Professional Notes

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A Balanced Offense—Our Key to Security

By Commander I. C. Kidd, USN[1]

Any football coach would give a year’s sal­ary or more for a Gip, a Baugh, a Borries, or an Oldham. Yet this desire for a triple threat, climax player is paralleled by an unending search for competent blockers, defensive line­men, and ends with big hands. To arbitrarily write off battleships, destroyers, or any other proven type as useless in the future would be as foolhardy as a coach fielding a team of four hall carriers with no line.¹ Uncontested ac­ceptance of such reasoning would soon rele­gate our Navy to bush league status.

Wars, being the culmination of economic pressures, can be measured in terms of eco­nomic potential. This potential has as a func­tion, volume of output, which in turn reduces itself to who gets there “Furstest with the mostest.” Superiority in numbers has and will continue to tip the scales of victory. Wish­ful thinking notwithstanding, we must still stay within a budget in our defense spending, and must therefore insist on getting maximum dollar value out of hardware purchased. Everywhere we turn today, volume and its •mportance are driven home, bombs in stock­pile, planes available in various types for ^specific missions, rockets and missiles on the shelf, and ships ready to put to sea. Every de­fense agency is striving for volume output in the most versatile weapon possible at the low­est production cost. The cheaper they are, the more we can buy.

Ships are weapons in themselves, and as such reflect the volume principle aptly de­scribed as a capacity for Massive Retaliation. Whether this massive retaliatory power is measured in hundreds of bombs, numbers of Task Forces, or escorted convoys delivering the wherewithal to wage war, the principle is the same. Some of our naval weapons are more costly than others; so we must be content with fewer than we would like to have. Car­riers and cruisers in destroyer numbers would be pleasant to contemplate but are regrettably out of the question. Accepting the few big ones we can afford as a ceiling, we must insure our investment with a reliable underwriter. Reli­ability being measured in terms of reputation and past performance, the destroyer force is the most logical organization to carry this policy.

By 1965 we should have one nuclear cruiser, carrier, and destroyer, with additional nuclear-powered keels laid to augment the fleet. A readiness to fight this afternoon, how­ever, is our primary concern and must con­stantly be re-evaluated because of a growing tendency to drift off on cloud seven, where dreams of a one punch, all-devastating, push­button war are contemplated by visionaries. Severe damage to our war making potential from a single attack is a possibility now. As technology advances, this threat increases in magnitude. However, the Navy, in its role of counter puncher, must have all of the tools essential to deliver an effective blow and thereafter keep the pressure on an opponent.

The Navy’s responsibility to underwrite the safe delivery of munitions and troops to be-

USS FOREST SHERMAN (DD-931) leagured shores, as well as to apply immediate pressure on critical enemy concentrations from strategically placed carrier task forces, immediately implies vast numbers of ships re­quired. Not subscribing to suicidal principles, we must therefore discard any idea of sending a boy to do a man’s job. By the same token, we don’t hire a truck to deliver a telegram. Maximum power in a minimum package is our continuing aim. Carriers, although tre­mendous, are as small as possible, yet able to carry the newest bombers, AEW, and fighter aircraft. Similarly, destroyers are growing in size in order to retain their versatility in weap­onry and detection capabilities. Likewise, cruisers and capital ships are vital as larger weapon platforms for close-in defense of the vulnerable carrier. Concerted attacks and re­attacks on carriers can be anticipated, requir­ing greater ammunition and missile availa­bility in their vicinity. This requirement can best be fulfilled by a capital ship with the in­creased stowage space available.

The outer perimeter of defense around a carrier need not have the aforementioned weapon volume availability, and can there­fore be made up of such smaller units as the fleet destroyers. Long range detection devices, adequate air control capabilities, and a weap­ons system for self-defense consistent with the attack effort expected by an enemy, are all that need be packaged in this ship for effec­tive air defense employment. Fleet destroyers of the 931-class with missile installations proven in the Gyatt, fulfill this need now.

Subsurface attacks on this juicy carrier tar­get by a nuclear powered submarine could be neutralized somewhat by continuous high speed operations. However, fuel conservation must still govern cruising speeds until all ships enjoy the independence of nuclear pro­pulsion. Even then, the high sustained sub­merged speed of modern submarines has eliminated their traditional handicap of hav­ing to be in a favorable firing position to at­tack a high speed target. Fleet destroyers are the largest and best armed ships now able to outmaneuver a high performance submarine, and the production model enjoying the high­est kill probability once contact is made. Di­versionary and urgent attacks are not enough to deter an aggressive enemy. We must have a ship capable of attacking the submarine with a complete weapons system, including heli­copters, once detected. Our fleet type de­stroyer best fills this requirement. New Dealy DE’s are vital as an ocean escort for valuable convoys where defensive tactics must obtain. ASW with the carriers, however, either as a striking or HUK force, becomes aggressive action and must be carried out by competent elements. Fleet destroyers now carry the largest sonar available, and can carry the largest planned. Sonar in a still larger hull, such as a cruiser, one unable to maneuver with the submarine, is comparable in principle to the proverbial mammary ap­pendage on a bull; decorative, but useless. Even when we evolve to the dream “super sonar” of proportions requiring special hull configurations to accommodate the low fre­quency dome, installation in the smallest hull possible will still be the soundest approach.

Maximum coverage with minimum cost de­mands installation in destroyer type hulls.

Cruisers are vital beyond a doubt, but the leap in size from destroyer type to cruiser as the fleet work horse of the future is too long and expensive a step to take until we have actually outgrown the DD hull. Although de­stroyers are growing as each class evolves, they are still for sale at one-third a cruiser’s cost and can be operated with one-sixth the manpower. So long as defense in depth with the attendant numbers required is the basis of both task force and convoy protection, fleet type destroyers will continue to enjoy pre­eminent importance in our present and future naval development.

Canadian Navy Looks Back on ’57

Navy Times, January 4, 1958.—The addi­tion of a new aircraft carrier, the Bonaventure, and three new destroyer escorts of the St. Lau­^rent class, the Skeema, Fraser, and Margaree, were major milestones in 1957 for the Royal Canadian Navy.

The new destroyer escorts are rated among the finest modern anti-submarine vessels in the world. The RCN also bolstered its ranks through the addition of four frigates which re­turned to active service after modernization ^and outfitting with new weapons.

The Royal Canadian Navy air arm also uoted progress as one squadron switched over to the anti-submarine Tracker aircraft while ^a second unit was also being outfitted with the same planes. Two fighter squadrons were equipped with all-weather Banshee jets dur- ^lng the year.

The role of the helicopter in anti-submarine Warfare came in for new development as tests continued throughout the year and a helicop­ter platform was installed in the destroyer es­cort Ottawa. Five new minesweepers were ^also commissioned during the year.

At the close of the year, the RCN had 45 ships in commission, not counting five vessels Undergoing modernization and three Royal Navy submarines operating with the RCN. As of Nov. 1, 1957, the total RCN strength cumbered 19,558, slightly more than 500 over the 1956 figure.

In other developments during the year, the

RCN:

Adopted a new personnel structure de­signed to reflect the highly technical nature of today’s navies.

Turned over five coastal escorts to Turkey and gave $150,000 in electrical equipment to NATO allies.

Returned the aircraft carrier Magnificent to the Royal Navy and transferred the Arctic pa­trol ship Labrador to the Canadian Depart­ment of Transport.

Society Lists IGY’s Highlights

The New York Herald Tribune, December 22, 1957.—The National Geographic Society, in a year-end summary of scientific research and exploration, said today the most “dramat­ic” achievement of 1957 was man’s success­ful launching of an artificial satellite.

It said Russia’s success in putting the first man-made moon into orbit introduced the space age and gave added stimulus to the efforts of scientists all over the world par­ticipating in the International Geophysical Year.

This feat, it added, “sparked a new era in space travel, meteorology, astronomy, geo­physics and other sciences.”

Balloon Record

Reciting other space achievements since the IGY began July 1, the society noted that David Simons, a United States Air Force sur­geon, took a thirty-two-hour flight in a heli­um-raised gondola to a record height of 19.3 miles for manned balloons.

Meantime, it said the Air Force sent a rock­et soaring more than 2,000 miles into the heavens over Eniwetok Atoll in October to set a record ceiling for a man-made object.

In other developments, the Navy sent up a two-stage, solid-fuel rocket ninety miles and recorded sun flares off San Nicholas Island near California. Over Minnesota and South Dakota, balloon-borne telescopes sixteen miles up to the “sharpest sun pictures so far obtained.”

The phenomena of the atmosphere were penetrated, too. Volunteer skywatchers ob­served “two parallel ‘rayed arcs’ of aurora” which adhered closely to the US-Canadian border from coast-to-coast. Scientists are at­tempting to determine whether this double arc stretches completely around the earth.

Meantime, Antarctica has been crowded with scientists and explorers from many na­tions. There are now more than 100 U. S. sci­entists at nine stations in the South Polar re­gion. They and others have been studying oceanography, rocketry, seismology, weather, gravity, ice and glaciology, and related sub­jects.

Americans at Byrd Station, 575 miles in­land, found they were resting on solid ice 10,000 feet thick. The Russians discovered that their base, Mirny, also lies on thick ice, based on a “bottom well below the ocean’s surface.”

The Arctic has 250 research stations, repre­senting twelve nations.

Accomplishments Cited

The National Geographic also cited these accomplishments:

America’s first atomic submarine, the Nau­tilus, made two records. It traveled 1,000 miles in five-and-a-half days under the Arctic ice to reach the furthermost northern point obtained by a ship—180 miles south of the North Pole. On the same cruise, which lasted sixty days, it remained submerged a record fourteen days and three and one-half hours.

A current flowing 4,500 feet under the Gulf Stream was discovered by oceanographers at Woods Hole, Mass.

Civilizations of up to 10,000 years ago were discovered off the coast of Denmark. In Hun­gary a Roman fort is emerging from the silt collected over it for 1,500 years.

A tunnel, thought to have been used by David to hide from King Saul, was located near an oasis west of the Dead Sea. Ruins of a synagogue and a village dating back to 6800 B. C. were found.

Navy “Polaris” Test Vehicle Soars Too Fast To Watch

The Baltimore Sun, January 18, 1958.—A Navy Polaris test vehicle—a ballistic stand-in for the Navy’s 1,500-mile range submarine- launched missile of the near future—streaked away from a launching pad here almost faster than the eye could follow.

The vehicle was too fast and too small— seen from a distance of three or four miles—- for its identity to be recognized from beaches

outside the fenced-off test center.

Launched vertically less than an hour after sunrise, it moved away beautifully, leaving a graceful white trail across the blue sky toward the Southeast—almost the only evidence of its existence.

It went in such a hurry that of half a dozen photographers and cameramen maintaining watches on the beach, none was believed to have obtained a picture.

Although there have been a number of similar launchings of comparatively small, ex­tremely fast missiles from this center, this was the first time the object was identified offi­cially as associated with the Polaris.

Less than 10 minutes after the launching the missile-test center announced that “a test vehicle in the Navy Polaris program was fired at 7.59 A.M. today.”

The Lockheed Polaris, armed with a nu­clear warhead, is designed for launching ei­ther from ships or from submarines above or below the water.

The Navy says the missile thus will provide atomic striking capability, from fast moving, constantly submerged, long-range, atomic- powered submarines against vital enemy tar­gets.

The Polaris also will be more accurate than the longer range intercontinental ballistic missiles, the Navy says.

The target or assigned range of the missile fired today was not indicated. However, in Washington William Holaday, Defense De­partment director of missiles, said the firing was considered a success.

“All I really know now is that they have called it a success,” Holaday said.

Holaday added that the device tested in­cludes “a forerunner of the Polaris propulsion engine.”

“We will be making and firing more of these as we go on with the development of the missile,” he said.

The Polaris is being manufactured by Lock­heed Aircraft Corporation at Sunnyvale and Palo Alto, Calif.

The missile as fully developed, probably by the early part of 1960, is likely to be 40 to 50 feet tall and 100 inches in diameter, and may be capable of carrying an atomic warhead of up to 1,000 pounds.

It thus will be smaller and lighter than the

other intermediate range ballistic missiles— the Air Force Thor and the Army Jupiter— but will be the biggest and most complex of the Navy missiles.

The Army and Air Force 1,500-mile range ballistic missiles use liquid propellants. The Polaris will have a solid propellant engine, manufactured by Aerojet-General Corpora­tion,^Sacramento, Calif.

A 50-foot simulated submarine launching platform, capable of reproducing the motions of a ship rolling and pitching on heaving seas, is under construction here.

It will be used to check the Polaris guidance and fire control systems as well as for actual launchings.

3rd Atomic Submarine Presented to the Navy

The New York Herald Tribune, December 24, 1957.—All of America’s submarines, as ^well as every other combatant ship in the Navy, “are designed to play some part in anti­submarine warfare,” Vice-Admiral Frank T. Watkins said today as the Navy accepted its third atomic submarine from the builder.

Admiral Watkins, commander of the Atlan­tic Fleet anti-submarine force, said at commis­sioning ceremonies for the submarine Skate that the Navy is stressing anti-submarine tactics because “the greatest threat to our

control of the sea today is the large and con­stantly increasing number of Soviet subma­rines.”

“Their submarine force today is the largest the world has ever seen,” the admiral con­tinued. “It has been constructed for only one purpose—to sever our lines of sea communi­cation with our allies and to prevent us from projecting and maintaining our military forces overseas.”

The Skate was commissioned at the dock of the Electric Boat Division of General Dy­namics Corp. from which the world’s first atomic submarine, the Nautilus, first sailed a little less than three years ago, and from which the Seawolf, the second atomic submarine sailed less than a year ago.

These two submarines already have “dem­onstrated their own capabilities in the anti­submarine role,” declared Admiral Watkins.

Unlike the Nautilus and Seawolf, which were built from separate designs, the Skate is the first production atomic submarine, built from a design which will be followed in the con­struction of future nuclear powered craft.

She has a crew of eighty-five officers and men, displaces 2,190 tons and is 267 feet long, about 25 per cent smaller than her two prede­cessors.

British Jacks

By Lieutenant Commander A. G. GRAHAM*

USNR (Ret.)*

An interesting article by A. Peacock on the origin, use and misuse of the “Union Jack,” and various other jacks in the British naval and merchant services appeared in the Octo­ber 1957 issue of Sea Breezes.

Mr. Peacock points out that the Union Flag (as he prefers to call it—it being a Union Jack only when flown at the jackstaff) came into being soon after the union of the crowns of England and Scotland under James I in 1603. By combining the red upright St.

* The author earned his master’s license and an LL.B. from Stanford University by 1926 and was admitted to the New York Bar that year. Although not on active duty, he has commanded various of the Farrell Lines’ ships since 1941, the latest being the SS African Enterprise.

George’s cross of England with the white di­agonal St. Andrew’s cross of Scotland on a blue field, the new flag clearly and attrac­tively symbolized the union. In 1606 King James introduced it for use at sea, “and to this day” (the only change being the addition of St. Patrick’s cross in 1801) “it remains a Royal flag with strong naval sentiments and connections.” It is the present day national flag of the British Empire and the official jack of the Royal Navy.

Originally both the Royal Navy and the Merchant Service flew (or “wore” as the British express it) the Union Flag at the main­mast head and this custom continued for al­most a generation. Then, in 1634, a royal proclamation ordered the flag brought down to the sprit-sail topmast head (thereby giving it the function and designation of a jack) and also withdrew from the Merchant Service the privilege of wearing it thereafter.

The reason for the withdrawal was said to be the difficulty foreigners claimed they had in distinguishing between men-of-war and merchantmen, thus providing them with an excuse for failing to salute H.M. vessels—a touchy subject at that time. “But Perrin, the well known Admiralty librarian, in his stand­ard work on the subject—‘British Flags’ (1922)—suggests a deeper underlying cause, jealousy of the mercantile marine” (which had flourished while the “Navie Royall” had declined under the Stuarts). An any rate, and whatever the reason, the Merchant Service was deprived of the Union Jack, “and ever since then the prohibition has been a sore point and remains so to this day.”

As a result of this (and some later rulings on the subject) there is no officially recognized jack for the British Merchant Service and every shipowner is free to adopt a jack of his own choosing. This accounts for the wide variety of jacks displayed by British merchant­men and provides an interesting harbor pas­time for those in the know—jack watching.

Perhaps the most commonly adopted single jack is the so-called “pilot jack” (the Union surrounded by a white border—originally a signal flag for calling a pilot) which is a close approach to the Union Jack but lacks its his­torical and sentimental significance. Collec­tively the most numerous are the “house flag” jacks, viz, jackstaff replicas of the various owners’ (or “house”) flags, which latter are flown at the main truck of every merchant vessel. The famous Cunard Line fleet, includ­ing the Big Queens, follow this practice. An interesting variation of it is found in the Clan Line which provides a distinctively different jack for each ship of its large fleet. The ships are named for the various Scottish clans and the jack of each ship carries the tartan (or plaid as we miscall it) of the clan the ship is named for, with the Clan Line’s house insig­nia superimposed.

“A Liverpool company—Lamport and Holt-—flies what is called its civic jack” carry­ing the arms of the City of Liverpool, a privi­lege officially granted to it by the city; another company permits its senior or “commodore” captain to fly his personal pennant as a jack (a practice that Mr. Peacock severely criti­cizes since the jack was never meant to be a personal flag); while the Pacific Steam Navi­gation Company provides its two passenger ships (the Reina del Pacifica and Reina del Mar) with replicas of the Red Ensign to wear as jacks.

This last practice is approved above all others by Mr. Peacock as it conforms to the original idea of a jack being a national flag and not a local or company or personal flag; and the Red Ensign has been the official flag of the British Merchant Service since 1707 which gives it historical and sentimental pref­erence over the pilot jack, the only other mer­chant jack having a national character. He hopes the idea will spread but confesses that it may run into opposition, and recalls the ex­perience of the H.Q. ship, Wellington, moored in the Thames, which flew a red-ensign-jack for a time—“but the rude remarks of ignorant barge hands, tugmen, etc., inquiring if those on board did not know the difference between the bow and the stern, caused the change to the pilot jack.”

There is a question about flag etiquette con­cerning the jack that I have heard asked countless times over the years—but never sstisfactorily answered until now. Mr. Peacock states the situation and supplies the answer with a conciseness that has the ring of au­thority. “It should be noted,” he writes, “that usually the jack is not flown when un­der way. This is a custom handed down from the time when the headsails of sailing vessels

interfered with the stepping of the staff on the bowsprit cap.”

Navy Proposes Atomic Seaplane As First U. S. Nuclear Aircraft

By John W. Finney

The New York Times, January 3, 1958.— The Navy is proposing that this nation’s first nuclear-powered airplane be a seaplane.

The Navy proposal was outlined at a high level meeting in the office of Donald A. Quarles, Deputy Secretary of Defense.

The meeting was called to discuss plans for nuclear-powered planes and whether to ac­celerate the development schedule by placing an atomic power plant in an existing air­plane.

The participants included high officials of Navy, Air Force and the Atomic Energy Commission. No final decision was reached, it was understood.

Officials who attended the meeting said that about the only agreement reached was to hold another meeting soon. On all sides, how­ever, there is hope that a decision will be reached shortly establishing a firm plan for flying the first nuclear-powered plane.

The Navy proposal complicates the De­fense Department’s forthcoming decision and ‘ntroduces a note of interservice competition.

The department now must decide these basic questions:

Should the plane be specifically designed ^and built for nuclear power or should a nu­clear reactor be placed in an existing airplane ^So as to offset an atomic plane flying at an earlier date?

Should it be a land-based plane of the Air Force or a seaplane of the Navy?

The Defense Department is under heavy Congressional pressure from the Joint Com­mittee on Atomic Energy to establish a firm timetable for the first atomic plane.

For several years the project has been on- ^again-off-again, with varying and indefinite objectives. Last year the committee exacted a commitment from Mr. Quarles to set a firm °bjective.

The pressure from Congress has been com­pounded by the possibility that the Soviet Union might fly a nuclear plane first. Conse­quently, in recent weeks the Defense Depart­ment has begun considering proposals to ac­celerate the timetable by placing a nuclear power plant in an existing airframe.

The Air Force has come forward with pro­posals that the B-52 intercontinental jet bomber or the KC-135 jet tanker could be modified to carry an atomic power plant.

Joint Project Envisioned

Under the Navy proposal to adapt existing seaplanes for nuclear power, the endeavor would be a joint Air Force-Navy project. The Navy argues that it would get a useful naval weapon, while the Air Force could obtain necessary developmental information for building a nuclear-powered bomber later.

The Navy’s concept is a seaplane that would be subsonic in speed but have tremen­dous range because of its nuclear power. The Navy believes such a plane would be extreme­ly valuable for anti-submarine warfare, for patrol work and for early radar warning of an enemy air attack.

The Navy argument is designed to trump one of the basic Air Force objections that it has no pressing interest in a subsonic bomber, even with nuclear power. The Air Force’s goal in the past has been a supersonic nuclear bomber that would fly faster than 700 miles an hour.

The Navy contends that a subsonic nuclear plane represents a more practical and easier first step—as well as a useful weapon for the Navy.

Could Use Low Power

Only a low-powered atomic power plant would be needed, thus reducing the output of deadly radiation that must be guarded against by heavy shielding. The supersonic bomber would need a much more powerful reactor, thus increasing the radiation and shielding problems.

The Navy also suggests that a seaplane would be safer to test than a land-based ver­sion. The plane could be operated at remote bases and only over oceans. Thus it would avert the possibility of a crash that could scat­ter radiation over populated areas.

The Air Force’s objection to the Navy pro­posal is that the Navy is interested in a turbo­prop engine while all the research thus far has concentrated on a turbo-jet engine using nuclear energy. In a turbo-prop, the jet en­gine is used to power a propeller.'A turbo-jet uses the thrust of its exhaust for propulsion.

Work is now far advanced on the turbo-jet engine. It is scheduled to be put through its first running tests, with a conventional heat source next month. To turn now to a turbo­prop engine, the Air Force argues, would

mean years more of developmental work.

Among the existing seaplanes suggested by Navy officials for nuclear power were these: The Princess, a huge, ten-engine flying boat built by the British and now in mothballs; the R3Y Tradewind, a four-engine turbo-prop seaplane used by the Navy as a transport; the Mars, a large flying boat built at the end of World War II and now up for sale by the Navy; and the P6M Seamaster, a new multi­jet seaplane now being built for the Navy by the Martin Company.

SQUARE RIGGED TRAINING SHIPS

Proceedings of the Merchant Marine Council, USCG, December, 1957.—Seventeen nations utilize square rigged sailing ships for merchant marine and naval training purposes, it was pointed out in a recent New York Times article.

Although details are lacking, the Soviet Union is known to have more than a dozen barken- tines built by Finland as World War II reparations, but the names are unknown.

Following is a list of seagoing square-rigged training vessels identifiable by past or present names or still under construction, as reported in the Times:

Official U. S. Coast Guard Photograph

U. S. COAST GUARD ACADEMY’S TRAINING BARK “EAGLE”

Year

* Under construction.

Reds Prove Cooperative

By Desmond Wettern *

When the 900-ton fleet minesweeper HMS Welcome docked on a courtesy visit at North Shields recently one of her officers reported that the Red trawlermen in the North Sea Were “most cooperative.”

The Welcome is one of a number of mine­sweepers engaged in watching over the inter­ests of British fishermen in coastal waters, the North Sea, and Arctic waters. Ships of the Fishery Protection Squadron, as it is known, have been involved in various incidents for some years now with Iron Curtain fishing fleets.

In April of 1957 HMS Bramble, sister ship of the Welcome, made a dramatic dash from

* Mr. Wettern has contributed to Naval and Marine Journals on both sides of the Atlantic. A recent article appeared in the Professional Notes Section of the August, 1957 Proceedings.

Chatham Navy yard where she was giving her crew long leave and sailed 250 miles north­east of the port of Aberdeen, on Scotland’s northeast coast.

The trouble began when six British trawler skippers arrived at Aberdeen and reported Russian ships had shot their nets across those of the British ships. The British vessels work­ing on the Viking Bank 40 miles off northern Norway demanded Admiralty protection. About 25 British vessels were affected. The arrival of the Bramble smoothed things over and a report was made to the Admiralty though no details were published.

But now it seems the Reds are proving more cooperative. The Welcome spent some time with British fishing vessels working off the grounds near the mouth of the river Tyne, on the northeast coast of England. An officer in the Welcome reported that most of the trouble was caused by the Russians’ ignorance of fishing methods used by other countries.

Practically no drifter or seine net fishing is done by either the Russians or the Poles. “Possibly because of restrictions on their way of life they get little opportunity of finding out anything about it” the officer added. The usual method of trawling is for the trawler to tow only 200 or 300 fathoms of net astern but drifters and seiners often have over a mile of net astern. The Russians and Poles, not realiz­ing this, often lower their nets practically across the stern of British and other vessels, thus damaging their gear.

Realizing that ignorance of other countries’ methods was probably the cause of the trou­ble, parties from the Welcome boarded several of the Russian trawler depot ships. The Rus­sians were found to be “most cooperative and anxious to avoid further trouble.” Both Rus­sians and Poles in the depot ships even asked the British navy men to report offending trawlers to them. The Welcome arranged for British trawlers and other fishing vessels to re­port immediately the name and number of any foreign vessel bearing down on them. Whenever this was done the details were for­warded by Welcome to the Russian depot ships and the offending trawlers were called off without any damage being done.

Another important factor is that no Rus­sian vessels carry echo-sounding instruments for detecting shoals of fish so the Russians keep as close as possible to British vessels knowing that they all carry such equipment.

Often vessels of eight nations are fishing within an area of 600 square miles and as many as 300 vessels may be fishing at the same time. Incidents will certainly continue to oc­cur but things will definitely improve with the more reasonable attitude now being adopted by Iron Curtain vessels.

Sound Torpedoes Put on Navy Ships

The New York Times, January 16, 1958.-—- The Navy has announced that two new light­weight torpedoes—designed to seek out their targets by following sounds—have been de­livered to the Fleet.

The torpedoes are known as the Mark 32 and the Mark 43. They are the first of a new series developed by the Navy in its stepped up, concentration on anti-submarine warfare.

The Mark 43 can be launched from either

surface ships or aircraft. The Mark 32 is de­signed for ship launching only.

The Navy said the Mark 43 weighed only about one-eighth as much as aerial torpedoes used in World War II. It is about eight feet long and ten inches in diameter.

Rear Admiral E. E. Withington, Chief of the Bureau of Ordnance, said the Mark 43 was “actually a submersible guided missile and is capable of searching to great depths for enemy targets.” It is powered by a battery.

The Mark 43 was designed and developed by the Clevite Corporation of Cleveland. The same company is manufacturing the torpe­does for the Navy.

The Mark 32 is one of the simplest anti­submarine weapons the Navy has devel­oped. It can be tossed overboard from an open launcher. As soon as the torpedo hits the wa­ter, its built-in power plant and acoustical homing devices carry it at high speed to its target.

The Mark 32 was developed by the Gen­eral Electric Company and the Philco Corpo­ration in cooperation with the Bureau of Ord­nance. It is produced by Philco and the Naval Ordnance plant in Forest Park, 111.

New Navy Space Suit Solves Moon, Underwater Traveling

Navy Times, December 7, 1957.—A man can be comfortable walking on the ocean floor under extreme pressure or on the face of the moon where there is no pressure in a new­ly-developed Navy “space” suit.

The gear is the result of nine years’ research by the Air Crew Equipment Laboratory at the Philadelphia Naval Base.

It contains a sealed-in atmosphere which could sustain a man in a complete vacuum for hours—like in space—or it could serve as sub­marine escape equipment by compensating automatically for changes in pressure as men swam to the surface.

Designed primarily as an emergency suit for pilots at altitudes over 43,000 feet, the “space” suit would allow the moon traveler freedom of movement, while protecting him from extreme temperature changes in space.

The present suit provides a supply of pure oxygen at a pressure equal to that at 35,000 feet. This is as much oxygen a man would g^et

if he breathed ordinary air at 1900 feet above sea level.

The suit operates at this low pressure so it will not be too bulky when used by the first man to leave the earth’s atmosphere. The Air Force also has revealed its own space suit.

The Navy space suit has been rigorously tested in the lab’s four altitude chambers. In a test volunteer Richard J. McGowan re­mained without discomfort for 45 minutes in a tank of freezing brine while minus 40-degree Fahrenheit air blew over him.

To combat heat that might be found in space travels, the suit includes a pair of glori­fied long johns with tubes that keep cooling streams of oxygen playing over the body.

In an altitude test of the suit, McGowan entered a chamber which was depressurized to the equal of an 80,000-foot altitude. After eight hours observers grew tired, but Mc­Gowan stayed there for three more hours without any ill effects.

The space suit has had at least one unre­hearsed test which saved the life of a Navy pilot. The flier had the suit connected to his aircraft’s oxygen supply while flying for Ex­perimental Squadron 3 of Atlantic City Naval Air Station, N. J.

The plane lost power and cockpit pressure at 54,000 feet, but the suit automatically in­flated and enabled the pilot to bring his plane down to a safe altitude.

To combat effects of the great acceleration needed to propel a man into space, the man Would wear an anti-gravity suit under his space outfit. If the man was lying on his back during the acceleration and deceleration Parts of the trip, he would probably not even need anti-G protection, according to Capt. Charles F. Gell (MC) USN, director of the laboratory.

In order to prolong the time a man can stay in space, Navy scientists hope to eventually develop a means for feeding and as well as for discharging body wastes. With these contem­plated improvements, a man could live in the suit for days.

And since there will be no source of water during a long space voyage, Navy researchers nre working on various methods of reclaiming Water that must not be wasted in a space craft. They also have been experimenting With chemical methods of continuously chang­ing exhaled carbon dioxide back into breath­able oxygen.

Solid Fuel Seen Best for Rocket

The Baltimore Sun, January 13, 1958.— The conquest of space depends now on big rocket engines using solid fuels, a missiles ex­pert said today.

The report was published just two days after the Army announced it had been or­dered to design a new solid fuel rocket to re­place its huge liquid-fueled Redstone, a 200- mile range missile.

The Navy is developing a solid fuel missile, the Polaris, for launching from surface ships and submerged submarines. It is in the 1,500- mile class.

Harold W. Ritchey, writing in Astronau­tics, a magazine of the American Rocket So­ciety, said enlarging a current solid fuel en­gine like the Recruit could provide a first-stage vehicle to enter space.

Recruit 9 Inches in Diameter

The Recruit is a relatively small missile measuring 9 inches in diameter and weighing about 350 pounds.

Ritchey said old arguments against solid fuels are now largely outdated by progress in the field. One of these arguments was that solid fuel rockets were hazardous and unpre­dictable bombs full of explosive.

With liquid fuel engines, Ritchey said, many mechanical devices must be used to pump the fuel into the combustion chamber. The more devices used, the greater change of failure, he added.

So far liquid engines have failed to prove they were very reliable, Ritchey said.

Reliability Well Known

“The reliability of large liquid engines,” Ritchey said, “is a matter of common knowl­edge to those who read the newspapers. If you are a collector of such statistics, compare them to the record of the largest solid engine powered missiles yet flight tested.

“In 40 flights of experimental missiles, there has been one failure partially attribut­able to the engine, and this was caused by a very simple and easily corrected defect.”

He did not name the solid fuel missile.

A Guide to the Annapolis Area

The following guide is provided for the identification of landmarks shown in the aerial photograph on pages 144-145.

1.          Bancroft Hall

2.           Dahlgren Hall

3.           Ward Hall

4.           Field House

5.           Macdonough Hall and Luce Hall

6.           Chapel

7.           Mahan, Maury, and Sampson Halls

8.           Isherwood, Griffin, and Melville Halls

9.           Worden Field

10.     Hubbard Boathouse

11.     U. S. Naval Hospital

12.     Halligan Hall

13.     Perry Circle Apartments

14.     Arundel Estates

15.     Public Works Shops and Storage

16.   Site of New Navy-Marine Corps Memo­rial Stadium

17.     Admiral Heights

18.     West Annapolis

19.     Wardour

20.      New Severn River Bridge

21.      Old B. & A. R. R. Bridge

22.      Old Severn River Bridge

23.      Pendennis Mount

24.      Ferry Farms

25.      St. Anne’s Church

26.      State House

27.      St. Mary’s Church

28.      Annapolis Yacht Club

29.      City Dock

30.      City Parking Lot

31.      Annapolis Grammar School

32.      Site of New State Office Building

33.      State Office Building

34.      Governor’s Mansion

35.      St. John’s College

36.      Anne Arundel County Court House

37.      Anne Arundel General Hospital

38.      New Access Road into Annapolis

In addition, he said, solid fuel missiles can provide more thrust, while the liquid fueled missile is inherently poor in this capability.

Furthermore, Ritchey said, as the search goes on for high energy fuels beyond the capa­bility of either liquid or solid petroleum fuels, most of the promising materials are solid in nature.

Report from Germany

By Rear Admiral Siegfried H. Engel,

Former German Navy

An outstanding event of this year as far as the German Federal Navy is concerned, has been the commissioning of the PT-boat Jag­uar at the Yard of Fr. Liirssen, Bremen-Vege- ^sack, in the presence of the CO Naval Forces, Flottillen-Admiral Johannesson. Jaguar is the first naval vessel built for the Federal Navy in Germany since the end of World 'Var II. On this occasion all Naval Attaches °f the NATO navies sent messages of con­gratulation to Vice Admiral Ruge, Inspector °* the German Navy, welcoming this impor­tant step in the rebuilding of a German fleet.

Jaguar in the meantime has arrived at blensburg-Miirwik as the first unit of the 3 PT-boat squadron to be stationed there. The ^sfluadron is under the command of Com- tttander Heinz Haag, an expert at E-boat war­fare with a great deal of experience in the Mediterranean as well as in the British Chan- ^neh Other boats will follow next year, litis, ^°{f, and Luchs already being afloat.

It may be mentioned that this same yard ^ Liirssen built the first German steamship UJ(J years ago. These new PT-boats have a ^ength of 40 meters, a width of 7 meters and

a displacement of approximately 140 tons. The armament consists of two 4 cm. light flak guns and four English-built torpedo-tubes. Four Daimler-Benz Diesel engines, type MB 518, of 3,000 HP each will give them a speed of 42 knots.

The taking over of the first “loan”-destroyer of the U. S. Navy is progressing according to plan. In the beginning of 1957 the first Ger­man naval officers belonging to the designated crew of the first destroyer left Germany and since then have been trained in the United States at different schools as well as on board in order to learn their lessons the hard way, which they did. In the middle of November 190 more men left Bremen for Charleston to join their comrades by now perfectly in the know. In January, 1958 the German comple­ment boarded DD Anthony, which is ex­pected to arrive at Kiel in April. She then will be named “Zl,” since it is not intended to give names to loan-destroyers. Of the DD’s to be built in Germany eight so far have been appropriated for. They then will be named after the capitals of the German “Lander.”

Navy Fires The “Talos,” Army Helps

The New York Herald Tribune, December 14, 1957.-—The first firing of the Army’s new Talos land-based defense unit here was suc­cessfully carried out today by the Navy with one of its own Talos missiles. It was a show of inter-service teamwork, officials said.

Although the Talos defense was turned over by the Navy to the Army two months ago, the Navy stepped in to fire its missile to provide earlier and fuller evaluation of the land-based system.

'Flic Navy has been conducting l alos tests for more than two years from its shipboard- simulated desert site here. The Army plans to fire its Talos from the defense unit in January.

Army Assists

Today’s firing of the Navy Talos was con­ducted on a Navy flight plan with Army per­sonnel assisting the Navy team.

This was the explosive type Talos, not the nuclear type, and was fired at a B-17 drone flying far down range at a medium altitude.

The defense unit was designed and built by RCA under a Navy contract. In a three-way turnover ceremony here Oct. 15, RCA turned over the completed unit to the Navy, which immediately turned it over to the Army for land-based testing of the Talos. Both services will continue testing the missiles here.

France:   Launching of the Carrier

“Clemenceau”

Translated from Bulletin d'Information de La Marine Rationale, 17-24 December, 1957.— The 27,000-ton aircraft carrier Clemenceau was launched Saturday, 21 December, 1957. The Brest navy yard constructed this vessel, which is the first such vessel built by the Naval En­gineering Corps, the Bearn having been orig­inally designed as a battleship and modified during the course of construction. Present at the ceremony were the Secretary of State for the Navy, Monsieur Alain Poher, Chief of Na­val Operations, Admiral Henry Nomy, and many civilian and military personalities, in­cluding most of the former Secretaries of the Navy, General Ely, Chief of General Staff of the Armed Forces, parliamentary members from the region, and many Senators and Dep­uties from Paris.

The Naval Construction Corps (le Genie Maritime), which planned and effected the construction of this fine ship, was represented by many ranking figures, in particular Mon­sieur V Ingenieur General du Genie Maritime Balland, Central Director of Naval Construc­tions and Weapons, Monsieur I'Ingenieur General du Genie Maritime Morel, Director of the Technical Service of Naval Construc­tions and Weapons, Ingenieur en Chef du Genie Maritime Baron, Chief of the Aircraft Carrier Section, all of whom participated at the upper echelons of planning the Clemen­ceau.

The absence of Ingenieur en Chef du Genie Maritime Paton, who died recently, was felt by ^aU- The thought that this talented officer had given his all to the creation of France’s first modern aircraft carrier was in the minds of all present.

Monsieur Michel Clemenceau, son of the great French statesman, contributed his per­sonal memories of Georges Clemenceau to the Navy on this occasion.

Monsieur Poher, in his ceremonial address, stated as a keynote:

“Clemenceau, Foch: The Navy wants to associate these two names once more in giving them to its first two modern aircraft carriers.

“At a moment when some people would like to see us abandon our efforts and bring them to bear in other operations, it is our duty as Secretary of the Navy to give voice to our alarms. What would happen to our living standards and social progress if we had noth­ing prepared for the defense of our national security? We have subscribed to certain obli­gations within the framework of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, which require our effective cooperation in the common security. What could we expect of our allies if we were not determined to defend ourselves?

“France will need for a long time to come a coherent military ensemble in which each Arm should maintain its place. A National Defense without a Navy is inconceivable.

Pointing out the advantages of the aircraft carriers, Monsieur Poher said:

“This vessel has great military value and is as well suited for anti-submarine warfare as for the aerial protection of an intervention force or the air support of an amphibious operation.”

In conclusion, the Secretary of the Navy said:

“Hence it is with confidence in the future that I preside at this ceremony in the heart of the Breton province that has given so much to the Navy, in this city of Brest, which has risen from its ruins to take its place as a great military port.”

Federal German Republic: Sailboat Training in the Navy

Translated from report of Commander Hans Engel in Truppenpraxis, No. 10, 1957.— The Inspector of the Bundesmarine has empha­sized in various connections the value of sail­ing for the development of seamanlike and officer qualities. Such sailing includes Pirate or Star class boats, cruising or regatta prac­tice. Annual planning will be required to ob­tain adequate material, and the effort will have to extend over several years. For the time being, all opportunities to participate in sailing are to be used, including charter possi­bilities such as the FSC, KYC, BKYC. As a temporary measure, the command has been

issued to commence familiarization work; even this summer certain “holidays” can be used for cruises on outside boats from the Zuidersee to “Skagen rund.” Obviously this will be far from the desired goal; too high a percentage of naval officers will still be on the beach.

A boat equipped with a sextant and a sim­ple radio receiver offers in its routine practice many possibilities for refreshing navigational experience: the usual dead reckoning, position finding by measuring altitude and horizon angles, noon latitude, Konsol radio beacons. The calculation of currents and the study of simple weather rules plus the evaluation of weather charts afford additional practice.

This is all not basically new. In contrast to former times, however, as we build up fleet personnel, there will be fewer shore billets, percentagewise. All the more reason for con­sidering sailboat experience under an entirely new aspect: Such activity affords a unique op­portunity to get a closeup view of the sea areas assigned to us for defense, and to get directly acquainted with their weather con­ditions, the narrow inlets and channels of the North Sea and the shallow seas, and putting into small ports not usually visited by naval vessels.

Added to the pleasurable aspect of this sport there is the possibility of conducting tactical exercises. In the event of extensive mining of the coast or the obstruction of our few large commercial ports, we shall be aware in advance of the “holes,” and know how to sweep the areas and escort vessels in and out. The harbor books of the North Sea and the Baltic published by the cruising section of the DSV (German Sailing Club) are an indispen­sable item of the ship’s library in all of our sail­ing yachts. They should be read and used by us to further this program.

Before leaving this subject, we must make a plea for the larger sea cruiser. We can get meteorological experience, and make correct use of the weather with our boats only when we are really sailing over the sea, that is, over the North Sea toward Holland, England, Norway, and over the Baltic toward Gotland. For this we should have boats of the ideal size and shape, like our old 50 sq. meter and 100 sq. meter cruisers, which unfortunately are no longer being built as a class. In size and sea­worthiness they correspond somewhat to the present boats built according to the KR for­mula.

Surface Gravity Study Made in Navy Vessel

Navy Times, January 1, 1958.—The first successful surface measurements of gravity in the open sea have been made on the Navy ship Compass Island by J. Lamar Worzel of the La- mont Geological Observatory.

The measurements were made as part of a program to chart gravity variations through the world during the International Geophys­ical Year.

A newly-developed sea gravimeter was used by Worzel to make the unprecedented surface measurements. The instrument was mounted on a gyro-stabilized platform installed aboard the Compass Island. Previously, gravity values for ocean areas had to be measured in sub­marines at quiet depths.

The difficulty of obtaining and fitting sub­marines for this purpose reduced to a mini­mum gravity data for the 80 percent of the earth’s surface is covered by water. The new sea gravimeter, developed by Anton Graf of Munich, Germany, now makes it possible to take gravity measurements simply and quick­ly any place on ocean surfaces.

Surface gravity measurements from the Compass Island were taken in nine hours, as compared with two days for earlier submarine measurements. The data were reduced in just one-ha If day, as compared with two weeks needed to adjust and compute data from sub­marine measurements.

To date there have been only 4,000 meas­urements of gravity at sea made throughout the world. Roughly half of these have been made by the Lamont Geological Observatory in the past 10 years, using pendulums carried in submerged submarines.

Gravity measurements are used to deter­mine the shape of the earth, the true direction of the earth’s center, and the density of the material of the top-most layers. When gravity and seismic measurements are used together the thickness of the earth’s crust can also be determined.

Gravity determination of the true vertical and the shape of the earth are among the most