star-class champion—conned her through all kinds of waves and weather, she left for her first ocean crossing in March 1961.
Corsaro was sailed from La Spezia to Los Angeles on a 10,000-mile route in four months. She crossed the Atlantic from Teneriffe to Martinique in 19 days, notwithstanding a partial failure of the usually dependable trade winds. The designers had solved their problem well. After spending a month at Long Beach where all hands were splendidly entertained by the U. S. Navy and American yachtsmen, Corsaro took part in the 1961 Transpacific Race. One of 43 participants, she crossed the line at Diamond Head in sixth 137 A Sailing Gunroom for the Italian Navy
by The Italian Naval Yacht Squadron
139 Celestial Navigation by Artificial Satellites
by Capt. Alton B. Moody, USNR
142 Cunard Will Not Replace the Queens
by Capt. E. B. Perry, USN (Ret.)
143 SS France—Biggest Since Normandie
by Howard C. Reese
146 Soviet Polygots
by Professor C. P. Lemieux
148 Notebook 158 Progress
Edited by Harry B. Hahn, Captain, U. S. Navy
place and placed fourth on corrected time for Class A yachts—not a bad record for a “sailing gunroom.”
Corsaro sailed from Honolulu on 1 July, racing with 15 other yachts to Kauai, where she was first to arrive. Since then, she recrossed the Pacific to San Francisco. Her first cruise ended at the U. S. Naval Base in San Diego on 20 September, and after decommissioning, her crew flew back to Italy.
This year, an entirely new crew of officers, graduated from the 1961 class of the Italian Naval Academy, will take her from San Diego to Newport, R. I., for the Bermuda race and then race across the Atlantic to England where the second cruise of Corsaro II will end after one more race in the North Sea.
As for the future of this small training yacht, there should be no cruising limits for her. With the excellent communications facilities today, she should be able to navigate anywhere in the world.
* A gunroom in the Italian Navy refers to the space or quarters aboard ship where midshipmen are trained.
Corsaro II, the Italian Navy’s training yacht will enter the Bermuda race this year. Officer graduates of the 1961 class of the Italian Academy will crew.
Corsaro II, a 42-ton yawl, was literally designed around a 10-berth gunroom by naval architects Sparkman and Stephens of New York. She is a boat without luxury, but with sufficient seaworthiness to ride out a gale in any ocean. She is 69.4 feet over all, 50 feet on the waterline, with a beam of 16 feet and a draft of 9.5 feet. Her sail area is 2,231 square teet.
Yachting World Annual
CELESTIAL NAVIGATION BY ARTIFICIAL SATELLITES
By Alton B. Moody Captain, U. S. Naval Reserve Chief, Navigational Systems,
National Aeronautics and Space Agency[1]
The logical step in the long quest by man to improve his ability to navigate seemed to be the application of electronics. Radio stars offered one possibility, but work to date has not been promising. Studies indicate the probability that a parabolic antenna of some 15 to 20 feet in diameter would be needed to extract useful signals from the background of general atmospheric and cosmic noise.
A more successful approach has been the use of radio signals from the sun and moon. For this purpose, a radio sextant, AN/SRN-4, has been developed for the U. S. Navy by the Collins Radio Company.
This device has been used successfully in Antarctica and elsewhere. A greatly simplified version providing somewhat reduced accuracy has been proposed for use aboard the ships conducting the International Indian Ocean Expedition for oceanographic research.
The radio sextant is successful in providing a line of position in any weather whenever the sun or moon is above the horizon. A fix is available only when both bodies are above the horizon and suitablyseparated in azimuth, a condition which is encountered only during a few hours on each of several days during the synodical month.
Artificial earth satellites appear to offer the possibility of providing the additional Celestial bodies needed for an accurate, all- 'vcather, passive, universal-coverage, celestial navigation system capable of making available continuously a position of essentially uniform accuracy anywhere on the surface of the earth, in aircraft, and aboard submarines submerged at periscope depth, using techniques familiar to the navigator. At long last the dream of the navigator for an automatic navigation system providing continuous indication of latitude and longitude to high accuracy anywhere on the earth appears capable of fulfillment.
This, in effect, is the Pathfinder navigation system proposed jointly by the U. S. Navy Hydrographic Office and the U. S. Naval Observatory. The following components are involved:
Satellites. Any number will increase the coverage now provided naturally by the sun and moon. A total of four adequately instrumented satellites in suitable orbits will provide essentially continuous coverage without the help of natural celestial bodies. Because of the relatively simple, lightweight requirements, separate satellites for this purpose need not be launched. Advantage can be taken of satellites launched for other purposes without compromising the primary function of the satellites. An alternative would be to launch a second, small satellite by the same booster used to place a larger satellite in orbit.
Tracking network. A total of three visual tracking stations using Navy-owned telescopes presently available or being installed in the United States, in addition to one tracking station at Feather Ridge, Iowa, now owned by the Navy, appear adequate.
Computation center. Computation of orbits and publications of ephemeridal information, possibly in the almanacs now published by the Naval Observatory, will make timely information available to navigators throughout the world.
User equipment. A radio sextant, modified to provide a narrow-band mode of operation, a digital computer capable of solving a small number of simple linear equations, and suitable readout or display equipment will provide continuous indication of position (latitude and longitude) and the direction of north to an accuracy at least one order of magnitude greater than the best marine gyro compass.
Whatever the technique utilized for a navigational satellite system, accurate results require knowledge of the position of the satellite at the time of observation. Prediction of future positions of satellites is one of of the most serious problems of any system based upon piloting techniques, defined as
any technique in which position is determined relative to the position of the satellite.
One such technique sometimes suggested is direct ranging, as by primary or secondary radar. Such a technique is very simple, and requires little or no equipment in the satellite. It requires transmission from the user, however, and therefore is not attractive from a military standpoint. The SECOR system under development for the U. S. Army by the Cubic Corporation will use this principle for surveying and geodetic purposes. The orbital problem is solved by using several stations at known positions to establish the instantaneous position of the satellite at the instant of observation at an unknown location. Where this is not possible, observations at known points provide data for interpolation or a short extrapolation of position of the satellite when observed at the unknown point.
Another technique utilizing the principles of piloting is the range rate method used in the Transit navigational satellite system under development by the U. S. Navy. This system avoids some of the complexities of the shipboard installation of the Pathfinder system, but at the price of a more complex satellite.
Any piloting system providing positional information relative to the satellite—in effect using the satellite as an elevated lighthouse—is limited to the use of satellites within a few hundred miles from the earth’s surface. At greater distances the measured parameters become too critical to be of practical application. In addition, the velocity vector of the satellite must be known accurately if satisfactory results are to be obtained from the Transit system. Satellites limited to orbits within a few hundred miles from the surface of the earth are constrained to orbits affected by an unpredictable amount by variable atmospheric drag and gravity anomalies of the earth. Even the provision for injection of new orbital information to Transit satellites at intervals of 12 hours has not yet been proved to be adequate.
In the Pathfinder system the satellites are not used as lighthouses, but as celestial bodies. Consequently, they can be placed at any attainable altitude. The primary consideration is stability of orbit. The optimum height appears to be several thousand miles from the surface of the earth—perhaps 6,000. At this height it appears practicable to predict positions as much as a year or longer in advance. For greatest accuracy, a small correction t° compensate for a slow drift from the predicted orbit may be needed. A new value of this correction might be provided at intervals of about a month. Further, because position of the craft is not determined relative to the satellite) but by the principles of celestial navigation) the exact position of the satellite need not be known to the same accuracy as in a piloting system, but only its apparent position relative to the background of stars, and its parallax- The distance of the sun from the earth is not known closer than perhaps 10,000 miles, but the sun is used for precise navigation. At the distances of the artificial earth satellites use for celestial navigation, an error of severa tenths of a mile might be tolerated for accuracy of fix well within 0.1 mile.
The Pathfinder satellite itself is quite simple- It consists of a suitable power source, a transmitter for short microwave CW transmissions) and an antenna. Even with duplication to ex tend the useful life of the satellite, the tota weight need not exceed 30 to 50 pounds. Be cause of the simplicity, a relatively long n c measured in years appears practicable.
A number of techniques is available in t user equipment. The same satellites might used by a variety of user equipments, just as the natural celestial bodies are. Thus, as state of-the-art improves, the satellites already 11 orbit can be used to provide improved service to navigators. j
The most obvious parameter to be measure
is altitude, the value commonly used and well understood by celestial navigators throughout the world. If no digital computer is available, altitude can be converted to a celestial line of position by any method commonly in use. H.O. Publication No. 214 would be suitable. At a height of 6,000 miles, a satellite orbits the earth in a little more than five hours and a half, providing coverage for about 30 per cent of the surface of the earth at any one time and still moving more than four times as fast, in apparent motion, as the natural celestial bodies. If two satellites, or one satellite, and the sun or moon, were not available in favorable relative positions, a running fix might be obtainable with a wait of only a few minutes.
With continuous measurement of altitude, rate of change of altitude would also be available. By means of a short computation using simple linear equations, one can determine a line of position perpendicular to the Sumner line computed in the usual manner. Thus, observations on a single body moving at the rate of an artificial earth satellite 6,000 miles from the surface of the earth would provide a continuous fix of virtually any accuracy desired.
The accuracy of a fix by this method is limited by the accuracy of the predicted position of the satellite and the accuracy of observation. As indicated above, adequate orbital accuracy is no problem. Accuracy of measurement is affected by refraction in the ionosphere and lower atmosphere, electronic noise, pointing accuracy, and accuracy of the required stable platform. The refraction problem at the frequencies contemplated has already been solved by work done through contracts by the Navy with the Collins Radio Company. At the extreme narrow banding practical with such a system, noise has been found to be no serious problem. The radio sextant has proved that pointing accuracies of a second of arc or better are practicable.
The principal source of error in the entire system, as well as the most complex and expensive, is the stable platform. Accuracies approaching a quarter of a minute of arc have been achieved. With the availability of better gyros, under development, this error should be reduced to something less than a tenth of a rainute of arc.
An attractive method of reducing both the pointing and stable platform errors almost to the vanishing point is the use of rate of change of altitude only. By the use of this technique, one avoids entirely any constant error in altitude measurement. Therefore, a stable platform of relatively low accuracy, but with slowly changing error, would provide highly accurate positional information. Two satellites would be used for a position, or one satellite would be observed twice with a wait of a few minutes between observations. This approach will provide an impressive reduction in cost and complexity of the most critical component in the system, if it can be demonstrated that rate of change of altitude can be determined to the required accuracy. A parabolic dish antenna will be used for the directional component of the user equipment. Dishes of four and five feet have been used with the radio sextant. With the narrow-band mode used with satellites and a phase-lock receiver developed for the U. S. Navy by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a somewhat smaller dish appears practicable. As improved satellite power sources become available, particularly atomic, a stronger signal can be transmitted, further reducing the size of the antenna and thus making the system more attractive for use in submarines and aircraft.
A position determined by any celestial technique is in astronomic co-ordinates. Over much of the surface of the earth, this is sufficiently close to the geodetic co-ordinates used for mapping so that the discrepancy can be ignored. This is commonly done in celestial navigation as ordinarily practiced aboard ship and in the air. In a few places, however, the total error exceeds one mile. In precise work anywhere, the difference between geodetic and astronomic positions, represented by deflection of the vertical, must be considered. The launching of a missile to hit a target hundreds or thousands of miles away is an example of such a requirement. Gravity surveys in the launch areas can provide the needed information. More difficult is the obtaining of the needed information at probable target areas. Where this information is not available, data can be improved by means of low-altitude satellites. However, these are affected in a complex manner by the anomalous gravity field of the earth, attenuated with distance from the earth, and so do not
provide a complete solution. This problem, of course, is encountered in any system for positioning the launching ship, and is not peculiar to any one more than others.
Mention has been made of the fact that the Pathfinder system provides continuous indication of position. This is true even though brief intervals will occur when no satellites are available above the horizon and both the sun and moon are below the horizon. The stable platform on which the antenna is mounted contains many of the essential elements of a high-grade inertial system, which can be used to provide accurate positional information for periods as long as several hours—considerably longer than the anticipated need with the Pathfinder system.
Mention has also been made of the availability of directional information. If such information were available from another source, to an accuracy of a small fraction of a minute of arc, the measured azimuth of the satellite could be used with altitude or rate of change of azimuth to provide additional techniques for determining position of the craft. It appears practical, however, to extract reference direction (north) information to an accuracy considerably better than can be provided in any other way. Because directional information is essential in aligning the guidance systems of missiles, azimuth appears more attractive as an output than as an input to the system.
The Pathfinder system, therefore, is capable of providing highly accurate positional information continuously, anywhere on the surface of the earth, in the air, and at periscope depth without transmission from the craft and with essentially uniform accuracy everywhere. Accurate azimuthal information is a bonus.
With the development of this system, by a relatively short evolutionary process from equipment and facilities already available, and by utilization of present state-of-the-art capabilities, the dream of countless navigators of many centuries will be realized. This will be accomplished by an amicable marriage of the all-weather capability of electronics with the universal, uniform-accuracy coverage of celestial navigation to combine the best features of both.
CUNARD WILL NOT COMPETE IN SUPERLINERS
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By E. B. Perry, | r V |
Captain, | * V: 1 |
U. S. Navy (Retired), | j |
Shipping Consultant, | m r |
Washington, D. C. |
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In 1958, hearings were started before our Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries to authorize a superliner sister ship to SS United States and a somewhat lesser superliner for transpacific service. The Atlantic superliner was to be a replacement for the moderately sized and moderate speed SS America; the Pacific superliner was to replace SS President Hoover. After extensive hearings, both the Atlantic and Pacific superliners were authorized, but funds have not been appropriated for their construction.
About the time that we proposed to match
the present United States by a sister ship, the Cunard Line felt that the increased competi* tion might warrant the replacement of the Queens. Consideration was given to replacement by vessels of about 75,000 tons, of high speed, with all luxury features. The Cunard Line has now announced that the Queens will not be replaced by large superliners, but probably by smaller vessels in the 40,000-ton class with speeds comparable to the existing Queens.
Air line competition, the business slowdown, the many problems attendant to the operation of very expensive ships, the probable over- tonnaging of the trade route, and the impact of the soon-to-be-delivered French Line s France were all factors in the decision.
This well-considered decision of the Cunard Line not to engage in a competition of giant luxury superliners will undoubtedly be deterrent to the construction of the authorized Atlantic and Pacific superliners and other large, express-type ships presently under consideration, the emphasis shifting to commercial feasibility and economy of operation'
1,035 feet 961 feet
951 feet 114 feet 34 feet
SS FRANCE—BIGGEST SINCE NORMANDIE
By Howard C. Reese Mr. Reese is associated with the School of International Service, American University,
Washington, D. C.
Tf ranee, with an over-all length of 1,035 feet, -L is the biggest French ship afloat since Normandie won the Blue Ribbon for the fastest North Atlantic crossing in 1936.
Built by Chantiers de PAtlantique of St. Nazaire, France, for the Compagnie Generale Transatlantique, or the French Line as it is generally called, SS France was constructed at a cost equivalent to 80 million dollars, including a French government subsidy of 20 million dollars. SS United States, the prestige ship of the United States Lines, had a construction cost of 78 million dollars including a U. S. government subsidy of 26 million dollars. A Department of Defense subsidy of 27.5 million dollars was also incorporated in the financial structure, but since the operating company received no benefits from the technical features specified by this subsidy, it cannot be considered as part of the maritime grant per se for the vessel.
The keel of France was laid in October 1957 and the vessel was launched in June 1960. The principal dimensions are:
Over-all length.....................................
Length at waterline..............................
Length between perpendiculars (i.e., distance between forward perpendicular and after perpendicular). .
Maximum width excluding stabilizers
Draft in sea water.................................
Height to highest point (top of radar mast) 219.3 feet
The gross tonnage of France is 66,800 tons. Her design is modern; the well-protected forecastle and forward structure will remind some old-timers of Normandie. Her 31-knot speed permits a New York-Le Havre crossing in five days.
France replaces two vessels of the French
Line fleet, lie de France, retired last year, and Liberte, (the former Europa), which recently ended her sea career to begin a new one as a harbor-locked floating hotel off Seattle for the World’s Fair in that city this year.
The annual passenger capacity of 75,000 of France equals the combined space of both lie de France and Liberte combined. This was one of the major reasons which led French Line planners to choose a ship on the order and size of France. Several alternatives, however, were considered. -
The French Line studied the possibility of constructing two medium size ships of roughly
35.0 tons (i.e., on the order of the Cunard- White Star Caronia), 1,300 passengers and a speed of 23 knots. The slow speed and reduced passenger capacity of these ships mitigated against their acceptance.
Also rejected were two other types. One was a larger vessel, 45,000 tons, passenger capacity 1,800, but with the same slow speed. The other was a “compromise,” a ship that would hit 30 knots, one of the main attractions for a vessel on the North Atlantic run, but turned down for technical and economic reasons.This vessel of 40,000 tons, of necessity 3-screw, would have a limited 1,500 passenger capacity, but would not justify the high expenditure of fuel to attain a speed required to make a bid for the tourist trade. Moreover, it would not be able to stand up to a schedule of
150.0 miles and 5,000 hours annually. Under the direction of Jean-Paul Ricard, chief engineer of the French Line, it was calculated that a vessel of 52,000 tons, 30-knot speed, carrying 2,000 passengers, would best answer the problem. It was, however, first necessary to overcome some prejudice among those who held that a ship of such a size would be “folly” in spite of the success of United States. The concept of France approximates that of the American vessel whose maiden voyage took place in 1952.
The technical aspects of the final design of France were determined by model-basin tests. A variety of small-scale models was built and tested in the French Navy’s model basin in Paris where the effects of the high seas on the stabilizers, propellers, and the hull of the various models were simulated in these tests.
Except for longitudinal joints on the outside, the double hull is entirely welded, ac-
counting for 90 per cent of the plating. Rivets and galvanized bolts are also used, the latter only for connections between the steel of the casings and the light alloys of the upper decks. Full use has been made of light alloys, in particular, aluminum AG4, to save weight and to increase stability.
France has nine decks. The two decks above the veranda deck, the boat and sundecks, use aluminum AG4. Ventilation ducts, engine rooms, boiler room casings are built of steel as prescribed by safety regulations.
The hull consists of 20,400 tons of ordinary steel and 5,200 tons of high tensile strength steel. In the bottom of the ship, high tensile strength steel was restricted for stability reasons, thicker sheet iron being used instead.The stern is also of mixed composition, being partly welded sheet iron, partly molded steel. The stern post is almost completely welded iron.
France has 15 watertight compartments and 14 watertight bulkheads. With damage control in mind, the designers have stressed stability and buoyancy.
Consistent with advances in marine design and construction over the past 25 years, it IS estimated that if France had been built like Normandie, her hull would weigh 15 per cent more than it actually does.
The rudder is described as “balanced, that is to say, it consists of soldered steel plate and is referred to as “semi-suspended” by virtue of the single pin in its upper portion. The spindle is 20 feet long and weighs 30 tons- The cheek of the rudder covers a surface of 535 feet and is operated electro-hydraulically.
France is equipped with two pairs of Denny Brown stabilizers designed to limit rolling 'n high seas to two degrees. Each of the stabilizers weighs 430 tons, projects outward 11 feet, and is 110 feet wide.
The designed horsepower is 160,000, the same as Normandie. At 30 knots and a loaded draft of 34 feet, the maximum cruising radius is 9,000 miles. Specifications relating to the machinery of the ship are as follows:
Type.......................... Four screw, simple reduction
C.E.M.-Parsons steam turbines
Shaft horsepower. . .132,000 (normal)
(156 r.p.m.)
160,0 (maximum)
(165 r.p.m.)
Steam pressure.... 923 lbs. per square inch at
superheater outlet at normal power
Steam temperature. . 1,042 degrees Fahrenheit
Fuel................... Oil
Sustained speed.... 30 knots
The propulsion system of France is based on the principle of transmitting steam from the boilers to the turbines, whose high speed gears synchronize with the relatively slow revolutions of the propeller shaft through the speed-
reducing machinery. The propulsion system is completely modern and is designed so that it can remain modern because it is convertible to nuclear propulsion. As noted, France, because of her weight, has four propellers.
Each propeller shaft is driven by a group of simple reduction gear G.E.M.-Parsons turbines manufactured by Chantiers de l’Atlan- tique. They are the largest propeller shafts ever made. Each of the four-bladed propeller shafts weighs 60 tons and has a diameter of 18 feet, 6 inches. They comprise a high pressure turbine, two mean pressure turbines, and a low pressure turbine.
Although the maximum horsepower of France is the same as that of Normandie, the power plant of France weighs 8,000 pounds compared to the 11,000 pounds of Normandie. The achievement of the same horsepower with a power plant of less weight is an example of the progress made in marine engineering in a quarter of a century. This saving in weight is the result of the difference in pounds per unit of horsepower. The weight-to-horsepower ratio of Normandie was 149.6 pounds per horsepower; the relationship in the power plant of France is 100 pounds per horsepower.
The design of the propulsion system and auxiliary machinery meets the provisions of the London Convention of 1948 on Safety Standards at Sea which specified that eight engine compartments do not measure more than 65.6 feet in length. The entire ship complies with the classification rules of both the American Bureau of Shipping and Bureau Veritas, the French maritime regulating authority.
Augmenting the damage control features of the engine room is the duplication of all auxiliaries, turbo-generators, fuel oil service pumps, condensate pumps, and lubricating oil pumps so that the loss of any one unit will not interrupt the continuous power performance of the ship. The number of engine room telegraphs can be doubled by means of a reserve network.
The layout of the engine room also adds to the seaworthiness of the ship. The electrical plant, the water distilling plant, and the steam generating plant form two autonomous Units. Thus, in the event of breakdown or accident, the flooding of one or the other of these compartments will not interfere with their
respective functioning. France has been designed so that she can operate with but one propulsion unit in operation (two propellers, four boilers). In this condition, she can hold a speed of 23 knots.
France has been provided with navigation equipment in accordance with the best modern practice. This equipment includes one Decca Radar with X-band (3 centimeters) for use in harbors and for detection of storms at sea, one Raytheon Radar, S-band (10 centimeters) for all weather navigational radar. In addition, the ship has one gyrocompass Arma Brown, one Sperry gyrocompass with automatic pilot, two ultra-sonic devices, and one electric log speed and course indicator.
Radio telephones and television, the latter being installed on a liner for the first time, round out the communications equipment. Television includes both closed circuit programs and shore-to-ship reception 100 miles from the coasts of the United States, Britain, and France. The ship has a total of 1,300 phones, a thousand being reserved for passengers who will be able to reach any part of the world.
Like United States, France is classified as a Method I ship according to the London Convention of 1948. This means that she is entirely fireproof.
Bulkheads and walls are made of marinite that consists entirely of semi-insulated refractive asbestos. For walls, inner plates, and ceilings, 144,000 square yards of this substance have been used.
The core of the detection and alarm circuit is Central Security Control. Based on phone connections with some 80 sections having fire equipment, it comprises several electric boards for fire warning, controlling fire doors, detecting areas subject to visual surveillance, and monitoring the carbonic gas network.
Unlike her illustrious predecessor, Normandie, which had three classes, first, tourist, and third, France carries about 2,000 passengers in two classes, first and tourist:
First Class. De Luxe included.................... 410
Tourist.......................................................... 1,636
2,045
Following the trend in North Atlantic
half the cost of the fully-air-conditioned ship, and more than half the man-hours spent on her construction were devoted to her interiors with attention being paid to every possible comfort. France has full hospital facilities including surgery.
The building of France affords a contrast in outlook between the French Line and the Cunard-White Star Line. Recently, the
United Stales Queen Mary Queen Elizabeth France
| Length |
Deadweight | over-all |
55,300 tons | 990 feet |
81,237 tons | 1,020 feet |
83,673 tons | 1,031 feet |
66,800 tons | 1,035 feet |
passenger traffic which emphasizes greater tourist space, France gives less than 25 per cent to first-class travelers. Nevertheless, a certain flexibility has been introduced in the accommodations which allows a limited interchangeability for either first- or tourist-class through rearrangement of partitions. Thus, France can have an alternate layout to permit 625 first- class passengers and 1,266 tourist. She has a crew of slightly over a thousand:
Deck Department........................................
Engine Department..................................... 163
Purser (incl. Steward’s Dept.).................... 788
1,044
United States, which also handles 2,000 passengers, has approximately the same size crew.
A unique arrangement allows the realization of almost a one-class ship as “B ’ Deck, extending the full length of the ship, is allocated, with the exception of some interchangeable space, entirely to tourist passengers. Thus, those in tourist-class can move about freely without passing through first- class areas.
France features two swimming pools, one indoor, one outdoor. She has the largest theater afloat, seating 644 people. More than
British company decided not to replace the 25-year old Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth, a decision partially based on the disappointing 1961 passenger-season, the continued gains of transatlantic airlines at the expense of ocean carriers, and the effects of the Berlin crisis. Nevertheless, the French Line believes that there will always be people who will travel by ship. When the Queens retire, United States and France will be the only prestige tonnage on the North Atlantic. If the past can be accepted as a guide, France should be as successful as United States.
A brief profile of the major passenger vessels now plying the North Atlantic shows the following:
★
SOVIET POLYGLOTS
By Professor C. P. Lemieux,
Head of Russian Division,
U. S. Naval Academy
QUCI1A TIFF inostraniye yaziki! (Study foreign languages!)
Such is the admonition contained in a frontpage two-column headline in the September 24,1961 edition of Krasnaya Zyezda (Red Star), the daily newspaper of the Soviet Armed Forces. The theme of the article is that language instruction is available both for resident and correspondence study, and that it repre
sents a sound investment for purposes of pt°' motion in the military services.
This Soviet emphasis on foreign language skills is not new, and while it does not result H1 particularly widespread fluency in the rank and file, it has at least driven home the idea that knowledge of the language is an indispensable prerequisite for duty in foreign billets at the attache level. One of the first acts of Soviet Trade Commissions in cities of the United States during World War II was to set up language courses for their own per" sonnel. Some years later, when U. S. inform3' tion agencies faced the task of teaching English in foreign areas, they discovered that the only materials for teaching English to foreigners were those developed by Robert J- Dixon for the Amtorg (Soviet) English Tech' nicum in New York. All Soviet officers on mission in the United States were required to
follow the Technicum courses either in groups at the embassies and consulates or with private tutors if out of town. Examinations at various levels led to qualification as translator, which in turn entitled the officer to additional pay. The “no-nonsense” attitude toward this work was brought home to me when I learned that one of their 4-stripers had been admonished like a schoolboy when his political officer thought the Captain had not been assiduous enough in his out-of-town English lessons.
There was probably a period during the Twenties and Thirties when foreign languages were considered a luxury in Soviet society, when, as Olya says in Chekhov’s Three Sisters, “a foreign language out here is an unnecessary luxury, something like a sixth finger.” Ambassador Kirk used to tell about a dinner in Brussels where he was seated next to a big bearded Soviet diplomat. Admiral Kirk asked his Russian colleague what had happened to all the Russian polyglots of pre-revolutionary days. To which the Soviet diplomat replied grimly: “Zey haf all died !”
Like the American critic of earlier programs, the Soviet editor mentions the slack policies of the past. “There are in the Soviet Army and Navy many officers, generals, and admirals who know foreign languages rather well. But we must not close our eyes to the fact that a large part of our officers are either weak or completely incompetent in this field. This is an indication of the attitude toward the subject, until recently, in our military training institutions. The departments of foreign languages did not devote enough attention to conversational practice. In some schools we permitted a liberal grading policy in regard to foreign languages.” This, however, has changed.
The current article states the need for language skills as follows: “The necessity for foreign language study by Soviet officers is called for by life itself. Educated in the spirit of internationalism, the warriors of the Soviet Armed Forces stand united with their brother- warriors of the armies of socialistic countries. Meeting them constantly on the drill field, in the lecture halls of military schools, on visits of courtesy to ships, in clubs and stadiums, can they talk with their comrades in arms only with the help of an interpreter? of course not! . . . The modern development of military technology puts growing demands on commanding officers and leaders. They must not only study their national military arts and perfect the means to apply them, but they must follow the developments of foreign armies and navies, reading the appropriate text in the original. Finally, it is not hard to understand how useful a knowledge of foreign languages may be in military operations.” The implementation of the Soviet officers’ language qualification is indicated in the following paragraphs: “In June of this year, the Council of Ministers of the U.S.S.R. published the decree, ‘On the Improvement of Foreign Language Study.’ This decree will play a tremendous role in the reworking of systems and methods of teaching foreign languages. A definite task in this program has been assigned to the Armed Forces.”
“In order to interest officer personnel (in this program), it has been decided, beginning in 1962, to indicate on fitness reports the attitude of the officer toward the study of foreign languages. Officers who know foreign languages will have a definite advantage before promotion boards.” This sounds like the “no-fooling” approach we noted at the Soviet mission in Washington, D. C., back in 1942.
Krasnaya dfpezda goes on to indicate the many improvements needed in both methods and materials. The decree of the Council of Ministers emphasizes that “the practical mastery of the languages is the principal mission.
. . . We must not repeat the mistakes of the past, where the learners did little more than cram in a few rules of grammar.” In the last analysis, the learner must be taught to work at extracurricular practice. “The greatest support of the program should be the out-of-class activity. Various forms of this, such as the evening dedicated to a theme, concerts, literary readings in the foreign language, wall newspapers (bulletin boards) in the foreign language, competition for the best translation of a foreign text, etc., have proved themselves of paramount value.” There is, of course, much to be done in the publishing of manuals, and making available audio aids, such as teaching films and language recordings, but the task is defined and its importance is understood at the highest levels.
From now on, this subject will receive the serious attention it deserves.
in the
Notebook
U. S. Navy
Ammunition Vessels: Two ammunition
ships will join the Service Force, Atlantic Fleet, Monday at Philadelphia.
Commissioning ceremonies will be held for the ammunition ships Mazama and Mama Loa.
They were reactivated by Sun Shipbuilding Company of Chester, Pennsylvania.
Mazama's home port will be Mayport, Florida, and it will operate under the commander of Service Squadron 2.
Mauna Loa's home port will be New York, and it will operate under the commander of Service Squadron 4.
Both ships saw service in the Pacific during World War II. The Virginian Pilot, 26 November 1961.)
Navy’s "Project Squid” to University of Virginia: Project Squid, the Navy’s major long range research program in aircraft, missile and space propulsion, will be transferred from Princeton University to the University of Virginia on 1 October 1962.
The announcement of the transfer was made jointly Thursday by the Navy Department and the University.
In its announcement the Navy said Squid, which has been in continuous existence since 1946 under the sponsorship of the Office of Naval Research, has as its basic emphasis the investigation of the conversion of energy into thrust for jet, missile, and spaceship engines. Research includes preliminary exploration and analysis and evaluation of potential new aero-space propulsion systems.
Involved in the program are as many as 20 research laboratories at one time, mostly universities and nonprofit research organizations. Much of the research and the direction of the nation-wide program will be carried on at the university.
Typical of the accomplishments of Squid is the ducted rocket or ram-rocket cycle, which has the static thrust advantage of the rocket and the fuel economy at high speed of the ramjet. Although large-scale development of the ram-rocket has never been undertaken, there is active interest in turbo-rocket cycles and research on monopropellant rockets.
Squid also pioneered in the design, construction and operation of the “blow-down wind tunnel.
The Office of Naval Research began the program in 1946 when several universities agreed to join in a co-operative research effort to increase basic knowledge of jet propulsion- Princeton was assigned to serve as co-ordinator, and in 1951 was designated program manager and prime contractor. (The Virginian-Pilot, 15 December 1961.)
Oldest Active Navy Officer: Captain Philip Van Horn Weems, the oldest naval officer on active duty, played with toy rockets today at a party celebrating the end of his space navigation course.
He and the four “near geniuses” of the class encountered some difficulty in launching the water-pressure missiles, but the party 'vaS the thing.
Captain Weems is 72 and has retired twice; the first time in 1933. He went on active duty for the third time last July to teach the specia graduate course at the Naval Academy, using a system he devised.
The four students at the party were ensigns selected because of their math ability- They are recent graduates of Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps colleges.
For years the captain has been regarded aS one of the foremost authorities on sea and air navigation, and he recently obtained patents for his method of space navigation. Under his system, he says, astronauts will be able to determine their positions in relation to the earth within seconds by visual sightings 0 the stars. .
Navigation occupies only a part of Captai11 Weems’s time and thoughts.
He won the Academy’s sword for being an outstanding athlete in 1910, and still par ticipates in vigorous games.
Sunday he played water polo Academy pool. . *
While a midshipman (he graduated in 1 in the class with Richard E. Byrd, the e* plorer), he was on the crew, played footba >
wrestled and boxed. He was on the 1920 Olympic wrestling team, and was the South Atlantic amateur 175-pound wrestling champion in 1919, 1920, and 1925.
As a midshipman, he was picked on an All-American football team.
Though Captain Weems is bald now, he is as trim as the pictures taken of him in his youth.
He considers skin diving a fine hobby and has been on expeditions to the Caribbean and Mediterranean for underwater exploration. In 1955 Captain Weems was with the Edward Link group that found an anchor off Haiti. They believe it may be the anchor of Columbus’s flagship, the Santa Maria.
The anchor is at the Smithsonian Institution.
Captain Weems was born on 29 March 1889, in Montgomery county in Middle Tennessee. After graduating in “the middle of the class” of 1912, he served on battleships, destroyers and troopships through and after World War I.
He retired from the Navy in 1933 with the rank of lieutenant commander. In 1942 he returned to active duty, serving as a convoy commodore. (Charles V. Flowers, Baltimore Sun, 5 December 1961.)
New Paint for Submarine Interiors: A new
semigloss acrylic-latex paint, recently developed at the U. S. Naval Research Laboratory, is free from the air polutants that seriously cut down the time submarines can spend under water.
The use of paint on nuclear submarines, as on any other Navy vessel, is essential in protecting the hull and machinery from corrosion. Almost equally important is the use of paints for sanitary and decorative purposes. In today’s nuclear submarines, prolonged undersea voyages without a change in surroundings for the crew present a psychological problem. To ease the situation, the interior “scenery” of the submarine is sometimes partially modified between voyages by changing the color of the paint above the bilges. But frequent painting can have a deleterious physiological effect of greater import
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than any psychological benefits, because volatile organic solvents in the paints are released into the submarine’s atmosphere long after the paints have dried. These often are compounds of appreciable toxicity. They generally pose no problem when applied in well- ventilated spaces, but in the confined spaces of a submarine the cumulative effect of these “poisons” must be reckoned with.
For over a decade, chemists at NRL have been working on the problem of improving the habitability of nuclear submarines. Most of the studies have dealt with the chemical composition of the submarine atmosphere and with the development of methods and equipment for maintaining the atmosphere during submergence in a condition as close as practical to “country-fresh” air.
Late in 1958, after extensive research had proved that much of the hydrocarbon contaminants in a submarine atmosphere could be traced to the slow evaporation of residual solvents in oil-based paints, NRL began a research program on the suitability of water- thinned paints for submarine interiors. Initial work centered on measuring and identifying the small amounts of volatile components— other than water—from a number of commercial latex paints. This was done by forcedrying samples of the paint and trapping the volatiles. The identity, amount, and rate of evaporation of these volatiles was then determined by gas chromatography and other methods. Recommendations based on the results of this work guided the Bureau of Ships in authorizing the use of a commercially available latex paint for submarine interiors. The matrix of this paint was polyvinyl acetate. Although highly satisfactory in many respects, the paint was still not entirely free from volatile components. These included traces of resin monomer and small amounts of additives which are necessary for proper film formation, package stability, inhibition of biologic attack, etc. Because of these volatiles, submarine painting had to be restricted to 30 days before departure for sea or after the last dive on patrol. (D. E. Field, Naval Research Reviews, November, 1961.)
Helps Enterprise Pilots Land: Pilots who next month start operating off the nuclear powered aircraft carrier Enterprise will come
home to bananas instead of their usual fare of meatballs.
The “banana” is an amber, slightly curved light that projects out into the aircraft approach pattern.
Its function is to lead each pilot through the most critical phase of his flying career— bringing a heavy, supersonic fighter or bomber in at a cub plane’s slow-poke speed and setting it down on a precise point.
That point is located on the biggest flight deck ever built on a carrier. But from out there it looks to the pilot like a bobbing postage stamp in a swimming pool without bounds.
The banana-like light comes developed by the Naval Aviation Engineering Laboratory at the Philadelphia Naval Aviation Materiel Center.
It is an adaptation of the Fresnel lens principle that has been in use nearly a century.
Main Advantages:
* It is all in “one package,” which decreases the chance of a maladjustment between a complex of units. With the older system, a series of lights was focused onto a concave mirror some distance away. The lights converged, forming a single beam, popularly called the “meatball,” that was reflected out into the approach pattern.
* The Fresnel system eliminates reflection problems the sun or other light sources caused with the mirror.
* The banana is not reflected light, but projects out to the pilot from a direct light source, making it much sharper than the meatball.
This projected light moves up or down a vertical panel as the position of the person viewing it changes.
To the pilot, the principle is the same as with the older system. If he is at a proper glide angle in approaching a predetermined landing point, the banana will be in line with a series of blue datum lights extending to each side of the source light.
If he is too high, the banana will be above the datum lights, and if too low, he will see it below the line.
This system and a number of other features of the Enterprise—larger flight deck, new arresting gear, more effective crash barrier, etc. —will make the aircraft accident potential
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much less than on other carriers. (The Virginian-Pilot, 26 December 1961.)
Navy’s First Woman Line Officer Goes to Sea: Lt. Charlene Ida Suneson, 27, became the first woman ever assigned to sea duty as a line officer of the United States Navy.
Her eighteen-month tour will take WAVE Lieutenant Suneson to far away places— Yokohama, Taiwan and Inchon, Korea.
And that’s just the way she wants her fife to be.
“Variety,” she said. “That’s what I want. My job as a line officer will always be changing, and I’ll see many places.”
“Then you believed the Navy recruiting poster which says ‘Join the Navy and see the world’?” the lieutenant was asked.
“Yes, I really did,” she replied.
“And I like the fuss that is being made over me. It is such a responsible step—to be the Navy’s first woman fine officer. But there will be others waiting to become No. 2 and No. 3.” (Baltimore Sun, 9 December 1961.)
Project Cambridge: An experiment with a modified aerial reconnaissance camera by the Navy Hydrographic Office may prove that man can survey the seas in much the same manner as he surveys the land. The experiment will be as a side test to “Project Cambridge” which is being conducted by the Air Force Cambridge Research Laboratory, Cambridge, Mass.
The new photoballistic camera is mounted on the stern of the USNS Range Recoverer, a Pacific Missile Range tracking ship. It is stabilized in its mount by an electric gyro. The camera uses a 7 X 8-inch photosensitive glass plate in place of roll film to prevent distortion of the image which occurs on regular celluloid film because of shrinkage during development. This will insure accuracy of the image of up to one twenty-thousandth of an inch per linear inch in relation to the true position of the image when photographed.
“Project Cambridge” was initiated by the Air Force Cambridge Research Laboratory, Cambridge, Massachusetts, to obtain a geodetic connection between North America and Hawaii. To achieve this, a 32-foot Astrobee rocket carrying three flares will be launched the night of 5 December from Point Arguello, California.
The flares will be ejected at an altitude of 1,500 miles above the Pacific Ocean, and will be photographed by ballistic cameras at known positions in North America, Hawaii, and on Johnston Island. The flares will serve as visible reference points to all three bodies of land.
Somewhere in the middle of the Pacific, m an unknown position, the USNS Range Re~ coverer will photograph the flares at the same instant they are photographed from land.
Through cross reference between the flares, and the North American, Hawaiian, and Johnston Island sites, plus the fix made on the flares by the camera at sea, the position of the ship can be plotted within a few hundred feet of its true longitudinal and latitudinal position. Conventional navigation is accurate to only within a few miles of the ship s actual location.
If the test is successful, this technique of surveying the seas will enable the Navy Hydrographic Office to more accurately determine the exact location of continents, islands or mountains and depressions beneath the surface of the ocean.
Space
Moon Another Rocket Ship: The moon is a satellite of the earth only because at some period in its younger days it was transformed into a rocket ship.
That, at least, is the theory of the wel known Bulgarian astronomer, Prof. Nikolay Bonev of Sofia University. According to a Commerce Department pamphlet on research
in Soviet-bloc nations, Bonev believes the moon once was an independent planet.
It followed its own course around the sun in an orbit near the earth’s, Prof. Bonev says. Then violent volcanic eruptions hurled such vast quantities of lava and rock into space that the moon was “transformed into a rocket.”
The recoil shoved the moon into a new path that carried it into the field of the earth’s gravitational attraction, according to Prof. Bonev.
Many American scientists, among them Dr. Harold C. Urey of the University of California, believe the moon did once have an existence independent of the earth’s.
Dr. Urey says the moon probably was formed out of solar system dust and gas before the earth, which came into being through agglomeration of moon-sized planets. The moon escaped this particular fate only to become a satellite of the earth.
Bonev’s theory that the moon became a rocket as a result of massive volcanic eruptions will not be accepted by all U. S. scientists. Dr. Urey and others doubt that the moon ever was molten or that its interior was ever hot enough to produce gigantic eruptions.
If these eruptions did occur, however, they may have helped to nudge the moon close enough to be captured by the earth, an American geophysicist told United Press International.
He said that in the absence of any information about the energy of the eruptions, this is pure speculation. The moon is only about one-sixth as massive as the earth, but it would take a lot of rocket power to push it around.
This planet has had some pretty violent volcanic eruptions. The Krakatoa volcano which blew up in the East Indies on 27 August 1883, hurled 200 billion tons of earth as high as 20 miles.
Scientists have no evidence that this had any effect on the earth’s orbit or the tilt of its axis. (New York Herald Tribune, 12 November 1961.)
Maritime General
Soviet Hydrofoil Vessel: The 12 October 1961 issue of Pravda carries a story about the 900-kilometer trip of the Sputnik, claimed to be the largest passenger motor ship designed with hydrofoils. The travel time from Gorki to Moscow was given as 14 hours, an average of close to 64 km. per hour. The Sputnik has an over-all length of 50 meters, and carries 300 passengers in three compartments. Its four motors develop a total of more than
3,0 h.p., making possible speeds up to 70 kilometers p.h. Its two underwater foils of stainless steel raise the vessel completely out of the water when under way. The vessel and passengers total 110 tons.
The leading figure in Soviet hydrofoil ship construction is the well-known engineer R. E. Alekseev. Other key personnel in the production of the present vessel were engineer- constructors S. V. Moiseev, N. A. Zaitsev, N. A. Liubin, IU. I. Mineyev, technician L. V. Kolesnikov, and artists O. P. Florov and I. P. Medvedev.
U. S. Shipping Policies Deplored: The pres- dent of the Norwegian Shipowners Association, Anders Jahre, last week deplored what he called American protectionist shipping policies. Addressing the Association’s annual meeting at Sandefjord, he expressed hope that the new Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development might prove a useful forum for harmonizing U. S. shipping policies with those of Western Europe.
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Mr. Jahre maintained that USA’s flag preference measures and “Ship American” campaign hurt Norway and other allies much more than they benefit American shipping. And rather than solving USA’s balance of
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payments problem, such policies are apt to create new problems both for USA and others.
The shipping executive took issue with the argument that protectionism in shipping was a necessity of military preparedness. He observed that NATO countries have agreed to place their commercial fleets under joint control in case of war. {News From Norway, 12 October 1961.)
Other U. S. Armed Services
Gadget that Makes Fresh Water: The Army has developed a handy new gadget that will make enough fresh water to keep survivors of sea disasters from dying of thirst. The new gadget, called the “sit still,” was developed by the Army Engineer Research and Development Laboratories, Fort Belvoir, Va. It operates using the heat from the sun’s rays or from the body of an individual sitting on it.
This “do-it-yourself” gadget consists of a sheaf of five sheets about the size of standard typewriter paper. The five sheets are a black plastic film on top, piece of paper toweling or cloth, then a water repellent screen, a sheet of aluminum foil and a cloth backing for the foil. A sponge to collect the fresh water completes the kit.
The fresh water is made by condensation. The five sheets are dipped in the ocean, excess water is drained and the aluminum foil wiped dry. Reassembled with the plastic film on top, the sheaf is exposed to the heat of the sun, or, if it’s a cloudy day or night, by the heat from the survivor’s body sitting on it.
The heat penetrates to the aluminum foil which is then cooled by the bottom salt-water soaked cloth. In the cooling process, a condensation of fresh water forms on the foil- The survivor uses the sponge to soak up the water, which may be only a few drops, but enough to keep him alive. The efficiency can be increased by using additional sheets of toweling, screen and foil. With additional sets of sheets, a survivor can obtain about a pint of water in 16 hours. {Journal of the Franklin Institute, December 1961.)
Silent Sentry: The first units of the Silent Sentry, a transistorized radar which provides Army tactical forces with a new capability f°r battlefield surveillance, are scheduled fc>r shipment to U. S. troops in Germany this month.
This highly portable, front line ground surveillance radar reaches through darkness, f°S and smoke to pick up and locate enemy soldiers and vehicles. Although a two-man team normally operates the set, it can be set up and operated by one man.
The Silent Sentry, which weighs only 48 pounds, including its tripod mount, lesS power supply and carrying cases, is the light' est tactical radar for ground surveillance to go into production. This is possible through the use of transistors. The transistors sharply reduce power requirements and thus make it feasible to use batteries. The use of batteries gives added security against enemy detection because of the silent operation. The radar can also be powered by an engine driven gCI1' erator when tactical conditions permit.
Operator requires a minimum of specia training to become adept at detection an recognition. A well trained operator can not only distinguish men from moving vehicles
but can also distinguish between a man crawling or walking by interpreting the tone of the signal fed to the operator’s headset. Range and direction are read from simple dials. (Dept, of Defense, Office of Public Affairs, 9 November 1961.)
First Class of Aerospace Research Pilots:
The U. S. Air Force will graduate the first class of its new Aerospace Research Pilot Course at Edwards Air Force Base, California, on 15 December.
The Aerospace Research Pilot Course is a postgraduate school for test pilots, designed to provide a pool of qualified space-oriented pilots for future aerospace projects.
Brigadier General Irving L. Branch, Commander, Air Force Flight Test Center, noted that in the past pilots had been selected and trained for specific projects only. “While this system was effective,” the general said, “the increasing need for space-oriented pilots has made it necessary for the Air Force to establish this course. We envision a great need for such highly-trained pilots as the Air Force progresses beyond X-15 manned rockets into suborbital, orbital, and finally true space flight.”
Four of the graduating students will remain with the Aerospace Research Pilots School as instructors. The fifth will return to his duties as a test pilot-engineer with the Flight Test Center.
The course began in June, but future courses will take eight months. The instruction will include such strictly aerospace phases as familiarization with subgravity; training with reaction controls which permit flying a plane under varying gravity conditions; evaluating peculiar stability characteristics of space flight where aerodynamic controls are useless; and study of functions and test methods peculiar to space flight.
Additional studies will embrace Newtonian mechanics, thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, boundary layer theory, heat transfer, dynamics of rarefied gases, Einstein’s theory of relativity, meteorology, astronomy, orbital mechanics, and trajectories. (Dept, of Defense, Office of Public Affairs 52).
Flip Ship—Floating Instrument Platform being built by Scripps Institution will be towed to sea in the lengthwise position and then flipped to the vertical position. The Navy is eyeing it for submarine detection work. It will be 348 feet tall and about 2 5 feet long.
Edited by Harry B. Hahn, Captain, U. S. Navy
Progress
Hydroskimmer—The Ground Effects Machine XHS-4 will be built by Bell Aero-systems Company for the Bureau of Ships. The 22-ton, 62-foot craft will carry a 5-ton paylod and make 70 knots.
Amphibious Helicopter— the Coast Guard’s HUS2S- lG can land on water to recover a survivor five times faster than by using the present hovering method.
Polaris Catcher__ The huge grab bag catches a 15-ton test vehicle as it breaks the surface after
being launched from a tube on the ocean floor. The operation prevents damage to the missile, and permits the re-use of it.
New Guidance Platform for Polaris—The size of a basketball, this new system is one of the smallest and lightest yet developed.