Professional Notes

 

 

UNITED STATES Fleet Exercises

New York Herald Tribune, Oct. 22.—The Navy will match nineteen “enemy” sub­marines, augmented at times by land-based planes, against a 100-ship armada next month in the largest peace-time maneuvers ever held in the North Atlantic waters.

In one phase the undersea fighters will try to turn back the 2d Task Fleet in its attempt to run from the Virginia Capes to a point south of Argentia, N. F.

In another phase the “enemy” submarines, including the new guppy-snorkel type, will strive to block the armada’s passage into the Davis Straits, between Greenland and Newfoundland.

The fleet includes the major aircraft car­riers Midway, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Philippine Sea, forty-nine destroyers, four cruisers and various minesweepers, tankers and supply ships, in addition to its hunter- killer anti-sub force headed by three smaller aircraft carriers, the Wright, Mindoro and Siboney.

The opening phase of the three-week maneuvers, Oct. 31 to Nov. 23, will take the fleet and its undersea “attackers” as far north as the Arctic Circle for cold-weather training.

During the latter part of the maneuver, the “enemy” submarines will be joined by land-based aircraft in opposing attacks by the fleet and its carrier planes against simu­lated “enemy” airbases on the East Coast.

In this phase, the naval air stations at Quonset Point, R. I., and Atlantic City will be designated “enemy” bases under attack by the fleet and its carrier planes.

A land-based Navy bomber, of the long- range Neptune type, will fly out to make a mock atomic-bomb attack on the fleet. A flare will simulate the fearsome weapon.

More than 42,000 surface sailors, naval aviators and submariners will take part in the maneuver.

The maneuver will be directed by Vice­Admiral Donald B. Duncan, commander of the 2d Task Fleet, from aboard his flagship, the Franklin D. Roosevelt.

The “enemy” submarine force will be directed by Rear-Admiral James Fife, com­mander of the Atlantic Fleet’s submarine force.

New York Times, Oct. 23.—Fifty thou­sand American soldiers and sailors, engaged in the biggest amphibious maneuvers since the war, sparred in long-range combat across an expanse of ocean today preliminary to a simulated invasion of the main Hawaiian island of Oahu early next week.

The attacking fleet of some ninety vessels, which sailed from San Diego, Calif., Oct. 14, carrying the Second Infantry Division, was found today by shore-based patrol planes and, later, retaliating carrier-based planes from the approaching flotilla zoomed high over the heads of oblivious residents here.

There was not even a hypothetical sug­gestion of the Pearl Harbor attack of 1941 in the situation. However, the approaching “Western Task Force” is a theoretical liberating force from the mainland assigned to oust from the island entrenched forces of a hypothetical enemy called “Aggressor.”

This is the same hypothetical enemy which American forces have combatted for several years back in maneuvers all over the United States and for which the Army maintains a staffed “headquarters” at Fort Riley, Kan.

The Islands Are “Overrun”

“Aggressor” has its own flag, a green triangle on a white ground; its own weapons, notably quickly inflatable rubber balloon tanks and guns; its own uniforms and even its own language; its theoretical geographical origin is southwestern Europe; its language an informal amalgam of English, French, Spanish and Italian designed to give practice to intelligence officers.

In theory “Aggressor” forces overran all the Hawaiian islands the week of June 12. Its units on Oahu are being represented by

9,0        Army and 3,000 Navy personnel regu­larly stationed in the islands under the command of a fictional “General of Corps Edouard Bocquet.”

Actually the commander is Lieut. Gen. Henry S. Aurand, Commanding General of the United States Army of the Pacific.

The “Western Task Force” is under the command of Vice Admiral Gerald F. Bogan, actual commander of the First Task Fleet and author of the recent controversial de­partmental memorandum on morale in the Navy.

The over-all exercise, entitled “Miki” (Hawaiian for “preparedness”), being car­ried out by a joint Army, Navy and Marine staff, is under the United States Sixth Army based at the Presidio, San Francisco.

“Aggressor” submarines intercepted the invading force by official arrangement when it was only 170 miles off the California coast, and the defensive troops here are intensely on the alert. “Aggressor” guards even assiduously held up a party of duly accredited “war” correspondents at the gate of the Pearl Harbor reservation for fifteen minutes yesterday morning, suspicious that they might be “enemies” in disguise.

Despite such vigilance a small, invading reconnaissance party got ashore by night via submarine, rubber boats and swimming, and checked in with an umpire on the beach.

The defenders know officially that there will be a landing at specified points on Pokai Bay, but do not know when it will come. It is prearranged also that, outnumbered by around 5,000 men, they will be routed. The main problematical element is how profi­ciently the landing will be executed with large or small casualties.

Normal uncertainties of even mimic war­fare had necessarily been sacrificed, maneu­ver officials explained, in order to insure contacts between the opposing units and to give a maximum of practice to the forces involved.

Limitations on the Exercises

Due to the extensive settlement along the shores of Oahu there could be little latitude in the invasion area, and for the same reason there are stringent limitations on maneuver­ing once the troops are on shore.

On-shore maneuvers, it was noted, could be conducted on the mainland whenever desired.

Hence, as unglamorous as it may seem from a lay standpoint, the exercise does not amount to, and was not conceived as, a real “war game” in which there could be all-out competition and an all-out winner.

“It is desired to emphasize,” an official announcement summarized, “that reports of naval elements sunk, aircraft destroyed or casualties among Army ground forces which ignore the artificial controls necessarily im­posed upon the exercise give a distorted picture of the capabilities of both attacking and defending forces.”

Nonetheless, officers said that “Miki” already had demonstrated great value as an exercise in joint planning by the different services, especially in the light of the unifica­tion controversy.

Merchant Ships “Kidnapped”

New York Times, Oct. 3.—Shanghai,— The Nationalist Navy today “kidnapped” the two United States merchantmen that were detained as they left Shanghai last 1 hursday and took them to the naval base in the Chu Shan Islands, the ships’ agent here, A. P. Pattison, said today.

He said the Flying Independent reported she had been ordered to follow two former United States Navy warships to the_ Kuo- mintang naval base. Fifteen minutes later, he said, the larger of the two warships sent a similar order to the Flying Clipper, stating, “You must follow me by order of my Govern­ment. If not I will fire on you.”

A dozen British, United States and Nor­wegian passengers, including several promi­nent Shanghai businessmen, are aboard the ships, as well as 125 Korean repatriates and

9,0        tons of cargo. Mr. Pattison put the value of the cargo at “several million dol­lars.” He said the Koreans had brought enough food for the trip to the homeland but that the supply had been exhausted, making them dependent on the crew’s limited food stocks.

On the High Seas

The two merchantmen and their escorting warships are on the high seas outside Chinese territorial waters now, Mr. Pattison said. They had been seized inside the twelve-mile limit. The warships are the destroyer escort Tai IIo and the minesweeper Yung Ting, according to Mr. Pattison.

Of the two smaller British ships similarly seized, one, the Edith Moiler, had been stripped of her cargo at Chu Shan before being released, according to British shipping circles here. The other, the Leong Bee, last radioed that she had been released with her

cargo still aboard. The usually conservative British newspaper here, The North China Daily News, has repeatedly referred to these seizures as outright “piracy.”

The unloading of the cargoes of the United States ships belonging to the Isbrandtsen Company, however, would present difficul­ties. The Chu Shan Island Harbor of Tinghai is not believed to be very deep by shipping men here, and even if the ships can get inside there are no facilities for handling cargoes of thousands of tons.

A third ship of the same company, the Flying Trader, was reported still waiting off the entrance to the \angtze for an order from the company to enter Shanghai. The blockade has been declared illegal by the United States Government, but until the two outbound ships are set free the shipping company may not want to risk sending another ship in.

Naval Gun Factory Anniversary

New York Times, Sept. 26.—Washington, Sept. 25.—The Navy opened a week-long celebration today in paying tribute to the 150th birthday of the naval gun factory here, the world’s largest naval armament plant.

Virtually all the bureaus and elements of the Navy from land, sea and air units will take part in unfolding the story of the Navy, from round shot to rockets, during the com­memoration that ends Oct. 2, the anniver­sary date.

Exhibits ranging from the little “Long Tom” of Revolutionary days to the gun that fired the last salvo at the Japanese will be on display. Demonstrations will be given by underwater demolition teams, Marine Corps jet planes, tennis stars and the Navy Band.

Ising the same type powder and shot as were used then, an old gun firing a 32-pound ball will be discharged by a hand-picked crew of men dressed as were their naval ancestors.

It was this type gun, with a 100-yard range, that was produced a century and a half ago by the gun factory. Some guns of recent years fire shells weighing approxi­mately 3,000 pounds, ranging some 25 miles.

But producing guns is only one of the two big jobs done at this huge plant. The other part of the job consists of basic research into rockets and rocket launchers, fire control and optical equipment, catapult guns, depth- charge projectors and miscellaneous special weapons. With the announcement of the atom explosion in the Soviet Union, too, it is believed that the development of ground- to-air interceptor missiles for defense against enemy bombers will be pushed.

When the fleet needs a new-type weapon the Bureau of Ordnance and its laboratories develop the required plans. These are turned over to the gun factory for production. Some, however, may be handled by private industry, with the gun factory acting as consultant.

The gun factory is a large, ultra-modern industrial plant under the shadow' of the Capitol. Over 10,000 civilian employes use the up-to-date equipment to produce the finest naval ordnance in the world. The payroll of these engineers, scientists, artisans and clerks reaches an estimated $15,000 an hour.

The gun factory was founded on the banks of the Anacostia River as a shipbuilding and fitting-out yard, since its docking facilities could accommodate the largest naval vessels of that time. During the War of 1812 much of the Navy Yard, as it was known then, was destroyed by its own officers to prevent its destruction by the British.

Shipbuilding in 1840 became a minor ac­tivity. Steamships were beginning to dis­place sail, and the deeper harbors and closer access to supplies of iron, steel and coal that these required made it desirable to shift major construction work to the coast cities.

Japanese Envoys Visited

Navy Yard history continued without incident until the picturesque visit, in 1860, of the first Japanese envoys to the United States, returning Commodore M. C. Perry’s visit to their country. The Yard also played a part in the tragedy of Lincoln’s assassina­tion, when in 1867 a naval ship returned to its dock with John Suratt, one of the con­spirators, a prisoner on board.

Gradually the mission and functions of the Yard—it was officially renamed in 1945 —changed with the times. It has a long record of inventive progress. One of the most famous achievements of the Yard was the rapid design and completion of the naval railway guns for use against the German armies in France during World War I.

I he factory also has a long record of odd jobs. It once built 100 gun carriages as a gift for the Sultan of Morocco. It built at one time cuspidors and ash trays for Congress­men, the gears to operate the Panama Canal locks and the Roosevelt bomb shelter at Hyde Park. Maintaining the subway from the Senate Office Building to the Senate, the Presidential yacht and railway car are among the many charges of the plant.

One of the outstanding events of the week will be the water parade made up of large and small yachts, canoes, sailboats, power­boats and military craft. Approximately

100,0       people are expected to watch it.

GREAT BRITAIN Submarines for Australia

London Times, Sept. 28.—The Common­wealth Government has accepted the offer of the Admiralty to base three modern sub­marines in Australia to train Australian and New Zealand naval men in anti-submarine warfare.

The first two submarines, the Telemachus and Thorough, will leave Britain early in November and should reach Sydney in January. They will be based at Sydney and placed on the establishmerrt of H.M.A.S. Penguin. The third will follow later. Each submarine will carry a crew of about 60, but the Admiralty will provide a spare crew and most of the base maintenance staff of about 15.

Mr. W. J. F. Riordan, Minister for the Navy, explained that the acquisition of the aircraft-carrier Sydney necessitated the pro­vision of facilities for anti-submarine training in Australia, as submarine hunting was the task of the Sydney’s Firefly aircraft. Crews of destroyers and small vessels should also be trained in submarine detection. Until now the Royal Australian Navy had carried out only periodic anti-submarine exercises with the help of visiting submarines from the Far Eastern Fleet.

Amphibious Demonstration

London Times, Sept. 29.—Eastney, near Portsmouth, was the scene of an invasion from the sea yesterday afternoon, when the Amphibious School maintained by the Portsmouth Group of the Royal Marines, under the command of Major-General Leech-Porter, staged a demonstration of the methods of Combined Operations for the benefit of officers studying at the Army Staff College, Camberley. About 100 other officer spectators attended, including Lieu­tenant-General Roberts, G.O.C.-in-C., South ern Command, and a number of representa­tives of the Press. Another group of officers will see the same performance to-day if weather permits.

The demonstration began with a recon­naissance of the beach, which, in the real thing, would have been made in darkness, probably occupying many nights. The chief actors were two officers, one from the Navy, the other from the R.E. They approached the beach in canoes and slipped into the sea—miraculously without capsizing their flimsy craft—a few yards from the water’s edge.

The naval officer made a detailed survey of the inshore strip of sea, swimming on his back while taking soundings with a hand lead-line and recording them on a water­proof note-pad, and locating any submerged defenses or booby-traps. His soldier comrade did similar work ashore, collecting specimens of the soil for subsequent analysis to deter­mine what vehicles it would bear. They then swam out to their canoes, which were waiting offshore with their paddle-men. During the war such detailed reconnaissances were ac­tually made, unobserved, up to within a few yards of enemy sentries.

Light relief was provided by the landing of an “agent” from a rubber dinghy—an easier craft for a land-lubber. On landing he discarded his waterproof overalls to appear, garbed in striped blazer and straw boater, indistinguishable from a normal, if rather Victorian, summer visitor, so that he was able to plant an explosive suitcase almost at the feet of the v.i.p.’s watching the per­formance.

The assault proper was preceded by a week or so of imaginary heavy bombing of the whole area, and three hours’—again imag­inary—naval bombardment. The latter ceased 10 minutes before the first craft were due to ground, though a bombardment by rockets fired from L.C.T.’s off shore con­tinued for another six minutes.

The first craft seen approaching the beach appeared to be small open boats, but as they grounded canvas screens dropped and they were revealed as Sherman tanks which, lying awash where they touched, at once took up the bombardment just suspended from farther out. Next, L.C.T.’s nosed in to the beach, opened their bow doors and dis­gorged “Beach Armoured Recovery Ve­hicles,” tank-like craft whose function, like that of the men who accompanied them on foot, was to clear the obstacles, explosive or passive, on which the defense relied to hold up invaders.

After these, and yet only a few minutes after H hour, came the first assault wave of infantry—drawn on this occasion from The Lancashire Fusiliers, who happened to be the regiment most conveniently placed. The second wave followed 17 minutes later an example of the intricate and meticulously accurate time-table to which the whole operation worked.

Beach parties and beach development parties, and other formations with special functions and special apparatus, followed each other in regular progression. The beach was quickly transformed from a rough ter­rain, strewn with obstacles actually used by the Germans in Normandy, whence they were brought, to a well-marked, fully cleared and organized landing-place.

All the time aircraft—Fireflies from H.M.S. Theseus—were overhead, swooping on the targets to which they were directed by R.A.F. control officers. Shell-bursts were simulated by small pre-planted explosives, and the whole operation was explained— when his voice was not drowned by a heli­copter vainly trying to bring a brigade commander ashore from his ship—by the officer concerned with the particular phase of the operation then being illustrated.

Everything went to programme, except that one L.C.T., commissioned only a week before, had some trouble with her bow doors. One assault landing-craft simulated a casualty, but a tractor-drawn “Miller” crane appeared, lifted her out of the water, and took her away clear of the landing beach. The whole demonstration was a convincing illustration of the high degree of inter-serv­ice cooperation that has now been de­veloped and of the intricacy of the planning and staff work needed in such operations.

VARIOUS NOTES Exercise in South African Waters

London Times, Sept. 15.—Sea exercises in the Saldanha Bay area, 70 miles north of Capetown, in which land-based squadrons of the South African Air Force took part, have just concluded after more than a week’s work. Ships of the Royal Navy engaged were the cruiser H.M.S. Nigeria, Captain W. P. Carne, flagship of Vice-Admiral E. D. B. McCarthy, Commander-in-Chief of the South Atlantic Station, the sloops H.M.S. Actaeon and H.M.S. Nereide and the Fleet tug H.M.S. Briton. The South African Naval Force contributed the frigates H.M.S.A.S. Good Hope and H.M.S.A.S. Transvaal.

London Times, Sept. 20.—Malta.—The aircraft-carrier H.M.S. Ocean, 13,190 tons (Captain W. R. C. Leggatt), which has been here since September 15, is due to leave Marsaxlok harbour early to-morrow. The Ocean is homeward bound from the Far East station, and on her arrival is expected to be relegated to reserve, her crew being transferred to the Mediterranean-bound carrier H.M.S. Glory.

After undergoing engine trials outside Grand Harbour this morning the hospital

ship H.M.S. Maine left for her Far East station.

London Times, Sept. 26.—The visit to Turkey of an R.A.F. Vampire squadron has proved a great success. After visiting Eski Shehr, the squadron arrived at Istanbul, where President Inonii received in audience Air Marshal Sir William Dickson, Air Com­mander-in-Chief, Mediterranean and Middle East, and Air Commodore B. H. C. Russell, Commander, R.A.F. Cyprus, accompanied by the British Ambassador, Sir Noel Charles. This morning the Vampires performed demonstration flights over Istanbul and the Bosporus, watched by President Inonii from the terrace of the Dolma Bagtche palace. The squadron will next visit Ankara and will return to Cyprus on Wednesday.

London Times, Sept. 29.—Malta.—H.M.S. Unicorn, the 14,750-ton aircraft maintenance ship, arrived here to-day on a three-day halt before continuing her voyage to the Far East. After taking on aircraft and aero engines, the Unicorn will leave for the Far East on Saturday, carrying naval personnel from Halfar who are to serve on the Far East station.

Australian-New Zealand Naval Exercises

London Times, Oct. 4.—Melbourne.—The cruiser Bellona and five trigates of the New Zealand Squadron, under the command of Captain D. Hammersley Johnston, R.N., have arrived at Sydney to take part in exer­cises with the Australian fleet. The first of the series will be held from October 7 to 15 off Jervis Bay.

The New Zealand Squadron will remain in Australian waters until November 19 and will visit Melbourne and Hobart.

FRANCE

Comment on Combined Fleet Exercises

Rerue de Defense Nationale, Aug.-Sept., 1949.—The tactical and technical lessons of the recent exercise Verity, conducted by the allied armada under Admiral McGrigor, are naturally in the category of secret informa­tion. It is nevertheless possible, thanks to the official communiques and a certain

number of eye witnesses (those, in particu­lar, that Rear-Admiral Barjot and Com­mander Traub of the Arromanches placed at the disposition of the Revue) to derive from operation Verity a number of lessons of general import.

The results appear to have been most satisfactory. Xot only the French command, but Admiral McGrigor and Rear Admiral Mansergh, commanding the British aircraft carriers, expressed gratification with the exercise. Despite the diversity of languages and procedures, despite the fact that each group of ships comprised units of different nations, and that the command passed dur­ing the course of operations from British authority to French authority, and although, finally, the command ashore was shared, for instance, between Admiral Robert at Brest (aerial explorations, P.T. boat attacks, etc. . . .) and Admiral Willis at Portsmouth (defense of landing points on the Channel), ■ the cohesion between the allied forces ap­pears to have realized the most optimistic hopes.

In the area of tactic and technique, exer­cise Verity confirmed the seriousness of the danger represented by the modern submarine (rapid, and capable of sustained navigation submerged) for maritime communications, and the preeminence of the aircraft carrier in protective operations. This does not mean that shore-based planes, search or fighter Meteor planes, did not render outstanding service (e.g. the Fighter Command of the R.A.F. in the narrow corridor of the Chan­nel). But embarked aviation played a pre­ponderant role, thanks to the permansive support afforded a convoy as well as the instantaneousness of its reactions, informa­tions, or interception. The British Admiralty appreciated this so well that Admiral Mc­Grigor, Commander-in-Chief, had hoisted his flag aboard the combat carrier Implac­able.

tion bloc,’ capable of attacking the sub­marine immediately after detection and well before it could penetrate into the waters of the convoy. The French pilots of the Ar­romanches acquitted themselves all the more remarkably in their missions (26 sorties and 30 carrier landings) since they had aban­doned their over-age S.B.D.’s on the eve of the exercise and had had only seven hours flying time in the Seafire planes which the British Navy had just given us in their stead.

Whether the necessary funds for the Clemenceau are granted by the next budget or whether we are to get along temporarily with an existing carrier loaned from the outside, the exercise Verity has indicated that we could hardly get along without a greater number of vessels of this type.

Editor’s Notes: See Notes in October Proceed­ings.

U.S.S.R.

Escorts Returned to U. S. in Japan

New York Times, Oct. 19.—Yokosuka. Russian sailors hid their faces from American cameramen and a Soviet captain overruled a United States Rear Admiral today as nine destroyer escorts given to the Soviet Union under lend-lease in 1945 were returned to the American flag at the naval base here in an atmosphere of Iron Curtain comedy.

The ships, all of which are of 1,400 tons, mounting three-inch guns, were turned over by the Russians after a brief ceremony on the quarterdeck of the destroyer escort Tacoma. But although Allied correspondents had been invited aboard by Rear Admiral Benton W. Decker, the United States Navy’s representative, they were brusquely shooed away from the gangway by Soviet guards.

It was explained that Captain Korovkin, Russian flotilla commander who did not offer to give his first name to the United States representatives, felt the Tacoma would be “too crowded” if half a dozen American newspapermen came aboard. The United States Navy then obligingly rolled up a huge traveling crane that towered over the Tacoma’s decks as the destroyers lay at her wharf and from the crane’s girders Allied newsmen watched the ceremony.

In this connection, it is appropriate to underline the operations of the anti-sub­marine hunter group directed aboard the carrier Arromanches by Rear Admiral Bar- jot. The aviation and destroyers of this for­mation, working in close liaison at a rather advanced position in the fore of the convoy, constituted as it were an ‘information-execu-

First of 27 to be Returned

The vessels are the first of twenty-seven destroyer escorts that the Russians are scheduled to return here and besides the Tacoma they include the Charlottesville, Long Beach, San Pedro, Coronado, Ogden, Allen­town, Machias and Sandusky. They arrived on Oct. 14 with a complement of 520 seamen and about fifty officers.

Although the Russian sailors had been offered the freedom of the United States base, including automobile transportation, moving pictures, service club facilities and even free beer, not one seaman had set foot ashore until today with the exception of a pair who daily emptied Russian garbage buckets from the end of the wharf.

A half dozen officers did attend the official reception given by Admiral Decker for Allied visitors. The lesser ranks, according to a Russian-speaking yard attache who man­aged to chat with Soviet sailors across their bulwarks, had been informed that the Ameri­cans would not permit them to land in case “they should see what there is to see at this base.”

Today’s ceremonies, as far as the cranes- eye witnesses were able to observe, consisted of an exchange of ships’ papers between Admiral Decker and Captain Korovkin. Then the Soviet naval flag, the hammer and sickle and star, was lowered from the Ta­coma’s stern and the United States emblem was hoisted while the naval band played the Soviet national anthem and the Star Span­gled Banner.

Objected to Ceremonies

Russian seamen aboard ducked as movie- men on the pier sought to get pictures. Navy officers said the Russians at first objected to any ceremonies at all, apparently intending to keep the transfer as secret as possible, then objected to the presence of what they called a “jazz orchestra.” The objection was withdrawn when Admiral Decker assured them music would be played by the official Naval band.

At the end of the ceremonies the Russian sailors filed down the gangplank without the customary salute to the United States flag at the stern. Mustered on the wharf, they stayed ashore less than ten minutes before boarding a United States landing craft that took them to the Soviet freighter Tohol, in which they will return to Vladivostok.

Admiral Decker told correspondents he had no orders regarding the disposition to be made of the nine ships. He said he had received them “in very good condition by Russian standards.”

United States sailors who boarded the ships as guards after the Russians evacuated them told a different story.

Rocket Output

Chicago Tribune, Sept. 27.—Berlin.— German scientists are producing for Russia transocean rockets they designed for Hitler just before the war ended, soviet zone in­formants claimed today.

The informants, who have access to offices of the soviet backed east German police, said the mammoth underground munitions plant at Peenemuende on the Baltic coast is turning out rockets at full speed.

Allied intelligence officers said they know of “certain activity” at Peenemuende but declined to elaborate. One of them explained: “If Russia is making munitions in Germany it’s a high level matter and not for discussion here.”

Named “Fire Lily”

At the end of the war the victorious allies agreed that Germany’s war potential should be destroyed.

The new rocket, said the German in­formants, was dubbed “Fire Lily” by the Nazis who never had a chance to use it. The name comes from the way the rocket blossoms into eight to 10 separate aerial bombs when it arrives over the target, scattering destruction over a three square mile area. Its range and accuracy are enough, the report said, to hit a target 5,000 miles away.

Allied and German sources confirmed that Russia had installed a chain of rocket launching platforms in eastern Europe, stretching all the way from the Baltic to the Black sea.

Peenemuende was wrecked by allied bombers during the war, and then rebuilt by Russia, with labor from the war prisoner camp at Blagovostroi in the Ural mountains, the informants said. Russian technicians supervised the installation of machinery, but Germans who built the rockets for Hitler’s war machine are said to be in charge of rocket production begun early this year.

Material Sent from Russia

Material for research and testing is sent to Peenemuende from the aeronautical institute of Voroshilovgrad and from a Moscow insti­tute. Production of “Fire Lilies” is carried out in the vast underground caverns which the Nazis fitted out for rocket and torpedo plants and testing grounds, the sources said.

The informants said the entire population of Peenemuende was evacuated when the Russians began rebuilding the rocket plant. The installation now is guarded by a barri­cade of high voltage wires and mine fields and is patroled by 3,500 members of the soviet MYD [security] police, who live in former German army barracks at Topposch.

Two flotillas of speedboats are used to guard the seaward approaches, and all sup­plies for the plant and workers are delivered by sea for security reasons.

Another German informant said the Rus­sians are turning out powerful, long range rockets at Rechlin, site of a big underground munitions factory built by the Nazis.

These reports coincide with disclosures by allied sources that Russia has studded eastern Europe with rocket launching bases. These persons added they did not believe that similar bases were being readied in the soviet zone of Germany.

Escapee’s Story of Atom Test

New York Herald Tribune, Oct. 14.—The following dispatch on Soviet atomic develop­ment is based on information obtained by Yves Delbars, correspondent for the Paris weekly “Samedi Soir." On July 30 he reported that Russia had acquired the atomic bomb. His source of information was an escaped Soviet officer.

Paris.—The first atomic explosion in Russia occurred in the Ust Urt desert, east of the Caspian Sea, on July 10, with Prime Minister Stalin an eyewitness, and Russia does not yet have a stockpile of atomic bombs, Major Boris Silov, former Soviet

Army officer, declared recently before sailing for South America.

It w^ras Major Silov who said last July that Russia had the atomic bomb, a statement which was published in the July 30 issue of Samedi Soir. He and tw*o Russian com­panions had left Eastern Germany in June after deciding to join his relatives in South America.

Major Silov stated at an interview in Antwerp prior to his sailing that the first ex­plosion took place on July 10 in the south­eastern extremity of the Ust Urt desert, east of the Caspian Sea in the Kazak and Usbek Soviet Republics, where there exists a “zapoviednik” (forbidden reservation) of some 23,000 square miles.

He said Mr. Stalin insisted on being pres­ent at the explosion in spite of the long rail­road trip. Several members of the Politburo also were present, notably L. P. Beria, Marshal K. E. Voroshilov, A. L.Mikoyan and Marshal Nikolai Bulganin.

The experiment w'as directed by Professor Abram F. Joffe, vice-president of the Atomic Research Commission, assisted by a number of Russian and German scientists.

Major Silov said there is no stockpile of atomic bombs in the Soviet Union because mass manufacture could not be undertaken before the perfection of a prototype. Such manufacturing could start only after the ex­periments in July.

Major Silov ventured the opinion that Russia should not be able to produce an­nually more than twenty to thirty “normal” atomic bombs (uranium plus plutonium) be­cause of technical and industrial limitations. He said that production of the much less powerful thorium plus brevium bombs could reach a total of one hundred and fifty bombs annually.

Three groups of atomic piles are located in Siberia, the Major said, and special work­shops for manufacture of the bomb itself, as well as a center for final mounting, are in­stalled at Sterlitamak, on the European side of the Ural Mountains, and on the outskirts of the Ust Urt desert."

Stalin Enthusiastic

Although Mr. Stalin, in his capacity as president of the Atomic Research Commis­sion, is the nominal atomic boss' in Russia, the program is actually directed by his two assistants, Mr. Beria and Professor Joffe, Major Silov said.

' However, he added, Mr. Stalin is hypno­tized by the atomic question, and continually reads brochures, in popular language pre­pared specially for him, on nuclear energy. He sends for specialists, asks for detailed re­ports on the progress of the work, and reacts violently to setbacks. This was the reason for the semidisgrace of Dr. Peter Kapitza after the 1947 failures.

OTHER COUNTRIES

India

London Times, Sept. 10.—Plymouth.—■ The destroyer Raider, 1,705 tons, was handed over to the Government of India by the Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth, Ad­miral Sir Robert Burnett, at Devonport Dockyard today. It was accepted by the High Commissioner for India Mr. V. K. Krishna Menon, and renamed H.M.I.S. Rana by Lady Burnett.

The destroyer, which was commissioned in 1942, primarily for anti-submarine and convoy duties, has been given an extensive refit during which all her armament and other equipment has been brought up to date. She took part in the assault on Sicily in July, 1943, and in patrols and bombard­ments in support of the Eighth Army. Later she joined the Eastern Fleet.

The destroyer, which is commanded by Commander S. N. Kohli, now joins the 11th Destroyer Flotilla under the Command of Captain A. Chakravarti, Royal Indian Navy, at Gibraltar.

Italy

London Times, Sept. 28.—Rome.— A naval building programme estimated to cost 50 milliard lire (about £20m.) is to be carried out by Italy between 1950 and 1955, Signor Pacciardi, the Minister of Defence, announced in the Italian Chamber of Depu­ties to-night.

The programme includes the reconstruc­tion of two cruisers, the Luigi di Saroia and the Duca degli Abruzzi, and the building of two light anti-aircraft ships, six destroyers specially adapted for defence against aircraft and submarines, one convoy escort, fast motor-gunboats, and lagoon and coastal vessels for supporting an army holding a sea front.

The total of the projected new tonnage was not indicated, but the programme must nec­essarily be a modest one. Italy must keep within what commentators here term the “narrow and unjust limits” of the peace treaty, under which she pledged herself not to lay down any war vessels before January 1, 1950, and her total tonnage was limited to 67,500 tons, while the construction of air­craft carriers, submarines, motor torpedo boats, and assault craft was prohibited. It is pointed out that Italy, being unable to build submarines and assault craft, has concen­trated on light surface vessels suitable to the Mediterranean but not for action in oceanic waters.

Signor Pacciardi also said that Italy was negotiating the purchase of jet fighters, and that by the end of the year she would possess modern machines. To-day the Italian Air Force was 10 years behind the times and its old machines must be changed.

The Government intended to raise the army to 250,000 men—troops and carabi­nieri—which was the limit allowed by the peace treaty. Infantry divisions would be in­creased from eight to 12, some of which would be armoured.

Japan

New York Times, Oct. 15.—Tokyo.— Armed Russian patrol vessels have been raiding across “the MacArthur line” to seize Japanese fishing boats operating in coastal waters, it was charged today by Japanese fishermen returning from northern fishing fields.

Almost fifty Japanese craft, mostly small Diesel-powered ships of less than fifty tons, have been taken by the Russians since last month, according to official figures, and more than a score, with crews of about 1,000 men, still are detained.

Returning fishermen have told their stories to the heads of district fishing associations and as a result, a petition has been drafted asking General MacArthur to negotiate with the Soviet Union for the return of the ships and men. This was signed by Matsuzo Hirano, head of the fisheries association of Shirahama in Chiba Prefecture from which some of the boats had sailed, as well as by officials of fifteen other fisheries associations and cooperatives.

The subject reached the Cabinet level today when the Transport Minister, Shinzo Oya, told his colleagues the Government also had asked Allied Headquarters to seek the return of ships and men from Russia.

According to the Minister’s figures, a total of forty-three Japanese fishing vessels are known to have been seized or to have dis­appeared in northern waters since Aug. 12. Fifteen have been returned and twenty-eight still are held, he said.

Mr. Hirano declared returning fishermen had informed him that, while some ships might have been seized after having strayed into Soviet waters, on several occasions Russian patrol boats raided right up to the Japanese coastline.

The fishing vessels involved were those seeking “sunma,” a form of herring some­times known as “the hairtail,” and were operating at night, attracting the fish with lights according to the usual practice.

On more than one occasion, Mr. Hirano said, the fishermen reported that Russian patrol boats had-crept up to the Japanese fishing fleet in the darkness, suddenly switched on searchlights, ordered the Japa­nese to follow them into Soviet waters where the fishing vessels were seized.

According to this account, older, less de­sirable Japanese boats then were ordered by the Soviet patrol to return. The faster, more modern vessels were escorted to harbors in the Kurile Islands, where, Mr. Hirano said, the Japanese feared they would be taken over by the Russians for the Soviet fishing industry with Japanese crews ordered to operate them under Russian orders.

According to Mr. Hirano’s figures, which differ slightly from Mr. Oya’s, twenty-seven Japanese boats thus have been seized since Sept. 20, when the “sunma” season opened. Apparently no accurate figures exist on the total number of Japanese vessels seized by the Russians since “the MacArthur line” was laid down in 1945 in the narrow waters between Hokkaido and the Kuriles. It is known, however, that Soviet patrol boats in this area carry light guns and on at least one occasion are reported to have opened fire on Japanese fishermen.

AVIATION

P2V Flies 4,863 Miles from Carrier

New York Herald Tribune, Oct. 7.—San Diego.—A Navy Neptune patrol bomber capable of carrying the atomic bomb landed at the Naval Air Station here today after a 4,863-mile non-stop flight from the aircraft carrier Midway in the Atlantic.

The flight was described by the Navy as the longest ever made after launching from a carrier. The twin-engined bomber was in the air twenty-five hours and forty-two minutes.

Commander Frederick L. Ashworth, ex­ecutive officer of Composite Squadron 5, Moffett Field, Calif., was pilot. The plane carried a seven-man crew. After refueling here, the Neptune took off for Moffett Field, its home base.

The epochal flight was made from Mid­way, off Norfolk, Ya., across the Caribbean to the Panama Canal, back northwest across the tip of the Yucatan Peninsula, and over San Antonio and El Paso, Tex., Tucson and Yuma, Ariz.

Editor’s Note: See Notes in June Proceedings.

D-558-2 Makes Neiv Record

Aviation Week, Oct. 3.—Douglas D-558-II Skyrocket has attained the speed of sound in level flight.

The glistening white Navy research air­craft reached Mach 1.03 at an altitude of

26,0       ft. (approximately 710 mph.) in a mid-July test flight at Muroc Air Force Base, Calif. Veteran Douglas test pilot Gene May was at the controls.

Unlike the Air Force’s Bell X-l, which literally blasted its way through increasing drag to achieve supersonic speed, the Sky­rocket performance was obtained in a smooth, normal flight, well within the plane’s aerodynamic capabilities.

Fastest in World—Thus, the Navy-Air Force competition becomes keener, with the Navy finding itself with the fastest airplane in the world. Before this, the Air Force had it.

The Skyrocket has a design capability of 1820 mph. at 75,000 ft. Such performance, if attained, not only would establish a speed record, but also an altitude record. (Maxi­mum design speed of X-l is 1000 mph. at

60,0       ft.)

The North American F-86 Sabre has gone 710 mph. in level flight at sea level, but at this low altitude such speed is about 50 mph. below that of sound. The F-86 also is in­tended for supersonic flight above 40,000 ft., but not to the limits for which the Skyrocket is designed.

Not First Time—The July flight was not the first supersonic performance of the Sky­rocket. It has frequently reached supersonic speed in shallow dives, but this was its first level-flight breach of the sonic barrier. The flight itself was largely-the result of enthusi­asm on the part of test pilot May, since con­tract specification requires a demonstration of the airplane by Douglas Aircraft Co. personnel only up to Mach 0.95.

The successful supersonic flight was some­what belated, and came after a series of powerplant difficulties had plagued the craft. Major problem in early test flights was created by the craft’s extremely short en­durance, which has fallen much below ex­pectations.

Short of Fuel—Its Westinghouse J-34 turbojet engine is provided with a fuel sup­ply of 250 gal. of ordinary aviation gasoline, sufficient for an endurance of only about 30 min. The Reaction Motors four-barrelled rocket engine, while of identical design to that used in the historic Bell X-l, is provided with only 3000 lb. of propellant, little more than a third the amount carried by the X-l.

For this reason, actual altitude time of the Skyrocket is only 12 min., of which less than 1 min. is available on full rocket power. Total rocket time can be extended to about 3£ min. by firing the chambers in sequence.

Skyrocket Sequel

Aviation Week, Oct. 10.—Although Navy by midweek had not officially confirmed the exclusive and authoritative Aviation Week story of Oct. 3 that the Douglas D-558-II Skvrocket had flown faster than sound, plans for an elaborate Navy press and newsreel junket to Muroc Air Force Base to see the plane establish a new world speed record were temporarily postponed by the story. Navy plans for the event are uncertain at the moment.

More Air Transport for Sick

New York Herald Tribune, Oct. 5.—Wash­ington.—Faster transportation for the medi­cal patients of the armed services to increase their morale and conserve the time of scarce doctors and nurses was announced today by Secretary of Defense Louis Johnson.

Hereafter, he said, the Military Air Trans­port Service will take over transportation of all such patients throughout the world. Here­tofore, most of them have been carried on slower hospital ships and trains.

The switch to air transportation, a step in the consolidation of medical facilities of the armed services, he said, was ordered on recommendation of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Defense Director of Medical Services and the Surgeons General of the Army, Navy and Air Force.

Mars Return to Service

New York Times, Oct. 11.—Alameda.— Five huge Mars flying boats, ordered out of the air for engineering inspection, have been put back into Military Air Transport Service in the Pacific, the Navy said last night.

The four-engine Marshall, Philippines, Marianas, Hawaii and Caroline Mars were taken off their runs between the Pacific Coast and Hawaii last Monday.

The Philippines Mars dropped an engine on a flight to Hawaii Sept. 6 but came in for a safe landing. After studying the plane, a Navy spokesman at Pearl Harbor said Thursday: “It was concluded that something possibly was structurally wrong with the propellers.”

The Navy last night said the five craft re­ceived a thorough engineering inspection at the naval air station here and were released for flight by the commander of operations. The Mars squadron operates as fleet logistics support.

New Anti-Submarine Aircraft

London Times, Sept. 27.—Limited details are released to-day of two new anti-subma­rine aircraft, the Fairey 17, made by the

Fairey Aviation Company, and the Black­burn Y.A.5, made by Blackburn and Gen­eral Aircraft. There is also news of a Ministry of Supply contract for prototypes of a new dual-control basic trainer for the R.A.F.

The Fairey 17 is particularly interesting, for it is the first aircraft, either military or civil to make use of a paired airscrew turbine. It is fitted with an Armstrong-Siddeley Double Mamba, which gives 2,540 h.p. plus 770 lb. of thrust for take-off, and has a maximum combat power of 3,500 h.p. plus 280 lb. of thrust at 400 miles an hour. The engine consists of two single Mamba units laid side by side with their individual reduc­tion gears replaced by gearing in a common casing, arranged to drive two co-axially mounted, but independent airscrews rotating in opposite directions. The Mamba is an axial flow type of gas turbine.

The Blackburn Y.A.5 is fitted with a Rolls Royce Griffon piston engine, a more powerful engine than the famous Merlin, which powered the Battle of Britain Hurricanes and Spitfires.

The R.A.F. trainer prototype contract has been awarded to Handley Page (Reading). The aircraft is a low-wing monoplane of all­metal construction with side-by-side seating for pupil and instructor, and is at present known only as the H.P.R. 2. It is powered by an Armstrong-Siddeley Cheetah 17 piston engine.

Many Nations in Air Exercise Over Britain

The Aeroplane, Sept. 30.—Exercise “Bull dog,” held over a period from September 23 until September 27, was organized with the primary object of applying our air striking force in attacks against a highly organized defence system. Unlike Exercise “Foil,” the recent fighter manoeuvres, “Bulldog” had a bomber bias and the attacking aircraft did not offer themselves for interception on speci­fied routes. On the contrary, they used all the legitimate means for evading the de­fences, so that, operationally, the exercise was more realistic than usual.

Nevertheless, there was no competition between the opposing sides, and the exercise was used purely for gaining the utmost ex­perience in modern tactics by the attacking

R.A.F. and U.S.A.F. units and the defending R.A.F., French, Netherlands and Belgian forces disposed in Great Britain. Air Mar­shal Sir Basil Embry, C.-in-C., Fighter Command, took the opportunity to try out some new ideas in the control and reporting system, which, in one sector, was almost en­tirely manned by personnel of the Fighter Control units of the R.Aux.A.F.

Fighter Command forces included, for the first time, Vampires of the French Air Force and Meteors of the Belgian Air Force, while Meteors from the Netherlands again worked with the R.A.F. No higher praise could be offered than to say that these units of West­ern Union Air Forces worked with our crews as if they were in the same service. In the fighter network, A.A. Command, under Lt.- General Sir Ivor Thomas, deployed about

5,0        Regular and T.A. personnel in their fourth exercise during the past 12 months. The defences were assumed to be concen­trated around the most important targets, including London, Portsmouth and Bristol.

In overall command of the exercise, Air Marshal Sir Aubrey Ellwood, C.-in-C. Bomber Command, directed the offensive force, comprising R.A.F. Lincolns and Lan­casters, Mosquitos from B.A.F.O. and B-50’s of the Third Air Division, U.S.A.F. This was the first time that B-50’s had taken part in a British exercise, and they used to full ad­vantage their superior speed, range and operating ceiling over the B-29’s. Operating both by day and night, they set an intercep­tion problem sufficiently formidable to keep any fighter defence system on its toes and provided some of the finest targets in the exercise.

Even the B-50, however, does not bridge the gap between the present equipment of Bomber Command and such new bombing jet-aircraft, of which the Canberra is only the beginning. To simulate jet-bombers in “Bull­dog,” Meteor 4’s from Horsham St. Faith were used, in close approximation of future operating heights and speeds of strategic air­craft. Our defence system acquitted itself well against these realistic attacks.

No real assessment of the two days’ opera­tions by the jet fighters of four nations is possible, but visitors to these two stations could not fail to be impressed by the high standard of the handling of the aircraft, the keenness and the good spirit of pilots, ground crews and staff officers on the job, and the good co-operation of the stations used as bases.

Despite the fact that the weather during the opening phases of the exercise prohibited operations until the morning of September 24 the extension of a day on the period of activ­ity, coupled with a great deal of hard work, by all, enabled the maximum benefit to be obtained from “Bulldog.” The increasing extent of successful military co-operation between Western Union countries and the United States is most heartening.

New Russian Airliner

Manchester Guardian, Sept. 13.—Czecho­slovakian Airlines brought one of the latest Russian air-liners to Northolt aerodrome yesterday and permitted a few British avia­tion specialists to examine it and to go for a short flight.

The aircraft is the II. 12, to the design of Ilyishin. It is a 32-seater with an all-up weight of about 38,000 lb. and it has two Russian Ash engines each of 1,500 h.p. They are air-cooled radials. The aircraft has a tricycle undercarriage and is modern in ap­pearance and its performance seems good. We were able to cruise at over 320 kilometres an hour and the climb appeared to be quick.

The interior is furnished in a somewhat austere manner, but the seats are comforta­ble and the cabin ventilation seems good. The arrangement of the seating can be varied by means of a movable bulkhead.

MERCHANT MARINE Soviet Merchant Marine

Revista Marittima, July 1949.—The data are incomplete and fragmentary on the Soviet Merchant Marine. According to an Italian evaluation based on pre-war figures and from which it has not been possible to deduce exact wartime losses, the Soviet Merchant Marine in 1947 counted 2,157,000 tons of ships. However, in 1948, a London agency quoted a figure of 417 units (exclud­ing those adapted for internal traffic) with

1,300,0        tons D.W. which had passed by the end of the year, according to another English figure, to a total tonnage of 1,405,678. Of this tonnage, 13 units, or 92,974 tons, are probably motor tankers.

The organization of the Soviet Merchant Marine derives from the State, the direct proprietor of the entire maritime establish­ment. Hence, in the Soviet Union, there are no freight markets and no competition be­tween navigation companies; likewise, miss­ing is the publication of market quotations and news of agencies.

In the Soviet press there is no news on shipping, trade, or insurance. The principal Soviet journal on the Merchant Marine is the bi-weekly Morskoi Flot, published in Mos­cow by the Ministry of Merchant Marine, but this journal treats maritime problems only insofar as they refer to hours of work, incentives to inter-crew competition, and the fulfillment of the Five-Year-Plan.

Soviet maritime transports are organized as a function of the three principal maritine districts of the Black Sea (with shipping center at Odessa), and of the Northern Seas (centers at Leningrad, etc.). The merchant fleet of the Black Sea makes up 65% of the overall sea-going tonnage of the U.S.S.R. Maritime service with foreign countries is not highly developed, since this is often leased to foreign companies. Among the most important lines are:            Leningrad-

London; Odessa-Italian ports-Marseilles; Odessa-Durazzo-Costanza-Ports of the Levant; Braila-Ports of the Indian Ocean. Some services out of the Black Sea are pro­vided by Italian ships which in 1948 main­tained lines between Poti, Novorossisk, Odessa, and the Mediterranean ports.

Western merchant marines play an insig­nificant role in the handling of Soviet pe­troleum. In the main this traffic is domestic and is handled by Soviet carriers.

At present Russia controls the major part of Danubian traffic. Fifty-one per cent of the Roman Sovrom-Transport, of the Bulgarski- Morskoi Plot, and of the fluvial companies of the Danube are in Soviet hands. As rein­forcements for the present Danubian fleet 400 new units are under construction at yards in the Black Sea.

Editor’s Note: See Notes in November Proceed­ings.

Ship Race

The Shipbuilder, Aug. 1949.—Newport News Shipbuilding Co., Va— An article in a recent issue of the Boca Grande Journal re­lated a story of the James Elwood Jones and the Mae in a race between these ships for port. The story held our interest because the Jones of the Pocahontas Steamship Com­pany has been a frequent visitor to our Yard, and the Mae was in our plant during July for voyage repairs and special work.

The unrelated portion of the story contains two items which probably contributed to the performance of the James Elwood Jones; they are the streamlined rudder and rudder post and the new airfoil propeller installed at our plant. The ironical portion of the tale is the fact that the Bull Steamship Company sold the James Elwood Jones to the Poca­hontas Steamship Company because of her ' slow speed.

On Monday night, April 25, 1949, the Mae, with Captain Bob Hudgins in com­mand, was due to arrive at the sea buoy in Boca Grande Harbor, Florida, at 9:30 p.m. The James Elwood Jones, with Captain White in command, was due to arrive one- half hour later. The Seaboard elevator in the harbor was all geared to run the 10,500 tons of phosphate rock into the Mae at record speed. Both ships were coming up from Re­becca Shoals, when a heavy northeaster started blowing at about thirty-five miles per hour, almost a head wind.

Captain White of the James Elwood Jones, which has had many improvements and re­newals in our plant, knew that the Mae was ahead and was trying to make the berth. Captain White called the engineer and told him that they were going to try to beat the Mae to the berth. No further urging was needed, as nothing makes an engineer hap­pier than to be challenged to race for a berth. What happened in the engine room of the Jones that night is not known, but if it had been on the Mississippi River in the old days, we probablv would have said there was a colored fireman asitting on the safety valve, and the furnace crammed with rosin and pine.”

Captain Hudgins, on the Mae, had

pumped out all of his water ballast and was drawing only fourteen and one-half feet of water with the big Liberty hull, and the head wind was more than she could handle. The Jones, drawing seventeen feet of water, easily passed the Mae and arrived fifteen minutes ahead of time; the Mae was an hour and a half late. The Jones was berthed and loading when the Mae came to anchor in the stream to lose sixteen and one-half hours port time.

The airfoil propeller for the James El­wood Jones was designed in accordance with the best information available from the Taylor Model Basin and from foreign model basins on the most efficient type of airfoil sections. In determining the shape and width of the propeller blades we were guided by our experience in fitting new propellers on other cargo vessels which do not have their propellers completely submerged in the bal­last condition. On such vessels, when the blade area was increased over that of the original propeller, the improvement in speed has been particularly noticeable in the bal­last condition owing to the added efficiency resulting from reduced slip.

At the same time the improved propeller was fitted, the rudder was changed to a stream-lined rudder of Newport News design in order to eliminate the drag previously caused by the square rudder post and circu­lar rudder stock. The rudder post was shrouded by a streamlined steel plate from top to bottom, with a fairwater in way of the propeller hub* The existing rudder stock and single-plate rudder were left in place and completely surrounded by a symmetrical streamlined steel plate structure of carefully designed contour attached to and supported by the original rudder. The arrangement was approved by Lloyds.

It was estimated that the combination of improved propeller and streamlined rudder added one to one and a half knots to the vessel’s speed with no increase in power.

INTERNATIONAL Exercise “Agility”

Manchester Guardian, Oct. 15.—Com­bined exercises in which the British Army of the Rhine, British Air Forces of Occupa­tion, and units of the Belgian, United States, French, and Norwegian armies will take part, are to be held in the Paderborn area of Westphalia from October 9 to 14, the War Office announced last night.

The exercises are to be divided into two parts to be known as “Agility 1” and “Agil­ity 2.” The War Minister, Mr. Shinwell, is expected to take the salute at a march-past and many high-ranking civilians and officers of the British and Allied Services have been invited to attend Exercise “Agility 2.” The formations taking part will parade on Oc­tober 8, the day before the exercises begin, to enable spectators to study their composi­tion, weapons, and equipment.

The object of “Agility 2” is to give com­manders, staffs, and all officers and other ranks of the British Army of the Rhine ex­perience of their role in a large formation under conditions similar to war.

SCIENCE

New Radiation Detector

New York Herald, Tribune, Oct. 8.—- “Radiac sets,” a new type of radiation de­tecting and measuring device suitable for both military and civilian defense use, are now in production, the Army announced tonight.

The Navy, the Air Force and the Atomic Energy Commission are developing other radiation detection instruments to fill their specific needs under a co-ordinated program directed by the armed forces special weapons project.

Deliberately made less sensitive than the Geiger counter, the radiac set is for detection and measurement of relatively large concen­trations of radiation beyond capabilities of the Geiger counter, “such as would result from an atomic bomb blast,” the Army said. Its immediate use is primarily for training troops as radiation survey teams which would, in the event of an atom blast, go over the blasted area to determine when and where it would be safe for human beings to venture and how long they could remain safely.

Designed for possible combat use, the set uses standardized parts to stand up under shock and vibration and can easily be re­paired in the field. It is small, only ten and a half inches long in its greatest dimension, and weighs only ten pounds.

“Within the steel case of the new radiac set is a gas-filled chamber (the ionization chamber) which contains two electrodes. The electrodes carry positive and negative electrical potentials, respectively. When the instrument is carried into a ‘hot’ area, Gamma rays pierce the gas chamber’s well and dislodge electrons from gas atoms. The electrons, negatively charged, are attracted to the positive electrode in the ionization chamber. The atoms from which the elec­trons have been dislodged now are positive ions and are attracted to the negative elec­trode. A very weak current flows, is amplified by the electronic system in the radiac set, and is read off a meter.”

Mapping Ocean Temperatures

New York Times, Oct. 2.—A project of plotting ocean temperatures that may go on for generations is being pursued by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography here.

Oceanographers have done a lot of chart­ing and studying of static features of ocea.ns, such as depth, terrain and major currents. But they admit to vast lack of knowledge of detailed matters—for instance, the interac­tion of ocean waters and the air above and periodic changes in temperature at different locations, depths and times. These are prob­ably critical factors in phenomena, such as marine life.

The latter in turn is no longer simply of academic interest to people like zoologists and biologists. In the last few years it has been realized that oceans are probably a far more important future source of chemicals and food substances than the land masses.

To fill in the extensive void in knowledge about ocean temperatures, the Scripps Insti­tution, a branch of the University of Cali­fornia at Los Angeles, has expanded rudi­mentary wartime observations made for the Navy into a large-scale project of plotting heat variations throughout the Pacific and Indian Oceans.