Professional Notes

 

 

Air Exhaust Replaces Sea Chanties

By Commander Bruce G. Kroger, usn[1]

Throughout the Destroyer Force of the United States Navy, the sound of sea chant­ies is being replaced by the rhythmic pul­sation of pneumatic winches. With the is­suance of a Navy instruction in July of this year a controversy, which has been carried on by the proponents of air power for muscle power in the backbreaking dangerous job of destroyer refueling, was resolved in favor of air.

Since the days of the earliest Phoenicians the beast of burden aboard naval vessels has been man. This ingrained concept has left an imprint on the naval mind which is difficult, it not almost impossible, to expell. Despite electronic brains and nuclear pro­pulsion, naval officers still consider man as the safest, cheapest and in many cases the only method of carrying out the majority of the basic naval functions requiring pulling power. Nowhere is this more vividly exempli­fied than in the vital evolution of fueling at sea.

With the introduction of steam into the navies of the world, fueling became the blood transfusion of a ship, and in many cases spelled the difference between victory and defeat—sinking or survival. In the time of the coal burners, coaling was an all hands evolution conducted with only minor me­chanical help solely by that naval beast of burden, man. Oil-fired boilers brought some relief. No longer need man spend back­breaking days man-hauling coal bags. Now he had only to risk his life on the seas of the world mule-hauling two to three hundred feet of hose between ships under the most rigorous and dangerous of conditions.

This man-hauling of hose, except in the U. S. Navy, was accomplished through what is presently known as the Astern Method of Fueling. This method was the only type em­ployed in the navies of all other great naval powers. The U. S. Navy on the other hand started developing in the 1930’s a Broad­side Method of Fueling. Positioning the two ships side by side was believed by us to be

quite superior to the Astern Method and enabled a ship to refuel two stations simul­taneously and the oiler to refuel two or more ships at the same time. The first of the types to evolve from this broadside fueling was termed the Close-in Method. Although it served satisfactorily during World War II, it did have several disadvantages: Ship’s separation was small and it required many men on deck to haul over the fuel oil hose and associated gear. The inability to use this method under adverse weather conditions, moreover, was tragically illustrated in 1944 with the heartbreaking loss of three de­stroyers in a Pacific typhoon because of, among other things, the inability to refuel under rough weather conditions, f With this fatal example as a spur, the Navy set about developing an improved system. After sev­eral years of endeavor the so-called Span Wire Method of passing the hose to the re­ceiving ship was developed. Although this system was a great improvement over previ­ous methods and allowed greater ship separa­tion, it did require numerous men topside for man-hauling gear. Nevertheless, hopes were high that this would solve the problem and give the United States Navy a rough weather fueling capability. However, after using this system in the Atlantic for sometime, a need was felt in the Fleet to reduce the number of men required topside to handle this rig. As a result, the Atlantic Fleet Service Force oiler, the USS Elokomin, developed a system wherein the oiler used her winches to haul over the rig and thus reduced to a handful the fifty to one hundred men required top­side in destroyers for bringing aboard the refueling hose. This system was in use by the Atlantic Fleet when in the Fall of 1952 the U. S. Navy engaged in its first large scale NATO naval exercise, mainbrace. Much to the chagrin and embarrassment of the U. S. Navy, it was found that the Elokomin Method of Fueling was inadequate for the rough storm ridden North Atlantic. This les­son, learned at the expense of a few red faces in peacetime, could well have turned into a major catastrophe in wartime. Upon the direction of the Chief of Naval Operations, the Service Force, U. S. Atlantic Fleet, once more set about to perfect a fueling method which would prove satisfactory in rough weather. After some trial and error, there was developed a system eventually called the Modified Span Wire Method which was thought at the time to be the answer to this problem. This system embodied the best features of the Span Wire with the primary feature of the Elokomin Method, using the winches of the oiler to haul the hose and its suspension wire to the ship being refueled. Thus it was felt the critical problem of hav­ing men topside would be solved, yet the ad­vantages of span wire suspension retained. About the same time the Destroyer Force, well aware of the gravity of expecting fifty to one hundred men to stay topside in rough weather, raised the fueling trunks of their destroyers to the deck above the main deck, hoping thus to avoid some of the dangers of heavy seas. Now, at last, thought the naval planners, the problem of rough weather fueling had been solved. Accordingly, using the Modified Span Wire Method, the At­lantic Fleet commenced a test to determine if they really did have the system. This test and evaluation period stretched over a pe­riod of two years and was conducted over the

wide expanse of much of the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. It was finally nar­rowed down to two basic schools of thought: One school consisting mainly of big ship sailors advocated doing away with the oiler in-haul feature and returning to the “man in-haul.” They argued, and rightly so, that the clumsy method of leading back the line to the oiler’s winches in order to haul over the hose was unsafe from the oiler’s standpoint; likely to part messengers be­cause of the lack of ability of the oiler’s winchman to control the hose end; and ab­solutely unuseable in rough weather. On the other hand, the destroyer men insisted, and just as justly, that requiring fifty to one hundred men topside and on the main deck during rough weather was dangerous and almost suicidal. For despite the fact that fuel oil trunks had been raised from the main deck, destroyers still were required at their forward station to employ twenty-five to fifty men on the main deck in hauling in the hose unless the oiler hauled over the hose for them. As a result of this impasse, the At­lantic Fleet Replenishment at Sea Board in April 1955, resolved this argument by re­verting once more to the Span Wire Method of Fueling and abolishing the use of the oiler in-haul.                               .

The wheel of fortune had spun and once more the man-of-war’s beast of burden was at his dangerous post of hauling over re­fueling rigs and being buffeted and some­time washed over the side by the seas in which he sailed. Realizing the incongruous­ness of a modern push button Navy being unable to find any substitute for man as a prime mover, COMSERVLANT began a search for some type of mechanical method of replacing the deck hands required for fueling.

From a logical examination of the prob­lem it soon was obvious that all that was needed to solve the dilemma was a small portable winch at each fueling station. Af­ter surveying all existing winches being pro­duced in the United States, it became evi­dent that the most likely principle for this application was an air driven winch. All available models were investigated or teste f and the most promising was selected. This winch weighed only two hundred and seven-

ty pounds, yet could exert a pull of close to three thousand pounds. By testing the ac­tual pulling capacity of men aboard de­stroyers, it was determined that this was roughly equivalent to the pulling power of thirty-five men. Furthermore it was port­able, would operate on the ship’s service low pressure air of ninety pounds, and was readily available. Accordingly, such a winch was installed at the fueling stations of the destroyer, USS Soley, as shown in the ac­companying photographs. Tests were con­ducted between the USS Aantahala, a fleet oiler, and the USS Soley using the air winch to haul over the fuel hose and its suspension wire and then comparing the results when using the ordinary method of thirty men doing the same evolution. It was found by use of this winch that two or three men per station could replace the twenty-five to fifty per station formerly required. All personnel were highly enthusiastic about the use of this method but quite naturally the most ardent supporters were the man-of- warsman’s beast of burden—the Navy Deckhand. Advantages gained from its use were manyfold aside from the mere re­placement of the men on deck: One of the most important was that for the first time, it enabled receiving ships to have positive fingertip control of the dangerous hose end. This became of vital importance during night refueling operations which had previ­ously resulted quite often in casualties and parted rigs.

The result of these experiments was so conclusive that adoption of the air winch by all destroyers in the United States Navy was strongly urged. The importance of such a mechanical aid in enabling destroyers to re­fuel under the most adverse of weather con­ditions was quickly realized and pneumatic winches were approved for issuance to all de­stroyers of the United States Navy by the Chief of Naval Operations in July, 1956.

Thus, as stated in the opening of this article, air exhaust is replacing sea chanties or, in truth to put it bluntly, the earthy ex­clamations which are the stock in trade of all modern seafaring men are being replaced with the metallic meshing of a powerful ma­chine which has assumed their backbreaking burden.

Doubna, Atomic Research City

Pravda, September 30, 1956.—The city of Doubna is located some one hundred kilometers from Moscow, on the banks of the Volga. Here against a background of pine forests the young United Institute of Atomic Research is starting to operate. Its members include twelve states: Albania, Bulgaria, Hungary, the Peoples’ Republic of Viet Nam, the East German Republic, the Peoples’ Republic of China, North Korea, the Mongolian Peoples’ Republic, Poland, Rumania, the Soviet Union, and Czechoslovakia. Undoubtedly the number of states represented will be increased still further in the future.

The United Institute of Atomic Re­search begins its program with the generous backing of the Soviet Union, which has ex­pended over half a billion roubles in equip­ment and funds.

A few days ago the Institute was visited by a large group of Soviet and foreign journalists. The director of the laboratories, Doctor of Physico-Mathematical Sciences Benedict Petrovitch Jelepov, and corre­sponding member of the Academy of Sci­ences of the USSR, Vladimir Josephovitch Veksler, endeavored to answer all questions. The correspondents were interested in everything, from the minutest particles of matter produced here to the gigantic instal­lations destined to receive them. Cameras, cine apparatus, and tape recorders were used by the visitors to make the record as complete as possible.

The journalists were shown a synchro­cyclotron, used to make protons, and rated at 680 million electronvolts. This accelera­tor, the largest of its type in the world, made a tremendous impression on the visi­tors. For example, its electromagnet alone weighs 7000 tons, while the diameter of its poles is six meters.

Likewise of great interest was the syn­chrophasotron, a unique “atomic machine” intended to accelerate protons to the energy of ten billion electronvolts. The scale of this machine is still more amazing: its coil mag­net weighs 36,000 tons; its average diameter is almost sixty meters.

Within 3.3 seconds—said V. I. Veksler to the visitors—the protons make four and a half million linear revolutions within the chamber and travel a path over twice as great as the distance from the earth to the moon.

Adjustments of the synchrophasotron are proceeding at top speed, and it is expected that next year it will be in regular operation. The physicists of the Institute will then have a powerful tool at their command for the study of the atomic nucleus in order to penetrate further into the treasures of the micro-world.

The Institute is already conducting work which will produce data shedding much light on the structure of the proton, that “elementary” particle which, as is known, to­gether with the neutron goes into the make­up of the atomic nucleus.

The Institute will set up a theoretical laboratory for the creation of rapid-acting electronic machines, a radio-technical labo­ratory, a nuclear reactor for research pur­poses, and an experimental plant for the production of special research apparatus.

The Institute is to play an important role in the solution of problems dealing with the use of atomic energy for peaceful ends.

It is expected that scientists of various countries will cooperate in the above study. This year fifty additional scientists, some of them with world reputations, will visit the Institute. The results of research done at the Institute will be published in the press or discussed at scientific meetings.

The journalists’ visit lasted until late evening.

Home Kits May Rid Water of Atom Peril

By Earl Ubell

New York Herald Tribune, September 17, 1956.—A do-it-yourself chemical kit for de­contaminating home drinking water in fif­teen minutes from the radioactivity of an atomic explosion has been proposed. Ex­periments proving the feasibility of the proc­ess were announced by the American Chem­ical Society on the eve of its 130th national meeting at which 10,000 chemists were ex­pected.

Results of Tests

Scientists from the United States Corps of Engineers working at the Oak Ridge Na­tional Laboratory in Tennessee reported that with chemicals they can remove up to 98 per cent of the lethal radioactivity that would wash into a water supply from a small atomic blast.

They showed that home water-softener units are also effective in taking the radio­activity out of water, provided that the amount of radioactive elements present is not more than ten times the estimated safe limit.

Work on the chemicals—called ion-ex­change resins—was performed by William J. Lacy, the Corps’ Senior Scientific Engineer at its Research and Development Labora­tory, and Dr. Don C. Lindsten, the labora­tory Chief of Research in Sanitary Engineer­ing.

Soak up Elements

They pointed out that ion-exchange resins have the ability to soak up various elements in the water by releasing other ele­ments which are non-radioactive. Such resins have wide use in industry for purify­ing water, for removing undesirable elements in sea water and for softening water.

The kit they recommended would make water safe for drinking in about fifteen min­utes. The user would merely mix the resins with the water, stir, permit settling to take place, and then decant the clear fluid. The process has been named The Slurry Method.

Usually resins are used in columns and the water is permitted to percolate through as in home water softeners which can remove 99.9 per cent of the radioactivity.

Only a Bathtub

The Slurry Method, while less efficient by removing only 98 per cent, requires no special equipment, only a bathtub.

The amount of radioactivity which the home kit could handle would be that re­leased from a twenty-kiloton bomb, i.e., a bomb with the explosive power of 20,000 tons of T.N.T., or the size of the Hiroshima bomb. Bigger radioactive blow-outs, they said, would require more resins and more stages.

Liberty Ship Gains Eight Knots

Maritime Reporter, October 1, 1956.— There is a new nomenclature in the marine lists. It is GTV, which means Gas Turbine Vessel, and it stands before the name of a former Liberty ship.

It cost the Government 83,400,000 to turn the John Sergeant into the world’s first ship to be propelled solely by a gas turbine. But by the completion of the Sergeant's recent three-day sea trials off Virginia, the Mari­time Administration was convinced the dol­lars had been well spent.

The conversion, accomplished by the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, was aimed at turning a 10-knot ship into a 15-knot vessel. Before trials be­gan, MA officials hoped the Sergeant might make 17 knots. Their fondest hopes were surpassed. The 13,570-ton (displacement) vessel, powered by a normally rated 6000- hp open-cycle gas turbine, developed 7575 horsepower and reached a speed of 18.046 knots. Equally impressive, the gas turbine consumed only .533 pounds of fuel per shaft horsepower hour, and performed without one mechanical difficulty.

An MA official stated that the gas turbine did not vibrate, even when the vessel was running ahead at top speed and then thrown to full astern. He also noted the absence of any noise factor while the machine was operating and stated that a test showed the noise level to reach only 96 decibels.

In addition to having her original 2500-

hp reciprocating steam engine replaced, the Sergeant had her conventional propeller re­placed by a controllable-pitch propeller. Newport News also added a new bow, lengthening the ship 25 feet.

The gas turbine installed aboard the John Sergeant was built by General Electric’s Gas Turbine Department in Schenectady, N. Y. It is a regenerative-cycle, two-shaft unit.

This gas turbine consists of four basic com­ponents: the compressor, a combustion sys­tem, turbines, and the regenerator, or heat exchanger.

The air is compressed in the compressor and then is directed to the combustion cham­bers where the fuel is injected. The heated gas leaving the combustion chamber is passed through the turbines to develop power. The high-pressure turbine operates the compressor, while the low-pressure tur­bine provides the useful power. The heat ex­hausting from the turbines enters the re­generator. Air, after leaving the compressor, and before entering the combustion system, passes through the regenerator and is heated by the exhausting gases.

While the high-pressure and low-pressure turbines are contained in the same casing, they are mechanically independent.

A unique feature of this gas turbine is the variable-angle, second-stage turbine nozzles which permit a proper energy distribution between the high and low-pressure turbines over a wide range of ambient temperatures. This results in an improvement in thermal efficiency, and a more rapid maneuvering ability.

Another innovation of this gas turbine is that it was shipped completely assembled on an integral base. This permitted the gas tur­bine to be completely piped and wired before shipment, resulting in a minimum of ex­pense in installation. The base contains the lube-oil piping, lube-oil coolers, and all the other necessary accessories. The regenerator was shipped as a separate item and was in­stalled after the gas turbine was in place.

Because the General Electric Company gas turbine is practically automatic once it is in operation, the engineering force needed aboard the John Sergeant will not have to be as large as that aboard a steamship.

Special oil-washing equipment has also been installed aboard the John Sergeant to treat the residual oil which will be burned in the gas turbine.

Sodium and vanadium, which are found in residual oil, are extremely corrosive and also form deposits on the turbine nozzles and buckets.

In the oil-washing machinery, fresh water and a demulsifying agent are mixed with the hot fuel oil. The water and the dissolved so­dium are removed by centrifuging. To insure a sufficient difference in the specific gravity between the water and oil, epsom salts are added to the water. Magnesium sulphate is also used to counteract the vanadium.

The water-washing system can be oper­ated either as a batch system or continu­ously. However, for economy, the system will operate continuously. Two clean-oil fuel tanks are aboard the John Sergeant, and each can hold sufficient oil for 24 hours of operation.

The Sergeant is equipped with a four- bladed, 17-foot 6-inch diameter hydrau­lically operated controllable-pitch propeller, manufactured by the S. Morgan Smith Com­pany, of York, Pa.

The propeller is designed to absorb 6000 shaft horsepower when rotating at 110 rpm- The blades are actuated by means of a con­necting rod attached to a servomotor located inboard within a section of shafting. I'he servomotor piston is positioned by intro-

466'-10"

57'

37'-4"

18.046 Knots 26'

13,570

8870

ducing oil through a stationary around-the- shaft oil transfer unit equipped with lapped metal-to-metal oil seals between this unit and the rotating shaft. The connecting rod from the servomotor is attached to a spider which through a system of links and levers operates the blades. As the oil is admitted to either side of the servomotor piston, caus­ing linear movement of the connecting rod and piston, the blades are rotated to any position from full ahead to full astern. The blades are designed to be the weakest ele­ment of the propeller in order to prevent damage to the hub mechanism when strik­ing underwater objects.

The nickel aluminum bronze blades are held in their sockets by means of a new, patented bayonet-type blade retention de­vice and tightened by a unique wedge as­sembly. During shop assembly, one blade was removed and replaced in less than 30 minutes without disturbing the operating mechanism. Each of the four blades was carefully hand finished to exact contours and thicknesses so final blade weights varied less than 0.4 of 1 per cent.

The gas turbine and the controllable pitch propeller are integrated so that speed is con­trolled by a single lever. Arrangements have also been made for independent two lever control. This permits operation of the propeller above full-power pitch under light cargo conditions if a higher speed is desired.

Pressurized oil for moving the blade servo­motor is provided by two motor-driven oil pumps. An accumulator is provided with pressure switches in order to maintain a constant pressure along with a reserve in the event of power failure. The tank has suffi­cient oil for cycles at full power. The hy­draulic system is designed to move the blades one complete cycle in eight seconds.

Sea trials completed, the Sergeant will be operated by the United States Lines under general agency agreement and assigned to MSTS service. During in-service operation, extensive tests will be conducted to deter­mine operating efficiency and seakeeping characteristics of the ship.

The success of the Sergeant when con­sidered along with the successful earlier tests of the modernized Liberty ships Benjamin Chew and Thomas Nelson gives new im-

The gas turbine was shipped, completely assembled, on an integral base. This permitted the gas turbine to be completely piped and wired before shipment to ease the work of installation, as well as to minimize the costs involved in this operation. The integral base contains the lube oil coolers and the lube oil piping.

portance to the reserve fleet as a defense weapon that can be converted to great use­fulness in the event of a national emergency.

Statistics on the John Sergeant

Length, overall Breadth Depth Speed

Draft, full load • Displacement tons Dead weight tons

Soviet Rebuilds Key Volga Canal

By William J. Jorden

New York Times, October 7, 1956.- -Ma­jor reconstruction is underway on what the Soviet Union considers the major bottle­neck in its deep-water transport system.

That bottleneck is the old Mariinsk Canal system, which connects the Volga River and Leningrad. It is sometimes called the Volga-Baltic waterway.

Modernization of the 224-mile canal sys­tem will permit ships up to 4000 tons to travel from the Baltic Sea to the Volga. Soviet officials estimate that millions of tons of freight will be carried after 1960 on the canal.

The Mariinsk system has been in existence for almost 150 years. It was last rebuilt in 1896. Modernization of the canal system was begun in 1940 but was halted by the war. In 1947, the Soviet Council of Ministers adopted a resolution on renewal of work and it appears that work has now been under­taken on a large scale.

A lengthy report on the project recently appeared in the newspaper Sovetsky Flot. It was prepared by N. A. Zorin, chief of the Waterways and Hydro-Technical Installa­tions Administration in the Russian Re­public’s Ministry of the River Fleet.

Comparing the Mariinsk project with other canals, Mr. Zorin noted that while 14,000 tons of metal construction and ma­chinery had gone into the Volga-Don Canal, about 25,000 tons would be used on the Mariinsk system. The Mariinsk is approxi­mately three times as long as the Volga- Don.

Plans call for replacement of the present thirty-nine locks on the Volga-Baltic system with nine new and modern locks. Elimina­tion of thirty locks will help greatly in speed­ing up traffic on the canal and it is estimated that the trip from Cherepovets to Lenin­grad will require only seventy-two hours.

Three large hydro-electric power stations will be part of the new canal system. The power stations, at Vytegra, Belousov and Cherepovets, will supply electric current for surrounding cities, and collective farms and also will run the lock mechanisms.

Six Reservoirs Planned

Six new reservoirs will be established to control the water supply along the canal system. The largest reservoir, at Chere­povets, will cover an area of more than 580 square miles. Mr. Zorin said 240 farm settle­ments would be relocated.

Mr. Zorin said it was planned to put the Vytegra and Belousov hydro-installations into operation in 1958. That would permit closing off of ten of the old locks. All old locks will be out of use by 1960 marking completion of the first stage of the rehabili­tation program. The second stage is sched­uled for completion by 1962.

Mr. Zorin reported that beacons, route marks, buoys and lights would be set up along the rehabilitated canal system. Special moorings and loading facilities for the handlers of coal from raihvay to boats are being built, he said.

The Volga-Baltic or Mariinsk system be­gins at the Rybinsk Reservoir on the Volga- From Cherepovets, ships travel along the Sheksna River and through the Belozersk Canal which circles around the White Lake.

From there, ships traverse the Kovzha River, the Mariinsk Canal, the Vytegra River, the Onega Canal which parallels the southern shore of Lake Onega. The Svir River and Ladoga Canal carry ships finally to the Neva River which runs through Leningrad and into the Gulf of Finland.

British Base Slated for Seychelles?

Christian Science Monitor, September 17, 1956.—The possibility that Britain may es­tablish a new naval base here is being dis­cussed with eagerness and hope by the 35,000 Seychelles islanders.

If the British Government needs any reasons for choosing the Seychelles, the islanders will gladly supply them—a stra­tegic position in the Indian Ocean straddling the trade routes between South Africa and India and the southern end of the Suez

Canal; many natural bays; and ample labor available because of the growing under­employment on the island.

The Seychelles are overpopulated and there are children growing up for whom em­ployment cannot possibly be found.

The Seychelles consist of 92 islands with a total estimated area of 156 square miles. The islands first were colonized by the French in the middle of the 18th century. They were captured by the British in 1794. Mahe is the principal island. Victoria is the capital.

Isles in Spotlight

The islands have recently been in the world spotlight as the place of exile of Arch­bishop Makarios of Cyprus, leader of the Cypriote movement for union with Greece. He was deported from Cyprus after British officials accused him of complicity with the Mediterranean island’s underground move­ment.

The colony has only three measurable ex­ports, copra, about 6000 tons yearly; cinna­mon oil and bark, about 300 tons; and salt fish, about 148 tons.

These products do not entail engaging much labor and the retail stores are almost entirely in the hands of Indians and Chinese who prefer to employ their own progeny.

So, except for an insignificant trickle of emigration to Kenya and Australia, there is nothing to which the Seychelles islanders can look forward.

Site of British Tanks

In the Legislative Council recently, Harry Savy, an elected member, suggested that in view of developments in Ceylon and Singa­pore, the Seychelles should be seriously con­sidered for the establishment of a naval base.

He pointed out that the channel between the islands of Praslin and Curieuse, about 25 miles from Mahe, would be an ideal site for large ships, and that a deep-water harbor could be constructed in Victoria.

Whether for a concentration of this sort or for the new conception of dispersed bases merely providing fueling facilities and rec­reation for the personnel, the Seychelles are ideal.

Seven British Navy fuel tanks already are located here. They are on St. Anne Island,

which is on the eastern side of the harbor of Victoria, about three miles away.

When the Navy withdrew after World War II, they left the agents of an oil com­pany in charge.

The installation is enclosed in a perimeter with walls and fences. A caretaker and a few laborers live inside the enclosure.

During a recent visit to the islands, Ad­miral Sir Charles Norris, then commander in chief, East Indies, discussed with the Ex­ecutive Council the possibilities of the in­stallation being needed and the larger ques­tion of a naval base.

Britain’s New Frigates

By Desmond Wettern

The Nautical Magazine, September 1956. —The Russian Navy is known to possess at least 400 submarines, of which at least 150 could operate in any part of the world. At the beginning of the last war the German Navy had 37 U-boats. For this reason anti­submarine craft are of the greatest impor­tance to NATO.

When the war ended the allied powers pos­sessed large numbers of anti-submarine craft, many of these were vessels ranging from about 7-800 to 2000 tons and were classified as frigates, or destroyer escorts in the U. S. Navy. The armament of such ves­sels varied enormously from a few light anti-aircraft guns and depth charges to six 4-in. high angle/low angle guns and three barrelled “squid” anti-submarine mortars. Probably the greatest variation was in speeds. Some of the smaller escorts, originally known as corvettes, could only manage 16.5 knots while some of the Hunt class frigates, formerly known as escort destroyers, could manage 27 knots.

For the years immediately following the war these wartime craft were adequate to cope with submarines with a maximum un­derwater speed below twelve knots. Large numbers of these frigates were laid up in re­serve and others were scrapped. On the whole our own anti-submarine forces were considered reasonably adequate. True, some of the frigates were modernised but no radi­cal changes in their equipment were made. But by the end of the 1940s the picture had changed. The submarine capable of speeds as high as 17-18 knots underwater for short periods was in commission. Hunting sub­marines became infinitely harder for this reason and the depth charge was rapidly be­coming hopelessly inadequate.

Ever since the war trials and experiments have been going on to improve the “squid.” Eventually “limbo” was evolved. By using “limbo” an escort vessel had a much greater chance of obtaining a kill. Its basic improve­ments over the “squid” were its increased range, ability to adjust itself automatically to the data fed to it by the “asdic” set and to train over a wider arc. The weight of the explosive charge was also improved. For those unfamiliar with either the “squid” or “limbo” the principle of both weapons is the same, namely a large three barrelled mortar which fires bombs, set to explode at a pre­determined depth, ahead of the ship. Owing to the effects set up by the ship’s propellers it is impossible to train the “asdic” scanner (fitted below the bottom of the ship) aft, thus when a ship is running in towards a submarine a point is reached where the sub­marine is outside the “asdic” beam. As depth charges can only be dropped from the stern of a ship, owing to the risk of their fir­ing prematurely or striking the ship as they sink, this means that an attacking vessel must be practically beyond the submarine before making an attack. During the period immediately before the attack the sub­marine is outside the “asdic” beam and this period may be quite long enough for a fast submarine to alter course and escape the depth charges.

But while “limbo” was a vast improve­ment on previous weapons it could still not be used with a maximum effect in the war­time frigate. The average speed of the large majority of wartime frigates is between 18 and 21 knots, the attacking vessel must have at least nine to eleven knots in hand. Quite obviously the wartime frigates had not got such a margin.

In order to have anti-submarine vessels quickly available the Admiralty decided to convert a number of war-built fleet de­stroyers. These vessels had the required speed, over thirty knots, but they were bet­ter equipped with guns and torpedoes rather than anti-submarine weapons. Forty-five of these destroyers will have been converted by next year, the large majority have al­ready been completed. But a converted ship is never as satisfactory as a ship built for the job. Accordingly some eighteen anti-sub­marine frigates were ordered from various yards.

In December last year the first of these, HMS Hardy, commissioned. There are eleven other vessels in her class and all are named after Captains of Nelson’s time. Dur­ing the early part of this year a second ves­sel of this class, HMS Dundas, commis­sioned and a further four will join the active and reserve fleets during the summer.

The hulls of these new vessels, which are all-welded, are designed to allow them to maintain high speeds in heavy seas. They have been prefabricated and they could be mass-produced in time of war. They dis­place about 1300 tons and are fitted with one propeller and are powered by geared turbines. Their fuel consumption is stated to be very economical. Their armament con­sists of three 40-mm Bofors AA guns and two sets of “limbo” anti-submarine mor­tars. Evidently the three light guns are con­sidered adequate to deal with a submarine should it surface after an attack; though war-time experience would seem to warrant guns of a heavier type. Normal peacetime crew of these ships is seven officers and 104 ratings. It has been stated officially that par­ticular attention has been paid to their ac­commodation. Special furnishing schemes have been included and fittings include plas­tic table tops, patterned linoleum, stainless steel washbasins and a laundry. The galley is fitted with an electrically controlled, oil- fired range.

One of the most important details of these ships has not been revealed and that is their speed. The only figure so far published gives it as 22 knots. Obviously this is absurdly low as it is only an improvement of one knot on many wartime vessels (and is indeed slower than some). Probably 28 knots is a much more accurate figure.

The second class of anti-submarine frigates are the Whitby class. The first, HMS Tor­quay, commissioned early in May. These vessels are considerably larger than the Hardy and displace about 2000 tons. There are six vessels in the class, the second of which, HMS Whitby was recently commis­sioned.

In addition to a large number of anti­submarine weapons, these vessels are fitted with radar equipment for directing anti­submarine aircraft onto a submarine. Their armament consists of two 4.5-in. and two 40-mm Bofors guns, two “limbo” mortars and 12 torpedo tubes. The torpedoes carried are presumably of the “homing” type. A “homing” torpedo incorporates a device which picks up the sound of a vessel under way and automatically goes towards the source of the sound. Obviously it is virtually impossible to avoid such a torpedo once it is within sonic range. Presumably by means of a timing device, the receiver in the tor­pedo does not operate until beyond the sonic influence of the firing vessel. The tor­pedo tubes have not so far been fitted.

These ships are also of all-welded construc­tion and may be prefabricated to allow for rapid construction. One ship of this class is intended to work with several ships of the Hardy type. They are fitted with twin pro­pellers and twin rudders and their fuel con­sumption at cruising speed is said to be very economical.

Their normal peacetime complement is nine officers and 180 men. Similar accom­modation fittings to those in Hardy have been fitted and in addition all living spaces are lit by fluorescent lighting.

The 18 ships in these two classes are largely replacing older types of frigates in the active fleet though a few of the new ves-

sels will reduce to reserve on completion of trials. They should all be completed by the end of next year and in 1958 more frigates ordered last year should be nearing com­pletion. It is not yet known if these vessels will resemble the Torquay or Hardy in any way. Undoubtedly the ships of these two classes are capable of dealing with any type of submarine now in existence or indeed any likely to commission in the next few years.

Two Men Fly Sky High in Space- Lab Balloon

The Shipworker, New York Naval Ship­yard, August 31, 1956.—Two naval ob­servers recently made the first human flight to 40,000 feet in an open “space laboratory” balloon to photograph jet vapor trails and test man’s reaction to high altitudes.

The flight, made in a plastic skyhook bal­loon, was the initial human scientific venture in “Project Stratolab,” an upper air study being made by the Office of Naval Research,

Later this summer, the two Navy meteorologists, Reserve Lieutenant Com­mander Malcolm D. Ross, and Lieutenant Commander Morton L. Lewis, plan more tests at altitudes in excess of 75,000 feet, some 3,000 feet higher than the world’s record gondola balloon climb.

In Air Four Hours

The skyhook balloon, which is 67 feet in diameter and one-hundred feet long, was launched from a New Brighton, Minnesota, airport. After “floating along” at 76 knots for nearly four hours it landed in a field about 170 miles east of Minneapolis.

The scientists wore special cold-weather suits and oxygen masks to make open flight at seventy degrees below zero possible.

The Naval Medical Research Institute tracked the entire trip with an escort plane equipped as a flying “aeromedical labora­tory” with a radio broadcasting version of an electro-cardiograph to record the pilots’ heart and lung reaction.

“You have no sensations of moving along,” Commander Ross said in describing the flight. “We were perfectly comfortable in our suits even though there were ice crystals all around us as we climbed through the cirrus cloud layers (about 37,000 feet)-.

“Above the clouds was nothing . . . noth­ing but the sheer beauty of the sky. It went from a light blue to a royal blue. When we looked straight out to the horizon we saw nothing.

“We could look down and sometimes see the earth where the clouds broke.

“It looked real patchy,” Commander Ross said.

While unmanned balloons now probe the upper atmosphere, many experiments can­not be conducted with instrumented free flight equipment alone.

In habitable space laboratories, research­ers can break through the earth’s atmosphere “blanket” and provide scientific stations for studies of aeromedicine, physics and astron­omy, the Navy said.

Woomera Rocket Range Being Extended

British Information Services, August 28, 1956.—Six hundred and fifty miles from Adelaide, Australia, a “town” for 800 resi­dent-scientists and troops, air-conditioned laboratories, eighty miles of roads, an air­port, instrumentation center, observation towers, theater, beer gardens, hospitals and recreation areas, is nearing completion.

It is Maralinga, the rocket-range exten­sion to Britain’s great atomic proving grounds of Woomera. It was completed on July 31, and the first atomic explosions are scheduled for September.

The work is being carried out by a Scot­tish firm, using Australian labor (but only

those of British descent are allowed to work on the forward area), with virtually all the material flown or shipped from Britain. Equipment includes heavy machinery, pre­fabricated housing and components for a large powerhouse.

The extensions, when completed, will make Woomera a key center for develop­ment of new medium-range supersonic mis­siles. Improvements to the range itself in­clude construction of new launching sites and more widespread distribution of instruments along the range to check the missiles’ flight.

Experimental firings at Woomera this September and October will test Britain’s new rockets. A launcher has already been dispatched to Australia.

The first rockets will be unmanned. They will be set to roar one hundred miles into the sky to collect scientific information on conditions of the upper altitude, particu­larly on cosmic rays. Each will carry 150 lbs. of instruments and telemetering equip­ment in its steel nose cone, from which ob­servation data will be radioed back to base.

Other launchings will be carried out from Britain itself.

New Army Tracker Can “See”

Guided Missiles

By Ansel E. Talbert

New York Herald Tribune, September 28, 1956.-—The United States Army disclosed yesterday that it has developed a giant new “telescopic tracker” which can follow a moving guided missile or a man-made earth satellite 300 miles away.

The new optical tracker resembles a siege gun and weighs approximately one and one- half tons. It can simultaneously show fast- moving aerial objects in natural color on its scope and automatically take black-and- white photographs of them. The equipment can be remote-controlled and in actual mili­tary operations could be located in areas of extreme danger to record the impact and de­structiveness of enemy guided missiles, bombs or artillery shells.

Further development of the tracker is ex­pected to give invaluable aid to the Army’s counter-missile measures designed to ex­plode enemy rockets and attack enemy bomber formations long before they reach their objective.

The present model, now undergoing tests at White Sands Proving Grounds in New Mexico, was designed particularly to operate in conjunction with radar tracking sets. Its role is to define clearly for military observers the difference between two or more types of flying objects moving at the same time with­in the 300-mile range.

Chiefs of the Army Signal Corps Engineer­ing Laboratories at Fort Monmouth, N. J., where all of the initial development work was carried out and preliminary tests completed, credit the tracker with the following achieve­ments: (1) reliable target acquisition; (2) fast and accurate tracking; (3) good tele­photographic lens and camera work and (4j

precise co-ordination of target and time records.

The 400-pound lens of the telescopic tracker has a maximum focal length of 160 inches—the distance between the lens and photographic film—and equipment devel­oped by Fairchild Camera Instrument Com­pany under Army Signal Corps contract makes other focal lengths down to twenty inches possible.

The main camera of the tracker photo­graphs the target and on the film records the exact time from a precision clock. An at­tached auxiliary camera simultaneously pho­tographs “angle measuring scales” indicat­ing the direction and altitude at which a tar­get is located at any one instant.

It is possible for the new tracking equip­ment to follow any target instantly as directed by a radar tracker, or for the radar tracker to pick up any target in which the “telescopic tracker’s” operators are inter­ested.

3 Mariner Class Vessels to Join Pas­senger Fleet Following Conversion

By Jaques Nevard

New York Times, September 23, 1956.— A spate of maritime social climbing now un­der way will substantially increase the pas­senger capacity of the American merchant marine in the near future,.

The change will come when Mariner ships, which have steamed away with most of the records in the freighter class for which they were designed, join the ranks of the ocean aristocracy as passenger liners.

Plans now in effect call for the conversion of three Mariner freighters, the most mod­ern ships of their type, to passenger carriers. Such conversions involve the lengthening fore and aft of superstructures and other ex­tensive rebuilding within existing hulls.

Work on two of the ships is far advanced, and the first is expected to undergo her sea trials as a passenger liner late this month.

When the work on all three is complete, it will have added 1,630 berths to the American passenger ship fleet. That will represent an increase of more than 14 per cent over the 11,620 berths provided by the thirty-nine United States passenger ships now in opera­tion.

Vessel to Carry 900

Despite the freighter origin of these ships, they will rank near the top of the list in indi­vidual passenger capacity.

Only four American liners—the United Stales, the America, the Constitution and the Independence—carry more than the 900 pas­sengers for which one of the Mariners will be converted. Ten United States shipyards are now bidding for this work.

The vessel will be used by the Arnold Bernstein Shipping Company on the North Atlantic run between New York and the Low Countries.

Only five other American liners now in service—the Presidents Wilson and Cleve­land, the Lurline, the Argentina and the Brazil—can accommodate more travelers than each of the two Mariners now being converted for the Matson Navigation Com­pany.

These vessels, each of which will carry 365 passengers, will be used in a resumption of the line’s pre-war service between the West Coast and Hawaii, the South Sea Islands, New Zealand and Australia.

One of these ships, the Mariposa, will make her trial runs later this month, and is scheduled to enter service on Oct. 26. Her sister, the Monterey, is expected to join the trade early in January.

Designed in 1950

The Mariners appear to be particularly suited to conversion to passenger ships. They are the largest and fastest general car­go freighters ever built.

The class was designed by the Maritime Administration in the late summer of 1950, after the early months of the Korean War had indicated the need for big, speedy freighters.

In January of 1951 Congress authorized 8350,000,000 for the freighters, each of which could carry about 13,000 deadweight tons at a normal speed of twenty knots. That compared with the 10,000 tons and ten knots for the famed Liberty ships, the workhorses of World War II.

The first ship in the Mariner class was launched in February of 1952, and the others followed over the next two years.

Of the thirty-five built, one was lost in the

Far East, eighteen have been purchased for use as freighters by commercial ship lines, two are operating under Government char­ters, three are serving with the Navy, two are being converted for Matson’s passenger service and nine are in reserve status. One of those in the reserve fleet has been set aside for conversion by the Arnold Bernstein Com­pany.

Saving of Time Sought

Shipping officials have said that the main reason for converting Mariners to passenger ships, rather than building completely new vessels, was to gain a saving in time. The costs either way, they said, would be about equal.

Although the average cost to the Govern­ment was $8,441,332 for each ship built, the Maritime Administration took into consider­ation the defense features of the vessels and the higher costs of American shipyards when it set a sales price for American commercial ship lines.

The shipping agency established a price range of $4,447,282 to $4,944,666 a vessel, less defense features. Based on the proposed employment of the ships, defense features that would have commercial value were added to the sales price.

Thus, Matson officials have noted, the total price the company paid the Govern­ment for its two Mariners was between $10,000,000 and $11,000,000.

The conversion work being performed at the Willamette Iron and Steel Company, Portland, Ore., will bring the total cost of the two passenger liners to approximately $37,000,000.

The Government will pay about 48 per cent of the $27,000,000 conversion costs as a construction differential subsidy that reflects the average cost of similar work abroad.

Rocket Sets Record

Christian Science Monitor, October 10, 1956.—The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics disclosed it has fired a four- stage rocket-propelled research missile to a record-breaking speed of more than 6,864 m.p.h.

NACA, the government’s top aeronautical research organization, said the rocket at­tained a speed of more than 10.4 times the velocity of sound, and rose to an altitude of more than 200 miles.

An NACA spokesman said this compared with about 4,500 miles an hour for the viking rocket, and was the greatest speed NACA had yet achieved with its test missile firings.

The device was fired from NACA’s Wal­lops Island, Va., Research Station, and its flight ended far out in the Atlantic Ocean. The firing was announced at an inspection of NACA’s Langley Aeronautical Laboratory, attended by 450 invited guests.

Propulsion was provided by four rocket motors, fired in sequence. The first two motors were of the type used to boost the Nike missile. The nose of the missile was packed with instruments and telemetering equipment to record temperatures and relay them to a ground receiving station.

’55 Traffic Inland Seen at Record

By Walter Hamsiiar

New York Herald Tribune, September 17, 1956.—The American Waterways Operators predicted yesterday that the final tabulation for freighting in 1955 on the nation’s 29,000 miles of inland waterways will show a total of not less than 97,500,000,000 ton miles and that it may exceed 100 billion ton miles.

The forecast is based on preliminary tabu­lations of the Army Corps of Engineers, which also show that a total of 361,000,000 tons of freight moved on inland waterways craft last year compared with 319,780,826 tons in 1954.

Should the freight movement on inland waterways come up to the American Water­ways Operators’ 100-billion-ton-mile fore­cast, it will register a gain of 21 per cent over the 82,500,000,000 ton-miles of traffic in 1954.

The steady growth of inland waterway traffic has been one of the outstanding fea­tures of transportation in the last ten years. Chester C. Thompson, president of the Waterways Operators, said that major traf­fic gains last year were in the same areas as in former years—on the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, Gulf Coast ports and the Missis­sippi and Ohio Rivers and their navigable tributaries.