This html article is produced from an uncorrected text file through optical character recognition. Prior to 1940 articles all text has been corrected, but from 1940 to the present most still remain uncorrected. Artifacts of the scans are misspellings, out-of-context footnotes and sidebars, and other inconsistencies. Adjacent to each text file is a PDF of the article, which accurately and fully conveys the content as it appeared in the issue. The uncorrected text files have been included to enhance the searchability of our content, on our site and in search engines, for our membership, the research community and media organizations. We are working now to provide clean text files for the entire collection.
130 Canadian Hydrographic Service
by Ralph G. Eldridge
133 Ancient India’s Modern Navy by G. M. Hiranandani, Lieutenant, Indian Navy
137 The Inactive Line
by Gordon V. Brown, Lieutenant, U.S. Naval Reserve
139 Important UCMJ Change
by Robert D. Powers, Jr., Rear Admiral, U. S. Navy
By Ralph G. Eldridge, Senior Staff Scientist, Technical Operations Inc., Burlington, Mass.
The Canadian Hydrographic Service is responsible for charting the navigable waters of Canada and for analyzing the tides and tidal currents, as well as the investigation of water-surface elevations along the St. Lawrence-Great Lakes waterway. It is also responsible for carrying out research in the adjacent ocean areas. The hydrographic fleet of eight ships and 49 launches sortie each summer along water routes on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, in the Arctic, and on major inland lakes of importance to Canadian commerce. Charting and studying the coastal areas of Canada embraces a total of 117,166 statute miles of coastline: 31,217 miles of the Canadian mainland, and 85,949 miles of principal and small islands which make up the shoreline bordering three oceans, including the complex Arctic coastal islands. Charting Canada’s continental shelf is, in itself, a prodigious undertaking. The area of this submerged portion of the continent is estimated at nearly 1,500,000 square miles, or about 42 per cent of Canada’s land mass.
The first systematic surveys of Canada’s inland water routes and ocean approaches were begun during the early part of the 19th century by the Royal Navy. The foundering of the steamer Asia in 1882 with the loss of 98 lives resulted in the establishment of the Georgian Bay Survey under Staff Commander J: G. Boulton, a hydrographer with the British Navy. In 1890, the government approved a $2,000 expenditure to set up the Tidal Survey. All hydrographic work carried out by the Canadian government was consolidated into the Canadian Hydrographic Service in 1904, with William J. Stewart as Chief Hydrographer. In 1924 the Tidal Survey also joined the Hydrographic Service.
It has been estimated that well over a
hundred ships a year now sail to the Arctic, and the number increases each year. Much of the scientific information gained from the operations in Arctic waters is directly applicable to naval operations, especially in view of the importance given to Arctic submarine Operations. Because of the increased interest in and use of these northern waters, extensive information is needed. To accomplish this end, a ship was designed and built for hydrographic work in these waters. This ship, CHS Baffin, was the most important addition to the Canadian Hydrographic fleet since the Service acquired Wm. J. Stewart in 1932. She was built for one purpose—to gather marine information in the Canadian Arctic for scientific, military, and economic uses.
Baffin was built by Canadian Vickers, Limited, Montreal, for the Department of Mines and Technical Surveys in 1957 at a cost of about four million dollars. Her over-all length is 285 feet; her beam 49 feet 6 inches; and, at a draft of 15 feet, she has a total displacement of 3,700 tons. She is powered by four Fairbanks-Morse, Model 380 diesel engines turning twin 10-foot, 10-inch diameter propellers. With this power plant, Baffin is capable of 15J knots and has a radius of action of 14,000 miles without refueling. Because she was designed for Arctic operations Baffin's all-welded hull has the characteristic icebreaking bow and 1 inch thick plating around the ice belt.
Baffin is equipped with the most modern navigational and hydrographic gear, including radar, echo sounders for shallow and extreme depths, and Decca and other long- and short-range positioning devices. Six launches are carried for inshore surveys and support operations. The hangar on the afterdeck houses two helicopters which are used for quick reconnaissance and planning missions, and search and rescue operations, as well as to guide the ship through ice fields. The helicopters can also quickly carry survey teams and their equipment to relatively inaccessible areas that require investigation.
Aboard Baffin there are ample charting facilities with the latest cartographic equipment, allowing the construction of provisional charts at sea for emergency purposes. The ship is also equipped with a small oceano-
graphic laboratory. She also can boast of having very fine living quarters afloat for her 31 officers and 71 crew members. There are well- furnished individual cabins for scientists and hydrographers on the boat and upper decks, while the crew is berthed in attactive quarters on the main deck. Because surveys last all summer in the Arctic, Baffin has modern recreational facilities and comfortable, roomy messing quarters. She is a fine example of the far-sighted thinking of officials of the Canadian Hydrographic Service.
But Baffin is only the beginning of new ship construction for the Canadian Hydrographic Service. In October 1960, bids were let for the construction of CHS Hudson, which will be capable of operations in heavy ice as an ocean-going hydrographic and oceanographic survey vessel.
Hudson is the second new ship construction in recent years for the Canadian Hydrographic Service to be designed from the keel up to accomplish her mission in the most efficient manner. She is being built by the St. John Shipbuilding and Drydock Company, St. John, New Brunswick, at an estimated cost of about seven million dollars.
To carry out her hydrographic and oceanographic programs, the 4,600-ton Hudson will have two helicopters, two 40-foot survey launches, a 31-foot survey launch, five 20-foot dories, and a 30-foot landing barge.
The structural requirements of the hull are similar to those of Baffin. The hull must be able to withstand deformation from heavy ice pressures. All frame spacings throughout are 15 inches and the ice belt consists of lj inch-thick plating.
The main propulsion machinery is to be diesel-electric. Four diesel engines will drive electric generating sets so arranged as to deliver the power to twin propeller shafts through two propulsion motors. Again, because of the rigorous environment Hudson is to operate in, the stress requirements are in excess of normal. Both the propulsion motor shafts and thrust shafts are to be 35 per cent over in strength, while the propeller shafts are to be 50 per cent over in strength.
Any one of the four generators will be capable of supplying constant power to operate the deep-sea winch for coring operations, trawling, or deep anchoring, as well as for supplying power to the bow propeller motor. The bow maneuvering propeller allows very accurate course maintenance during survey operations as well as stable station keeping. The complete bow traverse maneuvering unit is installed forward. This machinery is to be capable of exerting approximately 8,000 pounds thrust either to port or to starboard.
The normal complement is planned to consist of an officer in charge (either hydrogra- pher or oceanographer), nine hydrographers (or other scientists depending on the mission), a medical doctor, an electronic engineer, four technicians, two helicopter pilots, and two helicopter engineers. Facilities and berthing also have been provided for three more scientific people. The deck crew wifi consist of 34 officers and men, including the captain, four mates, and two radio operators- The engine room crew, including the chief engineer, will number 17. A total of 12 men will fill out the commissary complement aboard. This amounts to 86 officers and men.
Hudson's design and layout of facilities were made by Milne-Gilmore and German, Naval Architects of Montreal, Quebec.
The accommodations on the boat deck forward of the funnel are primarily living quarters for the ship’s officers. The one exception is a small, cold weather wet laboratory (about 125 square feet) on the starboard side. Provisions will be made for a platform and boom, with a small winch in the laboratory for obtaining samples of sea water and for processing biological samples. Also on this deck is the hangar and the flight deck. Near midship on both sides, booms will be installed to facilitate bathythermographic sounding with a station for a portable bathythermographic winch.
Most of the laboratory facilities are on the upper deck. The forward section of the deckhouse' is designated as the oceanographic laboratory (approximately 450 square feet of deck space). On both sides of the weather deck forward of the oceanographic laboratory, provisions have been made for platforms, booms, and sounding platform; on the starboard side is a second platform adjacent to the galleys. The largest single laboratory space is just below the helicopter hangar. The approximate 1,100 square feet of deck space is designated as the general purpose laboratory. Included in this area is a dredge and net storage locker, a dark room, and a wet laboratory. Four spaces on deck, two on each side, measuring about 8 by 22 feet, have been reserved for storage of portable laboratories. An equivalent space has been reserved aft of the general purpose laboratory for a thermister winch. Two platforms and booms with their bathythermo- graphic winches are located just aft of the general purpose laboratory. Two more platforms next to the radial booms are located on the fan-tail, as well as two log booms.
The petty officers’ and crew’s quarters (two crew men to a cabin), crew’s mess, the galley, the engineering officers’ and engineering crew’s quarters, and the quarters for the technicians, helicopter pilots, and helicopter maintenance men are located on the main deck. On this deck in the center of the ship is the gravity laboratory (approximately 40 square feet) with a stable platform. A 460- square-foot geochemical and chemical laboratory, including a second dark room, is located beneath the general purpose laboratory. To starboard, just aft of this laboratory, is a core sample and laboratory storage compartment (ca. 230 square feet).
Some of Hudson's other features include the bow propulsion machinery and bow maneuvering compartments, which are located below the lower deck as in the case of the Baffin. The entirely enclosed crow’s nest is becoming quite standard with ships plying regions of extreme cold weather. The large and roomy lounge will undoubtedly be as comfortable as that in Baffin and should provide ample facilities for relaxation.
This brief description of the laboratory facilities aboard Hudson should clearly support the theme of this discussion: namely, that the Canadian Hydrographic Service of the Department of Mines and Technical Surveys has made a noteworthy contribution to the scientific community by providing vessels designed from the keel up to perform hydrographic and oceanographic surveys. Unique in every sense, they are operating and performing in an ocean which requires special consideration in terms of ship design, and in terms of the future economic and military importance—the Arctic region.
ANCIENT INDIA’S MODERN NAVY
tBy G. M. Hiranandani, Lieutenant, Indian Navy
T ong before the arrival of the European powers, India was the predominant sea power of the Indian Ocean. She traded with China to the East, and Africa and the Middle East to the West. From the ports of Southern and Eastern India, Hindus colonized islands in the Pacific, in many of which their religion has survived to this day.
Two of the early Hindu dynasties—the Maurya (322 B.C.-185 B.C.) and Andhra (230 B.C.-225 A.D.) proudly called themselves the “Lords of the Eastern Seas.” In the fifth century A.D., the Hindu empire of Shri Vijaya was established in Sumatra, and ruled Malaya, Java, and the adjacent seas by sea power. This empire survived until about the 14th century when the sea supremacy of the Hindus passed to the Arabs. With the arrival of Vasco da Gama in 1498, there followed a turbulent period of naval strife. In 1612, the East India Company established its own seagoing fighting force and called it the “Honourable East India Company’s Marine.” Since then, this force has continued in the service of the British Government of India under various names, until in 1947, the Indian Navy of today was formed.
The last war saw ships of the Royal Indian Navy in many theaters of operations, from the Atlantic convoys to the Arakan landings. In 1947, the Navy, like the rest of the country, was divided between India and Pakistan. The effects of the partition on the Navy were rather serious.
Movable material assets were divided proportionately, but complete shore establishments had to be evacuated. The new Gunnery and Radar establishment and two Boys’ Training Establishments in Karachi, for example, were lost to the Indian Navy. The division of personnel created an even greater problem. Officers and men were allowed to transfer to the newly created Pakistan Navy or to remain in the Indian Navy. And since personnel specialization had not been planned religionwise, this resulted in acute shortages in some branches, but excesses in others.
The years since 1947 have been largely devoted to recovering from the material and personnel imbalance created by partition, side by side with rationalizing the fleet, its shore support and the training facilities of the shore establishments to cater to the needs of the 1960’s. The peninsular character of India gives the sea a significant influence on its destiny. With an open coastline of over 3,000 miles, India’s security and economic prosperity depend very much on the command of the seas surrounding it.
The defense of the Indian Ocean has been broadly split into three areas, each under its respective command. The Flag Officer, Bombay, exercises operational control of the Western approaches—in effect the Arabian Sea. The Commodore East Coast, based at Vishakhapatnam, has operational control of the Eastern approaches—in effect the Bay of Bengal. The Commodore-in-Charge, Cochin, based at Cochin, exercises operational control of the Southern approaches. Each is responsible to the Chief of the Naval Staff at Naval Headquarters in New Delhi, the capital.
Ships of the fleet are under operational control of the Flag Officer Commanding, Indian Fleet, who is directly responsible to the Chief of the Naval Staff for its material and fighting efficiency. Ships are detached as required
for duties in each of the commands.
The Naval Defense Academy at Poona trains cadets of the Army, Navy, and Air Force jointly, for three years. The first two years are devoted principally to academic instruction and basic service discipline. In their final year, cadets are instructed in subjects concerning the service of their choice.
When they leave the Academy, naval cadets go to sea for six months in a training frigate. They live in the mess decks and work as hands on deck. When they pass their examinations, they are promoted to midshipmen and appointed to ships of the fleet for one calendar year.
During this time, they are attached, in turn, . to all departments on board, to gain a rudimentary knowledge of ship organization and operation. After a year at sea, midshipmen are examined in seamanship for the rank ot lieutenant. If they qualify, they are promoted to acting sub lieutenants, and undergo technical courses at Cochin for the rank of lieutenant. The courses are in Electronics, Gunnery, Torpedo, ASW, Navigation, Communications, Supply and Secretariat, Divisional, Physical Training and Welfare, an Air Course and a Junior Officer’s War Course where the foundation for further study in tactics is laid.
On completing these courses, which last roughly a year, acting sub lieutenants come to the fleet to obtain their certificate of competence to keep a watch at sea. Then they take their place as qualified sub lieutenants and, in due course, as lieutenants in the fleet.
The cycle described above is for an Executive Officer, one of six major branches of the Indian Navy. The others are Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Supply and Secretariat, Medical, and Instructor. Those in the first four branches are trained at the National Defence Academy. Engineers, Electrical Engineers and Supply and Secretariat Officer candidates do not complete the full year as midshipmen at sea, but leave after eight months to pursue technical studies at their respective schools.
Medical officers come into the Navy from the Army Medical Corps with the option to remain in naval service, if found fit. Instructor officers are recruited directly from universities and invariably possess graduate or post graduate degrees in technical subjects.
Officers of the various branches do not wear distinguishing insignia, except for medical officers who are distinguished by a red flash between their stripes.
Enlisted men, showing promise of making officers early in their career, are selected and given intensive academic and professional training. On successful completion of their Selection board and naval examinations they are granted commissions and are promoted to acting sub lieutenants. They join acting sub lieutenants from the fleet for technical courses for the rank of lieutenant. Thereafter their careers are indistinguishable from the regular officer entry.
Sailors who show promise later in their careers, and who have passed the required educational and professional examinations, are selected for “Commissioned rank in the Branch List.” Since they will have invariably achieved a certain degree of specialist knowledge, they are required to qualify for this rank in their specialty. For example, a Yeoman of Signals would qualify as a Commissioned Communication Officer, an Electrical Artificer as a Commissioned Electrical Officer.
After selection for commissioned rank, candidates undergo intensive courses for promotion. The promotion prospects for these officers are different from those of regular entry officers. In due course they can be selected for promotion to “senior commissioned officers,” and thence to lieutenant, or if sufficiently bright, direct to lieutenants. Thereafter they follow the same pattern for promotion to lieutenant commander and above, the limiting factors being age and competence.
Lieutenants spend eight years in rank before being considered for promotion to lieutenant commander. Promotion to commander and above is by selection.
Sailors follow the same broad pattern of branches as officers, namely, Seamen, Engineering Mechanics, Electrical Mechanics, Store assistants, Cooks, Stewards and Sick Berth Attendants. Candidates for the skilled trades are recruited and trained specifically for “Artificer” ratings.
Sailors are recruited from all over India and are sent to basic training camps. The major camps are at Vishakhapatnam, Cochin, and Bombay. They are given academic instruction and basic training in seamanship. Those choosing engineering are sent to INS Shivaji, the Engineering Training Establishment near Bombay. Electrical candidates are sent to INS Valsura on the Northeast Coast of India. Stores assistants, writers, cooks and stewards are sent to INS Hamla near Bombay and sick berth attendants to INHS Asvini in Bombay.
After completing basic courses sailors are sent to sea as third class rates. After suitable sea service, educational attainment and experience in that rate, they are selected for second class, and subsequently first class rates. Similarly, after fulfilling the requirements for advancement, they are advanced from ordinary seamen and their equivalent, to Able, Leading, Petty Officer and Chief Petty Officer status, in that sequence.
Sailors are required to sign up initially for ten years active service and ten years in the Fleet Reserve. Those who want to reenlist may do so for further periods of five years.
Ships now are formed in squadrons and work under the Flag Officer Commanding Indian Fleet. The fleet puts to sea as a unit and spends a considerable period at sea. Whenever possible, the fleet takes part in large exercises with ships of other navies.
The Indian Navy’s principal dockyard is at Bombay. History goes back 200 years. India’s shipyard at Vishakhapatnam started producing shipsin theearly 1950’s to mark the resumption after a 70 year shipbuilding lull in India.
The Navy is self-sufficient for ammunition and naval armament stores. All ammunition and propellants are manufactured, tested and proved within the country. Fuel oil is obtained from the three big oil companies, each of which has refineries in India. Replenishment at sea is exercised with the fleet oiler and the fleet store ship. The emphasis is on the speed, efficiency and the confidence with which the evolution is conducted, and not on volume primarily.
In every aspect of fleet logistics nucleus organizations exist for rapid expansion in time of conflict. At this stage the best that can be done is to familiarize all concerned with the problems likely to be encountered.
The Indian Navy has several schools for specialists. Divers are trained in the Torpedo and Antisubmarine School at Cochin which has facilities for training both shallow-water and deep-sea divers.
The Tactical School, also at Cochin, is equipped with the latest Action Speed Tactical Teacher to train junior officers and C.IC Teams. In addition it has a Tactical Floor where naval actions of World War II are gone over and possible settings for the future simulated in the form of tactical games.
The Staff College, located at Wellington in the Nilgiris Hills in South India, trains officers of all three services for staff duties. Officers are generally of the rank of lieutenant commander and above. The course lasts a year, and includes visits to defense installations in India, a trip to sea, and visits to Army and Air Force centers.
A noteworthy feature of the college is the presence of student officers from Britain, the
United States, Indonesia, Burma, Egypt and other nations. The exchange of ideas between Indian officers and those of other nations is of immense benefit, just as the exchange of views between officers of the three Indian services help to promote greater interservice understanding in the long run.
In 1947, the Indian Navy’s minesweeping squadron consisted of 12 World War II oceangoing minesweepers. They have been replaced by new coastal and inshore minesweepers. The fleet itself consists of one aircraft carrier, two light cruisers and 15 destroyer and frigate types with high AAW and ASW capability- In addition, the Navy operates four survey ships, an LST, two fleet oilers, and amphibi- . ous landing and patrol craft.
The parent school for Naval Aviation is INS Garuda at Cochin. Officer candidates do their basic training with the Air Force and on acquiring their wings join the Fleet Requirement Unit at Cochin. Flying is done in piston-engine and jet aircraft. Sailors are trained at INS Garuda which has schools for airmen, aircraft handlers and safety equipment men. There is also a Naval Air Technical School. Advanced training for officers and sailors in aero-engineering continues to be carried out abroad. Now that India has its own aircraft carrier, Vikrant, it is expected that these courses will be conducted in India.
The aircraft carrier was commissioned early in 1961. She has been equipped with all that is contemporary in carrier gadgetry commensurate with her size, namely the angled deck, the mirror landing system and steam catapults. She will carry a squadron of anti-submarine and jet fighter aircraft.
From a handful of frigates in 1947, the Indian Navy has come quite a way. It is important that this progress be viewed against the economic background of the country. All available resources have primarily been devoted to raising the living standards of over 400 million people. With the limited resources allocated to the Navy’s budget, the aim has been to create the nuclei for all the essential branches of a fighting Navy. The Indian Navy is geared to producing a hard core of efficiently trained officers and men in each branch of naval warfare. It is around this hard core that the reserves mobilized in an emergency must rally to defend the nation.
the inactive line
By Gordon V. Brown, Lieutenant, U. S. Naval Reserve
partml mobilization a year ago has made the Naval Reserve a matter of real interest to active duty personnel as well as reservists A vital part of the Naval Reserve is the reserve line officer on inactive duty.
Two components of the Selected Reserve provide the best possible operational training for reserve line officers: the ASW Component and the Mine Warfare Component. For one weekend a month, and two weeks a year officers in these components operate their assigned ships. The reserve crews train with the reduced active duty crews. Officers work in all departments, stand watches, and participate in drills. These two programs also train commanding officers. Employment schedules are promulgated by Commander, Naval Reserve Training Command.
About 50 ships are involved in the two programs. Some are “in commission” and others in service.” The latter are commanded by reservists and engage in competition. In the ASW Component, “in service” ships are organized into divisions under a Reserve Destroyer Division Commander. ASW reserve crews were activated, with their ships, for one year for the Berliri crisis of 1961.
ASW reserve crews have a Fourth Section, the size of an inport duty section. This section is in the Active Fleet Augmentation Component but trains with the ASW Component. Its function is to recruit and train enlisted personnel to support the reserve crew. In the Mine Warfare Component, the plan is for each MSCO to have two full crews.
The only unfortunate feature of these two fine programs is that they do not train enough officers. The total allowance for both is about 640 reserve line officers.
Submarine Divisions and Fleet Divisions Probably make the second most important contribution to operational training for the
inactive 1105 officers. Both of these types of divisions are in the Active Fleet Augmentation Component of the Selected Reserve. Both have the primary function of providing team and operational training—one for submarines and the other, destroyer-type ships. Fleet Divisions only train 175 reserve line officers. The submarine program provides operational training for nearly 300 reserve line officers. The age and grade of officers in both groups makes them of high mobilization potential.
Fleet Divisions, a part of the Surface Program, are of two types: Steam and Diesel. Each Fleet Division has an Operations, Gunnery, and Engineering Department. Fleet Divisions attempt to perform their active duty tor training as a unit.
Two programs of the Fleet Support Activities Component of the Selected Reserve provide operational training of a specialized nature, to reserve line officers. These are the
Pr°8ram and ,h'
Comnnnpr0grarmu0f the Shore Establishment Component ° ^ Selected Reserve also pro-
is the MoPhTllZed °perationaI training. This
reserve line T™ ,('am Program. Over 600 reserve line tram in Mobilization Teams.
Reserve hne officers on inactive duty mav
vfduaTTff ?Cr;T,naI training througfi individual effort. About a dozen courses of an
operational nature are offered through the
Naval Reserve officers schools and officer cor
respondence courses. A second way for the
nS ffie° Rarn,Va!UabJe °Perati°"al train-
for^training Zy " ^ W SCh°°1S
AH operational training provides a certain amount of technical training. It also presupposes a degree of technical skill. P
Three programs of the Fleet Support Activities Component of the Selected Reserve
n051offte< if training f°r the inactive
Com Tv SC arC: The Advan<*d Base
Command Program; Military Sea Transportation Service Program; and Ship Activation Maintenance and Repair Program. These programs provide specialized, technical training for nearly 800 reserve line officers.
Two programs of the Shore Establishment Component also provide technical training to over 400 inactive line officers. These are Telecommunications Censorship and Selec-
tive Service, both significant courses.
Outside the Selected Reserve are the Specialist and Composite Programs and the Naval Reserve officer schools. These are an excellent source of technical training for reserve officers. Five or six Specialist and Composite Programs and about 15 NROS Courses are valuable to reserve line officers. There are about 100 Naval Reserve officers schools in the nation.
The NROS has tremendous potential for providing technical training to officers of all designators. Unfortunately, the great majority of its students are senior, over-age, or passed- over officers. These officers, with a low mobilization potential, are not the most worthwhile audience for technical training. There is another problem. The average NROS demands so little from its unpaid students, and the courses are so long, that boredom results.
Most reserve officers on inactive duty are expected to rely upon correspondence courses for technical training. There are about 30 of these for reserve line officers.
The inactive reserve officer of the line participates in several activities from which he gains neither operational nor technical training. He is required by these programs as an executive or administrator.
Surface Divisions, Electronics Divisions, Communications Divisions, and Commandant’s Local Representatives have allowances for about 6,800 reserve line officers.
Of the pay billets allowed for inactive duty line officers, over 4,000 are appropriate to active duty needs. Perhaps 6,000 are primarily administrative or executive. These latter billets are not the waste they appear to be. They are responsible for the rate training of thousands of enlisted reservists.
The problem is that nearly the entire group of administrative officers is assigned to the Active Fleet Augmentation Component of the Selective Reserve. These reserve line officers do receive technical and operational training through annual training duty and correspondence courses, but they need much more of this vital training than their executive duties allow them.
Officer training classes, in the Surface Program, indicate an awareness of the problem. The solution, however, is not that simple.
So far we have surveyed the operational and technical training available to the reserve line officer on inactive duty and have also exposed programs from which this officer gains neither operational nor technical training.
The following suggestions are offered for increased operational and technical capabilities in the inactive 1105 officers:
(1)Annual training duty of officers in ASW reserve crews should not always be restricted to the ship. In some instances, for example, it might be of greater value to send an officer to an ASW or CIC course. Such waivers should be rare and should be limited tq valuable operational or technjcal schools.
(2) Reduce “gun decking” of correspondence courses by increased control of course materials. Return only scores, not corrected answer sheets, to student. If they passed the lesson, how many personnel review the few items missed? Call in question booklets with texts at completion of the course.
(3)Consider administering Surface Divisions, Electronics Divisions, and Communications Divisions with fewer, young junior officers. Place these officers, with high mobilization potential, in Fleet Divisions where they can participate in team and operational training. Surface Divisions would need less officer strength if they only trained recruits. Fleet Divisions could be expanded a little and counted upon for rate training, in shipboard rates. Submarine Divisions have been successful at both rate training and team training.
(4)Fleet Division Officers should take Navy DD- or DE-type commander’s courses, as well as officer correspondence courses.
(5)Each district should have operational training simulators, built into semi-trailers, for the use of inland Fleet Divisions. A rolling attack-teacher, for example, could spend a week or so ■ at each inland training center. Fleet Divisions could train and compete on the simulator.
(6) Use Naval Reserve officer schools to train more officers with high mobilization potential. Set up a General Line curriculum, within the NROS, for operational and technical training of Active Fleet Augmentation line officers. Require these officers, if they do not hold Fleet or Submarine Division billets, to graduate from this curriculum periodically. The instructors might be the Training Center Commander, or retired line officers.
(7) Senior officer courses in the NROS should remain broad and general as preparation for staff or command functions. Naval Reserve problems seminars might be a new area for senior officer study. Senior officers with a drill pay background could contribute here, or as instructors for a Naval Reserve administration course. Such a course would be helpful to new drill pay officers who could attend, TAD, from their divisions.
(8) Offer more one-semester NROS courses.
(9)Consider a non-pay Reserve Administration Pool. Officers no longer in the Selected Reserve, but with experience in reserve records, could relieve drill pay officers of some of the paperwork. Officers in this pool would be strictly administrators, not executives. They should be awarded retirement points for satisfactory service. Some officers might elect this instead of NROS participation.
IMPORTANT UCMJ CHANGE
On 28 August 1962, a little over twelve years after the original enactment of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, Congress passed the first significant amendment to the Code. This amendment deals only with Article 15, non-judicial punishment by Commanding Officers, but makes an important change much needed and sought after by the military services.
Shordy after the Code went into effect in 1951 it was recognized that the powers of nonjudicial punishment established were inadequate. Not only were the punitive measures inadequate for the administration of discipline in minor cases of misconduct, but the provisions were somewhat inconsistent. For example, a Commanding Officer could not impose a penny loss of pay for a minor infraction but could reduce a man in rank which might result in the loss of many dollars. Commanding Officers frequently have referred cases to trial by Summary Court-Martial which they would have preferred to handle at Mast had they sufficient authority to impose a reasonable penalty.
Under Article 15 before amendment the powers of the Commanding Officer were limited to admonition or reprimand, extra duty and reduction in grade, except in cases of men attached to or embarked in a ship. In the latter case confinement for seven days and confinement for three days on bread and water or diminished rations were authorized.
The minimal powers of the Commanding Officer resulted in an increased use of courts- martial for minor offenses. One peculiarity in the Navy was that a Commanding Officer of a small ship of necessity had to appoint an officer junior in rank to act as the Summary Court, with the result that a Lieutenant junior grade could award greater punishment than his Commanding Officer who might be a Lieutenant Commander or above. The encouragement to court-martial which was inherent in the law also worked against the accused, for a summary court-martial counts as a conviction by a Federal Court and is a premanent blot on a man’s record.
The Judge Advocates General of the three services, the Court of Military Appeals and various veterans’ organizations have recommended changes in Article 15 for several years; the changes recently enacted were approved and sponsored by the Secretaries of the services and by the Secretary of Defense.
Practically no opposition to the bill (H. R. 11257) developed at the hearings. The bill as originally passed by the House of Representatives was slightly amended in the Senate to provide that persons not attached to or embarked in a ship would have the right to elect trial by court-martial prior to the awarding of punishment if they did not wish to accept non-judicial punishment. The House of Representatives agreed to this amendment.
Following is a schedule comparing the old Article 15 with the new:
EXISTING LAW
(One of the following)
Detention of pay
Extra duties
4. Extra duties for 2 weeks, 2 hours per day.
Restriction
5. Restriction to limits, with or without suspension from duty, for 2 weeks.
Reduction in Grade
3. Reduction to the next inferior grade, if the grade from which demoted is established by the command or an equivalent or lower command.
B. UPON
Confinement
1. Confinement on bread and water or diminished rations for 3 days, if imposed upon a person attached to or embarked in a vessel.
2. Confinementfor7days,ifimposed upon a person attached to or embarked in a vessel.
Forfeiture
2. Restriction to limits, with or without suspension from duty, for 2 weeks.
Forfeiture and detention
3. Forfeiture of one-half pay for 1 month (if imposed by an officer exercising general court-martial jurisdiction).
Restrictions
1. Withholding of privileges for 2 weeks.
NEW LAW
(P. L. 648)
(87th Congress, 2nd Session) (One or more of the following)
A. UPON OFFICERS
1. Restriction to limits, with or without suspension from duty, for 60 days (limited to 30 days if imposed by an officer other than a general or flag officer in command or one exercising general court-martial jurisdiction).
2. Arrest in quarters for 30 days (if imposed by a general or flag officer in command or an officer exercising general court-martial jurisdiction).
3. Forfeiture of one-half pay for 2 months (if imposed by a general or flag officer in command or an officer exercising general court-martial jurisdiction).
4. Detention of one-half pay for 3 months (if imposed by a general or flag officer in command or an officer exercising general court-martial jurisdiction).
OTHER PERSONNEL
1. Confinement on bread and water or diminished rations for 3 days, if imposed upon a person attached to or embarked in a vessel.
2. Correctional custody for 30 days (limited to 7 days if imposed by an officer below the grade of major or lieutenant commander).
3. Forfeiture of one-half pay for 2 months (limited to 7 days’ pay if imposed by an officer below the grade of major or lieutenant commander).
4. Reduction to the next inferior pay grade if imposed by an officer in a grade below major (lieutenant commander). Reduction to the lowest or any intermediate pay grade, if imposed by an officer in the grade of major (lieutenant commander) or above. In all cases, a reduction may be accomplished only if the grade from which demoted is within the promotion authority of the officer imposing punishment, or a subordinate. However, an enlisted member in a pay grade above E-4 may not be reduced more than 2 pay grades.
5. Extra duties for 45 days (limited to 14 days if imposed by an officer below the grade of major or lieutenant commander).
6. Restriction to limits, with or without suspension from duty, for 60 days (limited to 14 days if imposed by an officer below the grade or major or lieutenant commander).
7. Detention of one-half pay for 3 months (limited to detention of 14 days’ pay if imposed by an officer below the grade of major or lieutenant commander).
The foregoing provisions are in addition to or in lien of admonition or reprimand.
Correctional custody, as defined in the law, is physical restraint during duty or non-duty hours and may include extra duties or hard labor. It is the intent of the law that correctional custody would be used to exercise close supervision over a person in order to correct his behavior and improve his performance. The Senate Committee report (Report No. 1911, 87th Congress, 2nd Session) states:
“The Department of Defense . . . anticipates that the man serving corrective custody will normally work on a duty assignment during the day. Consistent with the proposed law, such duty assignment will not be performed with prisoners serving sentences to confinement. After his normal duty hours, he will be placed in physical custody, but separated insofar as practicable from persons confined while awaiting trial or held in confinement pursuant to trial by court-martial.”
Correctional custody will be further defined in regulations to be issued by the services. It should be noted that actually placing a man in physical custody is not required, but may be used as required during the period of corrective custody.
Under old Article 15 punishments could not be combined, but the new law permits combinations provided they be apportioned in cases involving deprivation of liberty or forfeiture or detention of pay. The regulations to be issued will provide specific instructions in this regard.
While the new law permits reduction of two grades for persons above pay grade E-4 the Senate Committee recommended and the regulations will provide that no enlisted person above pay grade E-4 can be reduced more than one pay grade.
The new law contains express authority for the acting officer or superior authority to mitigate, remit or set aside any punishment awarded. Also the punishment may be suspended on probation.
As in the former law there is a provision for appeal to superior authority. In all cases of punishment extending to more than seven days arrest, correctional custody or forfeiture of pay, to reduction in rate from E-4 or above, to extra duties, restriction or detention of pay for more than 14 days, the authority who is to act upon the appeal must refer the case to a law specialist or a Marine Corps lawyer (and to counterparts in the other services) for consideration and advice.
Regulations to be issued pursuant to the new law are under preparation and will be issued prior to its effective date which is the first day of the fifth month after its enactment, 1 February 1963:, the President having signed the bill into law on 7 September 1962. Until 1 February 1963 no punishments under the new provisions may be given. The old law will continue in effect during this period.
All of the services estimate that the use of the summary court-martial will be drastically reduced after the new law becomes effective. Commanding Officers will now have an effective measure to promote discipline without subjecting the minor offender to a “federal conviction.” The law is flexible and permits the Commanding Officer to “fit the punishment to the crime,” to suspend on probation at his discretion, and to remit or reduce punishment if he considers that the desired result of improving the man’s behavior and promoting better discipline within command has been reached.
When the law becomes effective, Commanding Officers should remember that the primary purpose of the new powers is to maintain discipline and promote improvement in an offender. Punishment as such is secondary. Misuse or unreasonable use of the power may result in the loss of the authority by another change in the law.
★
Furthermore Article 15 should not be used as a substitute for a court-martial in serious cases. Major military offenses and crimes that are felonies in civilian law should be referred to an appropriate type court-martial, which has power to give an adequate sentence, and the rights of the accused preserved through judicial procedures.
Notebook
U. S. Navy
Guam Chosen as Home Site for Pacific Polaris Subs: The Navy today announced that the Polaris missile submarine to be assigned to the Pacific will base at Apra Harbor, Guam. It also announced that dredging of the harbor has been under way for several months.
Apra will serve, in the Far East, the same purpose that Holy Loch, Scotland, now serves in European waters. As a peacetime “home port” it will provide peacetime facilities for a growing number of what many regard as the Navy’s most powerful of vessels.
These facilities provide not only maintenance, repair and supply for the subs coming in from patrol, but for a nearby air base, and also community housing for the families of crewmen on long assignment overseas.
The “home port” is a substantial peacetime convenience. But in an emergency most of its floating equipment would move away to temporary anchorage, far from that location, and would continue completely mobile during emergency.
Lacking an emergency, Apra and Holy Loch alike meet naval requirements for an advance-base close to the subs’ probable patrol areas. At the same time they are reasonably accessible to the main overhaul and ammunition bases in the continental United States.
The future patrol areas of Polaris subs in the Far East can be surmised. By the time Apra harbor is cleared of obstructions in 1963, the new submarine tender Holland will be completed and ready for duty there, and the first group of Pacific-duty Polaris subs will be in commission.
It is a reasonable guess that the subs going to the Far East will all be of the newest (Lafayette) class.
This is the first class to be equipped at the outset with the Polaris-3 missile. Earlier Polaris types carry the Polaris-1, reaching 1,500. Polaris-3 will reach 2,500 nautical miles (over 2,850 land miles). Technology, no doubt, will provide still greater range in time.
The map of Asia reveals this greater range would permit a Lafayette-type sub, situated offshore, to reach targets very deep in the Asian continent.
That being so, the stationing of these mighty weapons somewhere beneath the surface of the Western Pacific would provide a retaliatory power, and hence a deterrence, so as to lessen greatly the strain under which the Air Force and the Navy’s carriers operate today in their own deterrence missions.
The Guam location can be thought of as probably the best available.
Other possibilities were automatically ruled out—Yokosuka, Japan, because the United States bases no nuclear weapons there; Buckner Bay, Okinawa because it is in constant peril from typhoons; Keelung and Kaohsiung in Taiwan because of narrow harbor entrances; Subic Bay in the Philippines because of proximity to the Asian mainland but chiefly because of the issue of nonAmerican sovereignty.
Guam escapes all these handicaps.
It is American-owned. Geographically it is near enough to the patrol area to meet requirements but sufficiently far from the Asian mainland. Typhoon peril is acceptable.
Apra Harbor’s entrance is wide and the dredging already under way will meet needs both of transit and anchorage. Housing facilities are already there, and the air base is much closer than Prestwick Base is to Holy Loch in Scotland.
USS Holland, the tender likeliest to go to Apra, is a sister ship of the newly completed Hunley, first Polaris tender to be designed as such, rather than rebuilt.
Hunley is scheduled to go to Holy Loch to replace USS Proteus, which has been station ship there since that Scottish base was started. A fourth Polaris tender is in the current year’s building program. (Mark S. Watson in The Baltimore Sun, 11 September 1962.)
"Omega” Tested by Navy: U. S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) scientists have presented a report to the Institute of Radio Engineers describing application of the Omega navigation system to aircraft.
Book Department,
U. S. Naval Institute
Annapolis, Maryland
Please use book order form on page 127
Bright, light, and helpful, this is the book for girls who marry sailors. The Sailor’s Wife carries a cargo of information about the Navy and Navy life and it is written in a light breezy style sprinkled with anecdotes that will delight any reader. Lucy Wright describes herself as a “combination taxi-driver, den mother, short-order cook, referee, and vociferous minority.” She gained her experience as the wife of a second class petty officer for the last eight years.
112 pages 28 cartoons $1.50 (Members’ price, $1.13)
THE SAILOR'S WIFE
by Lucy G. Wright
Omega is a new, Navy, very-long-range navigation system which will provide accurate fixes for aircraft, surface vessels and submarines. Omega can provide complete worldwide navigation coverage using six to eight stations and providing a position fixing accuracy of less than two miles under all atmospheric conditions. It will complement the more accurate Loran C position fixing system by providing navigation coverage in areas not suitable for Loran C stations.
Omega is a development of the Navy Electronics Laboratory, San Diego and NRL under the direction of BuShips. Like Loran, Omega utilizes synchronized radio signals from landbased stations. But unlike other systems, Omega operates in the very-low- frequency (VLF) navigation band of 10 to 14 kilocycles. The stability of the Omega signals makes them dependable night and day under any weather condition. Also, VLF permits the synchronization of land-based stations at distances of 5,000 to 6,000 miles, hence a few widely-spaced stations will provide world coverage for this purpose.
The Navy is now testing the operational capabilities of an experimental three-station system with synchronized transmitters located at Hawaii, New York, and Panama. This investigation, to be completed this year will verify the range and accuracy of Omega, determine the suitability of the system for naval aircraft, ships and submarines, and provide a sound basis for system implementation. {Naval Aviation News, September 1962.)
Navigation Data Assimilation Computer:
A complex electronic computer system is installed in the latest Polaris submarine USS Lafayette. Called NAVDAC—Navigation Data Assimilation Computers—the two computers can process and evaluate navigation information at the rate of more than 2,000 computations per second and solve a navigational “fix” problem in spherical trigonometry in less time than it takes an operator to push the buttons on the computer’s control console. The new computers guarantee a pinpoint measure of position by checking data from more than a dozen different sources and correcting the inertial gyro guidance system which is the submarine’s basic navigation sensor while running under the sea. Even the best gyroscopes tend to drift, and NAVDAC’s frequent checks reset the gyros to keep the inertial information as exact as possible. One of these navigation aids will be a new star tracking periscope which has an improved optical system intended to provide greater precision in sighting on stars. {Marine Journal, August 1962.)
37 Destroyer Types Redesignated as DD’s:
The Navy is giving 37 destroyers shorter designations and bigger jobs.
All of the.fleet’s 33 antisubmarine destroyers (DDE) and four of the three dozen radar picket destroyers (DDR) are being redesignated as “straight” destroyers (DD).
The DDE-class is abolished because newer guided missile destroyers and frigates are joining the fleet along with older “cans” which have undergone FRAM modernization. In most cases they have a better ASW capability than the DDE’s. Thus, the Navy feels there is no longer need for the special antisubmarine designation.
The DDE’s are Fletcher and Gearing-type destroyers fitted with special antisubmarine equipment, like Weapon Alfa, usually at the expense of some guns and torpedo tubes.
The four radar picket destroyers which are being changed to DD’s are Chevalier, Perkins, Everett F. Larson and Benner.
All four have had FRAM Mark 2 modernization. While they retain all of their air- detection and control radars, they do have increased antisubmarine capabilities. No other DDR to DD switches are now planned.
The redesignated destroyers retain their old hull numbers with their new classifications. (Navy Times, 22 September 1962.)
Other U. S. Services
Tiny, Unmanned Aircraft Does Reconnaissance Work: An unmanned military aircraft not much larger than the model planes flown on tether by boys in school yards was demonstrated to Marine Corps and Army personnel last April as a potential reconnaissance craft.
The tiny plane was built by Republic Aviation Corporation’s Missile Systems Division under contract to the office of Naval Research. The Marine Corps is considering use of the plane for beach landing operations.
The small, gasoline-engined drone fitted with a high-speed camera can be catapulted off the ground, circle at low altitude and take a series of photographs. The aircraft is controlled from the ground. It could fill a military need for a simple, lightweight, low-cost sky scout that can be operated by a minimum number of ground support personnel, Republic officials said.
The tiny plane can take day or night photographs, show ground objects in sufficient detail to identify vehicles, gun emplacements, etc., can produce negative or positive film transparencies minutes after it is recovered by parachute. It can also be recovered on board ship in a cargo net or landed in the water, where it will float indefinitely, officials claimed. (National Defense Transportation Journal, July-August 1962.)
Foreign
The Terraplane: The French aircraft industry has made an interesting start in ground effect vehicles. Bertin & Co. has developed and constructed a platform called the BC.4 terraplane, which has been shown to a large group of technicians and newsmen. Unlike those produced in other countries, the Bertin vehicle does not have a circumferential air- jet system to produce the lift, but a number oi air-jets which are blown out of bells having rubber flanges at their base. Pressurized air in the bells is provided by' a Turbomeca Marbore II jet engine, through Bertin ducts. These ducts multiply the engine output seven or eight times, while reducing the temperature to a suitable degree. The vehicle is propelled by the positioning of the bells which are mounted on swivel joints. Sud-Aviation has taken an option on the Bertin system and plans to make new prototypes. (France Actuelle, 1 October 1962.)
New Canadian DE Class: HMCS Mackenzie> name ship of a new class of destroyer escorts under construction in Canadian shipyards, was commissioned into the Royal Canadian Navy Saturday, 6 October, at Canadian Vickers Ltd., Montreal.
dorn
Navy Electrical Equipment Supplies Since 1939
DORN EQUIPMENT CORP.
★ NYLON STUFFING TUBES
(Terminal Type)
★ NEOPRENE AND SILICONE PACKINGS
★ MOLDED RECEPTACLES AND PLUGS
★ RISER TERMINAL BOARDS
27 UPHAM STREET, MELROSE 76, MASS.
The Mackenzie will add new vigor to the Royal Canadian Navy’s antisubmarine capability. She is equipped with the best available antisubmarine equipment and weapons. Her main armament consists of two three- barrelled “omnidirectional” Limbo antisubmarine mortars. Electronically controlled, they automatically “lock-on” to the target and with depth, range and direction settings automatically applied, fire at the critical moment. Homing torpedoes which track and strike a surface or submarine target regardless of its evasive maneuvers supplement the mortars. The ship is also equipped with a twin three-inch, 70-caliber anti-aircraft gun mount and a twin three-inch, 50-caliber mount.
NORTHERN ORDNANCE INCORPORATED
Electronic apparatus includes navigational, surface, and air-warning radars, and the latest types of sonar for submarine detection.
The Mackenzie has an over-all length of 366 feet, beam of 42 feet and a mean draught of 13.5 feet. Her displacement is 2,900 tons (full load) and her twin-geared turbines produce a top speed of 28 knots. Her normal complement is 12 officers and 217 men.
The ship bears a name honored in Canadian history—thatof thecountry’slongestriver and of the man who discovered it. She is the first ship in the Royal Canadian Navy to bear that name.
Work on the Mackenzie commenced in October 1958, and on 15 December 1958, Mrs. Somers, wife of the late Captain John S. Somers, former Principal Naval Overseer, Montreal Area, officiated at keel laying ceremonies. On 25 May 1961, the ship was launched and was sponsored by Mrs. Freeborn, wife of Commodore Frank Freeborn, former Naval Constructor-in-Chief.
The Mackenzie-class destroyer escorts represent a continuation of a construction program for the Royal Canadian Navy comprising 20 modern destroyer escorts of Canadian design and construction. Seven St. Laurent-class ships, the first of the program, now form the Second Canadian Escort Squadron based at Esquimalt, B. C. Seven Restigouche-class ships form the Fifth Canadian Escort Squadron and are based at Halifax.
For the efficiency and comfort of her personnel, and for the protection of her machinery and equipment the Mackenzie lS insulated and air conditioned enabling her to operate effectively in any climate. Her rounded lines will minimize ice formation and facilitate countering the effects of atomic fallout. Her anchors are housed in recesses, equipped with manually-operated doors to reduce ice-forming spray. Her capstan is below decks. (Directorate of Public Relations, Royal Canadian Navy.)
Soviet Hover Craft Developed: The Soviet Union’s first operational air-cushion vehicle is reported ready for over-water service. It is described as a 38-passenger vehicle weighing 12 tons, 58 feet long, and 21 feet wide. The vessel is reported to operate at speeds from 31 to 34 miles per hour, and is described as operationally “almost as economical as a hydrofoil” vessel.
Last spring a new experimental cutter with a one-piece hull of glass plastics was tested in the Soviet Union. A description of results of the tests indicate that it is “so strong that after a series of hard blows against coastal rocks engineers could find on it only barely visible cracks.” The report further states that the “material does not suffer the ravages of rot and corrosion, and the smoothness of the material cuts down considerably on friction.” Soviet designers are said to be unanimous in their opinion that this new material is indispensable for the production of small craft. (,National Defense Transportation Journal, Sep- tember-October 1962).
French Tanker Construction Contracts:
Compagnie Navale des Petroles, which operates France’s biggest tanker fleet, has given an important order to Chantiers de l’Atlan- tique (Penhoet-Loire): to build, as the shipping company’s new flagship, a 79,000-dwt. tanker. This new order brings to seven the number of supertankers building or to be built
by Penhoet, the six others being four 80,000- dwt. ships booked since the beginning of the year from companies belonging to the Onassis and Niarchos groups; the 76,750-dwt. Esso Austria completing afloat; the 73,000-dwt. Sivella to be started shortly—a sister vessel to the Sitala delivered last year to the French Shell Maritime Company. In addition, Penhoet is building or has on order two passenger ships, the Israeli 23,000-gt., 21.4-knot Shalom, and the French 15,300-gt., 22.5-knot Ancerville; three other tankers including two 58,240-dwt. vessels for the Norwegian Sig Bergesen Co., and the 51,000-dwt. Vega; and ten 22,500-dwt. ore carriers. (France Actuelle, 15 September 1962.)
Yugoslavia to Build 14 Ships for U.S.S.R.:
The U.S.S.R. and Yugoslavia recently concluded an agreement whereby the latter nation will build various types of ships for the former. The agreement calls for Yugoslavia to build nine tankers, each of which will be capable of carrying 19,000 tons, and five dry cargo ships of 10,000 tons capacity, all by 1966. The first of the ships will be produced by the Split and Ulyanik shipyards by 1964. Tankers will be built not only in Split, but in Rijeka, in the 3 May Shipyard, as well. It is anticipated that the Soviet Union will deliver the shipbuilding steel and the radio-navigation equipment. Each of the new ships will be equipped with 12,000 h.p. diesel engines, built in Yugoslavia, and similar to the slow- specd diesels in production in the Bryansk Machine Building Works in the U.S.S.R. The
ARMSTRONG
WRENCHES
Over 100 types, each, in all sizes. Drop forged, carbon and alloy steels. Open end, socket, box socket, detachable socket, hollow screw and other types.
Write for Catalog
ARMSTRONG BROS. TOOL CO. ,
5226 W. Armstrong Avc., Chicago 46, U.S.A.
designed horsepower will enable the dry cargo ships to make almost 18 knots, the tankei^ almost 17 knots. The tankers will be designed to carry three grades of fuel at the same tim< and will be assigned to both the Black Sea and the Latvian steamship companies, the dry cargo ships to the Black Sea Steamship Company. Yugoslavia is the fourteenth nation to undertake ship construction for the Soviet Union’s merchant marine. (Vodriyiy Transport, 17 July 1962.)
Maritime General
Japan Leads in Shipbuilding—U. S. Ninth.
The world’s shipyards had 1,293 large merchant vessels building or on order as of 1 July. Their aggregate tonnage was 17,648,623 gross tons.
The mid-year tabulation by the Shipbuilders Council of America revealed that the world orderbook had declined by 158 ships and 1,006,909 gross tons since the first of the year. When compared with the 1 July 1961 tally, the current tabulation shows a decline of 182 ships and 581,012 gross tons.
Japan again showed the largest orderbook with 150 ships of 2,849,090 gross tons in hand.
On a tonnage basis this was 16.2 per cent of the world’s total. Also exceeding the two million-gross-ton mark were:
Germany -—2,242,100 gt (12.7%) Great Britain—2,241,691 gt (12.7%) Sweden —2,062,120 gt (11.6%)
France, Norway and Italy were the only other countries with more than 1,000,000 gross tons in hand.
United States shipyards were in ninth place in world standing with 59 ships of 760,900 gross tons in hand. This tonnage represented 4.3 per cent of the total orderbook. A year earlier U. S. yards had 67 ships of 940,100 gross tons building or on order. At that time this tonnage represented 5.2 per cent of the world’s total—equivalent to eighth place in world standing. (Shipbuilders Council of America, News Release, 13 August 1962.)
Soviet Is Adding Merchant Ships: While the merchant fleet in the United States continues to decline, the number of Soviet commercial vessels continues to rise.
The present Soviet fleet consists of about 900 ships, according to the American Bureau of Shipping, compared with 973 privately owned ships under the United States flag at the beginning of this year. A year earlier, the United States merchant fleet totaled 1,008 ships in operation.
The Soviet Union is at the half-way point of a seven-year plan for doubling the size of its commercial fleet. Longer-range plans call for a Soviet fleet of 4,500 ships by 1980, according to a survey contained in the June issue of the magazine Marine Engineering-Log.
Soviet seaborne trade rose 30 per cent in 1961. In 1958, they stood sixth.
There has also been a continuing rise in the proportion of Soviet waterborne trade carried in Soviet ships. In 1938, the Soviet Union moved ten per cent of its trade in its own vessels. In 1958 the figure was 58 per cent: by 1965 it is expected to hit 75 per cent.
The U. S. commercial fleet carried less than 11 per cent of the nation’s exports and imports in 1961, although it accounted for 29.4 per cent of the world’s waterborne cargo.
Kenneth E. Belieu, Assistant Secretary of the Navy, said in May that the Soviet merchant fleet increased thirty times as fast as the U. S. fleet in the fiscal year that ended 30 June 1961.
Mr. Belieu also said that in July of last year the Soviet Union’s orders for new ship construction amounted to 32.5 per cent more than the number of orders a year earlier. This compared with a decline in the same period of 13.8 per cent in the world’s total orders for new ship construction.
The survey by the magazine quoting Mr. Belieu, said that on 1 July 1961, the Soviet merchant fleet had 215 ships actually under construction.
The publication also pointed out that about 20 United States shipyards have had to close during the past 15 years. A total of 245 ships were ordered during the last half of that period for the United States-flag fleet, the survey reported.
About 80 per cent of the U. S. merchant fleet of deep-sea cargo ships was built nearly 20 years ago. Twenty years is the age at which the operation of a ship begins to become increasingly uneconomical. (New York Times, 22 July 1962.)
America’s First Passenger Hydrofoil: This nation’s first operational hydrofoil passenger vessel was scheduled to be demonstrated for three days recently on the Potomac River for government and Navy officials.
The vessel is the 34-foot-long Albatross, which can carry 24 passengers and cruise at speeds up to 40 miles an hour. The first of a series of 25 similar craft, the Albatross was developed by the Hydro-Capital Company of Newport Beach, California, and built as a private venture by Wilson Shipyard, of Wilmington, Delaware. .
The Albatross differs considerably from the Denison, a 90-foot hydrofoil passenger ship which the Maritime Administration is financing as an experiment. The Denison built by the Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation, is for ocean operations. The Albatross is designed for inland waterways and is visualized for use in commuting operations.
Such craft are already in operation in Western Europe and Russia. Russian experimental hydrofoils are now being used to ship farm produce from Astrakhan, a Volga River port, to Moscow in 52 hours. This is three times faster than conventional river craft.
Powered by a diesel engine, the Albatross has extruded aluminum foils which, like aircraft wings, develop lift from the forward motion of the craft and raise the hull completely above the water. As the vessel becomes foilborne, it is supported entirely by the foils which skim along just under the surface of the water. This eliminates water friction on the hull and results in greater speed at less power as well as smoother operation.
Wilson Shipyard will begin production of the other 25 hydrofoil vessels in October, according to Allan E. Macnicol, president of the shipbuilding firm. He said the yard has closely followed hydrofoil experiments and development and that “we anticipate bigger and faster hydrofoils in the future at Wilson Shipyard.”
The Denison, which is powered by a jet engine similar to those used on aircraft, is waiting at an Oyster Bay, L. I., shipyard for repairs to a damaged propeller. The ship will then undergo ocean testing off Newport, R. I., preliminary to being outfitted as a passenger carrier. (New York Herald Tribune, 30 September 1962.)
LIQUID
Edited by H. A. Seymour Captain, U. S. Navy
CUTAWAY OF 12 IN. HYBRID MOTOR
NOZZLE-------------------------------------
SOLID PROPELLANT
■injector
PRESSURIZATION PACKAGE
OXIDIZER.
Navy Hybrid Rocket Propulsio0 System—The Navy solved some critical space engineering problems when it tested its Hybrid rocket motor recently. Hybrid can use either solid or liquid propellants, or both.
Goodyear
Largest Solar Reflector—This solar concentrator is being built to power future space craft as part of the U. S. Air Force’s Advanced Solar Turbo Electric Concept (ASTEC). The 45-foot, aluminized-film reflector will provide 15 kilowatts of power.
Powerful Twin-Screw Tug—The new 108-foot, 3,500-H.P. harbor tug, Patricia Moran, has twin screws and twin rudders to enable her to turn within her own length. The 16-cylinder GM diesels deliver more shaft H.P. than engines in standard Navy YTR’s and the larger ATA’s.
Moran Touting & Transportation
9
Bomb Proof Rock Shelter for Swedish Naval Units—The 200-ton motor torpedo boat HMS Plejad glides out of her protective pen in the Stockholm Archipelago. Note t e heavily camouflaged drop curtain and entrance.
|
U. S. Marine Corps Heavy Assault Helicopter—Adopted by the Navy for ■ Marine Corps vertical envelopment operations, the Sikorsky CH-5 3A
can carry a payload of some eight tons in cargo and troops. It will probably be used aboard the LPH assault carriers beginning in 1965.