LNS Zeltin—Maintenance and Repair Ship for Libya
By John Rix, Managing Director, Vosper Thorneycroft Group
Since 1962, Libya has been forming a navy for her seaborne defense. As is the case of other navies, the Libyan Navy required mobile maintenance and repair facilities for her smaller ships.
Vosper Thorneycroft was given the task of designing a ship of modest size and cost, which would accommodate day-to-day maintenance and provisioning, major overhauls, extra living quarters, and a capacity for both training and recreation.
The result of this was the LNS Zeltin, a ship of 2,300 tons and an overall length of 324 feet. Commissioned on 23 January 1969, in Portsmouth, England, the Zeltin’s complement consists of a squadron commodore, the commanding officer, 13 officers, ten chief petty officers, 16 petty officers, and 60 non-rated men.
The stern portion of the Zeltin's hull is arranged as a dock, capable of accommodating patrol craft and other ships up to a length of 120 feet. The dock is 128 feet long, 33 feet wide, and has a maximum depth of seven feet forward and ten feet aft.
To flood the dock, a large hinged stern door is unlatched and lowered by means of a 5-ton winch in the dock wall, until it is supported by chains at an angle of 12 degrees below the horizontal. Water ballast tanks, occupying the lower part of the dock walls and below the dock itself, are then flooded, normally starting from forward, until the water in the dock has reached the necessary depth. At this point, there will be a trim angle on the ship of some 2¾ degrees by the stern, and craft having a draft over propellers of up to seven feet, six inches, can then be drawn gently into position over the blocks and the ballast tanks pumped out. Finally, the door is closed and the remaining water pumped out of the dock. The whole operation of docking or undocking can be carried out in about one-and-a-half hours. Both operations are controlled from a console in the control room overlooking the dock, where the dockmaster can operate the pumps and valves of the ballast system.
The main operational centers are grouped in the forward section of the superstructure, with an enclosed wheelhouse, operations room, and radiocommunications office. In addition, there is a separate squadron commodore’s operations room in the after part of the superstructure. The Zeltin is navigated from an enclosed bridge, equipped with radar, gyro compass repeaters, an automatic pilot, the usual navigational instruments, and remote control of radio circuits.
The operations room and charthouse, containing the master plotting table, is situated aft of the bridge, adjacent to the radio office. Full ship-to-shore, ship-to-ship, and ship-to-air communications are provided on voice and wireless telegraphy channels.
Two 16-cylinder diesel engines, driving two five-bladed propellers through reverse/reduction gearboxes, comprise the main propulsion machinery, obtaining a top speed of 15 knots. The ship can carry 380 tons of fuel, giving her the ability to make a 3,000-mile voyage at 14 knots and still have about 200 tons in her tanks to refuel the ships of her squadron.
Four 200-kilovolt-ampere (kva) diesel alternators provide electrical power for all the ship’s services and equipment. It is also sufficient to supply vessels berthed alongside her, so that they are able to shut down their own generating equipment. There is also a 35-kva emergency generating plant fitted on the upper deck. Powerful diesel and electric pumps supply fire-fighting monitors, which can be used to assist a ship alongside or in dock in an emergency. The same pumps can be used for salvage operations should flooding occur.
Fresh water tanks of over 80 tons capacity are installed, and the ship has a distillation plant providing up to 20 tons of fresh water per day.
The air conditioning systems on board the Zeltin provide the workshops with a separate non-recirculatory system, independent of the system used for living and office accommodation. Provisions were also made for space heating.
The machinery control console is in an enclosed control room off the engine room. The same compartment holds the main electrical switchboard, so all running machinery can be supervised from the same place. Electro-hydraulic steering gear compartments are placed port and starboard in the aftermost spaces in the dock walls, below the capstan motor rooms.
On each side of the upper deck are special compartments for electrical power, fresh water, fuel, lubricating oil, and compressed air provided to vessels in the dock or alongside.
Living compartments on board the Zeltin have been planned to give the maximum amount of space. Separate suites for the squadron commodore and the commanding officer have been provided. There are 14 single or double cabins for officers of the ship and squadron, a wardroom, a well-equipped sick bay, workshops, and various administrative and technical office spaces. These spaces are located in the superstructure above the main deck level.
On the deck below are messes for the chief petty officers and petty officers, three messes for the non-rated men, with hanging spaces, kit lockers, and other stowage space. All enlisted men sleep in two-tier bunks, the upper one of which forms the back of a settee when not in use. There are also heads and a well-equipped laundry. A single, electric galley, is used for the preparation and the cooking of food for both the officers and the enlisted men.
One of the big functions of the Zeltin is the maintenance and repair of the machinery and equipment of the 450-ton corvette LNS Tobruk, and the squadron’s fast patrol boats. During a refitting, the Tobruk will be berthed on the Zeltin’s port side. Her engines can then be removed and lowered into the engineers’ workshop for overhaul. This is one of the eight separate workshops, for a total area of some 4,500 square feet, situated between the lower accommodation spaces and the dock aft. The engineers’ workshop is fitted with lathes, drills, engraving machine, hydraulic bearing press, and storage stands for engines and gearboxes.
The diesel calibration room is located close to the engineers’ workshop, and with the adjacent grinding room, enables the complete overhaul of all diesel machinery.
Lifting and cargo-handling gear is an essential part of the Zeltin's equipment, enabling her to transfer machinery and stores to and from vessels alongside, or in the dock, or the quay when in port. Gas turbines or other machinery can be removed from fast patrol boats in the dock or alongside by means of a 3-ton gantry crane, which moves on rails over the whole length of the dock and has 14-foot cantilever extensions on each side, providing for the transfer of loads to and from craft alongside. Special hatches provided at the head of each side of the dock enable loads to be transferred directly from the gantry to the workshops. The ship’s cranes cover most of the Zeltin’s deck area. In addition, the ship has a 9-ton derrick, and two 2-ton cranes on the forecastle, which make it possible to load and transfer provisions, stores, and ammunition without outside help through a hatchway over the forward stores and magazines. There is also a 1-ton gantry which runs throughout the entire length of the platers’ and plumbers’ workshop.
The electricians’ shop is equipped for coil-winding with a vacuum impregnating plant and drying oven. The electronics shop and the battery charging room are also located here.
There are more than 30,000 cubic feet of storage space on board the Zeltin, in more than a dozen different store rooms. In addition, there are 2,400 cubic feet of refrigerated storage space and also 600 cubic feet of deep freeze space.
The lowest deck forward is used mainly for storage but there are radio and electrical workshops, a magazine for 20 tons of ammunition for squadron ships and the Zeltin's two 40-mm. Bofors anti-aircraft guns, a lecture room, and a theater.
The Zeltin carries a ship’s lifeboat in davits on the starboard side, a number of inflatable lifeboats and liferafts, and two 34-foot workboats. One of these boats is carried on deck, forward of the 9-ton derrick, while the other is normally in the dock when the ship is at sea.
The basic design of the Zeltin lends itself to meeting other requirements, such as the ability to dock larger craft, or to include a helicopter landing platform. With slight modification, she could also be armed with missiles for additional anti-aircraft protection.
Ships such as the Zeltin offer many advantages to countries having a long coastline, or whose naval operations may extend to remote areas. This is especially true for Libya, whose Navy consists mostly of short-range patrol craft. The Zeltin offers routine maintenance or emergency repair facilities, taking the place of vulnerable, permanent shipyard buildings on shore.
Study, Discussion, and Fellowship
By Captain James Strong, U. S. Navy, Former Librarian, Third Thursday Society
Study and discussion can do a lot for a naval officer—and, if you mix them liberally with fellowship, they can be quite enjoyable.
The Third Thursday Society is a group of U. S. Naval Institute members who have joined together in order to promote the objectives of study, discussion, and fellowship within the military and naval services. It all began with some experiments on board a Polaris submarine, the USS Lafayette (SSBN-616), in the spring of 1966. Using procedures developed by the Great Books Foundation, the wardroom officers had experimented on two occasions with discussions aimed at understanding two complex books on national security.
The next phase of these experiments began in September 1966, when a small group from submarine units at Norfolk began meeting at the Naval Station officers’ club. They probed the ideas of the well-known French strategist and author, General André Beaufre, in his book An Introduction to Strategy. As this group began to grow in the ensuing months, they worked out procedures that have now become generally standard within the entire organization:
All participants must read the assigned book prior to the meeting. The books studied are generally less than 200 pages long and concern some aspect of national security. On the third Thursday of each month, the group meets in the evening. They gather around a table and probe into the theme and theories of the author. Assigned discussion leaders apply only enough direction to keep the discussion on the right track. The meetings last for about one-and-a-half hours, and at the end of the discussion, books are passed out for the following month.
By January 1968, the Norfolk group had doubled in size, and so it was split into two groups. It still functioned as a single organization, meeting at the same time, but books were alternated each month between the two groups.
The Naval Institute’s editorial director attended the January 1968 meeting in Norfolk, and, on observing the close relationship between the objectives of the Naval Institute and The Third Thursday Society, made arrangements for the Institute to purchase book sets that were to be used by the Society. This action solved the most pressing logistics problem. Prior to this, the Society had been obliged to scrounge copies of the assigned book. The librarian at the Norfolk Naval Station had been helpful during the initial two years that the Society struggled to get books. The Naval Institute also gave the Society its first publicity outside of the Norfolk area, publishing an item in the “Secretary’s Notes” in the September 1968 issue of the PROCEEDINGS.
The second chapter of The Third Thursday Society was formed in Arlington, Virginia, in the fall of 1968, by men serving in the Pentagon. This chapter had immediate success, and has been growing continually.
In February 1969, a charter was drafted which set forth the simple rules that had been developed for the sharing of book sets between chapters. Book sets consist of 12 copies of each title—thus establishing the limit on the size of a discussion group. The Arlington Chapter, for example, is the largest, consisting of four groups which meet together, side-by-side.
There has been an improvement in the quality of discussion at Third Thursday Society meetings, because with the Naval Institute’s subsidy, it became possible to consider any book in print.
A committee approach was developed to select the titles that would be procured. Selections have tended to favor controversial books—those that promote ideas that are foreign to, or not universally endorsed, by the military community. Such books stimulate interesting discussion, widen the horizons of the participants, and then give the opportunity and the experience in exposing and countering any false ideas.
In 1969, the third chapter of the Society was formed, when Captain W. K. Yates, U. S. Navy, commanding officer of the U. S. Naval Submarine School, Groton, Connecticut, learned of the Society and decided to use it as a supplement to his efforts to improve the training level of the Submarine Force. This Submarine Base Chapter immediately became too large for a single set of books or to be accommodated in the space available in the meeting hall. Accordingly, the chapter was split into two groups that meet in the same place, but at different times.
The fourth chapter of the Third Thursday Society was established in Honolulu in April 1970. Captain Arnett Taylor, U. S. Navy, formerly the first presiding officer of the Arlington Chapter used the experience gained with that chapter to form this new chapter.
Still another chapter of the Society was formed during the year. This one was the result of a presentation given at the 1970 annual meeting of the U. S. Naval Institute. Captain Gilven Slonim, U. S. Navy (Retired), executive director of the Oceanic Educational Foundation, established this chapter in the District of Columbia. The Oceanic Educational Foundation aims to further the public’s awareness of maritime challenges and the broad potential of the oceans in the national interest. Since the Foundation emphasizes literary effort in furthering this aim, it was obvious that the Third Thursday Society could aid their efforts. The District of Columbia Chapter is composed largely of civilian officials connected with the Executive Department [sic], the Congress, and in commerce. Its procedures have differed from the basic pattern in that the meetings are held in members’ homes and, therefore, membership is restricted. In their meetings, members have been able to identify oceanic options for the solution of major national problems associated with the focus of the books discussed.
Concurrently, with the maturing and growth of Society activities ashore, experiments have continued afloat. A formal program for sea-based chapters would face certain handicaps not encountered ashore. Obviously, for example, the books cannot be passed from chapter to chapter on a precise time schedule as can be accomplished ashore. A separate book pool is one answer to that problem. The real disadvantage, however, is the conflict between shipboard assignments and the study and discussion sessions. At least three at-sea discussions have proven less than satisfactory. Perhaps in the future, these problems may be overcome.
The newest, and sixth chapter of the Society was formed at the U. S. Naval Academy in October 1970.
The Third Thursday Society has survived its growing pains, and is continuing to expand at a rate which doubles its size each year. Its continuation and growth appears assured for a while, at least. Certainly, the main benefit that the Society offers is its encouragement of the study of current national security issues, and the practice gained in debating these issues. Members have frequently commented that they have been able to perform better in their Service task as a result of the expanded understanding obtained through the discussions.
The Society complements the role of the Service academies and professional organizations in helping to bind these several efforts into a single ideal—professional excellence.
Notebook
Navy Considers Mothballing Six Of Its Aircraft Carriers
(William Beecher in The New York Times, 21 October 1970)
The U. S. Navy, facing the prospect of shrinking budgets and increasing costs, has a plan to mothball up to six of its 18 aircraft carriers, according to authoritative sources.
The most novel feature of the plan, which is said to have the support of the Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Elmo R. Zumwalt, Jr., U. S. Navy, would eliminate all four specialized antisubmarine warfare carriers from the active fleet, along with two additional attack carriers, the sources said.
If the plan is adopted—and ranking Defense Department officials say this is likely within the next few years—all future aircraft carriers and those remaining will be dual purpose, having both jet fighters and antisubmarine patrol planes. The precise mix of fighters and patrol planes would depend on each carrier’s mission and the threat at any given time and place.
Another probable result of the projected carrier cutback, officials say, would be to reduce to two the minimum number of aircraft carriers maintained at any one time in the Western Pacific. For nearly two decades, the Navy has kept at least three attack carriers in the Far East, and during the height of the Vietnam war this number temporarily was five.
Pentagon officials disclosed that shortly after Admiral Zumwalt took office in July, he went to Defense Secretary Melvin R. Laird and Deputy Defense Secretary David Packard with an unusual request. It would scrap the traditional pattern of proposing what the Navy believed it would like to have in the way of forces and having defense budget officials and systems analysts chop away at the total. In its place, Admiral Zumwalt asked for—and got—60 days in which to come up with alternative Navy programs, each pegged to progressively lower budget levels.
The most radical idea emerging from the study was to perform surgery on the once sacrosanct carrier force, establishing a dual purpose role for those ships that remain.
Other novel ideas being pressed by Admiral Zumwalt include the following:
The placement of Harrier vertical take-off jets, currently being purchased by the Marine Corps from Britain, on amphibious and other ships to help protect convoys from attack by long-range antishipping missiles fired from Soviet submarines and fast missile boats.
The use of large helicopters carrying air-to-air missiles on a variety of Navy ships, possibly including destroyers, for additional stand-off protection.
The use of very fast hydrofoil ships, equipped with surface-to-surface missiles that are now being developed on a crash basis, to “shadow” major Russian warships in places like the Mediterranean, where a political crisis might one day erupt suddenly into a battle between the fleets of the two nations.
Possible development of a radically new class of aircraft carriers that would be propelled just above the surface of the water on powerful air cushion engines at speeds of up to 130 knots, roughly four times the speed of current carriers.
A large part of the Navy’s budget is devoted to deterring a nuclear attack with the fleet of 41 Polaris missile submarines. The costs of this force will continue to rise as 31 Polaris submarines are reconfigurated [sic] to take the multiple-warhead Poseidon missile. And if defense planners decide to build a fleet of follow-on missile submarines, carrying from 20 to 30 longer range missiles each, this will increase the cost of the strategic force substantially.
Navy To Retire 19 Ships From The Seventh Fleet
(The Seattle Times, 23 October 1970)
Nineteen ships of the Seventh Fleet, ranging in size from aircraft carriers to tugs, are going home from Vietnam to be retired from active service, the U. S. Navy said.
The withdrawal constitutes about 15% of the 130-ship, 60,000-man fleet of American forces in Southeast Asia. “The war is winding down.” said one source.
A Navy spokesman said the departing ships include the carriers Bon Homme Richard and Shangri-la and the destroyers, Buck, Perkins, and Knox. This will leave two carriers, the 78,000-ton America and the 42,000-ton Oriskany, to supply planes for the bombing of North Vietnamese supply routes through Eastern Laos.
The other ships going home are seven LSTs, the Holmes County, Hunterdon County, Jennings County, Page County, Park County, Pitkin County, and Wexford County; the barracks ship Benewah, a converted LST; the 172-foot minesweepers Peacock and Persistent; the ammunition ships Paricutin and Virgo; and the tugs Tillamook and Mahopac.
Sixth Fleet Returning To Pre-Crisis Strength
(Michael Getler in The Washington Post, 4 November 1970)
The U. S. Sixth Fleet, reinforced in September when fighting flared in Jordan, is returning to normal operating strength, according to the Pentagon, and it also appears that the Soviets are following the same pattern.
U. S. warships, including the aircraft carrier, USS Saratoga, (CVA-60), have left the Mediterranean and rejoined the Atlantic Fleet.
The number of Russian warships in that area was being reduced and “. . . both fleets appear to be returning to pre-Jordanian crisis levels.” Some of the Soviet ships were said to be moving into both the Atlantic and the Black Sea, though no details on the precise number or types of these ships were given.
At the height of the Jordanian crisis, the Soviets, according to earlier Pentagon estimates, had 60 ships in the Mediterranean, about 15 more than normal. These included 24 surface warships, 12 submarines, 21 auxiliary vessels, and three intelligence gathering vessels.
The U. S. Sixth Fleet, he said, is now slightly below the 50-ship level, including attack-type submarines. U. S. missile-firing submarines in the area are not counted as part of the Sixth Fleet.
Since the fall of 1969, when operations were cut back, normal operating level for the Fleet has been about 45 ships.
The United States still maintains two attack aircraft carriers, the USS John F. Kennedy (CVA-67) and the USS Independence (CVA-63), each with about 80 jet fighter-bombers, on station in the Mediterranean.
Secretary Chafee Is Concerned Over Further Cuts In Navy
(Charles W. Corddry in the Baltimore Sun, 30 October 1970)
John H. Chafee, Secretary of the Navy, said that the United States cannot safely undertake any new cuts in its naval force in view of the continuing expansion of Soviet power.
He said the Navy will be reduced, under existing plans, to “just under” 700 ships by next July. This is a net cut—after taking account of lay-ups and new construction—of 235 ships since he became secretary, Mr. Chafee said, adding that:
. . . in the same time we will have cut manpower by 150,000. But there is a limit below which we cannot safely go and we will be at that limit next July.
Although cautioning against further overall reductions, the Navy’s civilian head did not specifically discuss the number of aircraft carriers the Navy needs of will have. The inference seemed to be, however, that the presently authorized number, 15, is supported by Mr. Chafee as it is by Admiral Elmo R. Zumwalt, Jr., U. S. Navy, the Chief of Naval Operations. While that number is authorized, the actual number of the Navy’s capital ships will drop to 14 next month when two old aircraft carriers are laid up.
Barring some change, it may be 1973 or 1974 before the number could increase to 15. At that time, the first of the nuclear-powered Nimitz-class carriers is scheduled to join the Fleet.
Two Advanced Submarines Expected In Fleet By 1973
(Charles W. Corddry in the Baltimore Sun, 22 October 1970)
The Navy now appears to be making measured progress in constructing two highly advanced types of submarines, both victims of repeated earlier delays, and both regarded by advocates as urgently needed to counter current Soviet submarines.
One is a quiet submarine which relies heavily on stealth. The other is to have superior speed, presumably something more than 30 knots—34.5 miles an hour when submerged.
The quiet submarine, which is to employ electric drive rather than conventional steam-turbine drive, is increasing in cost because of inflation and the complexity of her new kind of propulsion machinery.
The Navy says its current estimate is that the electric-drive submarine will cost $177.9 million, which is an increase of $26.2 million or about 17½% over the figure given to Congress last spring. The quiet submarine is expected to go to sea in late 1973 or early 1974. At about the same time, the high-speed submarine may be ready to enter the Fleet.
New Fast Soviet Submarine Concerns Navy Commanders
(Newsweek, 26 October 1970)
U. S. Navy admirals have new cause for concern—the latest Soviet nuclear submarine. Dubbed “Victor,” she can do 36 m.p.h. underwater, matching (or perhaps topping) U. S. nuclear submarines and enabling her to pace or overtake any U. S. task force afloat.
Russia’s current nuclear submarine strength is 80 boats—13 of them Polaris missile types. The United States has 85, including 41 Polaris types.
SLAM Missile Is Considered As Cruise Missile Deterrent
(Aviation Week & Space Technology, 26 October 1970)
The surface-launched air missile (SLAM) is being investigated by the Navy as a quick-reaction, basically off-the-shelf answer to the threat of Soviet cruise missiles. The SLAM concept envisions of ship-launched, modified General Dynamics Standard Arm missiles against cruise missile launch platforms. The SLAM probably could be fired from existing deck-mounted antisubmarine rocket (ASROC) launchers and commanded by modified Terrier Tartar surface-to-air missile fire control systems.
A Grand SLAM version could go on ships of destroyer size and larger, and a Little SLAM version could operate from destroyer escorts or smaller vessels. One SLAM version might be submarine-launched.
Air Force Continues Fight For ULMS Responsibility
(Aviation Week & Space Technology, 12 October 1970)
The U. S. Air Force continues to press its attempt to wrest responsibility for the projected undersea long-range missile system (ULMS) from the Navy during the current Fiscal 1972 budget debate, on the grounds that the weapons system is an extension of the ICBM.
ULMS missiles would be based on board relatively short-range submarines designed for short-duration cruises along the continental shelf, where detection by Russian sonar devices would be difficult.
British Plan Low-Cost Defense Effort in Far East After 1971
(Daniel Berger in the Baltimore Sun, 29 October 1970)
Great Britain will maintain a modest force of 3,000 to 4,200 men in the Far East after 1971 and increase its air power commitment to NATO after 1972, while actually reducing defense spending.
This plan was unveiled by the Conservative government in an official white paper that said:
The maintenance and improvement of our military contribution to NATO remains the first priority of defense policy.
The most significant component of that “improvement” will be negative— the cancellation of a previously planned withdrawal.
The 43,000-ton carrier HMS Ark Royal, assigned to NATO’s Atlantic command, will stay in service through the late 1970s. The Labor government had decided to decommission the ship after 1972, leaving Britain with no fixed-wing aircraft carriers. Completed in 1955, the Ark Royal was laid up from 1967 to early this year undergoing a $78 million reconversion to take on board both the Phantom II and Buccaneer aircraft.
In addition to six or eight more years of Ark Royal, Britain will make available to NATO from 1972 on, four extra squadrons of the new Anglo-French close support Jaguar aircraft.
This will be done within Britain’s existing order for 200 Jaguars, by taking more than planned in the single-seat operational version and fewer as twin-seat trainers.
The much-heralded Far East force will consist of five frigates or destroyers based in Singapore and Hong Kong; an Army battalion; a detachment of Nimrod, long-range maritime reconnaissance aircraft and some Whirlwind helicopters.
They will join forces of Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, and Singapore under a command or consultation structure that remains to be worked out.
Britain’s present treaty commitment to defend Singapore and Malaysia will be replaced by a five-power commitment to consult about any danger that might arise.
In addition to British forces, the Gurkha brigade of about 7,500 men will be kept, most of it in Hong Kong and Brunei, with one battalion stationed in Britain. The Labor government had left the status of the Gurkhas, Nepalese mercenaries who have been among Britain’s best fighting men for a century and a half, in doubt.
At present, Britain has about 40,000 military personnel, including civilian employees, in the Far East. The Labor government had decided in 1968 to bring them all home by the end of 1971, but to maintain “jungle training” in Malaysia.
In purely domestic defense terms, the most significant development in the white paper is the decision to buy French Exocet ship-to-ship missiles, now in an advanced state of development.
Missiles or vertical take-off planes will replace the fleet air arm after the Ark Royal leaves service. As the only carrier after 1972, she will be operational two-thirds of the time, with her planes operating from shore bases the other third.
The Army reserves—the “Territorials”—will be expanded gradually, and ten illustrious regular Army regiments, doomed to extinction, will be preserved instead in company strength, as nuclei for potential future expansion.
Thus the Conservatives, while condemning Labor’s rundown of military strength, are not basically altering it. The white paper says $5,585 billion will be spent on defense in 1971-1972, $67 million less than Labor would have spent. The annual sum will decrease slightly through 1975, while the total government budget goes up.
Economies will be made by not converting a cruiser to carry antisubmarine helicopters, not buying American C-5 transport planes, and deferring or abandoning some building and equipment projects.
Contradictorily, the official white paper deals with the 5% shortfall in the present assigned all-volunteer uniformed strength of 373,000 by saying:
Everything possible will be done to make life in the services sufficiently attractive to compete successfully in all respects with civilian employment.
Soviet Union Is Expanding Navy In The Indian Ocean Region
(Neil Sheehan in The New York Times, 18 October 1970)
The Soviet Union is expanding its naval forces in the Indian Ocean as Great Britain progressively withdraws from its positions east of the Suez Canal.
U. S. military analysts say the presence of the ships is transforming the Soviet Union into the paramount naval power in the Indian Ocean and in its peripheral waters—the Red and Arabian Seas and the Persian Gulf, which border Iran and the Arab states on which Europe and Japan depend for much of their oil supplies.
The Indian Ocean force is not nearly as large as the Russians’ Mediterranean squadron, which includes about 40 vessels and has attracted considerable public attention.
The first noticeable venture by Soviet warships into the Indian Ocean was in March 1968, shortly after Britain announced its plans to reduce military commitments in the Middle East and Asia. Since then, six to 15 Soviet warships have been there regularly. Last summer they included a guided-missile cruiser, four destroyers, two of them missile types, and a nuclear-powered missile submarine—which is a far more potent force than any local navy.
The Russians, Americans analysts say, have been engaging in classic naval diplomacy, conducting maneuvers and visiting 20 ports in 14 countries in an arc from Ceylon at one end to Tanzania at the other.
One recent product was a maritime and civil-aviation agreement between the Soviet Union and the island of Mauritius, an independent member of the British Commonwealth in the southern Indian Ocean.
The agreement gives the Soviet Union refueling and docking facilities for trawlers and landing rights for the civil airline, Aeroflot. It is also a convenient place for tankers to pick up fuel for warships at sea.
Britain apparently intends to send an aircraft carrier to be based at Singapore into the Indian Ocean and the Persian Gulf on periodic visits.
The United States, it is said, does not intend to challenge the Soviet initiative under current strategic plans. While the Navy has been lobbying for an Indian Ocean force, tight military budgets and domestic pressures against more foreign commitments are militating against it.
The U. S. presence consists of a seaplane tender and two aging destroyers that confine their operations to the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea.
Some observers have contended that the force is just visible enough to provoke trouble and too small to do anything about it. They said that it should be removed, with occasional visits from Seventh Fleet task forces from the Pacific substituted if a more impressive squadron is not established.
New Russian Missile Cruiser Moves From Baltic to Black Sea
(La Revue Maritime, July 1970)
In February 1970, La Revue Maritime noted entry into service of a new Soviet missile-launching cruiser, and indicated that she would probably turn up shortly in the Mediterranean. The ship passed through the Danish Belts on 2 June 1970 and entered the Mediterranean ten days later to go into the Black Sea.
Like her predecessors of the “Kynda” and “Kresta” classes, this ship was built at the Zhdanov yards in Leningrad where several other vessels are reported in various stages of construction. Estimated as having a displacement of some 7,000 tons, the new cruiser is derived from the “Kresta” class with the same general lines, but with different armament and radar equipment. The hull is somewhat longer, the stem having been extended and modified, probably because of a stem sonar installation. Like the “Kresta,” the new cruiser has a platform aft and helicopter hangar, but this hangar is smaller and could shelter only a small helicopter.
The “Kresta’s” offensive armament consists of two double mounts for surface-to-surface SSN-3, situated on both sides of the forward bridge structure. However, on the new ship, there are two caissons in the form of parallelepipeds at the same place, each of them with four launching tubes. These tubes are not as long as the SSN-3 and may indicate that the vessel will fire a new missile. It would most likely be a long-range aerodynamic surface-to-surface missile, although it could be an ASW weapon similar to the antisubmarine rocket (ASROC) of the U. S. Navy-
Distant anti-air defense is exactly like that of the helicopter carriers Moskva and Leningrad. There are two double mounts for surface-to-air missiles SAM-3 type, linked to a big guidance radar. Close-up anti-air defense is provided by two double 57 turrets and four double mount 30s with radar fire control. The ASW equipment is identical with that of the “Kresta” and “Kashin” classes, two 12-tube rocket launchers forward and two sextuple rocket launchers on both sides of the hangar. The new cruiser, like the “Kresta” also has two 533 quintuple torpedo tube platforms.
“Zero Draft” Call Sought By Defense Chief In 1973
(Fred Farrar in the Chicago Tribune, 13 October 1970)
Secretary of Defense Melvin R. Laird has established 30 June 1973, as the target date for cutting draft calls to zero.
He warned that the target date is based on favorable congressional action on proposals to make military service more attractive to volunteers.
He said it is also based on the assumption that Congress will extend the draft law for two years beyond expiration date of next 30 June and establish a “standby” draft system for use in emergencies arising after 30 June 1973.
Laird has previously mentioned 1973 as the year in which the goal of zero draft calls could be reached concurrent with the winding down of American involvement in the war in Southeast Asia, but this is the first time he has set a definite date for achieving the goal.
Among the actions he listed were increased emphasis on recruiting—not only for the active forces but also for the reserve and the National Guard—and early congressional action on a bill to increase the pay of enlisted men with less than two years of service by 20%.
He also called for favorable action on other proposals to make the military more attractive to the potential volunteer.
All this is needed, he continued, “. . . if we are to sustain zero draft calls for an indefinite period.”
Navy, Marine Drug Use Cited
(The Christian Science Monitor, 12 October 1970)
More than 7,000 Marines and sailors will probably be discharged from the Service for illegal drug activity, Congress has been told.
A special House armed services military subcommittee heard top-ranking Navy and Marine Corps officers testify that approximately 6,000 sailors and 1,100 Marines will be discharged in 1970 for drug violations, most involving marijuana.
The Marine Corps, with 545 men discharged during the first six months of 1970 has a better record proportionately than the Navy, which has had 2,895 discharges for drug reasons. The Navy’s manpower is 2½ to three times larger than the Marine Corps.
Drug Users To Be Discharged From The U. S. Marine Corps
(Chicago Tribune, 15 October 1970)
The Marine Corps feels that it cannot afford to rehabilitate drug addicts and will discharge them from the Service when they are discovered, the Pentagon said.
By contrast, the Army, Navy, and Air Force have programs which try to rehabilitate drug addicts where possible.
A policy statement said the Marine Corps is taking this stand becuase [sic] the Corps requires a high degree of skill and co-operation among its men, because its medical facilities are not geared to handle rehabilitation, and because it would place even more emphasis on professionalism in its post-Vietnam strength reduction.
Scientist Discounts Sea As A Source Of Food
(John C. Devlin in The New York Times, 4 October 1970)
A scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts has sharply challenged the repeated predictions of demographers that the ocean can always produce enough fish to meet the protein needs of the world’s exploding population.
For about five years, the demographers, nutritionists, and some commercial fishing experts have said that since 71% of the earth’s surface is covered by oceans, they must all be teeming with a limitless supply of fish.
The challenge comes from Dr. John H. Ryther, for seven years chairman of the Department of Biology at the Woods Hole institution, and is based on two decades of studies made on voyages in the institution’s research vessels.
Dr. Ryther contends that 90% of the world’s oceans for various reasons are “. . . a biological desert . . .” and “. . . will always be relatively useless as a food source.”
He said the remaining 10% of the oceans, where rich fisheries are situated, are on nutrient-rich continental shelves all around the world and “. . . are probably being fished to a maximum efficiency now.” He added that the continental shelves were rich in nutrients because the water was shallow enough for light to penetrate and make life cycles possible. Most of the oceans are so deep that lack of light makes the support of life virtually impossible.
In general, light penetrates to a depth of 300 feet, and sometimes to 600 feet if the water is unusually clear.
Dr. Ryther explained that the “up-welling” of sea water is of vital importance to good fishing because it carries nutrients up to where fish can thrive on them. Such upwelling, he said, invariably occurs only along continental shelves. They are usually caused by steady offshore winds that push surface waters off shore and are replaced by bottom waters that rise to take their space.
Generally, he said, most upwelling occurs off Peru, California, northwest and southwest Africa, Somalia and the Arabian coasts, and possibly in parts of the Antarctic. However, he said, in such places as the Arabian Sea, upwelling is not constant, being seasonal and related to the monsoon winds.
A problem still under study, the scientist said, is the fact that the best fisheries, being on continental shelves, are relatively close to man and his pollution. However, he said further studies may show that nonchemical pollution, such as treated and diluted human sewage, may prove beneficial by fertilizing the water, if not done to excess.
Dr. Ryther also warned that “. . . some places are being dangerously overfished.” He cited the comparatively shallow Georges Bank, about 150 miles east of Cape Cod. “Almost every major fishing nation in the world operates fleets there,” he said, “unless international controls become effective, we will soon have to try to find some other place, and there just are not many places to be found.”
One possible solution, he said, would be the development of aquaculture, which in effect is controlled “farming” of fish. It is now being done experimentally. In this procedure, treated sewage is released “. . . to fertilize restricted parts of coastal areas in such a way that we can dependably harvest significant amounts of protein in the form of fish or shellfish.”
Secretary Of Defense Approves New Helicopter Development
(Navnews, 15 October 1970)
The development of a heavy lift helicopter (HLH) has been approved by Secretary of Defense Melvin R. Laird. It is the first new U. S. military helicopter development approved in the last five years.
The heavy lift helicopter will be configured for the movement of heavy or bulky logistic supplies and tactical equipment and will have a maximum lift capability of more than 25 tons. This will more than double the maximum capability of U. S. helicopters currently available.
Only one helicopter will be designed for the use of both the Army and Navy.
Warship Buying Not Profitable
(New York Post, 3 August 1970)
Anyone who buys the Canadian aircraft carrier Bonaventure and tries to turn her into a convention center is heading for the financial rocks, says Bill Kennedy, a ship broker.
Kennedy, head of N.W. Kennedy, Ltd., described by an official of the Federal Government’s Crown Assets Agency as one of the top ship buyers in the world, said such efforts have a “100% failure rate.”
“Any time anyone has tried to turn a warship into a floating convention center, hotel, gambling casino, or whatever, it has ended not just a failure, but in absolute, resounding, glorious disaster,” he said in a recent interview.
Kennedy said he intends to bid on the Bonaventure “strictly for scrap.” He cited a statement by a Saskatoon steel company executive that the company would offer $1 million for the Bonaventure, which was refitted in 1967 at a cost of $11 million, with the possible purpose of turning her into a Vancouver convention center.
He also described an earlier statement by Vancouver Mayor Tom Campbell that the city itself might bid for the ship.
“The whole city of Vancouver could not pay the price of bringing her here and operating her,” said Kennedy. Such efforts in the past have run into losses generally ten times bigger than the profits the promoters forecast, he said.
He pointed out that the city of Long Beach, California, which bought the liner Queen Mary in 1967 to convert her into a convention center, hotel, and museum had expected the cost to be about $8 million. The price tag has reached $50 million and the Queen has not yet been opened to the public.
Kennedy said the Canadian government is not happy with some bids on surplus ships. Often after they are accepted, the winning bidder finds he cannot make good, and forfeits his deposit, leaving the government to resell the vessel.
Star of India To Sail Again
(Henderson, N.C. Daily Dispatch, 15 August 1970)
The Star of India, billed as the oldest iron ship afloat, is spreading her wings again. Scampering over the 205-foot vessel, crew members will spread 25,000 square feet of nylon sails—her first full suit of sails since her arrival in San Diego in 1927 for use as a waterfront museum.
Her journeys began with her launch 14 November 1863 on the Isle of Man, and included trading trips on the England-India, West Coast-Australia, and San Francisco-Alaska routes. In all, the Star of India made 27 round-the-world trips.
At a cost of $9,000, she was purchased for the San Diego Zoological Society to be turned into a museum moored along the downtown waterfront. About 140,000 persons a year inspect her decks, her paneled quarters, exhibits of cutlasses, sea chests, ship models, and a gig from Admiral Farragut’s flagship Hartford.
The Maritime Museum Association, a nonprofit educational corporation with civic leaders as directors, now owns the Star. The master of the ship, Kenneth Reynard, has directed a $400,000 restoration since 1961.
“The hull is original,” says Reynard, a onetime boat designer and a sailmaker, who built his shipboard office under the poop deck. “The masts were also original, with the exception of the top gallant and royal mast. There were parts we had to add to complete her, but in most cases what we put into her was identical to the deteriorated parts we removed.”
Despite being moored half a century. Reynard says “the Star of India is a seaworthy ship, in my opinion, about 85% as strong as she was during her for voyage.”
Japanese Plan To Establish Own Intelligence Functions
(The New York Times, 13 October 1970)
Japan plans to strengthen its ability to gather and analyze military information, primarily to be less dependent on the United States. The Japanese Defense Agency plans to prepare next year for the establishment of a nucleus of intelligence functions.
An intelligence-staff office is schedule to be set up and there is talk of stationing more military attachés abroad, particularly in Southeast Asia. Official sources in Japan say reliability and speed in gathering military information are considered essential to a country equipped only with defensive weapons.
A war-renouncing Constitution means that Japan has no bombers, intercontinental ballistic missiles, nuclear weapons, or aircraft carriers. Instead, it has a security alliance with the United States.
Until now, Japan has relied heavily on the United States for its military information, but the United States is reducing its Asian commitments.
The Japanese Defense Agency said it would like to station a military attaché in Cambodia and Laos, increase from two to three its staff in the Soviet Union and from one to two its South Korean staff.
At present, Japan has five military attachés in the United States, and one each in Britain, France, West Germany, Turkey, India, Thailand, South Vietnam, Indonesia, and Taiwan.
The agency is now working out a draft of the next five-year defense program, starting in 1972, in which intelligence will be a priority team.
Informed sources said the intelligence staff office would be established with 100 members. It would be linked directly to all regional headquarters and based throughout Japan. At the same time, a computerized operations center would analyze various materials and map out strategy, the sources said.
Japan Planning Okinawa Force
(The Washington Post, 8 October 1970)
The Japanese Defense Agency said it plans initially to station ground, air, and naval forces on Okinawa when the U. S.-held island is returned to Japan in 1972.
The Agency said about 1,100 ground self-defense forces will be stationed in the Okinawan capital, Naha. The Agency plans to complete deployment of the forces within six months after Okinawa’s reversion.
The agency announcement followed the earlier visit to Okinawa by Defense Director Yasuhiro Nakasone for talks with American military chiefs.
Okinawa Objects to Japanese Troops After U. S. Withdrawal
(Chicago Tribune, 9 October 1970)
The Okinawa civilian government has objected to Japan’s plans to station troops on Okinawa and said Okinawans oppose all bases on the island, whether American or Japanese.
The objection was made by Chief Executive Chobyo Yara in response to Japan’s announcement that it will station 3,200 servicemen on Okinawa when the Ryukyu Islands group is returned to Japan by the United States in 1972.
Japan Moves Toward Role As An Asian “Superstate”
(Samuel Jameson in the Chicago Tribune, 17 October 1970)
Herman Kahn, director of the Hudson Institute, called the growth of Japan an event in history as significant as the industrial revolution.
Kahn said most foreigners, including Americans, have paid little attention to the burgeoning growth of Japan’s economic power.
Kahn, who five years ago predicted that Japan would surpass the United States in gross national product in the 21st century, said recent data he has gathered “. . . reinforced that conclusion.”
Kahn said Japan would not necessarily become a “superpower,” because Japan, at least all this time, has decided to avoid such a role for itself.
Kahn noted:
Japan is the only nation in the world that gets along with both Chinas, both Vietnams, both Koreas, and both Germanys, and is determined to continue getting along with them. That is not the way a superpower behaves.
He added that he had revised an earlier prediction that Japan would go nuclear during the decade of the 1970s. A five-year defense debate here, he said, had led Japanese defense thinkers to opt for a non-nuclear path at least until 1980. What happens after that will be decided later, he said.
By 1980, about half of Japan’s trade will be concentrated in the non-Communist nations of the Asian and Pacific region (including Australia and New Zealand) with exports and imports in the region running about $30 billion each way, he said.
In ten years, Japanese investment in this region could reach $5 billion, which will make Tokyo the chief source of foreign capital for all of Asia and the Pacific, he added.
Royal Navy Sailors “Escape” From Submarine At 600 Feet
(Oceanology, September 1970)
Twelve Royal Navy submarines [sic] have escaped successfully from a submarine moving at three knots 600 feet deep in the Mediterranean—a world record and over twice the depth any other navy has achieved.
The 12 men, all experienced instructors at the Navy’s submarine headquarters, ascended from the Oberon-class submarine Osiris through her standard escape towers. Wearing hooded rubber suits, the men breathed normally from the air trapped inside as they rose to the surface at about ten feet per second.
According to Lieutenant Commander Matthew Todd, Royal Navy, the Navy’s submarine escape officer, the escape system increased considerably the chances of survival for the crew of a sunken submarine on any part of the continental shelf. The Royal Navy trains all submariners to escape in this way, to be capable of doing what the record-breaking team has done.
Mines Cleared In North Sea
(The Christian Science Monitor, 29 October 1970)
Six years’ work by an international fleet of minesweepers has opened up a new shipping route across the North Sea.
It lies through thick mine fields planted during World War II, which still make part of the sea north of Holland dangerous for travel.
The new channel—cleared by 80 minesweepers of the Dutch, Belgian, West German, French, British, and Norwegian navies—is 250 miles long, eight miles wide, and is being marked by a row of giant illuminated buoys.
When put into use shortly, ships traveling to and from northern Germany, Scandinavia, and the Baltic will no longer need a special pilot for that risky stretch.
Very large vessels, including tankers and bulk carriers, will also be able to use this northern route. Until now they have been banned because of the insufficient depth and maneuvering space available for such large vessels.
MarAd Notes Decrease In U. S. Merchant Fleet
(Jim Holman in the Galveston News, 15 October 1970)
The active oceangoing U. S. merchant fleet totaled 810 vessels of 1,000 gross tons and more on August 1970, a decrease of nine ships during July, according to the Maritime Administration.
There were nine fewer active ships and five fewer inactive ships in the privately owned fleet, compared to the numbers in the categories on 1 July 1970.
One vessel was exchanged to the government, six transferred to foreign flags, and seven sold for scrapping. The privately owned fleet decreased by 14 to a total of 852 ships.
The Maritime Administration’s active fleet remained at 27 and its inactive fleet decreased by 33 to 868 during July.
One vessel was exchanged from private operations, one permanently transferred to the Navy, and 33 sold for scrap.
The total U. S.-flag merchant fleet decreased by 47 to 1,733. As of 1 August there were 75 large oceangoing merchant vessels under contract for construction or conversion in U. S. shipyards.
British Merchant Fleet Reversing Its Long Decline
(The Christian Science Monitor, 20 October 1970)
For the first time this century, it seems likely Great Britain will halt and possibly reverse the decline in its share of world shipping.
Once, British ships carried nearly half the world’s cargo. Its portion today is only 11.5%. But British shipowners now have more than 18 million tons of new shipping on order, or 15.5% of work orders. And of all the container ships currently being built, 16.3% of the tonnage is for British owners.
Indeed, contrary to popular belief, the British merchant fleet is the largest and most efficient this country has ever boasted at any time in its history. Of its 2,000 ships—32 million dw. tons—one-third are less than five years old
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Pass-Down-The-Line Notes
Commander Joseph A. D’Emidio, U. S. Navy, has been appointed Director of the Navy Environmental Protection Division.
In his new position, Commander D’Emidio will work directly under the Chief of Naval Operations. He will head a task force of naval personnel and civilian consultants to investigate all programs involving the Navy in environmental matters, including air, shore, and sea forces.
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Dinner dress blue and dinner dress white jackets have been deleted as required items of uniform for male lieutenants. They remain optional for wear by lieutenants and below.
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For a complete listing of available material on drug abuse and procedures to follow in requesting their use, write to: Office of Information for the Armed Forces, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (M&RA), Department of Defense, Washington, D.C. 20305.
In addition, four 30-minute video taped drug abuse panel discussions are available by writing: Director, Office of Information for the Armed Forces, Department of Defense, Washington, 20301.
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A panel on Russian Military Policy, Politics, and History in Reform & Revolution will be held at the combined meeting of the Northeastern Slavic Conference and the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies, in Montreal, Canada, in May 1971. Among the subjects planned & discussion are Blue Water in Russian and Soviet naval thought, and military history and modern Soviet military thought. Those desiring more information may write to Peter von Wahlde; Department of History, University of Southern Mississippi, Southern Station Box 47, Hattiesburg, Mississippi, 39401.