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The New Soviet Destroyers; 40-mm. Hypervelocity Gun; Mines Still Float in Area off Japan; An Assessment of the Present; Liberian “Fleet” Growing Rapidly; Lockheed Starfighter, F-104A; British Reassess Singapore; Coast and Geodetic Survey Sesquicentennial; Naval Occasion in Tokyo Bay; Navy’s Air Arm Plugs Vital Gap; U. S. Bases in Spain Developing; Australian Flagship on Maiden Trip; Shipbuilding Sets Postwar Mark; New Guided Missile Now in Service; USSR Guided Missiles; Soviet’s YAK-24, Largest Helicopter.
The New Soviet Destroyers
By Oscar Parkes*
The Soviet destroyer fleet, now over one- hundred strong and the second largest in the world, has recently received some powerful and interesting additions. During the war the Riany, Silny and Vlaslny—types of from 1700 to 2000 tons and credited with from
48,0 to 60,000-shp giving 36-39 knots, carried two single 5.1-inch guns fore and aft and two sets of triple 21-inch tubes amidships. Then between 1947 and 1950 twelve or more 1800-2400 tonners of the Ognevoi-class came into service which carried their four 5.1-inch guns in twin gunhouses fore and aft and the same torpedo armament. From 1950 to 1954 an enlarged edition of the “0”-class appeared in considerable numbers in Northern Soviet waters, the Black Sea, and the
* (Dr. Parkes, a physician by profession, was from 1918-1935 the Editor of Janes All The World’s Fighting Ships.)
Far East. Their name ship is the Skory, but as the Russians merely give them pendant numbers (which are liable to be changed) without displaying any name, identification is difficult. But some sixty-odd are known to be in service, and several have visited foreign ports, four forming part of the squadron which came to Portsmouth, England, last year.
In appearance they follow typical Russian lines with the wide funnels, raised forecastle, and low freeboard, with a wide overhanging stern for dropping their sixty mines; they do not give the impression as likely to be good seaboats. When inspected at Portsmouth, the Svershenny (63) had no anti-submarine equipment, but was fitted for streaming paravanes although these were not carried. There is a large stereoscopic rangefinder on the forebridge, with radar control for the 5.1-inch guns which was recognized as being reasonably adequate; but the close- range mountings are hand-operated and thought to have rather primitive control arrangements.
Internal accommodation is considered to be as good as in British destroyers. Stars on the bridge or turrets (two will be seen below the rangefinder) show that the ship or turrets have given good performances. The Svershenny displayed large white metal rococco challenge cups in the wardroom which her Captain displayed with considerable pride.
Last year there appeared an entirely new type of destroyer numbered 76, referred to as the Tallinn. She was seen at full speed in the Gulf of Finland, a large flush-decker estimated at over 3000 tons and steaming at a good forty knots. So far she and another of the same type numbered 34 (which was present off Leningrad during the last Soviet Navy Week) are the only units reported, and this, of course, may have been a case of altered pendant numbers such as occurs in the British service. If so, she may be an experimental ship like the Opylny, which was designed for 42 knots with 70,000 shp but proved to be just a vibrating misfit. With an adequate freeboard throughout her length and probably bunkered for a considerable endurance, she would make a good ocean going corsair relying upon a heavy torpedo armament to sink merchant ships and her guns for air defense.
So far as is known her dimensions are 440X44X15^ ft.—bigger than both the USS Forrest Sherman or HMS Daring. Fore and aft is a large turret housing a pair of fully automatic 3.9-inch guns similar to those forming the secondary armament of the Sverdlov cruisers, with single 76-mm. abreast the bridge and second funnel broadsiding four guns only—a poor disposition; amidships are two sets of quintuple torpedo tubes. High above the bridge is a large rangefinder similar to that mounted in the big cruisers, indicating that visual estimation and ranging is used primarily when conditions are favorable, with radar as a standby. This heavy structure must be quite a factor in determining stability, and its surrounding platform serves as a stiffener to the light tripod foremast. Both masts carry extensive radar aerials.
About the same time that No. 76 was first seen, a number of smaller escort vessels made their appearance. Known as the Kola- type (having been first seen off that port) they are estimated to be of about 1500 tons with dimensions of 305X32|X10j ft. Flush-decked with a marked knuckle near the waterline forward, No. 652 presents no special features. A reversion has been made to the earlier gun disposition with the four
3.9- inch in single shields; amidships is a single set of triple tubes. None of those observed has been at top speed, but as the type is thought to be modelled upon the German Elbing T.40-50 class of which a number of hulls under construction were salved by the Russians, they may also have repeated their
40,0 shp for 34 knots.
Hitherto, Soviet ships have presented a pleasing profile, but the latest recruits to the destroyer service strike one as singularly uncouth with a hideous rig and unequal funnels marred by excrescences. Such data as is available suggests a displacement of round about 2000 tons, and apparently they are to be a standard type. There are the same big
3.9- inch gunhouses fore and aft, with paired 76-mm. on the shelter decks and amidships athwart the mast, mounted “under and over” as in the latest submarines instead of being side by side; this siting allows for a six-gun broadside with wide arcs of fire. Two sets of quintuple tubes amidships and the customary stowage of mines complete the armament. So far no special anti-submarine gear such as squids or limbo mortars has been observed in any of the ships as yet seen.
A pinnace is stowed athwart the bridge behind a berthing instead of being exposed as in the earlier classes.
This account is of necessity incomplete and indefinite, but anything like factual information about Soviet warships does not become available for some time after they enter service, and estimates have to be based on what can be seen, photographed, and roughly measured when opportunity occurs, and checked from foreign reports.
40-mm. Hypervelocity Gun
Ordnance, May-June, 1956.—A hypervelocity gun that promises to contribute materially to the development of high-speed missiles is the latest research tool of the
Aeroballistic Department, U S Naval Ordnance Laboratory, White Oak, Md. The new gun makes it possible to bring the missile problem into the laboratory instead of relying entirely on expensive and limited field tests. It is the first such gun ever devel-
oped that can launch instrumented models for the study of superhigh-speed aerodynamics.
Already the new gun has fired missiles of golf-ball size at speeds in excess of 10,000 feet a second or almost 7,000 miles an hour. This is the first time that missiles of this size have been fired and photographed at such speeds. Since so little is now known with certainty about the forces that air exerts on objects traveling at these speeds or about the effects such objects have on air, any information obtained will materially increase the rate at
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SCHEMATIC DIAGRAM OF THE 40-MM. HYPERVELOCITY GUN
which successful high-speed missiles can be developed.
The new hypervelocity gun has a bore of forty millimeters and is approximately sixteen feet in over-all length. Steam-heated helium gas provides the propellant force. The helium is heated by steam resulting from the combustion of hydrogen and oxygen mixed with it.
Mines Still Float in Area off Japan
By Foster Hailey
New York Times, March 18, 1956.— Mariners plying the Sea of Japan between the fortieth and forty-second parallels keep an anxious eye to weather these still-wintry days for bobbing black objects that could mean destruction of themselves and of their ships.
Since midway through the Korean War, shipmasters operating in that area have carried a notation in their logs: “Keep a sharp lookout for floating mines.”
Almost three years after the war’s end, the warning still holds. Night ferry service between northern Honshu and Hokkaido, the northernmost of Japan’s four main islands, has been suspended since March 10 because of mines, as it has been in other years. Japanese fishing fleets operating there restrict their movements at night.
. There is hardly a day during the months of December, January, February and March that Japan’s maritime self-defense force does not receive a report of a floating mine being sighted.
They are sighted in other months too, but the most appear in the winter.
Set Off North Korea
There is no doubt about the manufacturer. Several hundred, all bearing Russian markings, have been taken in hand by the United States Navy, or, during the last few months, by Japanese naval vessels.
There is little doubt either about the place of origin. The set of the current points to the coasts of North Korea. Those waters were heavily mined by the Communists during the Korean war. Contrary to normal practice, the fields were not swept after the war. It is believed that winter ice breaks the mines’ moorings and sets them adrift.
The Geneva Convention, which attempted to set some civilized rules for waging war, had an answer to that problem. It provided that mines be so equipped that, when they broke their moorings and surfaced, a cock would open and sink them.
The Soviet-made mines that have been taken in tow and examined either do not have such a mechanism or the mechanism has been fouled so as to be inoperative, United States and Japanese demolition experts say.
Mines of Five Types
The mines examined have been of five types and sizes. The largest weighs 990 pounds and carries 550 pounds of TNT. That is enough to sink a destroyer or a freighter, as they did sink six United States minesweepers during the Korean war. The smallest weighs 120 pounds and carries fifty-five pounds of explosives.
By fortunate circumstances that would seem unlikely, except that the area is not heavily traveled, no ships are known to have been sunk by mines since 1953. Some mines have exploded on beaches, but with injury to no one.
However, mine experts estimate that if one of the big fellows should drift into one of the small coves that dot the Japanese coastline and explode, it could destroy a small fishing village and all its inhabitants.
When the peril will end, no one knows. The mines were most numerous in 1954, when more than one hundred were reported, some perhaps twice, and sixty-one were dealt with. Seventy-five were reported last year and forty-five found and either blown up at sea or taken ashore and dismantled.
An Assessment of the Present
By Hanson W. Baldwin
Our Navy, Mid-May, 1956.—The nation’s post-war submarine construction program has produced many experimental vessels and prototypes of different kinds, but not enough of any one type.
There has not yet been any real standardization of design. The advances in marine
engineering and construction may have been so rapid that even a limited freezing of design was undesirable. Nevertheless, the submarine program seems to have developed without much long-range planning.
The design of submarines has been centered primarily on improvements in propulsion machinery and/or hull characteristics; only a few of the “boats” built since the war have been designed with a specific functional purpose in mind.
This includes even the Nautilus, the world’s first atomic powered submersible. The Nautilus was built primarily as a test bed for a nuclear reactor, not primarily as an
anti-submarine submarine, or as a commerce destroyer, or as a submarine picket ship.
Development and experimental submarines are, of course, essential. Until now it perhaps would have been inadvisable to standardize and start large-scale construction.
But in the next year, many observers feel, the United States must plan a long-range submarine construction program that will allocate priorities to the different functions of the submarine and permit them to be designed and built accordingly.
These functions, as now envisaged, are many—but three seem to be predominant. Russia’s submarine fleet is the strongest element of her Navy; hence one of the high priority tasks of our submarine force should be the destruction of Russian submarines.
The United States since the war has built three small K-class submarines—called “submarine killers,” or anti-submarine submarines. These little ships of less than 900 tons surface displacement and about 196 feet long are crammed with detection apparatus. They are relatively free of engine noises and are highly maneuverable.
A number of the war-time built Gato class of fleet submarines have been converted to anti-submarine warfare work. But there still is division of opinion as to whether the largehulled 1,500 to 1,800-ton fleet type of attack submarine, used so effectively for commerce destruction in World War II, is well adapted to anti-submarine work.
Some observers feel that it would be much wiser to build a specially designed type of anti-submarine submarine, utilizing the experience gained in the operation of the K- class. One officer has estimated that the United States needs at least twenty of these specialized anti-submarine submarines in service.
A mating of an improved and refined design of the nuclear propulsion plant used in the Nautilus and of the hull form of the experimental submarine Albacore might result in the ideal type of “killer” submarine, when combined with the lessons learned from K- boats.
The nuclear propulsion plant has one tremendous advantage—if all the problems incident to new designs are worked out. It enables a submarine to travel completely submerged at relatively high speeds more or less indefinitely.
However, the hull of the Nautilus is ungainly and extra large; she displaces about 3,400 tons surfaced and probably will make less than 25 knots submerged.
On the basis of knowledge gained in the design and operation of the Nautilus power plant and in the design of the nuclear power plant of the Sea Wolf, it is probable that a nuclear reactor now can be fitted into a submarine hull not much more than half as big as the Nautilus.
The Albacore, designed without torpedo tubes, has a surface displacement of about 1,300 tons. She is an experimental submarine and was designed specially for high cruising speed underwater. On the surface she is balky and cantankerous, but the results submerged have been remarkable.
With the same power and a much smaller Albacore-type hull the nuclear-powered submarine of tomorrow may be able to make much more underwater speed than the Nautilus. Such a craft certainly will be more maneuverable.
A second important function for a United States submarine is as a missile-firing platform. Here, too, specialized design may be necessary. What is really needed is a new design of the entire weapon system—the missile and the submarine together.
Until a better missile than the Regulus is available, however, major progress cannot be expected in this category.
Radar picket submarines also are required in increasing numbers. Two, displacing 1,500 tons each, are now being built from the keel up. They are powered with conventional Diesel engines for surface use and electric batteries when submerged. More radar picket submarines may be included in next year’s defense budget.
Torpedo firing and minelaying submarines of the so-called “fleet,” or attack type, also are required to attack any enemy’s commerce. But some observers feel these should occupy a lower priority than the other functional types.
The targets of the attack submarine in case of war with the Communist powers would be primarily Russian and Chinese coastal shipping. For optimum combat,effectiveness in narrow waters or shallow coastal seas, the attack submarine of tomorrow might be relatively small and very maneuverable.
One midget submarine is in operation for the Navy, but a higher priority might be given to the design and construction of small submarines.
The Navy is building several attack-type submarines of the improved Tang and Trigger-class. They are conventionally powered and displace some 1,850 tons.
In addition to the Nautilus and the Sea Wolf, five other nuclear-powered submarines have been authorized or requested—a total of seven.
The submarine fleet of tomorrow should include, therefore, four main types of submarines designed in accordance with the functions they are to perform. These should be the anti-submarine submarine; the missile-firing submarine; the radar picket submarine and the fleet or attack submarine.
Many of these—but not all—should be nuclear-powered. Experience and development may indicate that several of the submarine’s functions can be merged in one allpurpose hull, but at present this can be done only at the sacrifice of functional efficiency.
Other specialized types of submarines— the cargo carrier, the oiler, the troop transport—can be converted from conventional fleet types.
Liberian “Fleet” Growing Rapidly
New York Times, April 8, 1956.—The Liberian emblem has been raised on an additional 1,616,000 gross tons of shipping in the last year.
Since the end of World War II, merchant shipping tonnage registered under the Liberian flag—eleven stripes, red and white, with a single white star on a blue field—has increased from virtually nothing to 3,997,000 gross tons. The annual revenue in taxes for the West African republic has reached $1,111,000.
Only the United States, Britain, and Norway now have greater gross tonnages than this 43,000-square-mile state, which is about the size of Ohio and has an estimated population of 2,500,000. Liberia just topped the
3,923,0 gross tons registered under the Panamanian flag in 1955.
The movement of merchant ships to Liberian registry has been on a scale rivaling that of the movement to Panamanian registry during the 1940’s and has been encouraged by the Government in an attempt to open up the country to world trade.
Tankers have contributed the bulk of the new tonnage to the Liberian “fleet.” This is shown in the scale of private United States investments in Liberia, which jumped from $190,000,000 to $236,000,000 in the period 1949-1954. Of the latter total, $180,000,000 represented oil tankers under the Liberian flag.
Fees and Taxes Are Low
The popularity of the Liberian flag is attributable to the fact that registration fees and the annual tonnage tax not only are low but are guaranteed against any increase for a period of twenty years from the date of initial registration. The only fees imposed by the Government are $1.20 on each net ton of a vessel, representing initial and administrative fees, and an annual tax of 10 cents per net ton.
Shippers here believe that the Liberian tonnage total will continue to grow in the next few years. This, together with expanding of the port facilities of Monrovia, will, in the opinion of shipping and economic experts produce a continuing upward flow of trade and prosperity to the country for the first time in its history.
Liberia now is making serious attempts to tap the mineral and agricultural resources in the jungles of the hinterland.
Already, as the result of the discovery of high grade iron ore deposits at Bomi Hills, less than fifty miles from Monrovia, Liberia has developed one of the finest ports in the world. The free port of Monrovia, opened in 1948, now is attracting trade from all parts of the West African seaboard.
Artificial Harbor Built
Nearly $20,000,000 was spent on its artificial harbor, formed by two rock breakwaters stretching approximately one and one-half miles out in the open sea, a 2,000- foot wharf, a two-mile-long road linking the port with Monrovia city, and a 750-foot steel bridge spanning the Mesurado River.
Lockheed “StarfighterF-104A
By Irving Stone
Aviation Week, April 23, 1956.—The air superiority F-104A Starfighter was unveiled recently and put through a startling demonstration of steep climbs, maneuvers and level flight that gave a clear clue to the plane’s high performance capabilities. The fighter is described by Lockheed Aircraft Corp., its builder, as the world’s fastest combat plane.
A very small configuration as fighters go, the F-104A probably has a gross weight of about 14,000 lb. Span is 21 ft. 11 in., length is 54 ft. 9 in. and height is 13 ft. 6 in.
No speed figures were revealed for the plane, but Aviation Week has learned that the prototype XF-104, powered by a Wright J65 with afterburner, has flown at Mach 1.8 (1,192 mph). The production F-104A, powered by the much more powerful General Electric J79 and afterburner, obviously is capable of higher speed, reported to be better than Mach 2 (1,324).
The Starfighter has been ordered in quantity. First production models are scheduled for delivery to tactical units in the near future. Meanwhile, early production planes are being tested.
Lockheed also has developed a two-seat version, the F-104B, which has been ordered by the Air Force. The F-104B could double as a two-place tactical fighter and a trainer, but necessarily will carry less fuel because of the space the rear man will occupy.
One most unusual feature of the F-104A is the plane’s very small, thin, straight wing, incorporating 10-deg. negative dihedral. Only dimension revealed for the wing panel is that it measures 7\ ft. from fuselage side to tip. •
* * *
Downward ejection seat was incorporated in the Starfighter because at the high flight speeds the plane can attain, it is safer to project the pilot downward so he does not run the risk of hitting the tail. Downward ejection gives a simpler canopy and better cockpit design.
* * *
In addition to jettisonable tiptanks which fit over the wing tips, provision is made for attachment of underwing pylon tanks if needed for extra fuel.
It is claimed that the General Electric J79, powerplant for the Starfighter, can produce more thrust per pound of engine weight than any other engine in its power class. No
thrust figures have been revealed, but the engine is believed to develop a 12,000 lb.- thrust. At top speed, the engine with afterburner develops half of its thrust as a ramjet. The J79 employs variable stator blades to obtain maximum efficiency for various flight conditions.
British Reassess Singapore
By Ronald Stead
Christian Science Monitor, April 17, 1956. —How valuable is Singapore to Britain as a naval base? Can it be replaced in the event the political situation in this troubled colony makes the British position untenable?
These are some of the questions being asked in the light of the recent Ceylon elections and the visit of Admiral Earl Mount- batten, British First Sea Lord, to the Far Eastern headquarters of the Royal Navy.
Prime Minister Solomon W. R. D. Bandanaraike’s new Ceylonese government has asked the British to withdraw from their valued base at Trincomalee. Does this mean that similar demands may be voiced by Singapore once independence has been granted to this British crown colony? Can the British now afford to grant, or even to give a definite date, for that independence?
Singapore’s Chief Minister, David Marshall, is in London now, heading a “Mer- deka” (independence) delegation which seeks to find the answers to these questions.
Mum on Substitute Base
Meanwhile, in Singapore, Lord Mount- batten kept his mouth tightly closed, at least for publication, on the twin questions of a substitute for Trincomalee and a possible hardening in Britain’s attitude toward independence for Singapore.
All he did was to quash the growing idea that the British intend building a naval establishment at Labuan, an island off North Borneo.
Questioned about this, he said he knew no British intention to do such a thing and specified his chief objections against it as difficulty of access to Labuan waters and lack of an industrial hinterland such as is required for the maintenance of warships.
He alluded admiringly to the possibilities of Cockburn Sound, south of Fremantle in Western Australia, which he inspected before his arrival here in the course of a tour around Commonwealth naval stations. It is a fine natural harbor where an entire fleet could anchor and it has commercial significance following the establishment of an oil refinery.
Value Stressed
The value of Singapore as a naval base— despite the fact that its defense guns were facing the wrong way when the Japanese took the island easily from the adjacent mainland in World War II—is being heavily stressed these days by people who believe the concession of self-government would be premature.
These people include some members of the Singapore mission now in London who will consider it their duty in independence talks to act as if they were aboard the “Merdeka” bandwagon. That’s what they term the movement, emotionally led by Chief Minister Marshall, to secure full self-government by April 1 next year.
The British are recorded as having spent nearly eight times as much money on Singapore last year as they did on Trincomalee and twice as much as they did on Hong Kong. Headquarters of the Royal Navy’s Far East establishment is in Singapore, likewise those of the Army and Air Force, and the British Commissioner General for Southeast Asia heads a sort of miniature Whitehall named Phoenix Park. One-sixth of Singapore’s labor force is employed in British service installations.
Outstanding problem in the London talks is how to guarantee the physical safety of all this and more in event of a breakdown of internal security. The requirement is a prior closeness of liaison that many Singaporeans believe would be inconsistent with full self-government.
Mr. Marshall and his government colleagues are prepared at present to allow the British establishment to continue—for protection of Singapore, for Britain’s benefit, for Commonwealth security, and for obligations implicit in undertakings of Southeast Asia Treaty Organization.
Ceylon Change Noted
But the latest statements of Ceylon’s new prime minister underscore the fact that selfgoverning governments can change their minds. British naval and air forces must leave Ceylon, Mr. Bandanaraike says. It is just a question of when.
Obviously the same thing could happen to self-governing Singapore. In the adjoining Federation of Malaya, full independence within the Commonwealth has been promised, with the target date the end of August next year, but the government there has far greater appearance of stability and the Malays need—for communal reasons visa-vis the Malayan Chinese—support which Britain offers in return for treaty rights concerning establishment of military bases on federation soil.
Eighty per cent of Singapore’s population is Chinese, an unassessable proportion has Communist sympathies, and there is a Communist underground working for ultimate subversions. Singapore’s future, therefore, concerns Britain’s Western Allies as well as Singapore and Britain.
Coast and Geodetic Survey Sesquicen- tennial
Marine Journal, April, 1956.—Next year, the Coast and Geodetic Survey, Department of Commerce, will celebrate its Sesquicenten- nial Anniversary. This, the first scientific Bureau of the Federal Government, was authorized by Congress in 1807. Its accomplishments in geographical exploration, hydrographic and geodetic surveying, geophysical investigation, and cartography have earned the Bureau great international prestige, and it is now looked upon as a world authority in these fields.
Hassler, the founder, laid down principles of scientific soundness and created a vision followed to this day. Bache, his successor, the great-grandson of Benjamin Franklin and a leading scientist of his day, inaugurated new technical methods and put the young Service into fruitful production while finding time to assist in the formation of the National Academy of Science and to design the Civil War defences of Philadelphia. Davidson, the great mid-century geographer of the western coasts and Alaska, prepared sailing directions that made navigation possible, and became the father of scientific activity in the new American West. McArthur’s name will live in the Pacific Northwest for his development work in the growth of that rich land. Bays, capes, mountains, and glaciers everywhere bear the names of Mendenhall, Faris, Dali and a host of other pioneers of the Service.
Whistler, the engraver and artist, and Charles Pierce, the philosopher helped the Bureau become what it is. Hayford and Bowie, scientists of a later day, determined the shape and size of the earth and laid the foundations of geophysical theory that underlie modern work in tectonics and physiography. Others have defined political boundaries, adjudicated disputes over marginal oil lands, represented the nation in international science regulations and produced innumerable inventions and technological improvements.
The story of this Service is a record of the work of scientists and engineers selflessly devoted to their work who have profoundly influenced the economic development of America.
Naval Occasion in Tokyo Bay[1]
London Times, April 23, 1956.—The renascent Japanese Navy—or maritime selfdefence force as it is still called—showed the flag recently in Tokyo Bay to a Chinese Nationalist good will mission headed by Chang tao-fang, chairman of the legislative Yuan.
There were six small ships; but whether in the review or the exercise which followed it, they put up a good performance and proved that if it lacks weight and numbers this new navy knows its job and how to go about it.
The observers sailed out from Tokyo past the seaweed plantations and the old Toku- gawa forts to the middle of Tokyo Bay in the frigate Akebono, a 1,000-ton vessel, Japanese built and commissioned only a month earlier. She wore the flags of the director of the defence board, General Funada, and Vice-Admiral Nagasawa, chief of the naval staff, and the Rising Sun emblem which the imperial fleet paraded all over the Pacific flew proudly from her stern.
* * *
A Simulated Attack
When the Admiral took the salute from the bridge and four destroyers steamed past with the ship’s company manning ship there was a perceptible ripple of pride among the Japanese, however nostalgic many officers still feel about the departed glories of the Musashi—the world’s largest battleship— and of the Imperial Combined Fleet. It was not yet the real thing, but at least it was a start.
Then the intercom broadcast an alarm signal and the Akebono's company went to action stations for practice in a silent attack by the four destroyers, in which gun flashes were coincidentally simulated by batteries of photographers’ flash bulbs. The culmination of the exercise was the transfer of ViceAdmiral Yoshida, Commander of the Yokosuka, regional headquarters, by helicopter from the Asakaze (“Morning Wind”—a link with the Imperial Navy, the destroyers of which all bore wind names) to the Akebono and lowered gently on board in a boatswain’s chair.
The new Navy is less than two years old,
but it has nevertheless got a flying start. Seventy per cent of its officers and 90 per cent of the petty officers belonged to the Imperial Navy. Admiral Nagasawa himself is a former captain and torpedo expert, who took part in most of the south Pacific sea battles. He is the only services staff chief with a regular military background and his appointment 18 months ago caused some controversy. He said that there was a shortage of trained junior officers, for they had not yet graduated from the defence academy, but there are seven times more volunteers for ratings than there are vacancies.
22,000 Men
Altogether, the personnel strength is over
19,0 and is being boosted this year to 22,000; but a more important fact is that, unlike the ground and air forces, three-quarters of those with responsibility are ex-regulars who do not have to be taught what do at sea.
In spite of its few ships, the Japanese navy is still the most powerful of any eastern country, both in terms of major units and of fighting efficiency.
Its total tonnage is around 75,000, comprising 350 odd ships, 180 of which are small unarmed auxiliary craft. Its mainstay is two D-type destroyers of 1,600 tons, two destroyer escorts, 18 1,400-ton frigates, and one 1,600-ton submarine obtained from the United States. In addition Japan started in 1953 her own building programme of 28 ships, and has completed so far two D class destroyers not yet commissioned, and two destroyer escorts including Akebono, as well as a netlayer and a minesweeper.
The Japanese navy has perforce set itself a limited objective—the protection of its seaborne trade, which is as vital in wartime as Britain’s—and has concentrated on an anti-submarine and anti-mine role. It compares with the Royal Navy’s role less aircraft carriers, and could not undertake any offensive task save against a lesser force. It is a far cry from the Imperial Navy’s policy of seeking a “decisive battle.” Such ships as are now available are adequate, although the high command complains that funds are quite insufficient for an expansion programme and the ships are too small.
There is nothing big enough as a flagship from which the commander can direct air and sea craft—it was painfully obvious aboard Akebono—and they cannot do long distance convoy work because they cannot carry adequate fuel, and supply ships and tenders are lacking.
Strong British Influence
The former Imperial Navy was completely patterned on the Royal Navy, and though there have been many changes, Englishmen can still feel somewhat at home on one of the new fleet’s small ships, if only because so many more of its officers speak English. The training is largely on American lines. Equipment is American, even to the grey summer uniforms (though it is hoping to recover its white uniforms), and the officers have lost the traditional curl above their stripes for a small cherry flower; but there is still a strong British influence, and when the Japanese will not or cannot follow the United States pattern they turn to Britain for inspiration.
Navy’s Air Arm Plugs Vital Gap
By William H. Stringer
Christian Science Monitor, May 5, 1956.—■ “We have the most powerful Navy in the world. There is no Navy that even approaches it in power, and it features one thing: air power.”
Thus President Eisenhower at his latest press conference made an important point— namely: that in the current congressional inquiry into American air power as compared with Soviet air power, nobody had thought to discuss the Navy’s air arm.
* [2] *
What is the Navy’s picture?
By 1957 it will have 17 carrier air groups, and 31 carrier anti-submarine squadrons, with an active aircraft inventory of 12,600 planes. This is about half the total number of planes controlled by the Air Force. About half the Air Force’s planes are combat type. Of the Navy’s active 12,600, 5,700 are first- and second-line combat craft (second-line meaning not the very latest craft).
No comparisons can be exact, because a carrier-based craft does not have the same capabilities as land-based heavy bombers. But the Navy experts, when they appear before the Symington Committee undoubtedly will point out that, as Mr. Eisenhower himself mentioned, the Navy possesses its own bases around the world—meaning the angled decks of the carriers great and small.
These bases can roam the seas, and if they can elude enemy radar and aircraft from home bases as they approach an enemy shore, they can strike with surprise and devastating effect. The President noted that the closer airplanes can be carried to battle, the more potent are those of medium range.
The Navy can cite its prodigious support record in Korea, and the carrier strikes against Japanese-held islands in World War II.
Pro and Con Views
Whether carrier-based aircraft would fare differently in close approach to a bristling power such as the Soviet Union, armed with an ominous fleet of 400 submarines and a tremendous air force, is another matter. But the Navy believes fervently in the ability of its carrier strikes.
Critics at the hearings will argue that big new supercarriers, like the Forrestal and the newly-commissioned Saratoga, are very vulnerable to atomic attack, even though they can travel at 40 miles an hour and are surrounded by fast jet interceptors and would be supported by guided-missile antiaircraft ships.
But perhaps the admirals will counter with the argument that, “Yes, the present Navy is good, but wait until 1960 when you begin to see the new Navy. Yes, present carrier aircraft will be obsolescent in two years (as are most military aircraft), but wait until we all become missile men. The weapons themselves are changing fast.”
By 1960 the Navy will have six supercarriers in operation, plus nine more converted Midway- and Hancock-class carriers capable of handling the Navy’s newest fast jets.
But in 1957 the Bureau of Ships begins the construction of a guided-missile cruiser of about 11,000 tons, which will be nuclear- powered where the Boston, the Navy’s guided-missile ship in being, is conventionally powered. This will herald the day when the Navy will be self-sufficient—because atom-powered, its units can cruise for months without returning to base—and will be largely armed with missiles instead of aircraft.
U. S. Bases in Spain Developing*
New York Herald Tribune, April 15, 1956.
-—A variety of construction risks, including the record rainfall of the last two winters, have put over-all work on the United States bases in Spain six months behind schedule. But one of the four operating centers for Strategic Air Command over here is already available for instant use in an emergency.
The field, whose solidly built runways are down and waiting for B-47’s, intercontinental B-52’s, or even heavier jet bombers should the Air Force send them along, is near Zaragosa, a city of 300,000 population northeast of Madrid. Phase I has been completed at this site. This means supplies and elementary navigational aids are on hand.
Other Fields Gaining
But Zaragosa’s unique advantage will have been overtaken by the other three bomber bases by April, 1957, according to Maj. Gen. August W. Kissner, Air Force commander of the project. Thereafter, the San Pablo and Moron sites near Seville and Torrejon near Madrid all will have passed into Phase II—the building of supporting structures.
It is possible, however, that a fifth base may be negotiated with Spain. Washington officials have confirmed additional facilities here are under consideration, and Albacete, between Madrid and Valencia, is what they have in mind, according to reports. If so, the location would explain revised estimates of the total cost.
Up to now the complex of Spanish bases has a planned cost of $375,000,000. But engineers who have been some time on the job do not shy when the figure of $500,000,000 is mentioned.
Torrejon is Headquarters
If Air Force wishes could have been brought to bear on the unpredictable weather that has ranged over the base complex from usually sunny Cadiz in the south to Zaragosa in the northeast, some of the conditions that have favored the latter sector would have been borrowed for Torrejon, without a doubt.
Torrejon, just twelve miles northeast of Madrid, has been designated as Air Force headquarters in Spain, and the contract for it was the first to be let. The reason is that Defense Department planners anticipate full peace-time use of only one of the installations, and it is Torrejon.
Permanent detachments will be stationed at the other fields to keep them in constant readiness. But United States bombers of Strategic Air Command, barring emergencies, are to come only to Torrejon on the sixty to ninety-day rotational exercises such as they have been undergoing for some time at the SAC bases in Great Britain and Morocco.
Pipeline Work Delayed
Winding up Phase I, or making available all essential aspects of the four air bases and another project under way, a United States Navy facility at Rota, across the bay from Cadiz, is what American contractors and Spanish subcontractors have been striving to attain against four times the usual winter rainfall for this latitude.
The downpour, concentrated into drenching, three-month periods both this year and last, was especially harmful to the work schedule of the 485-mile pipeline that is an elementary part of the whole operation. The pipeline is to carry jet fuel from the Navy docks at Rota on a northeasterly course across Spain to Torrejon and then on to Zaragosa.
Concrete-Laying Halted
No means have been developed for keeping ditches freshly dug during torrential rains, and each day rains fell heavily, the pipeline lost two miles in its planned progress across Spanish mountains and plains. Another weather complication was the sub-freezing period that struck all of Europe last February.
All concrete laying was forced to come to a halt when this additional handicap struck. It was then that the construction men on the bases were most grateful for the fact that their job was not a crash operation, like the Moroccan airfields. Runways in North Africa were demanded in a state of readiness within ninety days.
Use of Spanish Economy
Construction in Spain, on the other hand, has been planned so that it makes the greatest possible use of the Spanish economy— both men and materials. This is one of the co-operative aspects of the 1953 Spanish- American agreements under which the bases are being built.
The agreements are in force for ten years with provisions made for two automatic five- year extensions.
* * *
Shipbuilding Sets Postwar Mark
Baltimore Sun, April 25, 1956.—World shipbuilding surged over the 7,000,000 gross ton mark for the first time since the war in the first quarter of 1956, according to Lloyd’s Register of Shipping returns made available today.
The busy yards of the world had 1,530 ships of 7,009,179 gross tons in various stages of completion, a rise of 78 ships or 396,538 tons over the December quarter.
The Lloyd’s Register statistics cover ships of 100 tons and over in all major nations, except China, Poland and Russia. Returns in these countries are state secrets.
Japan Shows Biggest Rise
Japan made the most noteworthy gain during the quarter, pushing her building mark over 1,000,000 tons for the first time. She had 1,001,709 gross tons on the ways or at outfitting docks, an increase of 169,764 tons above December.
Nine other countries improved their building position during the quarter registering increases ranging from 5,120 tons to 68,032 tons, Lloyd’s reported.
These were Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Germany, Italy, France, Norway, Belgium, the United States, Yugoslavia, and Finland. The Netherlands, Sweden, Spain and Denmark reported decreases from the December output.
Britain, Ulster Lead
Great Britain and Northern Ireland continued to lead the building nations with 355 ships of 2,260,949 gross tons. This was 34,759 tons above December.
Other nations high on the building list were Germany with 770,865 tons; Italy, 505,559 tons; the Netherlands, 477,258 tons; France, 469,817 tons; Sweden, 366,630 tons, and Norway, 251,143 tons.
During the March quarter, the world’s shipyards completed 331 ships of 1,290,954 gross tons. The yards commenced work on 418 new units of 1,669,536 tons and launched 334 ships of 1,300,642 tons.
Japan had the highest record of commence- uients and launchings during the quarter. New work totaled 62 ships of 439,025 tons while 60 ships of 356,510 tons were launched.
50,000-Ton Tanker
One of the vessels on which Japan started work in the quarter was a 50,000-ton steam turbine tanker for Liberia.
The tanker segment of world building totaled 212 ships of 2,668,744 gross tons. The tanker percentage of world building at 38.1 Was the lowest since June, 1949. The peak tanker figure was 58.5 per cent in September, 1954.
Great Britain and Northern Ireland had the largest proportion of tankers under construction with 71 ships of 945,264 tons. Other nations with sizeable tanker orders were Japan with 22 of 495,387; France with 11 of 241,110 tons; Italy with 18 of 184,861 tons; Norway with 16 of 158,429 tons; Sweden with 12, of 146,766 tons; the United States with 8 of 130,750 tons, and the Netherlands with 9 of 122,510 tons.
Export Tonnage
A total of 2,879,890 tons of shipping is being built for export by the major nations of which 25.3 per cent is being built in Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Lloyd’s Register reported.
Countries importing the largest amounts of new tonnage are Liberia, 724,536 tons; Norway, 600,373 tons; Panama, 386,070 tons, and Russia, 175,406 tons.
Beside the huge 50,000-ton tanker being built by Japan, twelve large steamships of
25,0 to 35,000 gross tons each were under construction in the yards of the world in the March quarter. •
Australian Flagship on Maiden Trip
Manchester Guardian, March 13, 1956.— The aircraft carrier Melbourne (30,000 tons) flagship of the Royal Australian Navy, left the Clyde on her maiden voyage to Freman-
tie after taking on board modern jet fighter aircraft, including the Avro Delta 707.
The Melbourne, launched ten years ago as H.M.S. Majestic, has been modernized and was renamed at Barrow in October.
New Guided Missile Now in Service
Douglas Air View News, April 16, 1956. -—The U. S. Navy and Department of Defense announced recently that the supersonic air-to-air Sparrow I missile is now in service with units of the fleet.
Sparrow I was developed by the Navy Bureau of Aeronautics, the Naval Air Missile Test Center, Sperry Gyroscope Company and Douglas Company, which developed and produced the air-frame.
New details of the Sparrow missile were released coincidental with the announcement of their combat-ready status.
The announcement said Sparrow I is approximately 12 feet long, weighs about 300 pounds, and is propelled by a solid-fuel rocket motor to a velocity in excess of 1,500 miles per hour.
Steering Technique
The missile wings, or fins, deflect in response to guidance signals to direct the Sparrow to intercept the target, even under evasive action.
During extensive test and development work the weapon has made successful attacks on high-speed jet drone aircraft and against other missiles. Versatility of the weapons system permits effective attacks against high and low altitude targets flying either singly or in groups.
Sparrow I is in operational use with F7U Cutlass fighters aboard carriers and with a Marine night fighter squadron using Douglas F3D Skynights.
USSR Guided Missiles
Forces Aeriennes Francoises, March 1956. —Without caring to take sides in the rather sensational news elicited last November by the high altitude explosion of a Soviet thermonuclear device, there are indications that the device was not launched from a plane, but transported by a rocket.
On 22 November, the reliable German magazine Der Spiegel stated that the military attaches of China, North-Vietnam, and the satellite countries of Eastern Europe, together with those of certain countries of the Middle East, were invited to witness the departure of a ballistic rocket with thermonuclear ogive 35 kilometers from the town of Omsk in Eastern Siberia. They were informed that the H-bomb carried by the rocket would explode somewhere in the Arctic. Actually, the same day, 3,800 kilometers from Omsk, a thermonuclear explosion was registered in the latitude of the Bennet Islands in the Arctic Ocean (N.N.E. of the New Siberia Island).
That the thermonuclear explosion was effected by a weapon transported by rocket seems probable since, according to observations made in the United States and Japan, the explosion occurred at some 40 kilometers of altitude, higher than any plane can reach. This granted, it is quite possible that the rocket was not the same one whose departure was observed from Omsk. If it was, the rocket’s range would be quite superior to the distance (4,000 kilometers) separating Omsk from the point of explosion, since, at that moment, it still had 40 kilometers of altitude to lose.
Does the U.S.S.R. possess therefore the “absolute weapon”; that is, the weapon which could not be parried, the intercontinental ballistic rocket with thermonuclear head? It would be careless to assert it, and moreover, it is not intended to discuss it here.
But the facts reported indicate the interest Soviet technicians are devoting to tele- guided long-range projectiles and rockets.
A rapid survey of the Soviet effort in ground to ground missiles published in this Journal last year indicates:
The German contribution was the determining factor in a complex technique where the Russians were very backward at the end of the war;
The Russians apparently had a large number of weapons derived from the German V-l and V-2, usable for tactical purposes or against objectives in Western Europe. These weapons, still equipped with conventional explosives, will doubtless some day carry atomic explosives;
The Russians are following the old German dream of realizing an intercontinental weapon capable of reaching vital objectives, industrial and demographic, of the New World.
YAK-24, Largest Helicopter?
Pravda, May 7, 1956.—The International Aviation Federation confirmed two world records established by Soviet fliers in the helicopter Yak-24. G. A. Tinzkov reached an altitude of 5,082 meters with a load of 2 tons in this aircraft. In the same unit, E. F. Milyutichev reached an altitude of over
2,0 meters with a cargo of four tons.
The Soviet helicopter, “flying boxcar,” is one of the largest aircraft of its type in the world. The usual foreign helicopters can handle a useful cargo of 1 to 1^ tons with an overall flying weight of from six to eight tons. The size and lifting power of the Yak-24 is about double that of these types.
Constructors in the Soviet Union have been working on the problems of building helicopters for a long time. Up to now a number of types have been produced for different purposes. The lightest of these is the N. I. Kamov, carrying one man. A most popular type for medium loads is the Mi-4, designed by M. L. Milya. It is very useful in the Arctic and in scientific expeditions over mountainous terrain, as well as in agriculture.
The largest aircraft of the type is the “flying boxcar.” Four tons of freight can be placed in its spacious cabin.
[1] See page 575, Proceedings,"'June, 1956.
[2] See page 472, Proceedings, April, 1955.
See page 842, Proceedings, July, 1955.
See page 233, Proceedings, February, 1956.