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 Supertankers and Supertugs
By Captain Paul S. Maguire, U. S. Naval Reserve (Retired)
134 A Breakthrough in Navy Training
By Dr. George D. Mayo
137 The Royal Australian Navy
By A. Egcleton
142 Computer to the Rescue
By Commander Edward F. Oliver, U. S. Coast Guard
146 Notebook
Edited by Captain Daniel M. Karcher, U. S. Navy
SUPERTANKERS AND SUPERTUGS
The acceleration in new construction and growth of giant tankers is incredible. The August 1964 report of “World Tank Ship Fleet” by Sun Oil Company states that the average size of tankers under construction has increased steadily from 21,300 deadweight tons at the end of 1953 to 49,600 deadweight tons by the end of 1963.
The Japanese have the largest supertanker in operation, the SS Nissho Maru of 130,21? deadweight tons, and construction is underway on the first of three vessels of 152,000 tons. Next in size are the Liberian-flag tankers Lake Palourde and Toney Canyon, both “juin- boized” to 117,966 tons, the Universe Daphne of 115,360 tons and Universe Apollo of 114,356 tons, and the U. S.-flag Manhattan of 108,400 tons.
Orders have also been placed in Japanese and West German yards for four 165,000-ton tankers. These latest supertankers are scheduled to be completed in 1967, and are in* tended to carry crude oil from the Middle East to the Netherlands. They will make the westward trip via the Cape of Good Hope because of their loaded draft of 54 feet, and will return to the Middle East, in ballast, via the
Suez Canal.
This increasing popularity of supertankers focuses attention on a major maritime prob' lem: A well-known axiom is that “a chain is
no stronger than its weakest link.” Therefore) it follows that a towing hawser is no stronger than its weakest connection. There is a weakness peculiar to supertankers due to their size that would, in the event of their being disabled at sea because of a collisi°n> loss of a propeller or rudder, engine casualty) fire, or explosion, make a salvage operation extremely difficult if the vessel had to towed by a tug or another supertanker, d hi
weakness is the lack of a strong fitting at the bow or stern for ocean towing. The towing Problem is further complicated because there are only 11 ports in the world with commercial facilities for drydocking the larger vessels. These are: Southampton, Marseilles, Capetown, Sydney, Sasebo, Kure, St. Nazaire, Hamburg, Newport News (Virginia), Camden (New Jersey), and Quincy (Massachusetts). However, there are certain naval docks, both U. S. and foreign, that could be made available.
The chain cables and anchors in large ships are extremely heavy. For example, in the SS Manhattan one link of the anchor chain Weighs 85 pounds. To make a towing connec- hon at sea with this class of vessel is a formidable task for the most experienced seaman. Another factor that must be considered is whether the crews of supertankers in need of assistance will be able to heave the heavy Wire towing hawser on board, and then secure 0r release it in a simple manner. Quick releasing is highly important upon entering Port. Further, there may be no power available on the distressed ship because of fire or explosion. In these large ships, a towing con- flection to bitts on the forecastle head is not satisfactory for an ocean tow. The bitts are designed for mooring vessels alongside a berth. I'1 all probability, the bitts would be pulled °ff the deck, or the bow bulwarks would Crumble due to the heavy strain. In the event of serious damage to the bow caused by a collision, it might be impossible to make a towing connection on what would be left of the forecastle head. In that case, towing from the stern would be necessary. Also, in the event of a supership grounding, it might be necessary to connect the salvage tugs aft, and the after bitts might not take the ultimate strain.
The firm of L. Smit and Company, of Rotterdam, undertakes world-wide towing assignments and includes in its tug fleet the world’s most powerful ocean-towing tug, the ^warte /^ee of 9,000 horsepower. The firm has had extensive experience with ocean towing of supertankers, dry docks, dredges, and other “problem” craft. As a result of its experience, L. Smit and Company has developed quick-action towing brackets, which are called “Smit’s Brackets,” for bending on or releasing chain cable. These brackets can be made by any shipyard, and are inexpensive and simple in design. (See Figure 1.)
For use with the brackets, the firm suggests having on board a short chain cable. This chain cable can be used as the first member in the towing connection, which minimizes the effect of chafing in a fairlead. A steel wire rope, if used for the same purpose, would not last long due to chafing. The short chain cable should be of the same size as the anchor chain cable, strong enough to withstand any forces that might occur when towing in heavy weather. This could
Towing techniques and ocean-going tugs have not kept pace with the increase in tanker size according to the author. The 9,000- horsepower Zwarte Zee, the world’s most powerful ocean-towing tug, is a part of the recent, and so far limited, effort to equate supertugs with giant merchant ships.
F. Stigter
be of sufficient length to reach below the light-load line for ease in handling by the salvage tug should no shipboard power be available. The firm’s experience has been that big ships, especially those with rudder damage, can sheer unbelievable angles in rough seas. Their fairleads and bow bulwarks, designed for mooring purposes, are satisfactory for harbor towing, but they are not adequate for the severe stresses often experienced in ocean towing. For ocean towing, fairleads and bow bulwarks should be strengthened, including the decking under towing brackets. Fairleads should be ample in size to take the chain cable connection to the wire towing hawser. Smit recommends that the radius of the rounding off of the fairleads should be about five times the thickness of
the short chain cable, because the connecting chain cable may be subject to any angle of pull from forward or abaft the beam. The fairleads must be sturdy enough to take the full breaking load of the short chain cable even under conditions of a right-angle pull with the centerline.
The fairlead plates could be cylindrical in shape, thus giving the impression of the opening being square as seen from the outside. Fleavy plating and strengthening of towing brackets, fairleads, and bow bulwarks is also necessary.
The concept of the supertug is the result of research and planning to meet the special problems of long distance ocean towing and salvage of the large tankers and bulk carriers which have been constructed during the past ten years. In addition, there has been a demand for heavy tows from the oil industry as a result of exploration for oil and gas under the North Sea. The first refinery ever built on a barge, a 6,000-ton concrete barge, was towed 3,000 miles from Belgium to Port Brega, Libya.
The first tow of the Zwarte £ee, the most powerful and fastest tug afloat, was the disabled French tanker Sologne. Loaded with about 19,000 tons of crude oil and disabled 450 miles southeast of the Azores, the Sologne was towed at speeds up to 11 knots by the Z'warte Zee to Lavera, near Marseilles.
Today, dredging equipment is towed over long distances to places where new harbors must be constructed or existing harbors enlarged or deepened. The tug Willem BarendsZ> of 5,375 h.p., towed Europe’s biggest suction dredger, the Queen of Holland, from Bahrein in the Persian Gulf to Brisbane, Australia, a distance of 7,500 miles. The Jacob Van Heemskerck, of 5,375 h.p., recently completed a 3,500-mile voyage with one of the world s biggest drilling platforms, the Vinegarroon.
The most impressive tow by Zwarte Zee waS Mister Cap, an oil drilling platform, towed from Orange, Texas, to the Netherlands, a distance of 5,500 miles in 58 towing days> crossing the North Atlantic in February 1964. The dimensions of this self-elevating platform are 176 feet by 176 feet by 152 feet with three 175-foot legs. Some time after this toWing project had been completed, this writer* in conversation with an executive of a major
American towing organization, inquired if his company had submitted a bid in competition with L. Smit and Company, the towing contractor. He replied, “No.” When asked why not, he said: “We did not think even they could do it.”
The acceleration in construction of these huge ships and rigs has been a challenge to the large ocean towing and salvage companies which have been concerned with the Phenomenal increased size of tankers and bulk carriers during this period. This challenge has been accepted by a construction Program of supertugs powered with diesel engines of more than 5,000 horsepower. These are: of larger breaking strength. Nylon rope is about twice as strong as top grade manila of equal size. Since nylon possesses elasticity, it is ideal for towing purposes. It is light, easily handled, does not stiffen when wet, and is too a very large extent rotproof.
Special equipment on board the Zwarte Zee includes: one air compressor; two diesel- driven six-inch, 200-tons-per-hour pumps; six diesel-driven, three-inch, 60-tons-per-hour pumps; diving, welding, cutting, and patching equipment; one welding converter for underwater cutting or welding; one salvage pump, maximum capacity of 350 tons per hour; extensive fire-fighting equipment for extinguishing fires at close quarters as well as
| Zuiarte Zee | Pacific | Jacob Van Heemskerck | Willem Barendsz |
Company | L. Smit & Co. | Bugsier-, Reederei- | Bureau | Bureau |
| Internationale | und Bergungs A.-G., | Wijsmuller, | Wijsmuller, |
Length (over-all) | Sleepdienst, Rotterdam | Hamburg 236'9" | Ijmuiden 172'9' | Ijmuiden |
254'3" | 172'9" | |||
Beam | 40'6" | 38' | 32'H' | 32'11" |
Draft | 22'8" | 18'4" | 14'10" | 14'10" |
Indicated horsepower | 9,000 | 8,500 | 5,375 | 5,375 |
The motor tug Zwarte Zee was built at Kinderdijk, Holland, in March 1963; the twin-screw motor tug Pacific was built at Cologne, West Germany, in 1962; the motor tug Willem Barendsz was built at Sliedrecht, Holland, in July 1963; and the motor tug Jacob Van Heemskerck was built at Hendrik, Holland, in March 1964. L. Smit and Company has an order in its own shipyard, at Ninderdijk in the Netherlands, for a sister ship t° the Zfwarte fee. She will be named Witte
Zee.
The Z^Jarte Zee is highly maneuverable and uus special equipment for the handling of towing gear. The dimensions of the towing Sear are most impressive. Wire ropes of 1\ tnches in circumference with a length of TOO yards are handled with special equipment because they are too heavy for manual andling. Towing hawsers include nylon ‘°Pes made of Akulon and of the DuPont 707 ^th a circumference up to 11§ inches. °uble nylon ropes are also used for towing awsers because of the requirement for ropes at long ranges; two three-ton and four l§-ton salvage anchors; three 7f-inch towing wires of 1,000 meters; two 6|-inch towing wires; one towing winch; two five-ton derricks; and one 25-inch, 120-meter manila hawser. The tug’s bridge contains radar, radio, radio telephone, radio direction finder, gyro compass installation, and other modern equipment.
The single-screw Zwarte Zee is propelled by twin, four-stroke, direct reversible, 12- cylinder, turbocharged Smit-Man Marine diesel engines, with Brown-Boveri blowers, each developing 4,500 i.h.p.
What will be the world’s most powerful tug is now under contract for construction in Japan for an affiliate of the Moran Towing and Transportation Company. A contract for the construction of the 2.5-million dollar craft was signed in March 1965, by representatives of the Kure Shipbuilding and Engineering Company of Tokyo and the Moran International Company, newly formed affiliate of the Moran Towing Company. This American-owned tug will be under foreign registry,
manned by a crew of approximately 20 seamen. Scheduled to be completed early in 1966, the 211-foot craft will be powered by four U. S.-built diesel engines, with a combined 10,000 indicated horsepower rating. The tug will have a free running speed of 19 knots, a loaded displacement of about 2,300 tons, and an at-sea endurance of 45 days.
Currently, the most powerful U. S. tugs are the America of 9,000 h.p. and the United States of 8,500 h.p. These craft belong to the Federal Barge Lines, Inc., and are designed for operation on inland waters only. The most powerful ocean-going tug of American registry is the Margaret Moran, owned by the Eastern Marine Leasing Corporation, and operated by the Moran Towing and Transportation Company. Her characteristics include an over-all length of 150 feet, a beam of 35 feet, a design draft of 15 feet, and a rating of 4,320 horsepower.[1]
The Margaret Moran was designed to provide a free running speed of 15 knots, and ocean-towing facilities to handle converted Liberty colliers with a displacement in excess of 14,500 tons at speeds of \2\ knots. In order to pull large barges at high speeds on ocean voyages, a Markey hydraulic towing winch is installed on the tug’s stern deck. This winch is capable of handling 2,400 feet of 2\ inch towing wire. Winch capacity is 100,000 pounds of pull at 35 feet-per-minute. The Margaret Moran is engaged in the U. S. coastal trade.
Long-distance ocean towing of superships calls for tugs having superior seakeeping qualities, and great endurance and power, to provide complete control when towing in heavy weather. One supertug of 9,000 horsepower has a decided advantage over two smaller tugs of 4,500 horsepower in towing a heavy vessel. Although the two smaller tugs may be able to tow a heavy vessel, the supertug, because of her size and power, can break a sheer of a supertanker with less effort and provide the essential continuous pull. Further, the supertug will tow at a higher speed under the same conditions of wind and sea. Another factor is that the 18-knot supertug will reach a disabled ship more quickly and tow her to port faster. The managing director of L. Smit and Company, owner of the Zjvarte J?ee, stated in an article published in Tug, the firm’s house organ, “It may be argued that the employment of two tugs of
4,500 i.h.p. to tow a supership will provide a greater margin of safety for the tow in the event that some accident may befall one of the tugs. In my view this argument is only justified if the remaining tug is able to handle the tow alone.”
In the U. S.-flag tanker fleet there are seven vessels of 50,000 deadweight tons or more. In addition, there are 85 super-type vessels of 50,000 tons or more owned by U. S. parent companies and registered under foreign flags, of which 38 vessels are 70,000 deadweight tons or more. Although supertankers are covered by marine insurance, a disaster to one would be a considerable loss to the national interest because it would remove a very important vessel from the active merchant fleet. A supertanker in being is much more valuable to the United States than one on the drafting board of a naval architect.
A BREAKTHROUGH lN NAVY TRAINING
Training is a primary function of the Navy when it is not engaged in combat. Yet> there have been no major improvements in training techniques since the advances that were made during World War II. Win 11 considered in the light of the dramatic prog' ress that has been made in almost every
other area of concern to the Navy, this is surprising and regrettable. There are now some indications that this plateau in training technology may be coming to an end. A new instructional technology appears to be taking definite form and shape. It is called “programmed instruction.” More than 200 original research reports have been published on this subject within the last five years, a number of them confirming the value of programmed instruction.
The technology, as we now understand it, has four primary characteristics which are of special interest to Navy training. First, programmed instruction applies the principles of learning in a more systematic way than has been possible with conventional procedures. In applying these principles, it puts lhe responsibility upon the instructional programmers to produce instructional material which will teach, as opposed to leaving the responsibility with the student to learn as best he can from material presented in oral or printed form.
Second, it changes the art of teaching into f science of teaching, in the sense that the instructional programmer estimates, or hypothesizes, what material must be presented ln order for the student to achieve a particu- tar learning objective. Then, in scientific fashion, it tests the hypothesis by trying out lhe instructional material so produced on a sample of students to see whether it does, in fact, teach. The material is then revised as necessary. This procedure is repeated until the programmed material teaches in a satisfactory manner.
Third, programmed instruction permits training to a performance specification in tttuch the same way that military hardware . Ust meet performance specifications before *t is accepted for operational use.
Fourth, programmed instructional materials may be used in teaching machines or simply in printed pamphlets or books. Even 111 the most advanced computer-controlled, automated teaching situation, properly programmed instructional material is an abso- l*te must. Without it, the hardware is worthies for teaching purposes.
Programmed lessons are written in several 'stinct styles. One style is called linear, in Vvhich the student completes statements, filling in the missing word or words from information given in the section. The correct answer appears to the left of the next question.
| 1. All matter is made of molecules (say MAHL-e-KULES). Wood is made of molecules. Water is made of |
Molecules | 2. The smallest bit of glass that can be identified as glass is a glass molecule. A water Molecule is the bit of water that can be identified as water. |
Smallest | 3. |
Another style used is called branching. A small portion of new material is presented followed by multiple-choice questions. Each question choice has a page number after it to turn to if that choice is selected. The page turned to informs the student of the correctness of his answer and directs him further.
The normal atom of the element neon has ten electrons.
What particles can we be sure of finding in its nucleus? Ten protons Page 12B
Ten neutrons Page 14B
Five protons and five neutrons Page 16B
Naval Air Technical Training, which is not a part of the training system conducted by BuPers, has taken the point of view that the advantages of programmed instruction greatly outweigh the disadvantages, and a vigorous, well-co-ordinated effort in programmed instruction has been underway for approximately one year.
The Chief of Naval Air Technical Training is responsible for the formal training of enlisted naval aviation personnel other than the training of pilots. With the approval of the Deputy Chief of Naval Operations (Air), and with the assistance of the Chief of Naval Research, the Chief of Naval Air Technical Training formulated a plan for the use of programmed instruction in his command. The plan consisted of three primary parts or steps. The first was to organize a small programmed instruction team on an experimental basis. The second was to develop a course for instructional programmers, and the third was to provide training administrators with the information they would need in order to administer the new technology in an intelligent manner.
By December 1963, a small programmed instruction team, consisting of one civilian educational advisor and four chief petty officers, all proficient in the avionics area, had been trained and was ready to undertake its duties. This team was to program instructional material in the Class A Avionics Fundamental Schools at Memphis, Tennessee, and to identify and help in answering questions concerning an appropriate organization for instructional programming. The initial work accomplished by this team was quite promising. The title of the program was “Elements of Electrical Physics” and consisted of the material that was considered appropriate for programming in the first week of the Avionics Fundamental School. From the statistical data generated in the testing and revision phase of the programming process, it appeared that the program would result in a time saving and would teach as well or better than the conventional instruction it was designed to replace. Upon submission of the program to the Chief of Naval Air Technical Training for approval, a carefully designed comparative study was accomplished in which the program performed as expected.
A general finding concerning programmed instruction in industrial training and elsewhere is that it saves time. This proved to be true in the case of the program on Elements of Electrical Physics, a 30 per cent time saving over conventional instruction being realized.
The second part of the plan was to establish a course for instructional programmers which would give Naval Air Technical Training a capability of training as many instructional programmers as needed. The personnel to conduct this course were trained, and the course was ready to receive its first class of 15 students in July 1964. By mid- October, each training center and training unit in Naval Air Technical Training had at least one full-time programming team on board and functioning. The total number involved exceeded 50 personnel. A standard programming team consisted of one civil service educational specialist, for professional background and continuity, and four enlisted personnel, at least one of whom was a chief petty officer. All members of a given team were technically competent in the same general area, such as electronics, mechanics, ordnance, or aerography.
Immediately prior to the training of the programmed instruction teams, a one-day workshop in programmed instruction f°r training administrators and supervisors was held at each of the seven training activities in the Naval Air Technical Training Command. In each instance, these workshops were attended by approximately 25 key training personnel at the activity involved. The purpose of the workshop was to provide training administrators with information which would be required in order for them to deal with the new technology in an effective manner. I11 addition to an orientation to the concepts and nature of programmed instruction, solutions to practical problems which were expected to arise in the implementation of programmed instruction were discussed.
As the ten newly formed programmed instruction teams turn to, the question arises as to whether programmed instruction really constitutes a breakthrough in Navy training methods somewhat comparable to those that have occurred in most areas of military hard ware. The answer to this question today must be that it is too early to say with certainty;
but, among the personnel associated with the project in the Naval Air Technical Training Command, there is a growing conviction that this may well be the case.
THE ROYAL AUSTRALIAN NAVY
This year is a most significant one for the Royal Australian Navy. During 1965, the R.A.N. is graduating into the “missile age” with the delivery of two Charles F. Adams-class guided missile destroyers. This also marks the first time that Australia has turned to the United States instead of to Britain for its warships.
Australia itself is also contributing to the missile age as well as entering it for, in lieu °f ASROC, the Australian missile destroyers Vv’iH be armed with an ASW missile system designed and developed in Australia. The system, named “Ikara,” is now being put through sea trials.
The Australian Navy is combining a period °I rapid expansion of ships and manpower tvith a program of increasing operational activity. Ten new ships are currently under construction for the R.A.N., the Navy’s manpower is rising by 1,000 a year, and the Australian Fleet is undertaking increasing operational commitments in Southeast Asia.
All Australian armed forces received a boost m November 1964, when the government announced details of a comprehensive Defense Review. The review provided for an 'ncrease in the projected defense expenditure during the next three years, making a total of 3,158,000 for the period. Of this amount, the Navy will receive $664,946,000.
In detailing the Defense Review to the ^ustralian Parliament in Canberra last November, Prime Minister Sir Robert Men- Zles said there had been a deterioration in
Australia’s strategic position: “The range of likely military situations we must be prepared to face has increased as a result of recent Indonesian policies and actions and the growth of Communist influence and armed activity in Laos and South Vietnam. If these collapsed, there would be a grave threat to Thailand, and the whole of Southeast Asia would be put at risk. The effectiveness of SEATO as a guarantee of mutual security would be seriously jeopardised.”
He went on to say: “It must be conceded, therefore, that the risks of our situation in this corner of the world have increased. This does not mean that we suffer from fatalism or defeatism; there is not the slightest occasion for either. But it does mean that we must do more, and pay more, as our contribution to our national security.”
Under the new Defense Review, the Royal Australian Navy will obtain new ships and support facilities, and provision is also made for the modernization of major fleet units including the aircraft carrier Melbourne.
While the review provides for 14 S-2 Tracker antisubmarine aircraft for the Navy’s Fleet Air Arm, there was no indication that the Navy would achieve its ambition of obtaining a new strike carrier. The Fleet Air Arm sees many advantages in such a carrier, equipped with modern fighters, particularly for air defense at sea. The government, on the other hand, is influenced by its Joint Service advice on the over-all strategic requirement for a strike carrier. Further, the huge cost involved has to be balanced against the many other commitments facing a nation of 12 million people developing an island continent almost as large as the United States.
Today, the Royal Australian Navy has a front line force of 18 ships, backed by a support fleet of nine auxiliaries.
The 20,000-ton carrier Melbourne operates Wessex antisubmarine helicopters, Gannet antisubmarine aircraft, and Venom jet fighters. The Gannets and Venoms will be withdrawn in 1967 when the S-2 Trackers are delivered.
The Navy’s other warships, in addition to the Melbourne, are three Daring-class destroyers (Vendetta, Vampire, and Duchess)', four Type 12 frigates (Parramatta, Yarra, Stuart, and Derwent)', a Battle-class destroyer (Anzac);
six ton-class minesweepers; and three submarines on loan from the Royal Navy.
The support fleet consists of the oiler Supply; the former aircraft carrier Sydney, now operated as a fast troop transport; the hydrographic vessels Moresby and Paluma; the training and oceanographic frigates Dia- mantina and Gascoyne; the general-purpose vessels Bass and Banks; and the boom vessel Kimbla. In addition, a number of frontline and support ships are held in reserve.
The .Danko-class destroyers each displace
3,500 tons standard. They are versatile, allpurpose escorts, equipped with six 4.5-inch guns, torpedoes, and antisubmarine mortars. The Vendetta (completed in 1958) and Vampire (1959) were both built in Australia. The third Daring, the Duchess, is on loan from the Royal Navy as a replacement for HMAS Voyager, which sank after a collision with the Melbourne in 1964.
The four Type 12 frigates have all been completed in Australian dockyards since 1961. They have proved highly successful and reliable as antisubmarine ships, and two more have been ordered as a permanent replacement for the lost Voyager. These frigates, of
2,500 tons, have two 4.5-inch guns, anti-
I.US. : '/iii: -
Tin-
MHIl
MAS
with
been mho' and non' l.ice- s, of inli-
The Australian Navy’s entry into the missile age is seemingly symbolized by the test firing of a Seacat missile from the frigate Derwent, at far left. Other major ships in the Australian Fleet are the fast fleet replenishment oiler Supply, top; the frigate Yarra, above; the fast military transport Sydney, left center; and the destroyer Vampire, left.
Royal Australian Navy
an extra source of qualified electronics personnel ■ at no cost to the service
While military electronics maintenance requirements are increasing 5 to 6 per cent a year, a military spokesman recently pointed out that the Armed Forces are getting only half the skilled technicians they need.
CREI can help Improve the technical qualifications of your electronics personnel by providing them with technical knowledge beyond the scope of military courses. The military man enrolled In a CREI Program studies solid state physics, differential calculus, pulse techniques, probability and statistics, computers and instrumentation. Or, if his Interest Is in the nuclear field, reactor physics, heat and thermodynamics, reactor Instrumentation and health-physics.
CREI men now serve the Armed Forces wherever advanced technical knowledge is required. And, because CREI men study on their own time and pay their own tuition, the cost to the Armed Forces is nothing.
Many officers not only encourage CREI students but they also suggest getting Information on CREI courses to other qualified men. And they welcome the CREI Field Service Representative who visits their command.
We'll be glad to send you complete information about CREI Programs and a complimentary volume of CREI study material. Write directly to the President of CREI.
submarine mortars, and advanced radar and sonar.
The last of the four frigates to commission, the Derwent, is equipped with the British Seacat close-range, anti-aircraft missile system and with variable depth sonar. She has also been fitted for the installation of the Australian Ikara antisubmarine missile system.
Ikara and Seacat are to be installed in all the frigates. The Ikara system is being developed in Australia by the Department of Supply and scientists of the R.A.N. It is a long-range weapon system, having an airborne guided missile capable of delivering a homing torpedo in the vicinity of a submerged submarine. The United States has shown a close interest in the weapon, and has provided funds to assist with its development.
The newest vessel in the support fleet is the hydrographic ship Moresby which commissioned in 1964. The Moresby, of 2,500 tons, ranks among the best-equipped survey ships in the world, and is playing an important part in meeting the hydrographic requirements of a country with 12,000 miles of coastline. The converted frigates Diamantina and Gascoyne enable Australia to contribute to national and international programs of oceanographic research. The two ships are equipped with laboratories, and combine seamanship training with scientific studies m the Pacific and Indian Oceans.
Australian ships are regularly assigned to duties in Southeast Asian waters. At least two ships are always to be found with the British Commonwealth Strategic Reserve based at Singapore. In addition, the carrier Melbourne, the Fleet flagship, undertakes an annual tour of duty with the Strategic Reserve.
The R.A.N. is also assisting Malaysia against Indonesia’s “confrontation” policy, maintaining four minesweepers on anti-infil' tration patrols around the coast of the Borneo states of Malaysia. Ten R.A.N. officers are on loan to Malaysia, including a senior officer who serves as Commodore of the Royal Malaysian Navy.
Ships of the Australian Fleet take part m frequent exercises with Allied navies, par" ticularly the U. S. Navy, R.A.N. ships often take advantage of U. S. training facilities m such places as Subic Bay, in the Philippines, and are regular participants in the annual
SEATO maritime exercises.
Australian warships are stored and equipped to go almost anywhere at short notice, and are prepared to meet any contingency arising out of the strategic situation. Even when undergoing maintenance at the naval dockyards in Sydney and Melbourne, ships can normally be ready for sea within 48 hours.
The Navy’s logistics organization includes large stores, ammunition establishments, and fuel oil installations. Naval radio stations in Canberra and Darwin, equipped with the most modern facilities, provide rapid communications with ships and Allied naval headquarters around the world.
Training and preparedness are designed to ensure that the R.A.N. could meet its responsibilities in time of war. These responsibilities are to:
• Provide a contribution to Allied naval forces in areas of strategic interest.
• Escort Australian military convoys to operational areas.
• Protect, in conjunction with the R.A.A.F., shipping carrying essential imports and exports within the Australian area.
• Co-operate with other services in general operations, including the defense of the Australian mainland and territories.
• Carry out offensive operations against the enemy.
During 1963-1964, the R.A.N. began cooperating with the U. S. Navy in the Antisubmarine Warfare Environmental Prediction System. Australian ships now provide oceanographic information direct to Guam, and in return the R.A.N. receives regular forecasts of underwater conditions.
The ships currently under construction for the Australian Navy are: three Charles F. ''Wam-class guided missile destroyers in the United States, four Oberon-class submarines being built in Britain, a 14,500-ton escort oiaintenance ship being constructed in Australia, and two Type 12 frigates, also on order from Australian yards.
The three Charles F. Adams-class guided mis- s*le destroyers for the R.A.N. are being built at Bay City, Michigan, by the Defoe Shipbuilding Company. The first, HMAS Perth, "'ll! commission at Boston in July 1965. She 'v,fl have a six-month working-up period in U. S. waters before sailing for Australia.
The second of the destroyers, the Hobart, is scheduled to commission towards the end of 1965. The third DDG, the Brisbane, is due for completion in the fall of 1967.
By June 1965, 37 officers and 371 ratings were in the United States either manning the Perth or preparing for the Hobart.
Four Oberon-class submarines being built for Australia in Britain will meet antisubmarine training requirements, and will also have an offensive capability. The Oberons are advanced conventional boats that have a high speed and underwater endurance. The first Oberon for the R.A.N., to be named Oxley, is due to commission in December
1966. The others will follow at the rate of one a year. R.A.N. volunteers for the new submarine service are already training in Britain.
The 14,500-ton escort maintenance ship is being built at the Cockatoo Island Dockyard in Sydney and is scheduled for completion in
1967. This is the first ship of her kind for the R.A.N. Of Australian design, she will increase the operational availability and mobility of the Fleet.
The November 1964 Defense Review provides for a further 17 ships. They are: a fleet replenishment ship, two minesweepers, and 14 patrol craft. Five of these patrol boats will be for a coastal security force in the Australian Territory of Papua-New Guinea.
The Defense Review also makes provision for the establishment of a submarine base in Sydney. It will contain berthing and support facilities for the four Oberon submarines, and will be ready in 1967. Another provision is a missile firing range, to be situated off the east coast of Australia. This will be used to test the Tartar surface-to-air missile systems in the Charles F. Adams destroyers.
Funds will also be spent for modernization of the carrier Melbourne. This will provide capabilities for day-and-night, all-weather operation of antisubmarine aircraft, long-range detection and height-finding radar, improved close-range air defense with the Seacat missile system, and improved habitability.
The Defense Review further provides for the modernization of the two Australian .Daring-class destroyers, the Vendetta, and Vampire. Both will be fitted with the Ikara antisubmarine missile system.
To operate these modern ships, officers and
enlisted men of the Royal Australian Navy are being given basic and advanced training at shore establishments in various parts of Australia. In certain special cases, advanced training is carried out in Britain and the United States. The R.A.N. has its own college for training officers, and also its own Apprentices Establishment for the training of skilled tradesmen.
The Navy is confident of building up its manpower by voluntary enlistment. The R.A.N. is not expected to have any great difficulty in enlarging its strength to 16,700 by 1968. This is an increase of about 3,800 over today’s figures.
In addition to regular adult recruitment, the Navy has a successful Junior Recruit Scheme. This is for boys aged between 15§ and 16§. They are given a year of educational and naval instruction designed to develop their potential as possible future petty officers and officers.
The R.A.N. has the backing of two women’s services—the Women’s Royal Australian Naval Service and the R.A.N. Nursing Service.
The Navy Department employs a civilian staff of 8,500 personnel. Civil officers have a major part in the administrative organization of the Navy, being responsible for finance and policy co-ordination. In other fields, the scope of civilian activities ranges from naval construction to logistics. More than half of the civilian personnel are engaged in maintenance, repair, and similar roles in dockyards and workshops.
Contributing to a balanced naval force, a small group of scientists, controlled by a Director of Scientific Services, works at the Naval Experimental Laboratory in Sydney. This group provides advice to the Navy on scientific problems, carries out experiments and operational research, and assists with the recording of data and analysis of fleet exercises.
This then is the state of the Royal Australian Navy in its 54th year. Its beginnings were perhaps best summed up in the 1908 statement of the Australian prime minister:
But for the British Navy there would be no
Australia. That does not mean that Australia
should sit under the shelter of the British
Navy. We can add to the Squadron in these
seas from our own blood and intelligence,
something that will launch us on the beginning of a naval career and may in time create a force which will rank amongst the defences of the Empire.
In 1909, the British Admiralty agreed to the formation of an Australian naval force consisting of a battle cruiser, light cruisers, destroyers, and submarines. It was to be paid for, maintained, and controlled by Australia, and eventually manned entirely by Australians. On 10 July 1911, King George V granted the naval forces of the Australian Commonwealth the title “Royal Australian Navy.” R.A.N. ships fought with distinction and gained honors in both World Wars and nine Australian ships served in the Korean War.
The present finds the Australian Navy in the front line of the troubled Far East.
By Commander Edward F. Oliver,
U. S. Coast Guard,
Merchant Marine Detail Office,
Naples, Italy
COMPUTER TO THE RESCUE
A centuries-old sea law which calls for mariners to go to the aid of those in distress on the high seas has combined with a 20th century electronic computer to add a new dimension to lifesaving at sea.
This international maritime mutual assistance program is called AMVER (for Automated Merchant VEssel Report). The primary purpose of AMVER is to co-ordinate the potential assistance available from merchant vessels at sea. Each month some 2,500 vessels make 5,500 separate passages in the North Atlantic alone.
It is often difficult to establish communications between maritime radio stations f°r several reasons: Only some ten per cent of the world’s merchant vessels maintain a continuous radio guard. The remainder carry one radio operator and stand a radio guard one- third of the time. Therefore, a general radio call will be heard by some 40 per cent or less of the ships at sea within range of the calling
As initially set up, AMVER was strictly an Adantic-area operation with its operational and administrative responsibility assigned to Commander, Eastern Area, Coast Guard, Under the policy guidance of the Commandant of the Coast Guard. This summer, the AMVER program is being expanded, and by the fall it will also report and plot merchant ships crossing the Pacific Ocean. The AMVER Center in New York will process, store, and fead-out the pertinent data as required for both Atlantic and Pacific area assistance operations.
station. Radio signal propagation disturbances sometimes adversely affect communications. Language barriers also may reduce the clarity of the message exchange. Thus, determining the presence of ships in an area, establishing their intentions, and verifying their assistance capabilities can be difficult and time consuming. An emergency at sea is just the time when maximum communication effectiveness is desired. The AMVER system Provides the optimum in communications effectiveness.
The AMVER system was inaugurated in 1958 when the U. S. Coast Guard began to use an IBM computer to plot the positions of vessels crossing the Atlantic. Prior to that dine, the Coast Guard maintained a manual Plot of some U. S. merchant vessels. However, this system was too cumbersome and too inefficient.
Phere are three officers and 19 enlisted men regularly assigned to the AMVER Center Much is located in the Custom House, New ^ork. The enlisted personnel are in the ratings °f sonarman, radarman, radioman, quartermaster, journalist, and yeoman. The San Francisco collection center staff is now being
assembled.
At the New York AMVER Center an IBM computer, with a 1,311 random-access disc memory which are the keys to the system, ls operated 24 hours a day.
Merchant vessels of all nations are encouraged to send movement reports voluntarily, aud periodic position reports to the AMVER '-enter. Information from these reports is entered into the computer which then generates and maintains dead-reckoning positions 0r the vessels while they are within the Plotting area. Characteristics of vessels which are valuable for determining search-and- rescue capabilities are also entered into the computer. At present, the computer’s memory contains capability information on 17,000 vessels which are potential participants. Each day some 1,000 ships are plotted as they steam the Atlantic, Caribbean Sea, and Gulf of Mexico. It is estimated that 3,500 ships would be on each day’s plot if there were 100 per cent co-operation. The system has the potential for a world-wide service with 10,000 reporting merchant vessels.
The effectiveness of the AMVER program is dependent on voluntary participation by the world’s maritime fraternity. Thus far, ships of 62 nations have participated in the program by submitting the necessary information required.
The Soviet Union has participated on three occasions. The first was when Premier Nikita Khrushchev sailed back to the Soviet Union in the SS Baltika after his visit to United Nations headquarters in late 1960. The other Soviet ships were the merchantmen Ussurinsk, in March 1965, and Milshurinsk, in April 1965.
All that is required for a ship to participate is for her to submit a movement report to the Coast Guard (at no cost to the ship) and, initially, pertinent information such as: time and place of departure, routing, speed, and destination. This information is entered into the computer for processing, storage, and use. The computer then maintains a mathematically accurate plot of the ship’s advancing position by dead reckoning navigation to the extent that the ship follows her original course and speed. Not only do participating ships uphold the highest traditions of the sea, but they are often saved the expenditure of time and money that would have been spent racing to the aid of a vessel in response to a radio distress call not knowing that a dozen other vessels closer to the scene had responded to the same distress.
An excellent network of widely dispersed radio stations enables AMVER to function. Atlantic area communication centers are along the eastern U. S. seaboard, and in Newfoundland, Bermuda, the Azores, Puerto Rico, and the Canal Zone. In addition, four other communication centers are Coast Guard ocean station vessels in the Atlantic. In the Pacific, these communication centers
stretch along the west coast of North America from Kodiak, Alaska, to the Canal Zone. The Pacific system also includes radio stations in Hawaii and Guam and two ocean station ships.
The teletyped position reports are received directly in AMVER headquarters. When the message arrives it is manually checked for authenticity of the vessel’s call sign and anticipated position. The report is then given to a card punch operator who translates the message into computer language with a key punch machine. The punched IBM card is placed in the reader of the 1402 card reader of the computer, where the information in the form of holes in the card is converted into electromagnetic impulses corresponding to numbers or letters. These impulses are stored in the memory which consists of magnetic discs which are similar in principle to a magnetic tape recorder. Every 12 hours, the intellect of the computer, under the guidance of the computer operator, uses the information stored in the memory to calculate a new position for each ship on the plot. The memory discs already contain search-and-rescue characteristics of the ships.
When a distress call is received, this electronic brain is actuated to issue a SURPIC (surface picture). An experienced Coast Guard electronics specialist then types out an interrogation to the machine. A few minutes later the computer answers. The computer’s response comes in a typed message, giving data on all vessels within a certain radius of the vessel or plane in distress. In standardized columns, the computer lists the name of each vessel, her call sign, latitude, longitude, date and time, course, speed, radio watch schedule, availability of surface radar, if a doctor is on board, radio-telephone availability, destination, and estimated time of arrival. If the computer answers that there are no vessels within the initial SURPIC requested, usually a 100-mile radius, a second interrogation is made to include ships within a larger radius of the ship or plane in distress.
Through the use of a SURPIC, an aircraft in distress can also be guided to a ditching area near a surface vessel which is being monitored by the AMVER system.
Sometimes when a plane is missing and there is no indication of its position, the computer is asked to help out in a “track search.” Air control authorities usually know the “track” the aircraft was scheduled to travel, and the computer produces the names of all reported ships within, say, 50 miles of both sides of the track. These vessels can then be requested to search the area, which may be far too large for Coast Guard and military units to handle alone.
Today, AMVER is called into action on an average of three times a day. A classic saga of such an operation occurred when a 17- year-old Norwegian sailor fell from the mast of the freighter Gylfe as she plowed through heavy seas, 500 miles east of Argentia, Newfoundland. The Coast Guard cutter Owasco (WPG-39), on ocean weather station duty, received a call from the freighter requesting medical assistance. The cutter relayed the call to AMVER in New York. The surface picture led to the British liner Carinthia rendezvousing with the Gylfe and taking the injured lad on board. The ship s surgeon immediately saw that emergency surgery was necessary, but he lacked certain vital supplies. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police rushed antibiotics to the Coast Guard air detachment at Argentia, while the Red Cross provided the blood which was flown by a U. S. Air Force plane from McGuire Field in New Jersey to Argentia. As the cutter Owasco provided radar bearings, a Coast Guard aircraft made an air drop of supplies to the Carinthia. The boy’s life was saved.
There are many such cases in the files ot AMVER at its acoustical-tiled, air-conditioned nerve center in New York. Members of the shipping fraternity, naval and mercantile, are cordially invited to visit the AMVER Center and see the automated equipment that saves untold life and property at sea.
★
Notebook
U. S. Navy
s Lockheed to Build New Sub (San Francisco Examiner, 20 April 1965): Lockheed Missiles & Space Company has been selected to build a deep-diving experimental research submarine for studies of ocean life a mile beneath the surface.
Plans for the 50-ton bomb-shaped sub were announced yesterday in Washington at the annual meeting of the Navy League of the United States.
The 40 foot long research vessel is designed to carry a 7,000 pound payload, with a crew of two men and space for two additional scientific observers.
Dubbed “Deep Quest,” the submarine will have a beam of 16 feet, with twin propellers powered by electric batteries. It will be designed to remain submerged for as long as 48 hours, taking acoustic soundings and recording undersea life and events on television tapes.
The project is part of Lockheed’s efforts to explore the technological possibilities of undersea mining and other exploitation of the ocean’s resources.
Other U. S. Services
E Lightship Replacement (All Elands, March 1965): A Coast Guard light tower has replaced the Frying Pan Shoals lightship southeast of Cape Fear, N. C. The lightship has been in operation there for 34 years.
The new tower was designed by the Coast Guard to withstand the impact of extraordinary wind and wave actions. The 500-ton deckhouse of the tower stands on four steel legs, which are encased in 36-inch diameter steel pilings driven 293 feet below the ocean floor.
Living quarters, a radio beacon, and communications and oceanographic equipment are included in the deckhouse. Its roof serves as a landing platform for helicopters. On one corner of the deckhouse is a 32-ft. tower supporting the radio beacon antenna and a lantern housing a 3.5 million candlepower light, which is visible up to 17 miles.
A crew of six operates the new navigational aid, as compared with the 16 to 20 men needed for the lightship.
The lightship will go to Cape May, N. J.
Maritime General
s Ships Outgrowing Channels (Walter Hamshar in New York Herald Tribune, 4 May 1965): The Army Corps of Engineers yesterday warned the tanker industry and other shipping interests to build new ships so that their bottoms will be higher and their tops lower.
Brig. Gen. R. H. Free, division engineer for the Southwest, told delegates to the annual tanker conference in Houston, sponsored by the American Petroleum Institute, that tanker builders and designers are on a “collision course” with larger and larger ships requiring deeper and deeper channels.
He also noted there must be a limit to the height of masts and other superstructures of petroleum vessels likely to sail under bridges. The Bureau of Public Roads is continuing its policy of prohibiting construction of movable bridges in its nationwide road construction program, he said.
As the government agency responsible for construction and maintenance of public channels and for supervising the amount of clearance for bridges, the Corps of Engineers “seldom can come up with a plan that pleases everybody,” Gen. Free said.
“We must, as far as practicable, aid all means of transport,” he added. “This means that some concessions must be made on every side to facilitate the harmonious pursuit of different occupations.”
Ship operators used to build their ships to fit the channels, he continued. But recent trends, particularly in tanker and ore carrier construction, have been to build ships requiring deeper drafts and then present a demand that channels be built to accom-
niodatc these larger ships.
“So long as channel enlargement was mainly a matter of dredging relatively soft material to remove shoals between deeper reaches of approach channels, the economic benefits of larger vessels amply justified their accommodation,” he said. “But circumstances have changed.
“We are now so close to the floor of the continental shelf in many places that in order to provide additional depth we must dredge channels many miles to the sea; in an increas- mg number of cases we must blast them out °f bedrock. Thus, deeper channels are becoming more and more costly, both to build and to maintain.”
Gen. Free recommended that the bulk shipping industry either impose on itself limitations on the dimensions of new ships as did the railroads,” or that designers come up with more ingenious methods of increas- mg cargo capacity than the “rather obvious 0ne of simply letting down their bottoms.” The tanker industry should examine a new concept in ocean shipping recently presented by Frank A. Nemec, president of Lykes Bros. Steamship Co., Gen. Free said. It was of a ship that would carry 24 fully loaded barges, basically “a water version of the rail piggyback operation.”
This would not only eliminate the transfer petroleum from tanker to barge, he said, but it might also, and perhaps more importantly, permit the efficient loading and discharge of cargoes at deep-water anchorage Without the necessity for special facilities.” Gen. Free urged the petroleum industry to £et together with representatives of other dipping to come up with “an industry-wide statement of requirements for new ports and Port improvements, based on a long-range °ok at industry trends.”
Only on the basis of such a consensus can adequate foundations be laid for the optimum '•ture development of our water transportation system,” the General said.
s Commercial Use of A-Ship (Washington Evening Star, 5 May 1965): A subsidiary of American Export-Isbrandtsen Lines has asked the U. S. Maritime Administration to allow it to operate the nuclear ship Savannah in Atlantic commerce.
Adm. John M. Will, chairman of AEIL, said the subsidiary is First Atomic Ship Transport, Inc. (FAST). It has filed a license application with the Atomic Energy Commission to operate the ship in regular commercial freighter operations.
The Maritime Administration presently has under consideration a proposal submitted last Feb. 8 by AEIL to use the Savannah in commercial freighter operations. The company presently operates the ship as general agent for the government.
The subsidiary company would be completely responsible for Savannah operations integrated into AEIL freighter schedules, Will said. Obtaining an AEC license.is a first step toward commercial operation of the Savannah, Will added.
The Savannah, first nuclear-powered freighter built by the United States, was laid up in Galveston for a year after it was completed because of a labor dispute over how the ship should be manned.
For the last 10 months AEIL has operated the ship in freight and passenger service for
ARMSTRONG
TOOL HOLDERS
Permanent, multi-purpose tools for every operation on lathes, planers. Blotters, and shapers that take tool bits ground from standard high speed steel shapes.
Chicago 46, III.
NAVY MUTUAL AID
ASSOCIATION Membership Provides
$11,000 Permanent
Insurance Protection
($7,500 Primary Benefit,Plus $3,500 Additional Death Benefit at no extra cost) ★
Competent, Sympathetic Assistance in Securing Government Benefits ★
Membership Loans Without Delay ★
For Further Information and Brochure Regarding the Services and Benefits of The Navy Mutual Aid Association, twite
NAVY MUTUAL AID
ASSOCIATION
Navy Dept., Washington, D. C. 20370 Since 1879
the government in a shakedown test of its capabilities. During that time it visited East Coast ports in the United States and Mediterranean ports. More than 1.25 million people visited the ship during its port stops.
s New Radar May Assist Ships (The New
York Times, 10 May 1965): The Coast Guard is pursuing ways to furnish positive and unmistakable radar identification of objects— such as lightships and icebergs—that are dangerous to merchant mariners.
The service’s headquarters in Washington is now evaluating the results of an experiment, conducted late last month in the New York area, that entailed the use of a radar transponder placed on the mast of Ambrose Lightship.
The experiment was described here last week as “quite satisfactory” by Capt. J. N. Schrader, Eastern Area Command operations officer. Captain Schrader called the experiment an attempt to do nautically what the Air Force has done with the Identification Friend or Foe (I.F.F.) radar method of identifying unknown aircraft.
The key to the experiment is a small $3,000 black box—known among electronics experts as a radar transponder. The box, Captain Schrader explained, bounces back with a slight delay (a few microseconds) the radar beam transmitted by a merchant ship approaching the light ship.
As a result, he continued, the merchant craft’s radar scope shows three pips for the lightship—one, the regular and slightly fuzzy reflection created by bouncing a radar signal off the lightship’s hull, and, two distinct and sharp blips, 200 yards behind the regular blip.
Such a special radar picture, Captain Schrader noted, presents the watch officer with a clear and unmistakable radar sighting of the lightship—a picture that cannot be confused with, for instance, a ship at anchor near by.
Other applications of the transponder system of radar identification, Captain Schrader said, could be made in such areas as search and rescue operations, temporary marking of drifting icebergs and bridges across navigable waterways.
For search and rescue work at sea, he said, a transponder-equipped buoy could be dropped from the air and could serve as a “datum marker,” or fixed base point from which to direct air and surface craft engaged in rescue work.
Another advantage of the transponder, he noted, was that the transponder signal has a 20 per cent greater range than an ordinary radar signal reflected from a ship’s steel hull-
initial comments from shipmasters entering or leaving New York harbor, he added, have been “quite satisfactory,” with about 35 vessels reporting to the Coast Guard here that the transponder signal had been “of value.
s Commercial Inertial Navigation (Ship- building and Shipping Record, 11 Februaiy 1965): Inertial navigation, late last year, really began to move from the space age, where demands imposed by national defence on the space race fostered its development, towards the more conventional pace of the maritime industry. Although S.I.N.S. (Ships Inertial Navigation System) was in operation
Notebook 151
Britain
Germany, including Berlin
Mediterranean East of Suez
Elsewhere
in the naval field somewhat earlier the cost generally ruled it out for merchant vessels.
At an Institute of Navigation meeting, held in December, at San Francisco, California, Sperry Rand Corporation introduced what it termed a “new universal navigator”
an inertial system for the sea with the laboratory name SGN-4.
The SGN-4 more than cuts in half the size, Weight and—most importantly to its future m the maritime field—the price of inertial navigation.
The equipment has the real capacity to automate navigation, the manufacturers state, and is the only navigation system with this facility.
Most systems serve to tell the navigator where he is and where he has been, leaving him to set a course not unlike having to drive hy looking into the rear view mirror.
Inertial navigation is the only system to I'ead out position, course, roll and pitch. This does not mean that it is simply another, however more precise, crystal ball.
Sperry believes that the future of auto- iiavigators in the maritime industry primarily is an economic equation and that ships arrive and depart from their ports of call with aH too frequent a regularity to require better accuracy at a higher price. But, if the equa- li°n of navigation—including equipment costs, salaries, fuel consumption, and delays caused by navigation uncertainties—is examined and if it can be met or bettered with inertial navigation then the producer of such a system has a commercial product.
Inertial navigation has two strong selling Points working to secure its future:
1- It will be able to automate not only navigation but navigational transit. That ls to say, feed into the inertial navigation system present position, route and course changes, then let the autopilot carry out the ‘nertial navigation system’s orders. It is quite Possible to automate transit from departure to arrival. And, the greater the distance between these two points—the more valuable inertial navigation.
2. It will supply the navigational accuracy necessary to make seagoing traffic control systems practical in high density areas.
Foreign s British Defense Contributions (British Information Services News Release, 11 May 1965): Britain’s defense responsibilities are world-wide. Her contribution to the defense of the Atlantic area and of Western Europe forms part of her general commitment to the defense of the free world, for which purpose she also maintains substantial forces outside Europe.
The basic principle observed in the deployment of British forces is to retain in overseas theaters the minimum strength consistent with commitments, and to hold ready at home a strategic reserve consisting of a highly mobile air-portable force, able rapidly to reinforce existing garrisons or to provide units to deal with emergencies anywhere in the world.
Britain’s total force of 393,000 servicemen (naval, ground and air) is broadly deployed as follows:
241,000
62,000
23.000
58.0 plus 14,000
Gurkhas
9,000
Total 393,000 plus 14,000
Gurkhas
(Note: The total in Malaysia alone is over 50,000 including Gurkhas.)
tlOfn <Go*/i. | ★ NYLON STUFFING TUBES (Terminal Type) ★ NEOPRENE AND SILICONE PACKINGS |
27 UPHAM STREET, MELROSE, MASS. 02176 | ★ MOLDED RECEPTACLES AND PLUGS |
Navy Electrical Equipment | * RISER TERMINAL BOARDS |
Supplies Since 1939 | ★ DEGAUSSING TERMINAL BOARDS |
It is not the purpose of these forces to hold overseas territory for Britain as her record of decolonization shows. The British presence
MODEL SHIPS
Waterline: 1:1250 Models
Castings by: HANSA, VIKING, NAVIS, SUPERIOR (formerly AUTHENTICAST), MERCATOR, STAR, DELPHIN, MERCURY, TRI-ANG, and ANGUPLAS.
Over 600 models, from Ironclads to Missile Cruisers, from Submarines to Sailing Vessels, Carriers, Merchantmen, beginning as far back as the Civil War. They are authentic Navy recognition models, precision cast with detail plus. Perfect for the collector, war-gamer, or fancier of ships. America's most exclusive hobby.
New 56 page catalog: 35^
Over 100 new models __
HANSA Fleet Data: 25*
NATHAN R. PRESTON S CO.
P.O. Box 187—Des Plaines, Illinois 40017 Immediate delivery
arises in response to treaty and other commitments and makes a substantial contribution to international peace-keeping.
The British Government has also recently offered, subject to national commitments, to help provide logistic backing for a U. N. force of up to six infantry battalions.
s South African Navy Drops Color Bar
(Benjamin Pogrund in The Washington Post, 25 April 1965): The South African Navy, faced with difficulties in getting its ships to sea, is breaking with its color-bar tradition and recruiting coloreds (mixed-bloods).
At present there are no indications that Africans will also be recruited for the Navy.
Naval spokesmen said this week that 348 posts are being created for colored artisans, seamen, storekeepers, clerks and drivers both on shore and at sea.
Recruiting will start immediately with the first 100 posts for a naval career being advertised at the end of this month. An aim of the new plan is to free more whites in shore posts for service in active ships where there is a scarcity of men following the Navy’s expansion in recent years under a reported $58 million program.
One defense ship already has coloreds as deckhands and stokers and the new recruits will go to other smaller ships such as minesweepers.
There is a possibility that they will man these ships completely under white officers.
After receiving basic training, the coloreds will go to formerly British-administered Simonstown Naval Base for further training. They will wear the same working outfit as whites, but different walking-out uniforms.
Ship Notes
s United States: The following ships have been placed in commission—Josephus Daniels (DLG-27) on 8 May 1965; Bradley (DE-1041) on 15 May 1965.
The following ships have been launched— Koelsch (DE-1049) on 8 June 1965; George Bancroft (SSBN-643) on 20 March 1965; James K. Polk (SSBN-645) on 22 May 1965; George C. Marshall (SSBN-654) on 21 May 1965; Guardfsh (SSN-612) on 15 May 1965; Ashville (PGM-84) on 1 May 1965; Sea Lift (LSV-9) on 17 April 1965; Glover (AGDE-1) on 17 April 1965; Camden (AOE-2) on 29 May 1965.
The following ships have been laid down—- Will Rogers (SSBN-659) on 20 March 1965; Narwhal (SSN-671) on 15 May 1965; Coronado (LPD-11) on 3 May 1965; PGM-86 on 10 May 1965; PGM-87 on 20 May 1965; Puget Sound (AD-38) on 15 February 1965; Niagara Falls (AFS-3) on 22 May 1965.
s Australia: The guided missile destroyer Brisbane (DDG-27) was laid down on 15 February 1965.
s Canada: The keel was laid down on 25 March 1965 for the third Oberon-class submarine being built in Britain for the Royal Canadian Navy.
s Great Britain: The Royal Navy has announced that 44 ships are to be scrapped- They are: the light cruiser Gambia; the destroyers Armada, Barfieur, Chequers, Chevron, Dunkirk, Finnisterre, Lagos; the frigates Orwell) Petard, Roebuck, Rocket, Tumult, Tuscan, Undine, Venus; the dispatch vessel Surprise; the submarines Aurochs, Excalibur; the ocean minesweepers Circe, Espiegle, Mutine, Niger, Pluto> Recruit, Waterwitch; the inshore minesweeper Damerham, Darsham, Davenham, Glentham, H°v" ingham, Brinkley, Brenchley; the heavy repair ship Ausonia; the minesweeper support ship Woodbridge Haven; the tank landing ship Ben Nevis; the tank landing craft Buttress, Sally Port, Redoubt; the survey ships Shackleton, Cook, Scott; and the submarine tender Minstrel. M°st of these ships are in reserve.
The Leander-class frigate Naiad was commissioned on 15 March 1965.
Progress
New Look—The guided missile ship Norton Sound (AVM-1) has returned to sea as thetest ship for the SPG-59 search and heightfinding radar. The radar, housed in a structure resembling a giant cocktail shaker, was designed for the ill-fated Typhon missile system.
Big Lift—An Army CH-54A Skycrane helicopter loaded 87 combat-equipped troops and lifted a total of 90 persons dur- 5“ ing a record-setting test flight S on 29 April. On 10 April, a So- ^ viet Mi-6 helicopter had lifted 70 paratroopers to establish § the previous world’s record. The U. S. Army will operate nine CH-54As in its 478th .■§ Flying Crane Company. 5
How It Works—The propeller pod and after foil of the experimental LVHX-1 amphibious hydrofoil vehicle is hinged on the craft’s stern. It is lowered, as shown here, for foilborne operations and raised when the craft operates in a displacement condition or as a land vehicle. o> The lower section of the after '5 strut, with a tractor-type pro- 8 peller and a 17j-foot-wide ^ foil, rotates to steer the craft 5 when foilborne. x
RF-4B—The reconnaissance configuration of the Phantom II, at right, is easily differentiated from the F-4B fighter/attack version by the shape of its nose. The RF-4B is 62 feet, 11 inches long—4 feet, 8 inches longer than the F-4B. The new plane has no provision for armament and is fitted with forward-looking navigation mapping radar (instead of missile guidance radar), side-looking radar, three camera ports, infra-red mapping equipment, and a photo-flash ejector. The Marine Corps is to receive 36 RF-4Bs; none are now on order for the Navy.
Three Years at Sea—This towerlike test structure, designated STlJ I-i, was submerged in 5,300 Feet of water from 29 March 1962 to 2 5 February 1965, to test the effects of submergence on construction materials. The 7,000-pound, 14-foot tall structure was loaded with 1,318 specimens of 301 different materials in the test conducted by the Naval Civil Engineering Laboratory at Port Hueneme, California.
* The most powerful tug-type vessels now in active U. S. Navy service are the 13 salvage vessels (ASR) and 30 fleet tugs (ATF) with 3,000 s.h.p. ratings. The Navy also has 17 ocean-going auxiliary tugs (ATA) rated at 1,500 s.h.p. Other Navy ships are suitable for ocean towing, most notably the icebreaker Glacier (AGB-4), rated at 16,860 s.h.p., and the four “Wind”-class icebreakers which are each rated at 10,000 s.h.p.
There has been some difference of opinion among naval activities concerning programmed instruction. These divergent views have centered not so much on the efficacy of programmed instruction in facilitating learning as on the practicality of implementing the new technology in a training operation having the size and complexity of that of the Navy. For example, the Bureau of Naval Personnel, which normally might be expected to take the lead in implementing a new technology in Navy training, has pointed to such practical difficulties as the time required to prepare and validate programmed material, the cost involved, and the increased bulk of programmed material as compared with conventional instructional materials. Despite these difficulties, the Chief of Naval Personnel has said that, within available resources, he will assist training activities under his command in developing a capability to write and use programmed material.