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By Captain Lester S. Chambers, USN
By Lieutenant Luciano P. Montanaro, USN
By Lieutenant Commander Guy E. Thompson, U. S. Navy
THE NOTEBOOK—Briefs of Military News........................................................................................... 134
By Professor C. P. Lemieux, USNA
HOW IT WORKS
By John A. Kessler and Ralph G. Eldridge
By Captain Duncan D. Chaplin, III, USMC
MIDWAY, KEARSARGE, AND HANCOCK LEAD THE FIRST FLEET INTO SAN FRANCISCO
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT PHASE OF AIRCRAFT PROCUREMENT
How many of us have heard or read of a new high performance aircraft that is just around the corner, and then two tours later have been ordered to some outfit which should have this aircraft and find that it is still on the way. Some discussion of what goes on during all this time might be of value.
There are three major phases that occur during this period of an aircraft’s life: First— all the planning and budgeting before a contract is ever let, that is, the establishment of a program. This is followed by the actual engineering and development work, usually done under contract with one of the major aircraft firms. Finally, this is followed by extensive testing given before such aircraft are delivered to the Fleet. We will take a look at each phase in turn.
Establishment of Program
The initiation of a new aircraft model may spring from analysis made by the Bureau of Naval Weapons in response to an Operational Requirement, which shows that satisfaction of the requirement is feasible and within the state of the art and that a priced program can be proposed; or it may come from a proposal made by one of the aircraft manufacturers who has knowledge of our broad requirements and has prepared the general oudine of a new aircraft to meet one of our particular needs. The latter is a fruitful source of new aircraft models, and modifies somewhat the procedures outlined herein. The F4H and A3J resulted from direct, unsolicited proposals; while the F8U and A2F were procured through the “normal” competitive process.
The first concrete step toward getting a new program underway is the preparation by the Bureau of a Technical Development Plan. This document constitutes a quite detailed development program for the entire aircraft system with schedules for all the major components, and a cost analysis of the entire system. It is submitted to the Chief of Naval Operations where it is analyzed and its compatibility with other proposed programs, time and money wise, is determined. When the plan is approved the Bureau finally has a program, and can start fighting the battle of the budget.
The Bureau will start the preparation of its budget almost two full years before the funds can be released to a contractor to start his development work. During all this period the proponents of the new system must constantly support and defend it in the competition for available dollars. This results in an almost endless series of hearings before various Navy boards and officials, the Department of Defense, the Bureau of the Budget, and finally, the Congress. After Congress appropriates the money, much the same process must then be repeated in the apportionment hearings through which the Bureau of the Budget and Department of Defense release the funds to the Bureau for execution of a contract. By now as much as three years will have passed since the design was originally conceived! If, in any of these many reviews, the program fails to best its competition and drops out, it is, of course, delayed an additional year.
Contracting and Development
Normally new model aircraft programs are contracted through competitive procurement. A compelling case must be made in order to obtain clearance for straight negotiation with a single contractor. By the time the program funds are released the Bureau will have prepared a type or bid specification for use in such a competition. This is a rather general document which describes in terms of its performance what the aircraft is expected to do, rather than describing in detail a particular design. It will usually list the navigation, communication, and fire control equipments which the Weapon System should have. It will normally contain a list of engines which are available and can be used by the aircraft designers in preparing their designs. The specification is then forwarded to those members of the aircraft industry desiring to compete for the contract, with a request for proposals, which outlines the type of contract desired, the number of aircraft to be built and other details of a contractual nature. It also specifies the time in which bids must be presented and opened. After the bids are opened the Bureau conducts a very detailed and comprehensive evaluation of each design submitted. The various designs are compared not only on the basis of price, but also on performance, size, weight, general arrangement, the capability of the contractor to perform under the contract, his plant loading or work load, and other pertinent factors. After much soul searching on the part of many people of the Bureau who will later be concerned with the prosecution of the program a choice is made. After it has been cleared by the appropriate people in the Navy Department the results of the competition are publicly announced. Negotiations with the successful bidder can then commence, leading to the formulation of a detail specification with its test program and all the technical data which must be submitted by the contractor. By this time an additional nine months or so will have elapsed since the money has been released, a period of pretty frantic effort on the part of both the contractors and people in the Bureau. But at last drawings begin to be signed, metal begins to be cut, and a new aircraft is in fact on its way.
The modern highly complicated aircraft weapon systems take about three years from the time of contract to the first flight of the new aircraft. During this period thousands of people in the contractor’s plant are busily engaged in the many detailed tasks which are involved in the design of such a system. A team of personnel in the Bureau is continuously employed monitoring the development effort of the contractor; making many decisions, some large, some small, that will dictate the usefulness and effectiveness of this system when it finally reaches the fleet. Due to the long lead times involved in the production of these equipments it is normally necessary to let production contracts for sizeable quantities for fleet use long before the first flight of the prototype aircraft occurs. This gamble, which on occasion has turned out disastrously, is necessary if we are to deliver to the fleet aircraft that are not already obsolete. It means, however, that the Research and Development people must often make decisions in the absence of data from tests or analysis that they would like to have, in order to stay ahead of the production line which is constantly yapping at their heels.
Flight Testing
A very extensive (and expensive) test program is conducted on each of our new model aircraft. There are two principal aims in these test programs. The first is proof-of-design testing. This is accomplished by the contractor with his own pilots, usually at his own plant or perhaps at Edwards Air Force Base. Its purpose is to assure that the aircraft is safe for all intended operations and loadings for which it is intended. These flights consist of many structural tests to demonstrate that the aircraft has adequate strength for all maneuvers and landing conditions to which it will be subjected. There are many aerodynamic stability and control tests that must be performed to assure that adequate flying qualities are incorporated, either through the inherent characteristics of the machine or through black boxes to simulate proper flight control characteristics. Tests are made to insure stores will not foul the aircraft structure and cause damage when released. Preliminary carrier suitability tests are run with field catapult and arresting gear installations. Various communications and navigation equipments are checked to insure that they operate satisfactorily. During the contractor test program Navy teams of pilots and engineers are sent out from the Naval Air Test Center to check on the progress of the test program.
The second major phase of the flight test program starts when the aircraft are delivered to the Naval Air Test Center, Patuxent River, Maryland, for the preliminary Board of Inspection and Survey evaluation. This normally occurs when sufficient flight envelope has been demonstrated to permit useful tactical flight of the aircraft, and also when a sufficient number of the aircraft have been built and equipped with the navigation, communication, armament, and other equipments necessary. Usually six or seven aircraft are involved in this phase of the program, and while the bulk of them will normally be concentrated at Patuxent, aircraft involving missile systems will also be tested simultaneously at the Naval Missile Center, Point Mugu, California. Special weapon carriers will be wrung out at the Naval Air Special Weapon Facility at the Kirtland Air Force Base, Albuquerque. At this time navy pilots and maintenance personnel have their first real crack at the new aircraft. It is flown very intensively for a period of 60 days. At the end of this time a comprehensive report is submitted to the Bureau where it is evaluated with the contractor, the test personnel, CNO people and representatives from the fleet commands which will first receive the aircraft. Decisions are made as to which of the deficiencies uncovered in the evaluation process must be corrected before the aircraft is delivered to the fleet, which ones can be left for correction at a later date, and which, if any, must be lived with in service. The intent of this part of the program is to discover at an early date “bugs” and shortcomings in the plane so that they may be corrected in the production process and thus avoid major backfit programs in the fleet. As everyone who has received new aircraft into his command is well aware, this process does not by any means catch all the troubles, but it does uncover a great many faults which would later detract seriously from the capability of the aircraft and would result in sizeable backfit programs.
When corrective action has been taken by the contractor on the major defects uncovered in this evaluation process the aircraft is finally delivered to the replacement air-group or to the fleet introduction program for initial fleet use. About two years is usually consumed between the first flight of a new model and the time it finds itself in the hands of a replacement air-group in the fleet.
Thus it takes some 7 to 9 years from the initial concept of a new design until it is first delivered into the hands of the replacement air-groups. Another year or more must elapse until the new aircraft forms a truly effective part of the Navy’s fighting strength. Many studies and efforts have been made to reduce this almost interminable period. However, it has been found that removing any phase of the development and test period actually increases the time to the achievement of effective capability in the fleet, since much of the test work and the discovering of the troubles would occur while the aircraft was actually in service. The time involved in the major backfit programs which would ensue would extend the time before a true capability could exist. The extremely high cost of development of modern aircraft (about a half a billion dollars will be spent on our modern systems before the first aircraft reaches the fleet) and the very intense competition for every budget dollar makes necessary the time and deliberation involved in establishing a program. Very hard choices must be made in eliminating the many desirable and worthwhile programs which must be cut out in order to adequately support the few which we can carry forward.
★
CONFIDENCE
Contributed by Captain Robert Waldron, USCG
While teaching navigation at the Coast Guard Academy, I always explained to the cadets that being a good navigator was 80% confidence and 20% book learning.
While on Eagle and taking sights with one of the fledgling navigators, I kept telling him to take another sight, as each sight of mine taken at the same instant of time was reading seven minutes of arc lower than his. After three or four attempts with the same difference in reading, the cadet turned to me in exasperation and said, “Sir, I wonder what you are doing wrong!”
(The Naval Institute will pay $5.00 for each anecdote accepted for publication in the Proceedings.)
TEST EQUIPMENT FOR THE NAVY’S BIG GUN—THE POLARIS MISSILE
At Cape Canaveral (tap) two flat-pad launchers flank the ship motion simulator which has been constructed mid-way between them. The ship motion simulator (lower left) has a pool adjacent to cushion impact of dummy missiles and to provide additional safety in case a live missile malfunctions and falls back. In the meantime, test firings are being conducted from the flat-pad launchers (lower right). A 900-mile test firing was made in January.
TESTING THE NAVY’S BIG GUN
There is a unique organization which is responsible for the development of the Fleet Ballistic Missile weapon system. The Washington, D. C. headquartered Special Projects Office (SP) is responsible to the Navy Ballistic Missile Committee for the technical development of the complete weapons system.
SP, acting as Weapons System Manager, has contracted various industrial corporations for the development of the major subsystems. Simultaneous work on the missile system by Lockheed, on the launcher by Wes- tinghouse, on fire control and guidance by General Electric and MIT, on inertial navigators by Sperry and North American and on submarine construction by civilian and naval shipyards is monitored and coordinated by SP. A very large number of subcontractors support the prime contractors charged with major subsystem development. This parallel approach plus early successes has sliced years off the original readiness date.
The focal point of much of the development equipment is the Air Force Missile Test Center at Cape Canaveral. Once the Banana River Naval Air Station, Patrick Air Force Base now provides headquarters and support facilities for the Atlantic Missile Range Station Number One at Cape Canaveral. Down range stations, usually referred to by number are located at Jupiter Inlet, Grand Bahama, Eleuthera, San Salvador, Mayaguana, Grand Turk, the Dominican Republic, Mayaguez, Antigua, St. Lucia, Fernando de Noronha and Ascension. Facilities at the cape include blockhouses, launch pads, radio and radar transmitters and receivers, electronic missile tracking system ground stations, telemetry reception stations, missile assembly buildings, camera and theodolite sites, a liquid oxygen manufacturing plant and support type installations such as fire protection, medical aid, cafeterias and security installations. Installations at down range stations include tracking devices and telemetry reception stations.
The telemetry stations receive signals generated by small transmitters located inside the missile which radio back to ground stations information such as accelerations, pressures, temperatures, vibrations, strains, events and control responses. Electronic and optical tracking system data are reduced to usable form in the Data Reduction facility located in the impressive Technical Laboratory Building at Patrick Air Force Base. Electronic tracking systems such as Azusa and radar systems provide missile trajectory and velocity information which is used in evaluation of missile performance and for impact prediction. Camera coverage provides further metric data in addition to documentary and engineering sequential film.
The Cape, which is situated on a sandy strip of land approximately fifteen miles north of Patrick, is separated from the Florida mainland by the Indian and Banana Rivers (Merritt Island intervenes). This area was first utilized as a missile launch site in July 1950 when a “Bumper” (German V-2 with a WAC Corporal attached) was fired. Since then, the expansion has been phenomenal. Down range tracking stations have been added which now provide an instrumented
5,0 mile range stretching into the South Atlantic Ocean off Ascension Island. The parade of missiles including Lark, Matador, Snark, Bomarc, Navajo, Jupiter, Redstone, Thor, Atlas, Polaris and Titan has been imposing. Epoch making launches of America’s first satellites, Army’s Explorer and Navy’s Vanguard, were made here.
The Air Force has contracted with Pan American World Airways Corporation for the operation and management of the range, including the launching site at Cape Canaveral. Pan American in turn subcontracted with RCA to handle instrumentation. The Air Force has retained very closely the responsibility for range safety and its officers are directly responsible for control of range safety devices, including the command de- struct system and its components. One of the most skillful and alert participants in a missile launch is the Range Safety Officer. Seated at
a console in Central Control before an array of electronic plotting displays, he is constantly being fed information from many tracking sources. It is his duty to quickly determine whether or not the missile is becoming a safety problem and to take prompt action if required. Missiles which are flying erratic courses are not necessarily destroyed. Only those which endanger populated areas are so disposed.
The naval organization at the Cape consists primarily of the U. S. Naval Ordnance Test Unit. The Unit supports Navy tests, at present, primarily Polaris. NOTU has the status of an independent naval command reporting to the Chief of the Bureau of Weapons for management control. Operating at AFMTC under joint tenancy agreements which stipulate that the conduct of navy tests will be in accord with Air Force safety regulations and operating procedures, the commanding officer of NOTU also wears the Air Force hat of Director of Navy Tests.
Also wearing two hats, one within the NOTU organization as Polaris Project Officer and one within the SP organization, is the Special Projects Field Officer (SPP). Administratively within NOTU, SPP reports directly to the Director, Special Projects as his representative at the range. SPP monitors and insures the timely completion of facilities to be used for FBM tests, is responsible for liaison with the range and has technical control of FBM weapons system tests at the range. In addition, SPP performs preliminary analysis of FBM tests at the range, monitors the operations of FBM civilian contractors, and administers the training program for naval personnel assigned in a training status.
Detailed test plans for FBM operations at the range are written by the Lockheed organization based on test specifications provided by subsystem contractors and approved by SP. These test plans are translated into the format required by the range and submitted to the range by SPP. The range documentation is detailed to the point of calling for particular pieces of range instrumentation, which on many tests number into the hundreds. The harmonizing agent calling for various functions to be performed on time is the countdown.
The growth of the Polaris test facilities at the Cape has been rapid and well planned. The Hangar Y area consists of Hangars Y and Z, a storage building and the Engineering and Laboratory Building. Hangars Y and Z provide space for missile assembly and checkout. A machine shop, spare parts storage, a telemetry ground station, subsystem laboratories and office space for the Lockheed Base Manager’s organization are located in Hangar Y. The Engineering and Lab Building provides additional space for contractor offices, a conference room and houses the navy training and support unit, a branch of SPP.
Missile components are flown in to the Cape area and are assembled and checked out in special checkout areas within Hangar Y and Hangar Z. The checked out missile is then transported to a nearby launch pad at Complex 25 or Complex 29 for final preparations prior to launch.
Complex 25 consists of blockhouse 25, which serves pad 25A, a flat pad, and pad 25B which houses the Ship Motion Simulator. In the background one can see Complex 29 which has another blockhouse serving a flat pad, this too for flight test work on Polaris.
The FBM weapons system is unique in that as contrasted to land based systems we have the additional problem of making the system compatible to a dynamic environment. The flight test plan is to first fly basic missile development configurations from the fiat pad. Then, in order to study the effects of a moving platform on the handling, storage, maintenance, checkout and launch of a missile we have constructed the ship motion simulator. From the simulator we have moved to an at- sea launcher installed in USS Observation Island (EAG-154). After shots from Observation Island we will then shoot, from our final launch configuration, the nuclear-powered, ballistic missile submarine.
Variously called “the cocktail shaker,” the “galloping gray monster” and countless other more descriptive names, the ship motion simulator is in reality an engineering marvel. Constructed within a pit 47 feet deep and approximately 30 feet square, the simulator is a fine testimony to the engineering knowhow of the Loewry Hydropress Division of the Baldwin Lima Hamilton Corporation. The water table in this section of Florida is only seven feet below ground level and so a series of cofferdams and well points was necessary to dewater the area to permit such a deep excavation.
All naval officers are familiar with the six principal motions of a ship in a seaway; three of translation, heave, surge and sway, and three of rotation, roll, pitch and yaw. The simulator reproduces three of these motions: roll, pitch and heave. It was felt that these three are the most pronounced and would have the greatest effect on a missile launch. Besides, provision of mechanism which would reproduce the other motions would make a very complicated and extra costly device. The huge electrohydraulic machine (total weight of moving metal approaches 175 tons) in which a prototype launch tube is gimbal mounted will heave a total of 16 feet, 8 feet above and below a neutral point. It will roll the launcher a total of 28 degrees, 14 degrees either side of the vertical, and will move the launcher in the pitch direction to the same plus or minus 14 degree limit. Each of these motions can be programmed into the simulator separately and independently. The period of each of the motions is variable between 6 and 21 seconds and the phase relation between them can be altered. Therefore, any combination of roll, heave and pitch within the limits described can be programmed to the simulator from a control panel in the blockhouse. A special computer is also provided which insures that the launcher fires when in exactly the right position to produce the desired launch aspect. It would even be possible to play into the programming unit a tape recording made of the motions an SSBN would experience on the surface in a seaway, and to reproduce these within the limits built into the simulator.
Because of the tremendous weight of the simulator and its load, the pit which houses it is massive. The walls are constructed of four feet of reinforced concrete and the whole assembly sits on a bottom of eight feet of concrete reinforced with steel. People often ask the dual question of why did we go through such trouble to construct this massive machine and then set it deep in a pit when everybody knows that the motions a submerged submarine experiences, even when a storm is raging above, are usually negligible. To answer the first question, the simulator was built in a pit so that mother earth could help absorb the massive lateral loads on the sides of the simulator’s mountings, for example when it heaves hard down combined with an accented roll and pitch cycle. The answer to the second question is a little more involved. First there was the consideration that we would like to crawl before we walk and walk before we run. Our first at sea launch was made from a surface ship. In addition to this we also want to retain the capability of shooting the missile from a surfaced submarine. Then too, we want to learn all we can about the missile’s performance when fired from a surfaced ship keeping in mind the possibility that this weapons system could be used in a surface ship.
Immediately to the north of the simulator pit is the underground equipment room which houses the hydraulic system which sends the simulator through its motions. One large 2,250 horsepower motor drives a pump which pressurizes the heave system. Another 700 horsepower motor drives a pump which takes suction on the same reservoir and provides pressure for the roll and pitch systems. The hydraulic fluid used is water with a slight amount of oil added for lubrication and rust prevention. Considering the large volume of fluid required water has the proper mechanical and thermal properties. Using water also cuts down the fire hazard considerably. Here in the land of rapidly advancing technology we also like to joke about water being an “off the shelf” item. The hydraulic fluid is sent into power actuating cylinders through valves which are programmed from the blockhouse. A balancing cylinder technique is utilized for most efficient operation.
A prototype launcher tube is mounted within the simulator. The Polaris test vehicle which was fired from the simulator early in August 1959 was ejected from this tube with compressed air and then, when at a certain height above the simulator, the first stage motor was automatically ignited and the missile’s guidance system directed it to its target.
Other navy facilities in the Cape Canaveral area include port facilities constructed on the north side of Port Canaveral. Port Canaveral is a deep water, man made port just south of the Cape and is used by the range for logistic support of down range stations, support and docking facilities for ocean range vessels, and as a base for recovery operations.
The port has retained civilian status and is used for commercial fishing and shipping. Navy facilities there include a 1,300 foot wharf, serviced by a 25 ton crane, a missile storage building, a power building and an office building. Water, electricity, steam and communications lines are available along the wharf. Operations of Observation Island in the Cape Canaveral area have demonstrated the basic adequacy of the port facilities and have aided in checking out range and shipborne equipment and instrumentation for future shipboard FBM tests at the range. These ship- borne tests were culminated by the launch of a Polaris test vehicle from the Observation Island last August.
Personnel at the test base are frequently privileged to brief visiting dignitaries and civilian and military groups from all the services on the FBM system and particularly on our unique simulator. When these groups include a repeat visitor, one who has seen what we had a year or so ago, he invariably cites the amazing progress since his last visit. Soon the FBM weapon system will take its place contributing to the strategic deterrent capability of this nation.
PRESENT-DAY NAVY NAVIGATION
What has happened to the art of navigation in the Navy? In recent years it has almost disappeared. At a time when the advent of the guided missile makes precise position knowledge more important than it has ever been, the Navy finds itself with fewer competent navigators than in the past.
Go aboard most destroyers and observe the quality of the navigation and who does it. I think that you will find that, except for harbor piloting, most of it is actually done by the chief quartermaster rather than by the officer who is at the moment filling the billet. Question the assigned navigators about any of the techniques of the art and draw your own conclusions; or look at the procession of position reports which give latitude and longitude to the tenth of a minute as derived from celestial lines of position. Are these navigators fooling their commanding officers into believing that they can fix the ship’s position this accurately? If they are, the indictment of the state of the navigational art in the Navy needs no further evidence.
What is being done to remedy the situation? The training of navigators in the various officer procurement programs is cursory to say the least. In the time allotted all that can be taught is the most rudimentary method of table punching. The accepted solution for the precise navigation required in missile operations appears to be some black box. The ability to punch tables and to operate any number of black boxes does not make a navigator.
When he reports to his first ship the junior officer has little chance of improving his skill. In most ships there will be no or very little required navigation training. In some ships he will be required at intervals to perform a day’s work. However, in very few instances will he actually complete a whole day’s work in one day since he will have watches, overcast, and general quarters that will interfere. Even if he does manage to get in a whole day’s work, the fact that he does this at such rare intervals makes it of value only as sight shooting and table punching practice. There is no continuity, no drill in the highly important harbor entrance planning.
In other ships—and these are all too few— the junior officer may find that he is from time to time taken off the watch bill and assigned as an assistant navigator for an entire week. In this case he will probably receive some exercise in the use of tide tables, coast pilots, light lists, chart catalogs, and all the other publications that are involved in the planning part of the navigator’s art. He will find that his work has continuity and that the work done today has a definite bearing on the work to be done tomorrow. Of course, a week is not going to make a navigator of him, but he will probably have several such weeks in each six month period and may develop a certain amount of technique.
Among the remaining ships—here there are too many—the junior officer will receive no navigation training.
There are in America two professional societies whose publications and membership should in part reflect the interest of naval officers in navigation. The first of these is the Naval Institute. In a recent ten year period (1949-1958) there appeared in the Naval Institute Proceedings thirteen articles on navigation. In addition there were twelve books concerned with navigation reviewed during this time. Eleven short notes under Discussion, Comments, and Notes and nine Professional Notes complete the tale of items of interest to the navigator over a ten year period. On the list of books published by the Naval Institute are only two on navigation.
The other professional society of interest to the navigator is the Institute of Navigation. Membership in this society, which is organized as a scientific society to advance the art and science of navigation, is open to all persons interested in navigation or related arts and sciences. The total membership is in the neighborhood of 1700. Of these, 22 are officers of the regular Navy on active duty.
The picture is not entirely dark as there are three areas of encouragement in the Navy’s navigation in recent years. The first is the assignment of a ship for the purpose of navigation research. Although it may be possible that the ship will be used more to develop black boxes and black box operators than navigators, it is a step in the right direction.
The other two highlights in recent developments are the revisions of Bowditch and Dutton. The revision of Bowditch is a tremendous contribution by the Navy. The new Dutton is a worthwhile revision and more than adequate for the task for which it was designed.
If these three events are portents of an increased interest in navigation by officers of the Navy, they are most welcome. If, however, they are isolated instances in an otherwise barren vista, we had better consider our qualifications to call ourselves mariners.
--------------------------------------- — ★ "
BEST POSSIBLE PROOF
Contributed by Major V. J. L. Blom, NMC
HNMS Van Kinsbergen, a Royal Netherlands Navy frigate, was on patrol in the North Atlantic with the British auxiliary cruiser Circassia in the early days of World War II.
The Dutch captain was rather keen on camouflage and had chosen the dazzle paint on the sides of the frigate very carefully. Still he was not completely satisfied with his efforts, so one day he gave orders to rig up an extra canvas dummy stack.
After the job was done, he signaled HMS Circassia, three miles away, “How do you like my camouflage?”
Circassia immediately blinked back, “Where are you?”
(The Naval Institute will pay S3.00for each anecdote accepted for publication in the Proceedings.)
A transistor-like device, the crystal, seen in contrast to a pencil point (left), operates at 1,500 degrees as an electronic circuit part (center). The upper diagram (right) shows normal alternating current with cycles going above and below the center line, while the bottom diagram shows how the tube acts in letting only the top half of the cycle through.
THE NOTEBOOK
Briefs of Military News
Water on Venus: A significant piece of information resulting from the recent fifteen mile balloon ascension by Commander Ross of ONR and Mr. Charles B. Moore was that traces of water vapor were found on Venus. A telescope for gathering light and a spectrometer for analyzing it were carried by the balloon to a point above the earth’s atmosphere. The light received by the telescope was reflected sunlight which had bounced off the clouds of Venus. Since the reflected sunlight does not enter the clouds, the observation indicates that the water vapor is in the atmosphere above the clouds. Carbon dioxide had previously been observed and estimated to be in much greater concentration than that found on earth. Oxygen in the atmosphere of Venus is very low. Hence, even though moisture increases the possibility of life on Venus, the probability is that any life on Venus is not air-breathing. It is possible that the clouds are water vapor and that water can be on the surface under the clouds.
New Blood Storage Technique: Procedure for the rapid freezing of whole blood in order to achieve long storage periods has been devised. At present, room-temperature storage of whole blood is limited to three weeks because red cells live only 120 days and do not reproduce themselves. In attempting to extend this period by low temperature storage, it is found that red cell walls are pierced during the formation of ice crystals. A method of agitating while quick freezing in liquid nitrogen is used to reduce the size of the ice crystals. Freezing is done in the same bulk containers which will later be thawed and used during the transfusion. It is estimated that the new technique will furnish only supplements to the normal blood bank system and that full use of the stock pile method will require much refinement of the technique.
Smog Progress: Two advances in the campaign against smog have been found. The first is a simple device for feeding the crank case breather discharge back into the intake manifold of the engine. In this manner a significant amount of carbon monoxide and fumes which normally were blown by the piston during the power stroke and vented to the atmosphere through the breather will now be fed back into the engine for more complete burning. It is believed that a rather economical device for accomplishing this will be available on automobiles in 1960. In the second move Dr. Smith of Franklin Institute Laboratories announced that nitrogen oxides which are the second main component of smog from automobile exhaust can be significantly reduced by using chromite catalysts. Active catalysts include zinc- copper chromite, iron chromite, barium- promoted copper chromite, and chromium- promoted iron oxide. In addition, chromites can improve the percentage oxidation of hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide which comprise the other significant component of smog. Further tests are needed to assure that lead additives and other substances will not poison the reaction and also to arrive at economical contrivances for achieving the reduction of impurities.
H2 Rocket Fuel: Liquid hydrogen has been successfully used in the test of a rocket engine at Pratt & Whitney under an Air Force project. A 15,000-pound rate of thrust was achieved along with starting, running, and stopping tests. The specific impulse which is a measure of the engine’s thrust per pound of propellent in a unit time was thirty per cent greater than current kerosene fueled rocket engines. There does not yet appear any limit to the possible size of this type engine.
Marines Test Cobra: In an independent weapons systems evaluation, separate from the normal U. S. Army procurement program, the U. S. Marine Corps is testing a new, German designed, wire guided antitank missile which is helicopter transportable and highly accurate in defensive or offensive use against enemy armor expected to be encountered in amphibious operations.
The “Cobra,” as named by its German designer, weighs only 20 pounds per round and includes a shaped charge warhead capable of penetrating 21 inches of armor plate. A launcher rail or pad is not necessary and
the only firing equipment required is a “joystick” type control box and the connecting firing cable. These two units, together, weigh less than five pounds, and may be used repeatedly. The missile is visually controlled up to its maximum range of one mile. A flight speed of up to 190 miles per hour provides a maximum time of controllable flight of about 30 seconds. If the missile has not contacted a target at the end of its maximum designed run, it explodes automatically.
This missile has already been tactically evaluated by the West German Army and is in mass production in West German plants.
The Marine Corps has contracted for 100 “Cobra” missiles which it will fire at Camp Pendleton, California, in a feasibility study to determine if the missile system meets the requirements of the Marine Corps.
The production cost, predicted to be less than $1,000 per round, is considerably less than any similar weapon.
A salient feature of this system is the TV simulator which can be provided to train troops in the firing techniques of the “Cobra” at a small fraction of actual firing costs.
Mars Optical Illusion: Various astronomers have observed apparently green and brown areas suggesting the possibility of seasonal vegetation on Mars. Professor Schmidt of Indiana University optometry division suggests the possibility of an optical illusion. By projecting a slide showing light and gray circles of various sizes on an orange background, the gray circles appear to be greenish. The color effect is enhanced by defocusing. This phenomenon is explained by demonstrating that dark areas against a light background of color appear to have a color which is complementary to the background. Fields lit with sunlight appear pale yellow but shadowed areas in the snow appear pale blue, which is complementary to the yellow.
Low Temperature Magnet: A new type of magnet giving an extremely stable magnetic field at very low temperatures was announced by Dr. Outler of the Lincoln Laboratory, MIT. The low temperature reduces the resistance of the wire carrying the current and is called a super-conductivity. The current once started appears to flow indefinitely and, in flowing, sets up a magnetic field. Both lead and tin become super-conductors near absolute zero but in this case niobium is used to obtain stronger magnetic fields.
In
New Test for Old Principle: A portion of Einstein’s relativity theory is now expected to be given a more conclusive test. The principle of equivalence indicates there is no observable difference between an acceleration due to gravity and an acceleration produced by any other force. It is believed that gravity will distort light by shifting its wave length. This is called gravitational red shift. Einstein suggested two ways to test this effect. Light from a star passing close to the sun should have its rays bent by the sun’s gravity. The second method is to measure the gravitational red shift in light reaching the earth but originating in a massive star. In this case the light rays would be slowed down along their paths due to the gravity of the originating star. Evidence appears to support both of these situations but not in a conclusive manner since all conditions of the experiment are not under the control of the experimenter. A German physicist Mossbauer discovered that emission of gamma rays from nuclei of solid material had constant and precise wavelengths in the visible light spectrum. Such wave lengths would be described as monochromatic. In reversing the process the material absorbs only gamma rays of that same precise frequency. Professor Pound of Harvard and Mr. Rebka, a graduate student ex-
tended this work to find gamma ray emitters which are more exact and lend themselves to the test of gravity red shift. Iron 57 is used as the emitter with a small amount of cobalt 57 as an impurity which will initiate 14 kilovolt gamma rays from the iron. Target for the rays is a piece of iron foil in front of a scintillation counter. From the counter can be determined the number of rays absorbed by the iron 57 in the foil. Higher accuracy will be permitted by moving the source very slowly in order to introduce a Doppler shift which at times will just cancel out the shift produced by gravity. The sensitivity of the new method can be compared to the Doppler shift in an automobile horn as the automobile passes close by. It is estimated that the new method would detect a shift equal to that produced in a horn which is passing at the rate of 1 inch in every one thousand years.
Computer Translator: At the University of California it is proposed to use an IBM 704 computer for translating from Russian to English. It will probably take years to develop the method but it is indicated that a Russian scientific journal could be translated in an hour at the cost of $360.00 machine rental time. This would be less than half the cost of translating in the normal manner. Before setting up the program for the machine, one million words or parts of words will have to be analyzed to make a workable mechanical dictionary. New symbols in English will be required for certain Russian words or parts of words.
Russian Space Casualties: The Italian news agency Continentale reports four unsuccessful attempts to put a human into space from the missile base near Lake Aral, about 230 miles east of the Caspian Sea. Alexei Ledowsky was launched late in 1957 after Sputnik II. He was tracked by instruments to about 200 miles distance where transmissions were interrupted and nothing further was heard. The second astronaut was Serenty Schiborin, who was launched early in 1958 and disappeared into space. The third pilot was Andreij Mitkow, launched in January 1959, whose rocket exploded twenty minutes after launch. In February of 1959 a woman pilot, Maria Gromov was launched in a space aircraft similar to the X 15. No information was available on the flight performance.
New Army Shelter: The Quartermaster Corps announced a new experimental type shelter which has possibilities as a lightweight, quickly assembled shelter. A plastic liquid is sprayed over the surface of an inflated canvas tent shaped like an igloo. The liquid foams up to a thickness of over an inch and hardens within an hour. The canvas frame is deflated and withdrawn leaving a well insulated shelter. Doors and window slits can be sliced out with a bayonet. Pigments can be mixed with the foam to provide desired camouflage. A dome can house a squad of ten men or store equipment. The volume ratio is ten to one and the structure weighs 200 pounds. The material appears to have possibilities for use in field refrigeration and shock resistant packaging of air dropped military equipment.
Osmosis Questioned: Dr. George E. Palade of Rockefeller Institute questioned the current theory of blood transferring food through capillary walls via tiny pores. It seems that small vesicles or spheres pick up particles from the blood plasma and then move through the capillary walls to the tissue. Any pores that might exist must be smaller than his equipment can detect. His electron microscope can detect about 1/10 of a micron or .000004". An experiment was performed by injecting collodial gold into the bloodstreams of rats at intervals of two to sixty minutes. After injection he took heart muscles from the rats, froze them into a hard plastic and then obtained very thin slices for electron microscope examination. It appeared that these vesicles line up along the lining or boundary layer ready to take up a charge of material from the blood plasma in the capillary. They then seemed to work across the capillary wall to make their load available to cell tissue.
Anti-Cancer Chemical: A new method has been announced for using chemicals to attack cancers. Methotrexate is injected in order to kill the vitamin, folic acid that cancerous cells need. An amount of methotrexate sufficient to kill ten patients is pumped directly into the artery supplying the tumor area. At the same time an antidote called citrovorum factor is injected in the patients’ muscles four times a day. In eighteen cases of inoperable cancer of the head and neck, eight patients could not be evaluated due to death or other reasons. In another eight cases the tumors died away temporarily. In two cases substantial improvement was noted. In the better of these, six days of treatment resulted in a twenty-seven day period which caused the cancer to die away. It reappeared after eight months. A second treatment also caused it to die away and to date it has not reoccurred.
Progress on Panacea: In a New York Academy of Sciences conference a particular type of research is arousing interest. The major defense mechanism of the body, grouped into the reticuloendothelial system seems to hold much promise. Reticulo or network plus endothelial meaning lining describes the network of lining cells included in the organs of liver, spleen, bone marrow and lungs. The RES or resistance cells differ but have the same function. They envelop, neutralize or destroy foreign matter that invades the body. They are constantly at work and their activity increases during infections. The hope is to control the action of the RES and improve resistance to disease. Dr. John H. Heller used chemicals to stimulate the RES of rats, mice and guinea pigs so that they could withstand thirty times a lethal dose of toxin. Dr. Sanford O. Byers indicates that the RES acts to remove cholesterol and other fats from the blood. Dr. Kurt Stern reports that RES cells seem to regulate some of the growth processes by either generating a substance or acting on one put out by growing tissues. The substance has not yet been identified.
Calypso Research: Calypso is Captain
Jacques-Yves Cousteau’s ocean research vessel. In addition to the skin-diving gear which can be used down to 150 feet, Calypso carries some unusual equipment. First are “halibuts” or steel sleds for going along the sea bottom and carrying cameras as a useful load. Second is a “turtle” or two-man free submarine. The “turtle” is about five feet high and six and a half feet in diameter, composed of two discs. It is filled with instruments and the operators lie on a rubber mattress amid complex controls. Two plexiglass ports are available for observing the ocean. A joy-stick control uses water jets powered by a nickel- cadmium battery to drive the craft up, down, right or left. A voyage of 95 minutes has been made. Instruments include gyrocompass, auto pilot, rudders, camera controls, depth gauge and an external hydraulic claw which can collect sea bottom samples and drop them into an external container. The “turtle” is designed for 1,000 feet depth, six hour trips and six miles range. It is equipped with a hoisting pad and lead weights which can be jetisoned. The Calypso itself is equipped with an observing chamber eight feet under the water line up in the bow.
Bolts Replacing Rivets: In an American Standards Association meeting Mr. Edward R. Estes, Jr., pointed out that high strength bolts have almost completely replaced rivets in building and bridge construction. The procedure has been in use since 1951 and the rate of spreading indicates that in the future rivets will also be rare in shop work as well as field work.
Gas Bearing Lube: Professor Dudley D. Fuller of Columbia University indicated that gas may replace oil as a lubricator for high speed bearings. Highest present known speeds of oil lubricated bearings are about 100,000 r.p.m. At the cost of reduced load capacity gas lubricated bearings have advantages of operating at temperature extremes, no contamination, low friction, simplicity, quietness, reliability and long life. An experimental high speed thermo compressor has operated up to 165,000 r.p.m. and a high speed shaft rotor system has operated at about
400,0 r.p.m.
THE EARTH AS IT APPEARS FROM 81,000 FEET
Big Dam Plan: The largest dam in the world is being planned for the Peace River in British Columbia. A Swedish financier, Mr. Axel Wenner-Gren, has offered to organize the development of the northern British Columbia area. About $10,000,000 has been spent on surveys, half of it going into exploration of water resources. The first stage dam would be 600 feet high and 7,000 feet long, generating 4,000,000 h.p. at a cost of $375,000,000. A lake 260 miles long and requiring seven years to fill would be formed. In addition to surveys of timber and mineral resources in central British Columbia, it is planned to build a 400-mile railway to connect British Columbia with the Yukon Territory.
Underwater Island: Underneath the Arctic Ocean an underwater island or plateau has been discovered. Across the pole from Hudsons Bay where the water is normally 9,000 feet deep, a steeply rising land mass comes up to within 900 feet of the surface. About the size of Montana it supports some sea life, including small sponges, cold water shrimp and sea anemone. At the 9,000 foot level there is little or no life in the cold waters.
Strontium Power Source: Dr. Jerome G. Morse of Martin Company suggested the use of strontium 90 as a source for electrical power in remote stations. Its half-life of twenty-eight years makes it desirable for use over a five to eight year period without great fall off in power capacity. The power can be used in heat generators or converted to electricity. A design operating at 5% efficiency can be used on land and the efficiency can be raised to 8% where water is available for dissipating heat more efficiently.
★ “ History shows no instance of sea supremacy once yielded being regained."
David Beatty
At Edinburgh University, October 1920
BATHYSCAPH TRIESTE MAKES NEW RECORD OCEAN DIVE OF 24,000 FEET OFF GUAM
Designed to make descents to 30,000 feet, Trieste is used to make studies of undersea life, light, and sound, and the probable effects of deep currents on submarine navigation. The “ship” is actually a steel float, fifty feet long and eleven feet deep. Observations, direct or by photography, are made through 8-inch windows in the sphere on the bottom of Trieste (left above), which is actually a 6/2-foot, two-man cabin. The
old record was made last year by Dr. A. B. Rechnitzer and Jacques Piccard (center above). Top-side propellers (right above) control Trieste’s movement when she is near the bottom. To control vertical movement Trieste carries ten tons of ballast in the form of small iron pellets, which are funnelled into the tanks (left below), and can be released in specific amounts to control rate of ascent from a dive. The ocean floor at 18,600 feet (right below) was photographed in the process of gathering basic oceanographic data.
SOVIET ASSAULT ON AVIATION RECORDS
By Prof. C. P. Lemieux, USNA
On 16 April of last year, from one of the Moscow airfields, a turbo-prop helicopter MI-6 established an altitude record with a 5-ton load. The plane was piloted by Sergei Brovtsev and Pavel Shishov, with Victor Konovalov as engineer. The flight lasted 53 minutes, during which an altitude of 5,550 meters was reached. Later the same helicopter with the crew of Rafael Kaprelian, Nikolai Leshin, pilots, and Feodor Novikov, engineer, with an additional 5-ton load, attained an altitude of 4,600 meters. These records were submitted to the International Aviation Federation as world records.
On 13 July Lieutenant Colonel Vladimir Smirnov, a party member and pilot of 16 years’ experience, flew his RV twin engine turbo-jet plane with one ton of commercial cargo to an altitude of 20 kilometers 300 meters. On the same day, Major Vladimir Iliushin piloted a T-431 to an altitude of 28 kilometers 760 meters. Iliushin is a graduate of the Jhukovski Aeronautical Engineering Academy as well as of the Air Force School. The U.S.S.R. Tchkalov Air Club has submitted these records to the International Aviation Federation for consideration as world records. The T-431 is a single-engined turbo-jet monoplane with triangular wings. The Soviet record is, as usual, described as taking place according to plan with no record of failures. However, in the Pravda account, the writer is careful to mention that the American record of 27,811 meters was achieved after numerous unsuccessful attempts resulting from failure to comply with flight conditions, lack of fuel, or other difficulties. Iliushin claimed that the climb could have established a record, since the total time of flight from take-off to landing was 25 minutes. The single-seat plane had an ample supply of fuel on its return to base. No additional jet assist of either liquid or solid fuel rockets was used on take-off.
A
On 31 October, G. K. Mosolov piloted his E-66 single-engine turbo-jet plane to a speed record of 2,388 kilometers per hour. On one leg of the triangular course, it is claimed he
reached a speed of 2,504 km. per hour. Georgi Konstantinovitch Mosolov is a test pilot whose graduating thesis for the Aviation Institute consisted of a project for a modern jet plane capable of attaining a speed of two and one half times the speed of sound.
The celebration of October Revolution Day brought a number of aviation records, in addition to the speed test by Mosolov. On 29 October, B. M. Stepanov and a crew of 7 flew a 201-M with commercial load of 55,220 kilograms to an altitude of 13,000 meters. The following day, Anatoli Lipko and crew in a 103-M jet plane flew from Moscow to Orsha and return in less than an hour, carrying a commercial load of 27 tons. The average speed over the course was 1,028 km. per hour. The Lipko performance exceeded the 1959 records for speed over a 1,000 kilometer course with loads of 1, 2, 5, 10, and 15 tons.
On 21 November, from an airfield near Moscow, B. V. Zemskov with co-pilot Nikolai V. Levshin and navigator Semeon I. Klepikov flew a MI-6 helicopter for a speed record over the 100 kilometer closed course. The time for the course was 22 minutes 32 seconds, or an average speed of 268.92 km. per hour. A maximum speed of 285 km. per hour was reached on one section of the course. The conditions for an official record by the IAF were carefully worked out in advance. Zemskov is a veteran of World War II, with 22 years’ experience, and a helicopter test pilot since 1955. Levshin is a veteran and graduate of the Air Force Outchilishche (school).
On 26 November, the well-known test pilot V. K. Kokkinaki and crew set an altitude record for turbo-prop jets. With a commercial load of 20 tons their IL-18 climbed to
12,0 meters. This is the 13th record set by planes designed by the Soviet constructor S. V. Iliushin.
The aircraft commander, V. K. Kokkinaki, was one of the first Soviet pilots to achieve fame when he set an altitude record nearly a quarter of a century ago. In August of this year V. K. Kokkinaki, with co-pilot E. I. Kuznetsov, navigator V. F. Voscresenski, engineer P. K. Kokkinaki, and radioman I. S. Siliminov, set five world speed records for flights with large commercial cargoes.
Erupting from the ocean that blankets most of the earth, the Navy’s Polaris missile will have the range to reach any strategic target. It will be launched from mobile bases that are safe from surprise attack—nuclear-powered submarines that cruise fast and deep for weeks on end, each carrying 16 Polaris missiles. This is the Navy's Fleet Ballistic Missile system. It becomes operational this year. Lockheed is prime contractor and system manager for the Polaris missile.
MISSILES & SPACE DIVISION
HOW IT WORKS—THE MIT WHIRLWIND I COMPUTER
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology Whirlwind I Computer was shut down in 1959 after nearly eight years (62,000 filament hours) of operations. This computer has been a vital part of many Lincoln Laboratory programs and has played an historic role in modern computer technology. The decision to halt operations of Whirlwind was based on practical considerations. Commercial computers now available are faster and more economical to operate and employ programs which are interchangeable among computers of the same type. Developmental computers like the Lincoln TX-2 offer still more advanced capabilities.
Planning for Whirlwind began in 1946. It went into full-scale operation in 1951 as the largest, fastest digital computer in existence at that time. It was designed by the MIT Digital Computer Laboratory, which subsequently became the Digital Computer Division of Lincoln Laboratory. (Lincoln Laboratory is a research facility operated by Massachusetts Institute of Technology under tri-service support.) The design and construction of Whirlwind was sponsored by the Office of Naval Research. Costs for operation and further development were later shared by other users, notably the U. S. Air Force. It is estimated that the total cost to the government, from 1946 to final operation, was approximately 7.5 million dollars. Few investments have yielded larger returns in terms of technical achievements.
1 Staff Member, MIT Lincoln Laboratory, Lexington 73, Mass.
2 ONR/BOSTON; Navy Representative’s Office, MIT Lincoln Laboratory, Lexington 73, Mass.
Whirlwind was originally intended for realtime simulation of the performance of an aircraft in flight, as part of a pilot training device for Special Devices Division of ONR. The rapid evolution of computer technology during the years 1946 to 1951, stimulated in part by Whirlwind itself, made possible widespread application of digital computers. Whirlwind proved to be an important proving ground for trouble location methods, computer logic, and circuit and component design. In late 1951, the Air Force became the principal user of Whirlwind in research on urgent air defense problems from which evolved the SAGE System, now going into operation all over the continental United States.
The feasibility of basic SAGE concepts, that a digital computer can semi-automatically process radar data, generate displays, and guide defensive weapons, was first demonstrated with Whirlwind in 1951—52. Lincoln Laboratory’s initial air defense system task was the design and construction of a laboratory model system, comparable to a single SAGE sector, located in eastern Massachusetts and known as the Cape Cod System. This model system comprised one long range radar, several gap-filler radars, data handling facilities, and a ground-to-air communications system. It was built around the Whirlwind computer with an air defense direction center facility setup on the MIT campus in Cambridge.
Experience gained from the operation of the Cape Cod System from 1953 on was reflected in almost every aspect of the design and development of the SAGE System. The Cape Cod System as a vehicle for SAGE development was supplanted by the Experimental Sage Sector, but Whirlwind Computer continued to provide essential services for a variety of Lincoln Laboratory projects and academically oriented scientific and engineering studies. Whirlwind applications during the last year have included such diverse topics as research on computer-aided civilian air traffic control and machine recognition of hand-printed block letters.
Whirlwind was a primary test vehicle in early 1954 for the first magnetic core memory, a fundamental contribution by MIT to modern digital computer technology. This memory served as a developmental prototype for a large memory unit currently in use with Lincoln TX-2 computer and that being produced by IBM for retrofit into operational SAGE computers.
Automatic programming techniques developed on Whirlwind are now used almost universally. The “Comprehensive System,” pioneered at MIT for use on Whirlwind, reduced programming effort by using a versatile standard language of man-machine communication and avoided redundancy by the establishment of a large library of common sub-routines. The computer program studies with Whirlwind have had a powerful influence on all modern computer applications.
Whirlwind has thus contributed extensively to the rapid technological advances which have resulted in its own obsolescence. Because of its speed, capacity and flexibility the logical successor to Whirlwind as a proving ground for the next generation of computers is Lincoln TX-2 computer. While TX-2 assumes this role Whirlwind will not gather dust in a dark corner. It has been leased by a Boston engineering firm from the Office of Naval Research for use on research and development contracts.
LSDs FOR LAUNCHING LCRs
In 1958 the 1st Battalion (Reinf.), 8th Marines under the command of Lieutenant Colonel John H. Brickley, usmc was deployed in the Mediterranean Sea as the Amphibious Troops, NELM. During April this Battalion enjoyed the unique distinction of conducting an amphibious exercise involving a demonstration landing at Almeria, Spain. In conducting its exercise, a 90 man Provisional Reconnaissance Company landed on D-Day minus one in ten rubber boats (LCR (L)).
The Provisional Reconnaissance Company was embarked aboard USS Spiegel Grove (LSD-32) which was under the command of Captain A. B. Clark, usn. The initial problem, of course, was conducting debarkation from a ship with such extremely high sides without any open deck spaces suitable for preparing boats for launching.
In this case the solution was to inflate the rubber boats in the well deck of Spiegel Grove. Due to the voluminous equipment preloaded in the landing craft utilities and the landing craft mediums on the well deck, there was inadequate room for the troop debarkation stations on the well deck itself. Hence, the boat teams were assembled with their individual equipment along the catwalks above each side of the well deck.
Upon order to land the Provisional Reconnaissance Company, Spiegel Grove heaved to and lowered her stern gate into a position parallel to the well deck but clear of the sea. Bringing forth the rubber boats in pairs, the boats were placed on the after end of the stern gate. The deck crews then attached the outboard motors to the mounts in the raised position. Members of a boat team from each catwalk descended the ladder immediately adjacent to their respective boats and took their appropriate paddling positions within each boat. At the signal “ready” from both boat team leaders, the stern gate was lowered until the suction of the sea pulled the boats into the water. After each set of boats was launched, the ramp was re-raised to the parallel position for repetition of the launching until all five sets of boats were afloat. In this manner, boats were launched at approximately three minute intervals. As each boat was pulled into the sea, the team members commenced paddling until clear of the ship. Then, the outboard motors were lowered into the sea and started.
This technique proved to be safe and practical for launching a large number of rubber boats rapidly. In addition, this procedure allowed use of a crowded well deck without involving any flooding of the deck surfaces. As an approved procedure, this page out of the 1st Battalion’s experience appears worthy of serious consideration for adoption by the amphibious forces as a technique for future use of landing ship docks in naval operations.