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American military analysts say there is increasing evidence that the Soviet Union is preparing to deploy its first aircraft carrier.
A vessel of 30,000 to 35,000 tons, under construction at the Nikolayev Nosenko shipyard in the Black Sea, appears destined, the analysts said, for a full flight deck about 800 feet long.
Previous speculation on this new ship, the largest in the Soviet Navy, was that it might be either a petroleum supertanker or some sort of "air- associated” warship, possibly an aircraft carrier. But recent information, the analysts say, has all but ruled out the supertanker theory.
"I don’t think there’s much doubt any longer that what we’re seeing is an aircraft carrier, roughly the size of our old Essex-clzss carrier,” a senior Pentagon official said. "I would expect her to be completed and in sea trials within a year and operational in about a year and a half.”
The Soviet Navy, the analysts said, has also begun active flight tests of a vertical-take-off jet fighter. Previous tests of such planes have been conducted exclusively by the Soviet Air Force.
American military analysts suspect that the Russians will first employ vertical-take-off jets from their carrier, avoiding the complications of building steam catapults to launch the planes and folding wings to enable them to be lowered in elevators from the flight deck ^ to
maintenance shops below decks.
Officials generally express no alarm at this development, estimating that it will take the Russians ten years or more to produce advanced carriers and high- performance aircraft that would approach American capability. But they point to the moves as but the latest indications that the Soviet Union is embarked on a long-range program to extend its power and influence far from home.
Until recent years, the Soviet Navy had been essentially designed to defend coastal waters against attack. In the mid-1950s, it even had 1,500 to 2,000 short-range fighters at land bases to defend its ships.
In 1967, the Russians deployed the first of the 15,000-to-18,000-ton helicopter carriers, the Moskva and Leningrad, each with a half deck used for antisubmarine helicopters.
Soviet military writers have usually denigrated the value of Western aircraft carriers, insisting that they would be highly vulnerable to destruction in case of a nuclear war.
Western analysts will argue that point but insist that in any crisis short of a nuclear war, there is little debate over the value of the carrier in protecting a nation’s fleet far from its territory, in projecting air power ashore and in providing a means to search distant waters for enemy missile submarines.
Thus the interest over Soviet Navy flight tests of vertical take-off and landing jets. But such planes normally use so much fuel in lifting off that their range is short. American planners believe, therefore, that the Russians are
likely to follow the Western pattern $ later carrier developments.
"It’s still possible we will see stea11' catapults and an angled flight deck lf this first carrier,” one analyst said. dc noted that a new class of heavy miss'*f cruisers—three are now under co<'' struction—may be designed as part future carrier task forces. The first of t^ new cruisers, the Kara, is expected b make her maiden voyage from the Sea into the Mediterranean this y«r
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Navy Electronic Planes Blind Enemy Radar During Attacks
(Orr Kelly in The Washington Star & News, 1 November 1972)
The Navy quietly sent into action b': summer a "smart airplane” that b*' been as successful in blinding NorI^ Vietnamese radar as the highly licized "smart bombs” have been 1,1 knocking out pinpoint targets.
The four-man EA-6B Prowler got
first test in combat in July after nd‘ nine years in development.
Since the first four planes began op^ ating off the USS America (CVA-66) 1,1 July, only two attack planes had b^11 lost in formations protected by ^ Prowlers.
A Navy study showed there had bo’1 a 3-to-l reduction in surface-to-air sile activity—radar lock-on, firings, hits—in operations where the F.A-6B ** present.
A second detachment of four pb,ic was deployed in September on the u Enterprise (CVAN-65).
The planes were used primarily
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Notebook 115
help protect Navy fighter-bombers in attacks on the heavily-defended Hanoi- Haiphong area until bombing was cut tack to the area south of the 20th parallel.
In a normal operation, a team of Prowlers would fly toward the coast with the attack planes. Each EA-6B carries a computer programmed with the likely frequencies of enemy radar and radio. The signals are picked up by a Pod attached to the top of the tail struc- rure and fed into the computer. At any °ne time, there may be from 500 to hOOO signals filling the airwaves. Within seconds, the computer singles out the Potentially hostile signals and a power- fol bam of energy blasts out from one °f the five active electronic counter- measure pods hanging below the plane t0 blind the radar. This all takes less (han the 10 seconds a radar operator on (he ground needs to pinpoint a plane and launch a missile.
If the ground-based radar switches frequency, the EA-6Bs equipment automatically follows it. If it turns off, the Plane stops jamming and saves its energy frt another target.
Pilots who have become accustomed '0 the nerve-shattering signal set off "'hen enemy radar "paints” their planes Say the silence in a flight protected by 'he Prowler is almost eerie.
The Prowler, made by the Grumman Aerospace Corporation, and designed especially for use as an electronic coun- ,Crmeasures plane, is a much-improved Version of the EA-6A.
Design work began in 1963, but it was 1101 until January 1970 that the plane "as approved for production after pass- !nS a "fly-before-you-buy” test imposed Laird.
The toughest test for the new plane Came after the Israelis captured a Soviet ri<kf, known by the NATO designation
Bar Loclc, in a raid on Ras Gharib, ’’tar the Suez Canal, in December 1969.
Vice Admiral Vincent P. de Poix,
‘&ncy, proposed that F.A-6B prototype * matched against the Bar Lock.
Until that time, the best the Air <)rce had been able to do in tests conned with the radar in Florida had
S. Navy, a naval aviator who was Irving as deputy director of defense ^search and engineering and who is tl°» head of the Defense Intelligence
been merely to cause a partial blindness in the radar by focusing a score of jammers on it.
Some experts thought the Bar Lock was unjammable. In tests over a period of five days, the EA-6B jammed the Bar Lock repeatedly and complete from more than 100 miles away.
In Vietnam, the EA-6B has used the long range of its equipment to operate from off the coast, out of the range of enemy guns, missiles, and fighters.
The key to the EA-6B’s success, in addition to its versatile computer, is the fact that its equipment produces a beam of several thousand watts and this is multiplied ten fold by special antennae. This is what makes the Prowler "smart.” It can pinpoint individual radars.
Most other electronic countermeasures planes are "dumb” in the sense that they try to jam all the radars in an area with noises. By spreading their effort, they weaken the effect and there is always the danger that the radars will be able to "see” through the noise and fire at the jamming plane.
In the Prowler, one equipment operator sits beside the pilot. He and the man behind him operate the equipment that finds and jams the enemy radar. Another operator concentrates on finding and jamming the enemy’s voice communications, so fighter planes cannot be instructed where to find the attacking planes.
Development of the Prowler began with the threat posed by the sophisticated Russian equipment in Europe in mind, and the Navy now intends to base the plane on board carriers in the Mediterranean as well as in the Pacific.
So far, the Navy has received 25 of the 42 planes it has on order and would like to buy a total of 98. Air Force officials have shown some interest in the plane, but now seem to favor development of an electronic countermeasures .version of the F-m, a more maneuver- able supersonic plane.
At the present production rate, each of the Prowlers costs about $20 million, including a share of the costs for research, spares, and ground support equipment.
The plane’s total fly-away cost without those other costs added is $8.9 million, including the electronic pod that costs $2.2 million.
Navy Women To Begin Training For Non-combat Flying Billets
(The Washington Star & News,
5 November 1972)
Women are about to join the ranks of naval aviators. Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Elmo R. Zumwalt, Jr., U. S. Navy, has announced an experimental program to recruit eight women from officers and officer candidates.
They will be given a training program of around 18 months in either fixed- wing aircraft or helicopters. They will then be assigned as transport pilots or in search and rescue. Other possible operations include weather reconnaissance and training. Federal law forbids their use in combat. "This is the latest of a series of initiatives to equalize opportunities for women throughout the Naval Service,” a spokesman said.
Zumwalt earlier had announced assignment of women to the hospital ship USS Sanctuary (AH-17). Present law currently limits their assignment to hospital ships and transports. For this reason, no woman aviator will be carrier qualified—at least not until existing laws are changed.
The spokesman said that after the eight women have been serving for about six months, the program will be evaluated and a decision made on whether to expand it. The spokesman added that physical requirements will remain the same as for men—a minimum height of 64 inches, which is
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necessary for reaching flight controls, and a minimum weight of 107 pounds.
The rigorous physical training in the flight program—aimed at building the required physical stamina—is being reviewed by flight surgeons ", . . to ensure realistic requirements for female aviation candidates,” the spokesman stated.
No modification of flight and sunival
gear will be required, nor will there be any specification for length of hair, he added.
Other than pilots, a limited number of flying billets, such as navigator on transport aircraft, may be made available to women on an individual case by case basis, he said. These women will receive the same training that is now being given to male naval flight officers.
Harrier Trainer—The Singer Company’s Simulation Products Division is designing and producing an operational flight trainer for the Marine Corps to train pilots to operate the AV-8A Harrier V/STOL aircraft. The trainer will be housed in a mobile trailer comprised of a fixed-base cockpit and an instructor’s station, similar to that shown above, which is currently in use by the Royal Air Force. A digital computer with a rapid-access data storage system will be employed to drive the trainer.
Navy Aim Is 20,000-foot Depth Capability To Do Useful Work
(L. Edgar Prina in the San Diego Union, 17 August 1972)
utility AGOR (oceanographic research ships) now being built for the Navy "They are of modified offshore pl supply boat design,” he said. "A 20 pc(
The new oceanographer of the Nav? says his objective is to give the Navy a capability to do useful work at a depth of 20,000 feet, thus conquering 90 pe( cent of the world’s oceans.
Rear Admiral J. Edward Snyder said: "I feel it is within the drawing board technology of this country to go to a 20,000-foot capability, although it must be emphasized that it would involve a long program.”
The technology for the basic comp0, nents of such a work-oriented, manned submersible is available, but the whok package has not been put together and tested nor is there an approved plan. The Navy’s bathyscaph Trieste set a world’s record for underseas vehicle5 more than decade ago, reaching a depth in excess of 36,000 feet in the Pacific5 Marianas Trench. However, it was no1 equipped to do much more than observe and pick up material off the ocean floor The Navy does have a program to see how deep a man can go in the opef ocean. Their effectiveness at a depth °! 20,000 feet, where pressures of 10,00® pounds per square inch are encountered remains to be seen. It is an increment^ process. How long it might take is any one’s guess. Last 28 June, two Nav) divers set a world record open water dive of 1,010 feet off San Clemente Island Snyder oversees an annual budget $200 million, and he made it clear he will do everything he can to make avail' able to private industry all the poten- dally useful technology within his p°f' tion of the federal establishment.
"The only programs the Navy lS pushing for are multiple-use types'' those which will benefit not only (hc national defense, military section, bn* also oil companies, commercial fisbef' men, the merchant marine, and thf national environmental efforts,” he said On the other hand, Snyder was qui^ to add that the Navy is happy to takc industry-developed technology and it. As an example, he pointed to the.tw0
Notebook 117
ttnt modification has allowed us to use it.”
One of the new ships, due to be delivered in February, will go to Texas A. & M. University and the other to 'he University of Hawaii for a five-year period, with an option for an additional hye years.
The ships, which will be civilian- gunned, will be operated and mainlined by the schools. The Navy will receive the results of the research.
New ship construction is high on Snyder’s list of priorities. He mentioned ship needs in this order: Coastal oceano- graphic craft of from 300 to 1,000 tons displacement—"there’s a real void” here; Agoing ships of 2,200 or more tons to lugment the present force and a utility support ship or "mobile self-propelled Platform that can do all kinds of work.” The Navy recently established an underwater construction team of Seamus, which helped build the new NATO Rustic range off Portugal.
He cited the work of Submarine development Group One and the Dol- ttk, the world’s deepest diving research submersible. He mentioned the DSRV-2, 'he deep submergence rescue vehicle "’hich can be carried externally on a "uclear submarine to come to the aid °h a stricken submersible. And he spoke °f the Mark II Deep Diving System, "'hich helped produce the record 1,010- f°ot dive in June.
Snyder suggested the Dolphin was "seful for finding the best place in the °ctans for operating sonar gear—that is, 'he best sound channels. He added: 'That’s where you would not send h°ur submarines, if you want to give 'hem. 100 percent invulnerability.” What can a diver do at 1,000 feet I’elow the surface? According to the ■ulmiral, he could install a sonar array °n test equipment, repair a cable or 'eeover a torpedo.
vessels. These will be served by faster support ships. The surface fleet will be complemented by nuclear-powered hunter submarines, capable of remaining submerged for much longer periods. Aircraft carriers are likely to be maintained but anti-aircraft defense will be based on guided-missile frigates deployed around the carriers. [1][2]
ber carriers, and reefer ships. Motorships with an increased ice-plating class are also being built for operating in the Arctic, according to the Soviet Register of Shipping.
Meanwhile, the Soviet Ministry of Merchant Marine has commented that it believes the time for all-purpose ships has past. This follows the appearance of more stable cargo streams in Russia.
Turning to the Soviet passenger fleet, the ministry says it is being supplemented with liners catering for 750 passengers. The fourth ship in this class, the 19,872 gross ton twin-screw motor- ship Mikhail Lermontov, started operating in the cruise market in the spring of 1972.
'rench Navy Expanding Fleet ^ith Carriers And Other Ships
Marine Engineer and Naval Architect, May 1972)
French President Pompidou has ap- Proved plans for enlarging the con- Ventional fleet by building attack heli- c°pter-carriers and A/A and A/S assault
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In the current five-year period—1971 to 1975—the Soviet merchant marine is expected to grow by another five million tons total tonnage. Most will be built in the Soviet Union’s own shipyards, but the ministry points out that "big orders” will also be placed in Bulgaria, East Germany, Poland, Finland, Japan, and "other countries.”
Soviet Ships In The News
The following are some photographs taken recently of interesting Soviet ships.
The Boris Chilikan is the Soviet Navy’s first AOR, with an F-class attack submarine alongside. This ship, completed in 1970 but not seen in international waters until 1971, displaces 15,000 tons, is about 500 feet in length, and is armed with four 57-mm. guns in twin mountings forward. She has a bulbous bow similar to that in large, but not particularly fast, commercial tankers and bulk cargo carriers.
Seen under tow in October 1971 is the small naval stores ship Mius, converted from a Mayak-ch&s trawler.
Soviet naval disasters and mishaps are not often made known, either to Soviet citizens or those of the rest of the world. One exception was the sinking of an N-class nuclear submarine in the Atlantic in April 1970. A second is the Irgiz, shown here, stranded in the Sea of Marmara. A 2,000-ton landing ship of the MP-6 class, converted from a coastal cargo ship, she ran aground in January 1971 and, to this day, remains fast.
One of the largest class of Soviet warships, the 48-ship Riga class of 1,600-ton DE, has long been a familiar sight to Western naval officers. Most of these 28-knot ships carry three torpedo tubes, mounted amidships. This sample, photographed in November 1971, has but two tubes. She has a pair of 5-barrel antisubmarine rocket launchers on the 01 deck forward. Her three 100-mm. guns and four 37-mm. guns are in old style mounts. The peculiar shape of the Riga-class stern, intended to facilitate the laying of mines, is evident.
Perhaps the fastest large warships in the world are the 37-knot Soviet Kashin- class destroyers. Reportedly, there are 15 ships in this class and our photograph, taken late in 1971, shows one of the most recently completed members of the class. These ships, driven by gas turbines, displace 4,750 tons, carry a pair of twin launchers for Goa surface-to-air missiles, four 76-mm. guns, five torpedo tubes, and a pair each of 12-barrel and 6-barrel antisubmarine rocket launchers.
In this clear view of the deck arrangements of a Yurka-class minesweeper^the
Boris Chilikan
most interesting items are the four 30-mm. guns in twin mounts,'one forward and one aft, and the Drum Tilt anti-aircraft radar atop the sturdy fourlegged mast. Aside from their advanced defensive armament and fire-control system, these ships mainly differ from U. S. and NATO minesweepers by being built of steel. Displacing 480 tons full load, they are reported capable of 18 knots. Beginning in 1964, about 40 were built.
The Soviet ship which deliberate!) scraped the U. S. destroyer Vi'dlk11 (DD-517) in the Sea of Japan a few ye3fS ago, the Kotlin-class Byvalyy, is seen she appeared last fall. Notice how sm^ the helicopter platform on her fantail Is- The Kotlin class, 27 in number (incM" ing six with Goa surface-to-air missile* in place of the after pair of 130-mfl1- guns) displace 3,100 tons and are reported to be capable of 36 knots.
Changes in Ships’ Status
Compiled by Lieutenant Commander J. B. Finkelstein, U. S. Navy 1-30 November 1972
Ships Commissioned: Date:
DE-1088 Barbey 11/10/72
Ships Striken: Date:
lcc-11 Eldorado 11/16/72
Ships Recommissioned: Date:
ah-17 Sanctuary 11/11/72
Ships Decommissioned: Date:
af-52 A returns 11/2/72
U. S. Navy Shore Establishment— Facilities Disestablished
1 Nov 1972 Officer-in-Charge of Construction, Naval Facilities Engineering Contracts, Republic of Vietnam.
13 Nov 1972 U. S. Naval Investigative Service Offices:
Boston, Mass.
Chicago, 111.
Philadelphia, Pa.
Seattle, Wash.
Washington, D.C.
U. S. Naval Shore Establishment— Facilities Modified
Pass-Down - The - Line Notes
1 Nov 1972 Change Naval Schools Command, Mare Island, Vallejo, Calif, to Combat Systems Technical Schools Command, Mare Island, Vallejo, Calif.
1 Nov 1972 Change Naval Ship Missile Systems Engineering Station Port Hueneme, Calif, to Naval Ship Weapons Systems Engineering Station, Port Hueneme, Calif.
Note: The First Fleet and asw Forces Pacific will merge 1 February to form a reactivated Third Fleet, with headquarters at Pearl Harbor.
New Peacetime Record Is Set For Worldwide Ship Losses
(The Journal of Commerce,
12 October 1972)
Lloyd’s Register of Shipping reports that the total tonnage lost by the world’s merchant fleet as the result of casijglty
was the highest loss recorded since records were first kept in 1891.
The total lost was 1,030,560 gross tons—417,941 tons up on the 1970 return.
The number of individual ships lost—377—was the highest peacetime figure ever recorded, and 78, mostly small craft, were under the Japanese flag.
The percentage lost in terms of tonnage was 0.42% of a world fleet of 55,041 vessels of 247,202,634 tons.
Turning to the type of casualty, Lloyd’s says the number of ships—129— which foundered during 1971 was only 11 short of 1970’s record figure. Tonnage lost was 54,077 tons, and the second highest figure recorded.
"The largest ship lost was the America tanker Texaco Oklahoma of 20,084 gross tons, built in 1958, and which broke in two and sank in heavy weather.” It adds that tonnage totally written off through fire during 1971 showed . . an increase of 140,563 tons from the previous year.
The number of ships lost—56—was marginally short of last year’s record figure.”
Tonnage lost through stranding or striking docks and sunken wrecks in 1971 almost doubled compared with 1970 to a figure of 433,215 tons, which
The League of Naval Destroyer- men, a veteran’s organization established as a four-ship crew association in 1964, and as a League in 1967, now encompasses scores of ship’s units as hundreds of individual former U. S. Navy destroyermen over the nation. The Aldis Lamp, a bi-monthly magazine for the League, carries articles dealing with national security and defense, the present-day Fleet, and other items of interest. Navymen, other than destroyermen, can become associate members, while all others would be subscriber members. For more information write: LgNavDes, Drawer "M,” South Windsor, Connecticut 06074.
Dr. E. Mowbray Tate of Wake Forest University and Myron J. Smith, Jr., Director of the Huntington (Indiana)
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was the highest for four years, while thc number of ships involved at 121,
28 more than in 1970.
The principal maritime compart suffering the heaviest losses were Leb2' non with 10.42% of its total tonnif owned followed by Hong K°n|> (3.41%), the Philippines (2.6%), Cypt (2.16%), Panama (1.49%), Sp4'°
(1.45%), and Greece (1.12%).
Public Library are in the process 111 compiling a composite history of ^ battleships USS Indiana (BB-i BB-58). Anyone possessing cruise book'1 memorabilia, or personal reminiscent concerning these ships, and desiring t0 share this information, contact: Myro0 J. Smith, Jr., Director, Hunting'00 Public Library, 20 East Park Dri'° Huntington, Indiana 46750.
Needs and interests of developl0j' countries is the theme of the Seven1 Annual Law of the Sea Conference>fl for 26 to 29 June 1973 at the Universe of Rhode Island in Kingston. Addrt> inquiries to: Law of the Sea Instit°lC Conference Center, Memorial Uni00' University of Rhode Island, Kings'00 Rhode Island 02881.
Soviet Union’s Merchant Fleet Reaches 16 Million Gross Tons
(The Journal of Commerce,
[2] November 1972)
The Soviet Union, through its embassy in London, reports that the Soviet merchant marine has now reached 16,290,800 gross tons.
Reporting an announcement from the Soviet Register of Shipping, it adds that Russia is now building predominantly specialized vessels with a high-load capacity— 150,000-deadweight-ton tankers, ore carriers of 60,000 tons, and over, LASH-type vessels, container ships, lum