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problems related to our use of the sC
as a highway for international commerce- would be presumptuous to think that 11 creased knowledge of the sea deriving >r ^ an active program of oceanographic reset'1 would remove all these problems. It 'V°U
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not. However, oceanography can make s*~
By Harris B. Stewart, Jr.
Reminiscent of the plight of Androcles’
Hon is the unhappy state of the former monarch of world shipping—now crippled by a whole paw-fidl of such thorns as the staggering in-port costs of loading and discharging cargo. An altogether unlikely Androcles, oceanographic research, might pluck out this thorn—and many of the other festering economic barbs as well.
he United States is beset with
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nificant contributions to the alleviation many of these problems through provk ^ the knowledge of the sea that will permit more efficient—and hence less costly—use transportation. Cost is the major factor m has resulted in the present difficulties in wn1 the ocean transportation industry in 1 country now finds itself. Many of these c° can be reduced by the use of the knowle0® that will become available as we learn m° about the sea in general and more about th°^ specific aspects of it which have a d're bearing on its use as the major intercontine1' tal highway.
ids
steadily for many other essential raw mate rials. j
In view of the future needs of the Umtc States which require a continuing and 1,1 creasing influx of the world’s raw materia^’ and considering the apparently waning abildf of U. S. flag vessels to meet these demand^
Our projected dependence upon imp0' ^ of strategic material is frightening. For eS ample, the United States is now self-sufficieIj only in coal, molybdenum, phosphate, 311 magnesium. Even lumber and petroleu,n have shifted from net exports to net imp01 , within the last few years, and we are nota° • deficient in asbestos, tin, manganese, >r0l> ore, cobalt, nickel, chromite, lead, and zUlC’ Already we are 100 per cent dependent o1’ foreign sources for tin, quartz crystal, indllS trial diamonds, and amosite asbestos, and oll‘ dependence on foreign imports is increase
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design of cargo-carrying submarines is
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fields, speed would be reduced to about
the importance to the United States of oceanographic research, or any other type of research that might materially assist in revitalizing the marine transportation industry cannot be overstated. The problem is clear, and it can be expected to get worse rather than better unless new knowledge and new ideas are generated and applied to the task of improving the whole field of oceanic transportation.
The fact that increased oceanographic research might be of considerable benefit to the transportation industry has been stated many times in the past. On numerous occasions, it has been used as one of the several justifications for increased support of oceanography by the Federal government. The period of tacit acceptance of sweeping generalities is past, however, and the time has come to spell out in some detail just how oceanography can be of benefit.
Ship Design. Even though there is some tendency now to design faster merchant ships —the 20-knot Mariners are the outstanding example—a real incentive to design ships for optimum speeds would result if freight rates were varied to recognize the value of speed of delivery.
It might be possible, under a policy of varying freight rates, to have a certain number of express ships much as the land and air transportation systems have air freight, rail express, and parcel post. Realizing that faster ships will have to be built, the ship designers have already come to the oceanographers asking for information that is not yet available.
For example, from the oceanographers and the statisticians are needed the data to develop an integrated theory of the strains and motions to which a ship is subjected in a seaway. On the basis of such a theory, ships can be better designed for the environment in which they have to operate. It is the waves that produce the major strains suffered by a ship and, therefore, must be taken into account in the earliest design stage. Similarly, it is the sea itself that causes the heavy slamming and the emergence of the propeller, both of which produce dangerous vibrations which must also be' considered in the design stages. In addition, the loss of speed to be expected in heavy weather must be considered in the design for the fuel consumption and
power requirements. The various oscillation5 induced into a ship by the waves she Cl1 counters must be considered in designing 1 freeboard, stability, and general ship safe1)' Yet, adequate statistical wave data from 1,1 open sea are not now available. There is Il0t even sufficient wave information to allow 111 ship designers to know how realistic are u wave conditions which they create in their test and model basins.
The U. S. Maritime Administration has fe cently advanced the idea of designing ship5 specifically for certain limited trade routes 5° that construction costs may be reduced b) building ships to withstand the waves to he expected only along one particular route. Yel' there is not now adequate data available 011 wave conditions at sea even to distinguish the wave characteristics of various ocean areas if indeed there are typical differences.
Recent basic research work on the hydr° dynamics of porpoises holds great potent!3 for developing means to reduce the skin frlCj. tion and hence increase the efficient speed 0 submarines. This work may produce maj°r improvements in the design of future con1' mercial as well as military undersea vehicle5'
The future of undersea commercial trans" portation should not be overlooked, and the ready being considered. Flans for a nuclei' powered submarine cargo ship have alread) been presented before the Royal Institutin'1 of Naval Architects in London. This ship’ appropriately nicknamed Moby Dick, was dm signed to carry iron ore from northern Cam ada to Britain at speeds of 25 knots at depth5 of 250 to 350 feet. Under the northern ice' knots. There is more to such ships than merel) building them. The designers, for example say that submarine freighters probably could not be justified on economic grounds at speeds of less than 25 knots. They would probably be used for special trades in which surface vessels would be limited to seasonal operations, as in the Arctic. The availability of shorter routes using under-ice movement contributes to the appeal of the commercial submarine. The polar route between London and Tokyo, for example, is only 6,300 mileS in contrast to 11,200 by the conventional suf' face route. From Honolulu to London, the
Jnder-ice polar route would save nearly 3,000 ^■les.
Ship Routing. The knowledge of any system s reached a high level of sophistication
len future actions of that system can be accUr 7
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rately predicted; and, conversely, if the prediction, a large body of knowledge
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Prepared wave forecasts for a number of s of heavy equipment that were extremely sensitive. The Texas Tower radar stations
'°ut the system must be developed. A case Point is the prediction of sea surface condi- >ns. If the causes of waves, the mechanisms r the growth and decay of waves, the move- |j|erit waves’ anc^ t^le effect of waves on uPs were completely known, and if the dis- oution of these causes were known and Indictable, it would be possible to predict aje tvaves which any ship would encounter °ng any given route. Ships could then be r°uted along an optimum time track or r°uted for maximum comfort or safety.
To some extent this is already possible on K‘ basis of the rather limited knowledge available. The Naval Oceanographic Office
'Vere towed into position on the basis of rec- 0trirnended route and predicted wave condi- °ns. The movement of the large rocket °°sters from New Orleans to Cape Canaveral
Unless otherwise credited, all photographs courtesy of ESS A
Ice in inland and coastal waters presents a very real hazard to shipping. The USC&GS Ship Marmer, on a current measuring survey, works her way carefully through the ice floes in the Hudson River.
is also governed in part by a similar service provided by oceanographers. In 1956, the Navy Hydrographic Office initiated the Navy’s ship routing service with a total of 34 experimental routes. Presently the Navy is provided with about 1,600 optimum tracks per year. The Maritime Administration and some commercial steamship operators have also used the Least Time Track principle to reduce the time of vessels at sea. Savings in steaming time have been recorded at 8 hours for a 3,000-mile trip and 13 to 15 hours for a trip of 5,000 miles. The ship-routing technique is still in its infancy, however.
There are other advantages to accrue to the shipping industry from intelligent routing procedures. Safety and comfort may in some instances be as important economically as speed. The minimizing of heavy weather damage to ships, cargo, and personnel would
of
amount to substantial savings annually to the shipping industry. In one recent year, four ships totalling 30,118 gross tons were total losses, owing solely to weather damage, and 822 ships sustained partial damage from the effects of bad weather. Cargo losses from weather damage run well into the millions of dollars annually.
For a ship whose operating costs at sea run $3,000 per day, a saving of 12 hours on a transoceanic crossing amounts to a saving of $1,500 on that trip alone. Considering the number of ships operating at any given time and the number of crossings such ships might make, the potential savings to the maritime industry from a perfected ship-routing program would run into many millions of dollars annually. To this should also be added the savings resulting from minimizing the cargo losses and ship repairs resulting from weather damage.
Port Facilities. The major portion of the cost-to-the-shipper of goods carried by oceanic transport is absorbed in the port areas particularly in the process of loading and discharging his cargo between the ship and the land. These in-port costs have been estimated at over half of the total shipment bill. The seaborne part of an overseas shipment is the most economical form of transportation known to man. The real need is for more efficient transfer between the ship and the shore. Quick port turnaround is extremely important, too, primarily because U. S. ships cost more to build and operate than do their foreign counterparts. Marine transportation and the U. S. public ultimately would benefit from such improvements, because of the increase in the nation’s imports and exports that might be expected if the cargo-handling costs could be reduced. Such reductions would also make higher sea speeds more logical.
Improved predictions for tidal currents in narrow channels and constricted harbors, improved nautical charting techniques, incorporation of radar “pictures” in harbor chart atlases, improved harbor construction based on more accurate predictions of the resulting changes in bottom silting conditions, development of schemes for preventing or dissipating such natural hazards as fog and ice, all of these could result from an increased effort in oceanographic research. Tl'1’ would all contribute to more efficient ope’1* tion and hence lower costs in existing harbor whereas what is most needed is a whole ne" approach to the major harbor problem of ducing the cargo-handling costs and turf about time.
Harbors in most cases are crowded, and d1' maneuvering of large ships in the constrict‘d waterways and turning basins is a slow 2,11 difficult process at best.* Strong tidal d11 rents, shoaling waterways, slips almost a ways at right angles to the current and P*1 vailing wind, and channel lights masked by3 strong background of city lights are but a Q' of the hazards that the captain of an ocean11, ship must encounter. Normally, the docking 0 a large ship in a typical harbor is such a d‘ manding task that local pilots are brough1 aboard to conn the ship to her berth.
The oceanographers could well team llfj with the marine engineers in a concert study to devise an entirely new approach t0 the problem of transferring bulk cargo fro*1' the sea to the land. One possible solution h3’ already been used successfully by the 01 companies. At many places they use offsho'e buoys through which their cargoes are <hs' charged through sea-bottom pipelines to the shore. It is quite possible that floating ten minals could be used for other types of carg0’ Ores, grains, and oil would be particular^ amenable to this type of offshore terminal- As “containerization” and other types “cargo utilization” are developed, so, to** should be the methods of handling the carg0 by means other than the conventional harb°’ techniques.
The formation of ice in the extreme north' ern and southern harbors has been a definhc detriment to marine transportation in theSe areas. In Greenland, Sweden, and Canada? recent trials with the so-called “bubbler system have definitely shown that the tech' nique works. This involves laying pipes on the bottom of a harbor and pumping compressed air through the pipes which are perforated along their length. The rising air bubblcS create a vertical circulation which carries the
* See T. L. Lewis, “Canals and Channels, A Loo^ Ahead,” August 1967 Proceedings, pp. 33-43; D. J' Flood, January 1968 Proceedings, pp. 109-110.
that submarines are operating in all seas, and with the possible future development and use of cargo-carrying submarines, noted earlier, it is necessary that we learn more of the subsurface currents that can have a marked effect on the movement of such submerged freighters. If we wait until these undersea ships are a reality, it will be too late.
For example, the Great Circle distance from New York to Gibraltar is 2,805 nautical miles If there were no current at all, a submarine traveling at 20 knots could make the trip in 140 hours. With a three-knot current moving in the same general direction, the transit time would be some 18 hours less. If the current were opposing at the same rate, the transit time would be some 18 hours more, for a total saving of a day-and-a-half in t e passage of a submarine between New York and Gibraltar. This presupposes that the
'•‘‘’ariner bottom water to the surface, raising Y a fraction of a degree the temperature at very surface where the ice first forms, •"iditional applied research in this area '^ight well increase the open port time for triany of the world’s high-latitude harbors.
All the developments in faster and better °^ean transportation are efforts wasted if the s. *Ps doing the job have to waste half of their Utne in inefficient ports. Oceanographic re- s'"arch can contribute much to the solution of * ’s problem.
Navigation and Strandings. Traditionally, the sb‘P captain has entertained a fear of running aground. The Loss Book of the Liverpool hderwriters’ Association shows that these ears are still well founded, for in one year jjjone, 68 ships ran aground and were lost.
bis amounted to a loss of 280,732 gross tons 0 shipping. Partial losses owing to the same Cause were sustained by 925 ships. Yet, the lhteat of running aground is only a part of the Problem related to the navigation of ships on jle high seas. In the 19 th century, Matthew °ntaine Maury realized the importance of Vv*nd and current information to the captains °1 sailing ships; * but with the advent of steam, s ‘PS were able to roam the seas with little nccd to consider the currents and wind. Now
. * See A. C. Brown, “The Arctic Disaster, Maury’s Motivation,” January 1968 Proceedings, pp. 78-83.
Weather observations at sea provide data that ESSA’s meteorologists use in preparing marine forecasts for the transportation industry. A Weather Bureau meteorological technician launches a radiosonde balloon from the USC- &GS Survey Ship Explorer in the Caribbean
Such buoys as this prototype for measuring oceanic and atmospheric characteristics, placed in a global network, will one day give oceanographers and meteorologists data needed to improve sea state and marine weather forecasts.
Part of the solution to the problems created by marine boring and fouling mechanisms rests on the ability of marine biologists—two examine samples from the cod end of a plankton net just recovered from a night tow—to determine the life histories of the organisms.
skipper would know at exactly what depth he could encounter a three-knot current that would assist him. The Cromwell Current, an undercurrent in the Equatorial Pacific, has been clocked at these speeds, and a comparable current in the Atlantic has recently been measured at half this speed. At present, these are the two major subsurface oceanic currents that are known to oceanographers as potentially important in submarine navigation. Probably others exist but have yet to be discovered. That such currents are present has occasionally been shown by observations of the movement of submarines. It is up to the oceanographers to measure and chart such subsurface currents so that when the submarine freighter is a reality, we shall have the environmental data that will make these vehicles profitable.
The status of accurate charting of the ocean bottom is sufficiently bad that the hydrog'l raphers of the world are actually embaf rassed about it. Nautical charting along the coasts of the major maritime nations is in faif shape, but there exist no accurate charts of over 95 per cent of the ocean.* The aircraft pilot operating under visual flight regulation5 is able to look out of his window and see rivers, mountain ranges, canyons, and hilh and by these locate himself by the method known as piloting. In simpler words, this merely means looking and seeing where yd1 are. With very few exceptions, this technique is not available to the marine navigator be' cause the knowledge of the submarine land' scape is too meager for him to use. The a rc<! of submarine canyons, which indent tbc continental slope off Georges Bank, some too miles east of Gape Cod, is one of the few exceptions. A series of steep submarine canyon® lies athwart the major sea lane between Europe and New York. These canyons have been accurately charted by the U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey of ESSA and are shoWlI on the navigational charts of the area. A5 trans-oceanic shipping approaches the are3>
* See C. N. G. Hendrix, “The Depths of Ignof' ance,” May 1968 Proceedings, pp. 32-45.
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the normal procedure is to switch on the echo sounder. As the bottom trace shows that the ship has crossed the first canyon, the navigator checks the maximum depth of crossing. By reference to his chart, he is able to get an accurate fix on his location, for the canyon axis gives him a check in one direction, and the point of axis-crossing is neatly defined by the maximum depth to give him a check in the other direction. As he crosses the next of the series of canyons, the procedure is repeated to give a second fix, and he has not only a firm check on his course, but also on his speed of advance. Fixes of this sort are independent of the cloud cover that prohibits star fixes and of the sky wave problem, precipitation static, and occasionally poor trans- niission that sometimes interfere with obtaining good positions from electronic positioning systems. Once the entire ocean has been adequately charted, this same piloting technique can be used to help the ocean navigator locate himself.
Considerable portions of the coasts of this, and other countries, still need to be surveyed hy accurate methods. Studies need to be niade of the possible use of depth contours in addition to, or as replacements for, the traditional spot soundings on nautical charts. The Use of relief portrayal of bottom configuration should be studied, so that the best means of navigation by bottom topography may be developed. Charts or related publications niay well be improved by showing more and better information on currents and possibly even weather. For all of these items, continued and expanded oceanographic research is a prerequisite. Such fields as current delineation by aerial photography and airborne and satellite radiation thermometry, hnproved soundings by stabilized narrow- beam transducers and by lateral sounding equipment to cover a wider area, and greater area coverage by carefully planned oceanic surveys, all will contribute to better navigation through better charting of currents and bottom topography.
Better navigation will mean fewer strand- bigs and less loss of ships and cargo, it will mean faster transit times resulting from better Underway track control, and it may even niean fewer losses from collisions resulting from poor navigational control. Collisions alone caused the total loss of 14 ships amounting to 60,843 gross tons, and a partial loss of 1,804 ships during one recent, although not typical, year.
Fouling, Corrosion, and Boring. The fouling and corrosion of ship hulls and the ravages of boring organisms have been a “calamitas navium,” as the Swedish botanist, Carolus Linnaeus, referred to them, since man first took to the sea. The ancient Carthagenian and Phoenician ship owners were beset with the problems of fouling and boring organisms, and they routinely charred the bottoms of their ships and painted them with pitch as protective measures. In the 3rd century B.C., Archimedes of Syracuse sheathed the bottoms of his ships with lead, fastened with copper bolts to prevent their destruction by the insidious boring organisms. During the American Revolution, the introduction of copper sheathing for wooden ship hulls did much to slow down the damage of marine borers, but these creatures are still with us and still doing millions of dollars worth of damage each year.
This source of ships’ bottom fouling is probably the most direct organic threat to the world’s merchant fleets today. Freedom from corrosion and fouling means a smoother hull. This in turn means less frictional resistance and hence less power requirement, with a resultant demand for less fuel for the same speed. This in turn means lower costs to the ship operator.
The costs related to fouling of ships’ hulls have been well documented. A study by the Bureau of Ships in the early stages of World War II was carried out on ten destroyers. It was found that the use of galvanic cathode protection systems to offset electrolytic action corrosion resulted in maintenance savings of $10,000 to $20,000 perdestroyer per overhaul. Similarly, a study by Arthur D. Little, Inc., showed that fouling by barnacles and other organisms can so reduce the speed developed at a given engine power that in order to maintain shipping schedules, fuel consumption must be increased by 50 per cent. Actually the fouling organisms on ships’ hulls are not only the well-known barnacle, but also commonly include the hydroids, algae, calcareous worm tubes, and sea squirts. The larval stages normally attach themselves to the hull while the ship is in port, and unless detached by
friction when the ship is underway, they remain in place to grow and thereby to reduce, measurably, the efficient operation of the ship.
In earlier times, it was not uncommon for a ship to have her bottom encrusted to a thickness of 8 or 9 inches, adding 300 tons or more to her original weight. More recently, dry-docking has reduced the maximum growth that most ships can expect; but after 6 to 8 months at sea, growths 2 to 3 inches thick and weighing upwards of 100 tons can be expected. It has been conservatively estimated that the annual cost to U. S. shipping, from fouling alone, runs upwards of $100,000,000'
Some advances in reducing the costs owing to fouling have been made in recent years. For example, compositions that give off toxic ions of copper or mercury can actually poison organisms within one millimeter of a ship’s hull, and studies have shown that ships should be repainted at regular intervals, based upon the effectiveness of the original paint, the season of the year, and the “foulness” of the ports visited. Plastic hulls have recently been used by the Coast Guard with great success in their 40-foot utility boats. Fiberglass-reinforced plastic hulls constructed in 1951 and 1952 have been used in the extremely acid environment of Houston Harbor for almost seven years. It was found that the average hull maintenance costs were only $814 with the plastic hulls, as opposed to more than ten times that amount for steel boats and over seven times that amount for wooden boats.
Oceanographic research can definitely contribute to the reduction in costs incurred as a result of marine fouling. Practical anti-fouling methods must rest on a complete understanding of the whole life history of the particular species of organisms involved. Only then can we hope to know the weak points where their growth can be effectively inhibited. It is especially noteworthy that the major fouling of ships’ hulls occurs not while the ship is underway in the open ocean but rather while she is in port. This is another valid reason for the development of port facilities that will allow a quicker turnaround time.
Three families of boring organisms are responsible for the largest part of the great destruction wrought each year to wharves, piers, ferry slips, and other terminal facilities
A graduate of Princeton L n' versity, Doctor Stewart ser'e in the U. S. Army Air F°rC^ from 1942 to 1946 and Hydrographic Engineer 'v3’ the Persian Gulf Expedition >' 1948-1949. He has par*1' pated in a number of oc°al1 ographic expeditions, inclu ing the 1960 Explorer Expe“’ tion, the 1964 Pioneer ExPefyc tion, and the 1968 Discoverer work off Barbados. ** was Chief Oceanographer and Deputy Assists Director of the U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey fr01" 1957 until the formation of ESSA in 1965. Since the1'1 he has been Director of ESSA’s Atlantic Ocean0 graphic and Meteorological Laboratories.
composed wholly or in part of wood. These are the Teredinidae, Pholadidae, and LimnoPa' Probably the most destructive are Teredo a* Bankia of the Teredinidae. These are the so- called “shipworms” and may grow to 3 length of more than 5 feet, while attaining 3 diameter of only one inch. Although the! look like worms, they actually are a species 0 mollusk.
A single species of boring organism whi^j attacked a large wharf in Boston Harbor di£ more than $3,000,000 worth of damage, in 1946, the Brielle Bridge over the Manas" quan River in New Jersey completely col' lapsed as a result of the activities of marin6 borers in the center pier supports.
A frequently quoted figure for the annUal destruction of marine facilities by the actio11 of boring organisms is $50,000,000, a figure first presented in a 1948 report. By 1957, the American dollar losses owing to the activities of marine wood borers amounted t0 $500,000,000, with the total cost to the U. Navy alone amounting to $50,000,000 a11' nually.
Considerable progress has already bee11 made in the fight against the destruction caused by these marine organisms. Pressure creosoting has been one of the best deterrent* to date. As an example of the effectiveness o* this treatment, the piles and timbers for the Sausalito ferry slip in San Francisco Bay were pressure-treated with creosote in 1898. When these same pilings were removed some 59 years later, they were still in useable condition. In the same general area, wharf in'
C( 1 of 20 tankers amounts to $1,000,000
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>000 and $75,000 per year for replace. nt of steel alone. Additional costs include »000 to $8,000 per day during the time the *P is laid up for repairs.
at*°ns on Treasure Island were seriously i Imaged by Limnoria, and a fender system, t °f untreated eucalyptus during World j 3r was so badly damaged by these bor- ,5 organisms that it was totally unfit for use q ■0 five years.
th Ceano?raphic research to date has shown at the organisms responsible for this de- saf Ctl0n are to varying degrees sensitive to nity, temperature, the food supply, cur- „ 1 action, pollution, dissolved oxygen con- p tration, pH, and the amount of dissolved 2 ln the water. The research into the life , Cs anfi limiting factors of these organisms sst continue, for it is in the results of re- |. rch that the solution to this problem must jC- There are two costs related to this prob- of ! •t^le cost fi°'n§ nothing, and the cost jsf something. We know that the former f c>cPcnsive; considerable savings could result r°a> the latter.
l ;°rrosion of ships ranks with fouling and j °[‘nS in over-all costs to the U. S. shipping 1(Ustry. The Socony-Vacuum Oil Company a s estimated that the corrosion bill for a
per °r $50,000 per tanker per year. The cost any individual tanker depends on the
carried, the ballasting, and the fre- ncy and method of cleaning. A typical er, in coastwise service after eight years t °Pcrating with mixed cargoes, normally i Ust have the top 18 feet of all cargo bulk- ^eads renewed at a cost of about $250,000 for ja average cost of $1,300 per voyage. The f°'Ver bulkheads need to be replaced every years involving corrosion cost of between
ttie
Some advances have already resulted from marine corrosion research. Anti-corrosion paints using mineral pigments have been developed for steel. These include the long- famous red lead, as well as the zinc or lead chromate paints, and paints made with iron oxide, titanium oxide, or aluminum flakes. Steels with copper or phosphorus have been found to be more resistant to corrosion than ordinary steel, and the addition of silicon, chromium, and the various nickel-copper alloys also increases the resistance to marine corrosion. Cathodic protection has also proven to be of considerable use in the prevention of corrosion. In Britain, for example, it has been estimated that an unprotected tanker might last 12 years, after which the hull would have to be renewed at a cost of about $1,200,000. Cathodic protection of the same ship over 17 years costs $165,000 for a total saving of over a million dollars.
The corrosion problem is far from solved, and the costs to the American shipping industry from corrosion alone amount to an estimated $50,000,000 per year. Marine chemical research, long neglected in this country, might well discover some new technique for reducing these losses.
From all of this, the final conclusion to be derived is that the best approach to solving these problems is a concerted effort in both basic and applied oceanographic research. This research should be coupled with that being carried out by the ship designers, coastal engineers, and industrial engineers who have long been involved in these very problems. A vigorous program of oceanographic research can help point the way to the development of a U. S. merchant fleet that can regain its rightful place among the maritime nations of the world.
—— ★ 1 "
Not in the Right Service
A young, six-foot-four-inch lieutenant commander, who is a jet pilot, is greatly admired by his many nieces and nephews. Before going to sleep one night, four-year-old Danny was heard to say,
“Uncle Jim is the biggest man and greatest man in the world.”
His brother Jimmy, who is eight years old, answered, “Oh, no, God is the greatest.” To which Danny replied, “Yes, I guess that’s right. But he is not in the Navy.”
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Contributed by E. J. Ehret