PALOMARES—EXERCISE IN OCEAN ENGINEERING
By Captain W. F. Searle, Jr., U. S. Navy, Supervisor of Salvage, U. S. Navy and Director, Ocean Engineering Branch, Naval Ship Systems Command
There were, indeed, many aspects of ocean engineering involved in the search for and recovery of the lost atomic bomb off Palomares, Spain, which lasted from January to April 1966. It was called Salvage Operations, Mediterranean. See “Contact 261” by Captain Lewis B. Melson, U. S. Navy, page 26 of this issue.
The magnitude of the Palomares search and recovery operation presents to us an excellent review of the various types of ocean engineering, and, in so doing, offers an answer to the question: What is an ocean engineer?
The H-bomb was lost on 17 January 1966 as a result of a B-52 colliding with a KC-135, during a fueling evolution over Spain. Three bombs fell on shore and were soon found; the fourth was presumed to be in the offshore waters where local residents watched an object parachute down. On Saturday, 22 January, the U. S. Air Force, with dod concurrence, officially concluded that the missing fourth bomb was in the water. This made recovery a Navy job in keeping with longstanding joint services instructions that any Explosive Ordnance Disposal (eod) job in the water is assigned to the Navy.
Our search and recovery operation then continued for 66 days until 7 April, when the bomb was finally deposited on the deck of the USS Petrel (asr-14).
Two months later, my office forwarded a bill to the Air Force for nearly $5.5 million for ocean engineering services rendered.
The practical experience gained during the search and recovery operations—the lessons learned—more than made up for any time delay resulting for oceanographic research programs, and merits additional discussion.
First, in the employment of curv, Deep Jeep, Alvin, Aluminaut, and the Perry Cub-marine (pc-3b), the problems of handling and maintaining the vehicles, far from a laboratory or the shelter of a test range, were accentuated. The pilots of the deep research vehicles (drv) did an excellent job, as did the crews of the fleet tug which handled Deep Jeep, the cruiser which hoisted the pc-3b on board after each day’s operation, and the landing dock ship that handled the Alvin and the Aluminaut. A great deal of egg-shell seamanship was involved in handling these vehicles in the heavy ground swells.
We installed a Decca Hi-Fix navigation system for the business of accurately tracking and marking the drv’s position, hence checking off the areas covered. This is an area where we still have much to learn and much to develop. If there is to be any precise ocean engineering—be it static, deep-ocean construction, or mobile systems—we shall have to have bottom navigation accuracy and, probably, a line-of-sight type of positioning from the surface to the undersea object. Even the cone effect of our best scientific sonar fathometers in the range of three degrees cone angle, leaves much to be desired at 3,000 feet, let alone 10,000 feet.
As noted in Captain Melson’s article, the unmanned search equipment included the Westinghouse Ocean Bottom Scanning Sonar (obss), the Honeywell Sea Scanner, two Oceanographic Engineering Corporation (oec) underwater TV rigs, and the newly outfitted survey ship usns Mizar (tagor-11) with her underwater towed sensors and cameras. Except for the Mizar, all three towed systems were handled from ships or boats not designed or fitted for such work. Rigging in and out, handling cables, and gaining accurate position for the ships or boats presented problems. This was especially complicated because none of the surface vessels had dynamic positioning features to help them maneuver so as to remain in a certain position. But perhaps the toughest engineering problem of all involved towing a vital, costly, and sensitive search instrument close to the bottom, when the bottom is not flat. The speed of the tow ship, the response of the hoist, and of the operator all had to be considered. We did lose the towed OBSS fish on three occasions.
curv was employed as a messenger to attach lines to the object. On the first two dives to 2,850 feet, she attached separate lift lines. The lines had to be buoyed off on the surface, tended, and subsequently hauled in. Above, on the surface, the work of merely hanging onto the lines, passing them to the asr lift ship, and then hauling them in required tremendous skill. The lifting job was done from an unmoored asr, which was tended by two landing craft (lcm). A lift platform with dynamic positioning would have been a help; even a ship with bow-thruster and an activated rudder would have done better.
The first lift system employed at the 2,550-foot level, where the bomb was lost, has been overlooked somewhat. It was a well-engineered, on-the-spot system. The idea was to drop a clump or anchor near the object. The clump was rigged with the several lift lines. The Alvin would then play messenger boy on the bottom and transfer the lines from the clump to the bomb. The difficulty was to engineer a clump so that the lift lines would not foul and could easily be detached and transferred by the Alvin. For instance, think of the Dakota Badlands: a helicopter hovers at 2,550-foot altitude; she is totally blind of the topography beneath her; she lowers a sort of tripod with a heavy anchor line and three or four lift lines; she hopes the rig will land and stay upright. Inevitably, the rig tipped over. The Alvin was able to transfer one line only and there is some doubt that even this line was clear. At any rate, the line parted. Good idea; bad luck; inhospitable bottom.
There was extensive diving in the shallower, inshore waters. eod, Underwater Demolition Teams (udt), and SeaLab divers conducted search operations covering every square foot of the bottom out to about 100 feet deep. Surface-supplied divers were employed to dive on sonar, obss, and Sea-Scanner contacts in water 250 to 300 feet deep. Transferring debris from shore to barges, over the beach, presented a real problem since there were no adequate piers in the area.
The existing charts of the area were really no good at all. The bathymetry was next to useless. The U. S. Naval Oceanographic Office developed very accurate charts. With the help of the survey ship Dutton (ags-22), they produced first rate charts, giving a precise bathymetric picture of the bottom. Large scale charts can be very misleading as to bottom contours. The sea’s bottom, having been neither cultivated nor subjected to the leveling effect of the weather, will seldom be found smooth or flat.
Nor is the bottom of the sea of consistent composition. We were very interested in this at Palomares. If the bomb had been stuck in the mud or bottom ooze or had it scoured into the sand, our lift rigs would have had to overcome a suction or breakout force. Charts may show bottom composition, but they indicate the composition of one spot only.
I have not dealt with the details of the machines or electronic black boxes which were employed at Palomares. To my mind, that is not ocean engineering. Rather, the stress has been on knowledge of the sea, the sea bottom, and the ability to work on and in the sea. The key word here is work. And who works in and on the sea? A seaman.
What people generally mean by ocean engineering is merely a reference to what the Navy’s boatswain’s mates and divers have been doing for a long time. Ocean engineering is sophisticated seamanship; it is at sea and undersea rigging; it is at sea and undersea civil engineering. That a new term has been spawned and has gained so much attention from the scientific community merely indicates the complexity, and indeed, the hazards, that the boatswains and divers and quartermasters have always faced. Seamanship is a mundane term; ocean engineering is a sophisticated term.
The diving-salvage-towing Navy consists roughly of 90 ships capable of deep-ocean towing. Most of these ships, plus many others which do not tow, carry divers and perform ocean engineering tasks such as placing moorings, towing scientific arrays, doing seismic survey work, and general underwater tasks.
In the Navy there are more than 3,000 divers, or diving billets, of one class or another. All of these men are trained to do general work underwater. They are ocean engineers and mechanics. Some are trained to work deeper than others, some are photographers, some are welders, some are explosives experts, and some are physicians and hospital corps-men. Some divers have even been yeomen, or cooks, though it is not clear how they performed in their rate down below. These divers are spread throughout the Navy in both the officer and enlisted ranks. The senior working diver is the Supervisor of Salvage, one of whose jobs it is to help ensure that this country has in its maritime industry an adequate ship salvage and rescue towing capability. We certainly consider ship and submarine salvage, along with bomb recovery, to be ocean engineering.
The bulk of the Navy’s ocean engineering force is found in the Navy’s Service Forces: salvage ships (ars); fleet and auxiliary tugs (atf and ata); cable layers (arc); oceanographic research ships (agor) and other specialized ships.
The Submarine Forces’ rescue ships (asr) are capable of towing and salvage, also. They carry all our deep divers who are capable of diving to 500 or 600 feet.
The Mine Forces have a significant diving capability in their Explosive Ordnance Disposal Units and deployed teams. These eod divers are precision underwater mechanics. The Mine Forces and Harbor Defense Units are involved every day in ocean engineering in their business of towing mine sweeping apparatus and rigging.
The Amphibious Forces have udt and seal (sea-air-land) teams composed entirely of divers. These are the demolition experts, the surveyors, the scouts, and hunters of the ocean engineering business.
The Destroyer Force and the Carrier Force also have divers, but not in large numbers. Destroyer tenders, cruisers, and carriers all carry divers to perform underwater work tasks. And, of course, the Naval Air Forces have para-rescue and helicopter rescue personnel who are trained as shallow divers.
Also, in the Shore Establishment of the Navy are found not only military divers but also civilian divers in shipyards and scientist divers in certain laboratories.
Experience on, under, and with the sea is vital to the ocean engineer, if he is to have the patience and intuition that makes seamanship more an art than a science. The seaman knows that the ocean is as unforgiving as a piece of sculptor’s marble; it must be approached with the same combination of force and delicacy, command and respect.
A NAVIGATION-GEODETIC SYSTEM BY SATELLITE
By Philip R. Winters, General Engineer, Satellite Geophysics Program, Pacific Missile Range, Point Mugu, California
Anybody who has had the problem of moving an aircraft or ship across the oceans, or of making accurate geodetic land surveys has probably noted: Almost all surveyed positions in the United States are tied to the North American Datum of 1927; geodetic research constantly refers to the Clarke 1866 or 1880 Spheroids, and too many hydrographic charts bear dates of 1940 or earlier.
The science of geodesy—a branch of applied mathematics and geophysics, which determines the exact size and shape of the earth—was in the doldrums. Navigation had not changed significantly since the introduction of Long Range Navigation (loran). Scientists, mindful of these facts, were anxious to up-date existing techniques, but they had no better methods to offer. In 1957, when the Soviet Union launched Sputnik I, some remarkable developments occurred.
Two scientists, Drs. W. H. Guier and G. C. Weiffenbach of the Applied Physics Laboratory, The Johns Hopkins University, learned that the satellite’s emitted radio signals could be graphically presented as a curve of the Doppler shift and that when properly analyzed an accurate, easily derived, description of Sputnik’s orbit could be obtained.
It appeared that the Doppler shift phenomenon, or apparent frequency change of transmitted radio waves as the distance between transmitter and observer is changed, was so definitive that it might be useful in our space efforts.
Dr. F. T. McClure, another Applied Physics Laboratory scientist, asked: “If a single pass from a single satellite yielding a curve of Doppler shift can determine a satellite’s orbit, why can’t a satellite of known orbit locate a ground station (or ship)?”
Armed with this question, Dr. McClure, representing the Applied Physics Laboratory, approached the Bureau of Naval Weapons (now the Naval Air Systems Command), and proposed that “the Navy undertake the task of developing a navigation-geodetic system using a series of satellites launched into optimum orbits, and tracked by pre-selected, as well as randomly placed, ships and stations.”
Contracts were written and the Navy’s first full-fledged effort in space, and the world’s first Doppler geodetic system, was born.*
The Doppler shift has been known for a long time. Actually, it was first discovered by an Austrian physicist, Christian J. Doppler, while performing spectral analysis experiments in the late 19th century.
In the course of Doppler’s work, he noted that spectrum lines of certain gasses broadened or thinned with the application of heat or cold. Doppler further showed that the same concepts held true for any emitted frequency, sound, light, electrical, or mechanical, and that received frequencies would not necessarily correspond to those transmitted if either transmitter or receiver were in motion.
Consider, therefore, the mechanical example of an aircraft gunner firing at a stationary ground target. As the aircraft speeds toward the target firing at a constant rate, more hits per second than the actual rate of fire will be registered due to the velocity of the aircraft. The number of hits diminishes until, at the precise instant, the aircraft is nearest the target when the same number of impacts as the rate of fire are registered. Passing into the distance, still shooting at the target, the number of hits continues to diminish and, when the over-all action is presented graphically, a characteristic curve of the Doppler effect will be seen.
In a Doppler geodetic system, the aircraft gunner is replaced by a satellite radio transmission; the target with a stationary receiver. Now, we find the above analogy holding true for radio wave propagation.
As the satellite approaches the tracking station, the received frequency is higher than that actually transmitted, and remains so until the satellite reaches its closest approach. Then, as the orbiting body passes, the received frequency decreases. At the moment when it is closest, however, the received radio signal has exactly the same frequency as transmitted, and the rate of change of relative range is zero.
If measurements of instantaneous frequency changes are made during the satellite’s pass, a mathematical relationship exists between frequency shift and the rate of changing range. Further, upon correcting certain random errors, a single satellite pass will yield its range at every point along the Doppler curve. This, in effect, is a description of the satellite’s orbit. The random errors that must be taken into account prior to obtaining good results are as follows:
Inherent orbit errors. These are perhaps the easiest to minimize, because all orbiting bodies follow Newton’s laws of motion, and because various launch agencies know, or can determine, all parameters of an orbiting body. Thus, with an a priori knowledge of a satellite’s orbital path (circular or elliptical), Doppler tracking can resolve all other unknowns. Without previous knowledge of a satellite’s trajectory, it would be almost impossible to determine its position in space by Doppler tracking alone.
Ionospheric refraction. The most difficult problem, in Doppler systems, causes erroneous predictions of a satellite’s position in space. When a satellite is tracked, its position, as determined by uncorrected Doppler data, is not accurate because the received radio waves have been bent by the ionosphere. Fortunately, radio signals of different frequencies are refracted in predictable fashion, and it is, therefore, possible to minimize error by installing two harmonic frequencies in each satellite. Upon receiving simultaneously these two frequencies, say 50 mcs. and 100 mcs., they are routed through a refraction correction unit which mathematically reduces the ionosphere’s effect on them.
Putting these facts into practice, given a satellite of known trajectory and transmitting two or more harmonic radio frequencies, it is possible to determine a satellite’s precise position. Conversely, it is also possible to locate a satellite tracking station by monitoring Doppler satellites.
In fact, the Satellite Geophysics Program has as its primary goal the establishment of a worldwide geodetic datum based solely on this principle.
The Doppler geodetic technique is precise, rapid, and operable in all weather. It gives accurate information every few minutes, day and night, while remaining completely passive. Above all, it precisely and immediately locates a tracking station without the necessity of simultaneous tracking by other satellite stations.
No one had anticipated the overwhelming success of Doppler geodesy, when on 13 April 1960 the first useable satellite was launched. By late 1961, the original program had become so big that its various aspects of scientific research could best be served by separate functions. Therefore, on 10 April 1962, the U. S. Navy Astronautics Group was commissioned at the Pacific Missile Range, Point Mugu, California, with an assigned mission to develop an operational navigation system.
As the name implies, Satellite Geophysics is an integrated Department of Defense program concerning the physical forces that shape and control the earth. Gravity, magnetism, ionospheric, and tropospheric studies are included in the over-all research aims of the program; however, the main mission of establishing and refining a worldwide geodetic datum remains paramount.
Operationally, the Navy’s portion of Satellite Geophysics differs in that it has no satellites of its own. Instead, the other programs’ instrumentation packages, which transmit Tracking Network (TraNet) frequencies, are used. These satellites, be they NASA, Air Force, or Navy in origin, are designated satellites-of-opportunity. It is fortunate, since this method of operation began that there has been no lack of data.
Another noticeable difference in Satellite Geophysics is that it is a tri-service program. It is not unusual, therefore, to find a Doppler tracking site occupied by an Army or Air Force crew.
What comes next is anybody’s guess. It all depends on how far man’s imagination will take him.
The months ahead seem promising for the Navy’s Doppler technique. Requirements to occupy more than 50 new tracking sites have been received, and indications are that more will be forthcoming.
By Raymond J. Barrett, First Secretary, American Embassy, Madrid
THE EMBASSY MARINE
A familiar and reassuring sight for visitors to most American missions overseas is a trim and efficient U. S. Marine at the reception desk. Nearly 1,000 Marines now serve as Marine Security Guards at more than 90 American diplomatic and consular posts in about 85 countries.
At the request of various Secretaries of State, Marines have served in many unusual places and circumstances ever since the days of the Revolutionary War. Their service to the Department of State in Nicaragua, China, Cuba, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and other corners of the globe has helped to write history. The Marines have been in the Embassy-guarding business off and on since the 1880s. Probably the most dramatic example was the defense of the legation in Peking, China in 1900 against the Boxers. The Marines in these earlier episodes were primarily concerned with protecting American lives and property. However, there has been a change in this emphasis. They now are principally concerned with the security of classified material and with the secondary mission of protecting lives and property.
The Marine Security Guard Program as we know it today originated with a Memorandum Agreement, signed on 15 December 1948 by Secretary of the Navy John L. Sullivan and Undersecretary of State Robert Lovett. Shortly after World War II, the Department of State re-examined its need for guards for the protection of its Foreign Service posts. For a time prior to this, the Department had hired civilians for the protection of its overseas establishments. This proved both expensive and unsatisfactory. Many of these guards were of questionable background, ability, and suitability. In a period of international tension, such as existed in 1947, the Department favored the establishment of a guard force which was young, alert, well-trained, and disciplined.
The Marine Security Guard program started with 83 Marines attending the Foreign Service Institute of the Department of State for two weeks in January 1949. On 28 January 1949, the first detachments of Marines were assigned to Foreign Service posts abroad; six went to Bangkok and nine to Tangiers. By May, over 300 Marines were assigned to posts around the world. Company F at Headquarters Marine Corps in Arlington, Virginia, was established to perform administrative and training functions for the program. In 1952, Regional Security Officers who were commissioned Marine officers were assigned to Frankfort, Beirut, Manila, and Panama. The agreement that provided Marine Security Guards between the Navy and the Department of State was renewed in 1955.
Most guard detachments number from six to eight Marines, although there are more Marines at larger or more sensitive posts. Each detachment has a non-commissioned officer in charge (ncoic). He is responsible for the execution of Marine Corps administrative matters. He also serves, whenever possible, as an assistant to an embassy’s post security officer. At most posts, two Marines are on duty during other than normal working hours; one is always at the reception desk to help callers, to receive emergency messages, and to relay them to the appropriate duty officers. The other Marine on duty tours the building periodically to be sure that all classified material is propertly stored, escorts the char force while they clean the classified areas, and locks and unlocks the doors and gates that are kept closed to ensure the security of the building during non-office hours. At smaller posts, one Marine handles these duties immediately after working hours and only one Marine remains on duty thereafter. The watch, of course, is arranged so that the Marine or Marines on duty are relieved about in the middle of the night. Actual statistics show that these Marines work an average of 89 hours a week. In addition, they are available for duty 24 hours a day, seven days a week and, even when off watch, they must be exemplary representatives of the United States.
Candidates for the guard program are all volunteers. A prospective candidate must be a U. S. citizen, unmarried if below the rank of staff sergeant (and, if accepted, sign a statement to remain unmarried while serving in the program), have an excellent conduct record, be in top physical condition, be qualified for top secret clearance, have two years to serve in the Marine Corps, and meet intelligence and service requirements.
Training is given at the joint State-Marine Security Guard School at Henderson Hall, Headquarters Marine Corps. This school was opened in 1954, when it became apparent that a formal training program was needed. While at the school, the candidates go through two screenings and an intensive six-week program of instruction. The latter, approximately 50 per cent of which is taught by Department of State instructors, covers a wide variety of subjects: physical security, protocol, detection of sound devices, the Foreign Service establishment, security tasks, tactful answering of criticism of the United States, conference security, dealing with hostile demonstrations and mob action, and Communist measures of espionage and subversion. They are also required to study a foreign language for a minimum of 100 hours.
The Marines wear uniforms while on duty, but for the rest of the time they wear civilian clothes. The Department of State gives each Marine an allowance with which to purchase suitable clothing before going overseas. Quarters overseas are also provided by the Department. This normally means a house or apartment for the ncoic, if he is married, and a house or apartment—known everywhere as Marine House—is provided for the other members of the detachment. All other pay and allowances are those that apply to the Marine Corps generally; there is no extra pay for the duty. The normal tour assignment is two years.
The increasing frequency of mob action against American Foreign Service posts has added to the importance of the Marine Security Guard. Every effort is being made to strengthen the physical security of posts where such attacks are a possibility. At the school, training in the control of mob action has been intensified. Handling such situations takes not only courage but also careful judgment and firm discipline to protect the establishment and files while, at the same time, avoiding action that might endanger American lives, particularly defenseless American wives and children in their homes. Certainly, on many occasions in recent years, the presence of Marines inside embassy compounds has been a source of comfort to American employees during hostile demonstrations and civil disturbances. During such disturbances, Marines have no doubt deterred the sacking of American posts abroad.
Marines on Guard duty have done a fine job fostering better relations with peoples all over the world by reflecting the warmth, generosity and initiative of Americans. In their free time—and statistics show that they have only 79 hours a week for sleep and relaxation under normal conditions—they have carried out ambitious projects to help the people amongst whom they live. In Santiago, Chile, the detachment initiated a food, toy, and clothing drive for a large orphanage. In Rome and Madrid, they held annual Christmas parties for local orphans. In Vientiane, Laos, the Marines financially supported four Laotian refugees receiving medical training. The Marine ncoic and his wife at Beirut, Lebanon, undertook the physical rehabilitation of a two-year-old Lebanese girl stricken with polio. In Manila, the Marines donated equipment and off-duty time to organize sporting events for the 2,000 orphans of Welfareville, which is patterned after the American Boys Town.
Speaking of the Marine Security Guard Program, the Commandant of the Corps summed it up when he said that these Marines “are more than earning their salt as Marines and as representatives of our country. As their Commandant, I am mighty proud of them. I think all Americans would be if they knew more about the difficult job they have done and how well they have done it.”
COUNTERINSURGENCY TRAINING FOR THE NAVY
By Lieutenant (jg) Garry D. Brewer, U. S. Naval Reserve U. S. Naval Amphibious School, Coronado, California
The expansion of the total U. S. commitment in Vietnam, along with the concurrent development of an extensive naval advisory effort there, has created a pressing requirement for a unique training program, tailored to the Vietnamese insurgency environment. Responsibility for this training has been delegated by the Chief of Naval Operations to the U. S. Naval Amphibious School at Coronado, California, where three separate courses of counterinsurgency instruction are taught.
The primary effort is aimed at the training of potential advisors for duty in Vietnam. The Counterinsurgency Predeployment Course ci-12 is the tangible response to the requirement for well-qualified advisors to the Vietnamese Navy.
In order to ready U. S. Forces for duty ashore in Saigon and Da Nang and to give small-boat crews an introduction to counter-insurgency prior to their receiving specialized boat and tactical training, the ci/Self-Protection/sere ci-3 course has been developed.
The final indoctrination course is Counterinsurgency Orientation ci-2, designed to instruct shipboard, shore-based, and Naval Reserve personnel in how to teach counterinsurgency to their parent units.
The training of prospective naval advisors is the responsibility of the Special Operations Department of the Amphibious School there. The course takes nearly three months to complete. Authorized in early 1965, the course is designed to provide a maximum of predeployment training for Military Advisory Assistance Group (maag) and mission personnel en route to duty in areas of hostile, insurgent activity. The over-all program is divided into three essential phases of instruction: academic, four weeks; functional, three weeks; and language, five weeks.
For the first two weeks, the students are exposed to background orientation and lectures in an academic setting. This orientation stresses the social, political, and cultural differences that exist between Vietnam and the United States, as well as the significant trends and developments of the Vietnamese people. Approximately a fourth of this instruction is devoted to a cultural theme that includes discussions of Communist ideology; Southeast Asian and Vietnamese politics; Oriental religions, customs, and philosophies; social and economic problems and programs; as well as a brief description and refresher of certain aspects of Western culture.
Another quarter of the initial two weeks of instruction is devoted to the study and analysis of insurgencies and counterinsurgencies around the world. Civilian and military counterinsurgency policies and programs are reviewed to give the student a well-rounded introduction into the complex of agencies and organizations that are operating with a counterinsurgency objective and their viewpoints. The U. S. Navy’s efforts are reviewed here also. The remainder of this two-week portion is devoted to area intelligence briefings, survival, escape, resistance, evasion briefings, and to rigorous physical training and conditioning.
In the third and fourth academic weeks, the classroom emphasis becomes increasingly practical in nature. The student is introduced (for the first time in his career, in most cases) to small unit tactics, patrolling procedures on both land and water, medical and first aid practices, field radio and map indoctrination, base defense techniques, booby traps, demolitions, and other diverse functional aspects of being in an insurgency environment.
These two phases of instruction—academic and practical classroom—are conducted by Vietnam advisors who have recently returned from duty there and by an academic section of officers who are specialists in area studies, politics, and psychology. Teaching base defense and coastal patrolling are four former Junk Force advisors. Other former advisors to the River and Sea Forces are responsible for indoctrination in these two areas. For example, the head of the Special Operations Department was formerly the senior River Force advisor. Another was a mine warfare advisor and another was with the original all-Navy patrol boats in the Rung Sat swamps of the Mekong Delta. Several academic instructors hold graduate degrees and specialized military training in international relations, political science, and psychological warfare.
The staff is further bolstered by periodic guest lecturers from the academic and governmental communities. The joint character of the Amphibious School is put to use in that much of the small unit, and tactical instruction is given by Marine and Army members.
The first week of the next three-week segment introduces the student to the myriad of weapons that may confront him. The student is trained to use a variety of weapons that includes: the service automatic pistol, the m-1, m-14, and m-16 (ar-15) rifles, the 12-gauge shotgun—which has proved its usefulness when searching for junks—the .30-caliber carbine, the .45-caliber “grease gun,” the .30 and .50-caliber machine guns, the m-79 grenade launcher, the hand grenade, and both the 60-and 81-mm. mortars. This week of weapons also features conditioning hikes and an increased physical training program.
The next week is spent in the wilds of Camp Pendleton in a field problem. This is essentially a counter-guerrilla exercise. The students act as the “friendlies” and members of the Special Operations Department staff (Vietnam returnees), along with components of the seal (sea, air, and land) Team, act as the “aggressors,” adding an important touch of realism. This week teaches in a practical way the elements of small unit tactics, patroling, counter-ambush drills, immediate action techniques, radio procedures, and other land warfare techniques.
Rounding out this phase of training in the third week of instruction is a week of survival, escape, resistance, and evasion training conducted under the auspices of U. S. Naval Air Force, Pacific, at both Whidbey Island, Washington, and Warner Springs, California.
The third and final phase of the instruction is a five-week course in the Vietnamese language, with an emphasis on a naval vocabulary. Instruction is given by a private firm, the American Language and Culture Institute of New York, working under a Defense Language Institute contract. Maximum use is made of the entirely Vietnamese faculty, and the classes are limited to about eight or nine students. Graduates of the “impact” technique of total immersion in the language, have some seven hundred words at their disposal. The idea is not to make them experts in five weeks; the “product” is American advisors who are ready to learn and willing to use the Vietnamese language.
There exists a pressing requirement to prepare personnel for billets in-country at Saigon, Da Nang, and at many other areas located ashore. Since spring of 1966, all prospective pcf (patrol craft, fast) or Swift and pbr (patrol boat, river) boat crews also receive the ci-3 (ci/Self Protection) course as the foundation upon which specialized boat and operational training can be based.
They receive an orientation and indoctrination that is designed to acquaint them with the problems and difficulties of living in the Republic of Vietnam. The first week of the instruction, the ci segment, is devoted to academic, orientation lectures that give them an appreciation of the problems confronting Vietnam, the reasons for their participation, and the general situation as it applies to those areas where they will be assigned. Instruction in this portion of the three-week course and the over-all responsibility for the program rests with the Amphibious School’s Special Operations Department.
The second week of instruction, the self-protection segment, is devoted to small arms familiarization and firing at the U. S. Marine Corps Base, Camp Pendleton, California. The third and final week is the SERE segment, survival, escape, resistance, and evasion. The training is again conducted at Warner Springs. Because of the large number of people receiving the course, last July a corresponding course was opened at the Naval Amphibious School, Little Creek, Virginia. This accommodates the overflow from Coronado.
A two-week academic indoctrination course ci-2 (Counterinsurgency Orientation) into counterinsurgency is also offered to shipboard, shore-based, and Naval Reserve active duty personnel. The course provides an understanding of counterinsurgency, to enable them to return to their ships and units and prepare a training program for others, covering the essential lessons learned during the course. This two-week orientation approximates the first two weeks of instruction received by the advisory personnel. The emphasis and objectives, however, of the two programs are sufficiently different so that the two groups, ci-2 and ci-12, are kept apart for all instruction except for guest lecturers and physical conditioning.
This training represents and is a symptom of the changes that are taking place within the Navy. To meet the challenge of the protracted guerrilla war flung at the United States, the U. S. Navy is responding with new ideas, new programs, and new methods.
★
Notebook
U. S. Navy
Navy Bobsled Team Captures Title
(The New York Times, 22 February 1967) The United States Navy team of Lieut. Paul Bob Huscher won the North American two-man bobsled championship today.
The pair’s total time, which included four runs down the one-mile Mount Van Hoevenberg chute, was 4 minutes 40.19 seconds. The time was six seconds slower than that recorded by the United States Air Force sled, headed by Gary Sheffield, with Howie Siler, his brakeman, last Sunday in the national Amateur Athletic Union two-man event.
Sheffield was injured after the finish, when he and Siler were thrown from their sled as they started up an incline designed to slow the vehicles.
Charlie McDonald and John Handly, representing the Malone Bobsled Club, were second in 4:50.87. The two also posted the fastest time for a single run of the day—1:11.94.
In third place were Howard Clifton and Mickey Luce of the Hurricane Bobsled Club, Keene Valley, in 4:52.37.
Dick Severino and Kingman Pennamin, representing the Adirondack Bobsled Club, took fourth. Clifton, 27 years old, of Elnora, and his former brakeman, James Crall, placed third in the world two-man championships two weeks ago near Grenoble, France. Crall has since retired.
Today’s times will be combined with the results of the national Amateur Athletic Union times, posted last weekend, and the international Diamond Trophy championships this weekend to determine who will represent the United States in the 1968 Olympics in France.
Humphrey opens Undersea Test Center
(The Washington Post, 28 February 1967) Vice President Humphrey commissioned into service today a $130-million undersea test center he predicted may become the Cape Kennedy of oceanography. The facility, under development since 1963, is the Navy’s Atlantic Undersea Test and Evaluation Center (autec) located in the Bahamas. Headquarters will be here.
“This center has been established primarily for purposes of national security,” Humphrey told several thousand persons assembled in a West Palm Beach Airport hangar. “But the knowledge we gain here will help us in other ways.
“The topography of the sea-bed in this area makes it an unmatched laboratory and in years to come it can assume the same importance in oceanography that Cape Kennedy has in space,” he declared.
New Navy Antisubmarine Warfare (asw) weapons such as air-to-sea torpedoes already are being tested over and under a 6,000-foot-deep natural subterranean trench called “Tongue of the Ocean” off Andros Island, 175 miles southeast of here. In coming months the Navy will finish other new sonar and acoustic test ranges.
These ocean-bottomed instrumentation areas and island-based computer facilities will help determine ways of making U. S. warships and submarines operate more silently to avoid detection as well as checking out sophisticated sensors to detect enemy vessels.
Humphrey, chairman of a newly established Marine Resources Council, said the test center also will contribute to the world’s knowledge of tides, metabolic processes that hold the secrets of aging, untapped mineral resources, weather and unutilized food sources. “We may learn how to divert and even prevent hurricanes,” Humphrey said.
“But perhaps the greatest promise of all lies in food from the sea.” In the near future, he said, man will be able to mix highly nutritious fish protein concentrate with other foods and move toward arresting protein deficiencies that account for half the deaths of all children under five.
autec, under the authority of the Navy ship systems command, will cost about $15 million a year to operate. It will be staffed by 50 military personnel and 350 civilians.
Mines, Big Guns Help Harass VC
(Hanson W. Baldwin in The New York Times, 3 March 1967) The mines and shells that supplemented American bombs in Vietnam last week were intended to increase pressure in what the military call the “interdiction” campaign against North Vietnam.
Such intensified efforts to restrict the enemy’s supply lines have long been urged by the military.
Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara said the new measures were intended in part to make up for the reduction in effectiveness of United States bombing caused by bad weather during the recent monsoon months.
Four calibers of shells and three types of naval mines are now available for use. One battery of four Army 175-mm. guns has been emplaced, supporting the marines less than one mile south of the demilitarized zone between North and South Vietnam. These guns have a range of almost 18 miles and can sustain a rate of fire of about 30 rounds an hour.
They could therefore cover a wide area, including railroads and water approaches to the demilitarized zone.
Naval guns available for bombardment of communication routes, such as Highway 1, the railroad, and bridges, ferry crossings and airfields near the coast, are of 5-inch, 6-inch and 8-inch caliber.
Many naval officers and Senator Richard B. Russell, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, have long urged that one of the four battleships of the Missouri class still retained in the Navy’s reserve fleet be recommissioned to add its long-range 16-inch guns to the bombardment power available. This suggestion has been rejected in the Pentagon as too expensive.
The chief limitation of the available naval guns is lack of range. The 5-inch guns aboard destroyers and the 6-inch guns aboard cruisers can cover targets several miles inland, but the combination of limited range and sandbars and shoals off the coast restrict effectiveness.
These guns have ranges of about 7.5 miles in the case of the 5-inch to a maximum of 17 miles for the 8-inch gun. The Navy has four cruisers with 8-inch guns still in commission. Others have been converted to missile carriers.
Naval gunfire and artillery fire, unlike air bombardment, can continue day or night, in good weather or bad. If a ship can fix its own position, it can fire against targets on the basis of their geographical coordinates on maps.
A ship can also deny the enemy the use of roads or trails by a pattern of “H. and I.,” harassment and interdiction fire, laid down according to prearranged plans on specific locations.
Naval gunfire is most accurate when the guns can be aimed visually or by radar, less accurate when targets are protected by hills or cannot be picked up by radar. Against such targets as truck convoys spotting by air increases accuracy.
The advantage of the use of gunfire is that communication routes within ranges of the guns can be covered continuously.
The types of mines being laid in North Vietnamese rivers are believed to be so-called “bottom” or gound mines. They are not free-floating, nor are they, unlike many Viet Cong mines, electrically detonated from the bank.
The naval mines available can be detonated by four methods; by contact with a ship’s hull, by sound, by magnetism or by water pressure. A mine actuated solely by contact is easier to sweep and is less useful in shoal water.
Acoustic, magnetic mines and pressure mines are detonated by the sound of a ship’s propellers, the magnetism of a metal hull or hydrostatic change in pressure transmitted through water by the passage of a ship’s hull.
The mechanism that controls the mine can be pre-set to an almost infinite number of variables. The mine is dropped and settles on the bottom, held by an anchor device. A ship passing overhead may actuate it immediately, or a counter may be set to detonate after a certain number of ships have passed over it.
Because modern naval mines can be laid in a pattern of almost infinite variety, they are hard to sweep and the countermeasures taken against one type of mine are not effective against the others. Moreover, modern mine casings are sometimes made of nonmagnetic materials so their position is hard to detect.
However, the river traffic pattern in North Vietnam may limit the mines’ usefulness. Some of the barges, junks and sampans are wooden-hulled. Many are very light and some have no engines, but depend on sail or oars.
Nevertheless, the mining, like the naval gunfire and artillery fire, will add to the effectiveness of the interdiction campaign.
Meanwhile, the aerial bombing is slowly becoming more effective as the North Vietnamese evasion and reconstruction methods are studied and a greater quantity and variety of aviation ordnance become available. The Feb. 27 issue of Aviation Week and Space Technology reports that the “ordnance supply available to Navy strike aircraft has improved markedly in recent months. Aircraft are now taking off with full, or nearly full, loads,” the magazine reports, and heavier bombs, of 500 pounds and 2,000 pounds, are replacing “relatively ineffective” 250-pound bombs.
At the same time, there has been some relaxation of the targeting restrictions. U. S. aircraft struck North Vietnam electric power plants recently for the first time in months.
The interdiction campaign has been put on a more scientific basis than when it started. Not only bridges but all possible by-passes are struck to choke off traffic and cause long back-ups vulnerable to bombing.
More than 300,000 North Vietnamese and 50,000 Chinese railway troops are believed to be working on the roads, railroads, bridges, trails, by-passes and communication choke points to repair damage and to keep traffic moving.
SEALs Hit VC with Own Tactics
(Christian Science Monitor, 11 January 1967): Viet Cong terrorists in Vietnam are running into lethal opposition from the United States Navy’s Black Berets, an elite group of guerrilla fighters who are the seagoing counterparts of the Army’s Green Berets.
Also called SEALs because they are transported by sea, air, or land, the Black Berets train at the Navy amphibious base here to become experts in unconventional warfare.
“We are using the Viet Cong’s hit-and-run tactics to harass them as much as they harass us,” says Capt. Paul H. Bucklew, commander of the Navy’s Special Operations Mission.
There are about 200 of the amphibious commandos. All are members of underwater demolition teams. They operate in teams of one officer and five enlisted men.
Experience in diving and the use of explosives is required for assignment to the Black Berets, who are trained in jungle survival, hand-to-hand combat, and knowledge of weaponry. They also study the languages, politics, and religions of the Far East.
Much of their story is classified information, but Captain Bucklew says the units have been most effective in carrying the war to the Viet Cong.
They are tough and competent men, says Captain Bucklew, adding, “They have to be to survive. A simple cough by one member of a team can ruin an entire mission.”
Many have had 36 months duty in Vietnam, he said, six times the normal tour. Captain Bucklew described the typical mission as “sneaking, slinking, waiting, and watching.” The teams patrol Vietnam’s rivers in rubber rafts or sampans, and set up ambushes to intercept the Viet Cong.
Dungarees Reach End of Line?
(Navy Times, 25 January 1967): Now that Navy dungarees have finally achieved popularity with the “mod” set, they may be on their way out as part of a sailor’s uniform.
Or it may be that sailors will wind up wearing the “scrubbed” blue denim popularized by the younger generation. It all hinges on the results of a study now being made by the Naval Supply Research and Development Center at Bayonne, N. J.—and the impression these results make on top Navy officials.
Word is that the researchers already have a pretty good idea of the type of changes they intend to propose in developing a “new, more attractive and utilitarian working uniform as a replacement for dungarees.”
The plan is to translate these ideas into full-scale models of the new work clothes and then to present them at a “fashion show” to top officials, including the Chief of Naval Personnel, the Chief of Naval Operations, the Under Secretary of the Navy, and probably Navy Secretary Paul H. Nitze, himself.
The word, too, is that if these top officials don’t like the results, it’s back to the drawing boards for the researchers—until they come up with improvements which will gain top approval.
The uniform study was recommended by the Secretary of the Navy’s retention task force early last year when a costly year-long wear-test of a CPO-type uniform by about 1000 second and first class petty officers was said to have failed to produce a clear mandate for a change in the enlisted uniform.
Any chance for a switch was later ruled out by the CNO for the foreseeable future because of shipboard space problems.
The retention task force time-table originally called for the study now going on to be finished by November 1966. There were delays, however, in providing funds for the study and the revised schedule now calls for completion of the study by the middle of May.
New Navy Plane Hits VC
(Hanson W. Baldwin in The New York Times, 22 January 1967): A subsonic, snub-nosed weightlifter, with “eyes” that can pick out targets in any weather day or night is proving to be one of the most effective aircraft used against North Vietnam. It is the only aircraft in use in the war specially designed for night interdiction or attacks upon enemy communications and supply lines in darkness and bad weather.
The Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation at Bethpage, L. I., has just delivered to the Navy almost 200 A6A Intruders, which Grumman says, with much Navy support, is the “best close support aircraft in the world today.”
The plane, which entered combat in Vietnam in small numbers more than a year ago initially, had the “teething troubles” all new planes experience, but most of these have been eliminated, and Navy pilot reports are highly enthusiastic about the plane’s performances and its capabilities.
Grumman is producing the $3-million plane at the rate of about six a month; in addition to the 200 delivered, 111 others are now under contract, and Grumman believes total deliveries will ultimately approximate 500.
Two hundred more of the EA 6A and EA 6B Marine and Navy models of a counter-electronic version of the A6A are now programed. Some sources in the Air Force have also expressed interest in the plane and some Navy sources have suggested the adaptation of the A6A as a new carrier-based antisubmarine plane.
The Intruder is a two-engined plane, with radar, electronic and counter-electronic capabilities and a bomb carrying capability that have earned it the sobriquet of “the Navy’s little B-52,” a laudatory comparison with the giant Air Force four-engined bombers. Actually, the A6A, Navy pilots say, has more defensive electronic gear than the early models of the B-52, a plane seven times its weight.
The A6 is a big plane; it grosses—with full load of about 15,000 pounds of bombs—almost 60,000 pounds. Its bomb load is considerably bigger than any other operational naval aircraft in use in Vietnam and its two engines, cockpit armor and flak curtains and armor protected controls, hydraulics and fuel systems give it safety factors against enemy action that other planes lack.
Its speed is only 700 miles an hour but it has a long range. It is very maneuverable, and it can and does find its targets in any weather; in fact, it often acts as a pathfinder for the Navy’s Douglas A4 attack planes.
It is crammed full of electronic “black boxes,” including several different types of radar, precise navigation gear, and a digital computer that tells the two-man crew when to drop the bombs. The system the plane carries is called DIANE (Digital Integrated Attack Navigation Equipment), and it is composed of search, tracking and doppler radars, and an inertial.
The pilot and his bombardier-navigator see on a display screen the terrain—complete with contours and landmarks—over which they are flying. The DIANE system can be set to a completely automatic delivery system, and it is adaptable to both low-level or high-level approach.
Other U. S. Services
USAF Will Build ‘Crazy Kid’ Rocket
(Frank Macomber in San Diego Union, 26 February 1967) The United States is about to build its first hybrid rocket, nicknamed by the aero-space industry as the “crazy mixed-up kid” because it will be fueled with both solid and liquid propellants.
The Air Force Rocket Propulsion Laboratory at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., has awarded a $600,000 contract to the United Technology Center, Sunnyvale, Calif., to design, build and fly a hybrid rocket to be used for a multipurpose target missile.
But there is more to it than that. If the hybrid propulsion system works out it could lead to an entirely new generation of rocketry. Many space scientists have been arguing for years in favor of a mixed-fuel concept for rockets and missiles to add more power to space-bound boosters.
The 18-month program gives utc time to design, fabricate and testfire both static test motors and flight-weight engines at its Coyote, Calif., rocket test site. But utc is looking even beyond its pioneering hybrid rocket project. It can foresee a whole new family of rockets if the concept of the liquid-solid fuel mix works out.
The Air Force selected the hybrid engine for an advanced target missile because it provides a unique and versatile approach to a higher-energy propulsion system at a comparatively low cost. And its development time will be telescoped by combining all the features of today’s solid and liquid rocket fuels.
Dr. George Mueller, associate administrator of the federal space agency, has been caught up in the enthusiasm over a hybrid-fueled rocket.
“The hybrid system,” he says, “is expected to be less complicated, less expensive and less sensitive to the environmental conditions not only in the atmosphere but in space as well.” The “Crazy Kid” will be air-launched. Its propulsion system offers for the first time in any rocket engine the ability to select a wide-range flight pattern by the simple twist of a dial.
That’s because it uses a solid fuel and a liquid oxidizer which can be injected in a variety of amounts, for thrust levels from 60 to 500 pounds. utc’s hybrid engine will use plastic materials as a solid fuel and combination of nitric oxides as the liquid, or trigger. The hybrid engine will occupy more than 65 per cent of the target rocket’s length of 180 inches.
The new target missile’s engine will mark the first demonstration of a hybrid propulsion system in an air-launched rocket system.
utc scientists predict that hybrids will provide rocket power for numerous space missions in the next decade.
War Cuts Budget for Coast Guard
(The New York Times, 22 February 1967) The Coast Guard reported today that its ship and aircraft replacement budget for the coming year had suffered a severe cutback as a result of the war in Vietnam.
Adm. Willard J. Smith, Coast Guard commandant, said that recently updated plans for carrying out various phases of Coast Guard responsibility called for annual funds of $201-million up to 1974.
Against this requirement, he said, this year’s authorization request to Congress, as cleared by the Treasury Department and the Budget Bureau, totals only $107-million. Yet, he said, the Coast Guard has contributed 26 patrol boats for duty off the coast of South Vietnam and now has more than 550 officers and men in Southeast Asia.
Admiral Smith’s statement, to a House Merchant Marine Subcommittee considering the annual Coast Guard authorization bill, brought sympathetic response from several committee members.
The chairman, Representative Frank M. Clark, Democrat of Pennsylvania, said the proposed bill “contains far less than the amount required to enable the Coast Guard to do its job.”
Representative G. Robert Watkins, Republican of Pennsylvania, said that in making money cutbacks to compensate for Vietnam expenditures, “I’m afraid we are spreading it too thin in some of the most important places.”
Admiral Smith said budgetary limitations would force the Coast Guard to “stretch out our vessel replacement plans,” but he assured the committee that United States shore stations were not being deprived of needed search and rescue services. The revised Coast Guard authorization request for next year, he said, includes one 378-foot high-endurance cutter in place of five originally planned, one oceanographic cutter, two 120-foot patrol cutters and two river buoy tenders for the lower Mississippi River and the Arkansas River. (Ed. Note: As of press time, the Coast Guard advised that the total construction program is now eight ships, following release of funds authorized in 1967 but held back for reasons of economy.)
‘Information Blackout’ on ABM
(George C. Wilson in The Washington Post, 26 February 1967) The Pentagon has ordered “a total information blackout” to keep contractors from publicizing the Nike X antimissile system.
The new order is designed to stave off pressure aerospace firms might put on their Senators and Representatives to build the multibillion-dollar missile defense.
An Army spokesman at the Pentagon said it is the service’s policy not to let issues like Nike X be argued through advertisements and publications. The Army is in charge of Nike X. He said the information rules on Nike X were more of a reminder of this existing Army policy than a new clampdown.
But the actual message that has gone out to Nike X contractors tells them to keep quiet about the system until further notice. The information gag is another measure of how hard the Johnson Administration is trying to avoid taking the plunge into Nike X production and deployment.
Bell Telephone Laboratories is in charge of the design and development of the Nike X. Defense Secretary Robert S. McNamara meets frequently with Bell’s top executives to keep track of progress. Bell Labs recently sent its associate contractors working on Nike X this message: Army Brig. Gen. Ivey O. Drewry, Jr., Nike project manager at Redstone Arsenal, Huntsville, Ala., “has advised us that Department of Defense has instituted a total information blackout on the Nike X project until further notice.”
“Based on past experience, it seems likely this blackout should continue until the production question for fiscal year 1968 is decided and agreed upon by Congress.”
The Defense Department said on Sept. 12, 1966, in awarding a $256.6 million contract to Western Electric for Nike X research, that “several thousand firms in nearly every state in the Union are expected to share in the contract awards as subcontractors and vendors.”
These thousands of firms could put tremendous pressure on Congress to go faster on Nike X. The missile defense system is still in the research stage. Spending has been about $500 million a year. Secretary McNamara estimates that Nike X, once its deployment started, would end up costing $40 billion.
Besides Bell and Western Electric, principal Nike X firms and their assignments on the missile defense work are: Douglas Aircraft Corp., Santa Monica, Calif., Spartan missile airframe engineering; General Electric Co., Syracuse, N. Y., radar techniques and signal processing equipment; Martine Co., Orlando, Fla., Sprint missile airframe engineering; Raytheon Co., Bedford, Mass., missile site, radar and multifunction array radar; Sperry Univac Division, St. Paul, Minnesota, data processing equipment.
A New 378-Foot Cutter for Coast Guard
(The New York Times, 21 February 1967) The Coast Guard took delivery yesterday of the new 378-foot, high-endurance cutter Hamilton, the first of seven such new ships to be built for the service by Avondale Shipyards, Inc., Avondale, La. (See also page 145—Ed.)
The uscgc Hamilton was turned over to the service after the necessary papers were signed in the vessel’s wardroom and the flag was run up. The new ship is powered by a combination of aircraft-type gas turbine and diesel engines—the first such power plant in a Coast Guard vessel.
According to a spokesman for Avondale, a subsidiary of the Ogden Corporation, construction on four of six of the Hamilton sister vessels has been started, with two of them, the Mellon and Dallas, already launched.
According to a Coast Guard spokesman, the Hamilton is going to the naval station at Algiers, La., to complete her outfitting. Formal commissioning is scheduled for March 18. The cutter is to be commanded by Capt. William F. Adams of Newport, R. I. She will be assigned to long-range search and rescue missions and North Atlantic weather-patrol work from her home port of Boston.
USAF Lets Contracts for 3,500 MPH Jet
(Frank Macomber in San Diego Union, 14 February 1967) The U. S. Air Force has earmarked nearly a million dollars for three major aerospace firms to develop a new combat plane to fly more than 3,500 miles an hour.
Contracts went to the Lockheed-California Co., Burbank; North American Aviation, Los Angeles; and McDonnell Aircraft Corp., St. Louis, Missouri. The funds were split about evenly among the three companies.
Thus the Air Force is moving ahead toward development of a far-advanced aircraft, despite Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara’s reluctance to put any money into a new plane beyond the controversial supersonic F-111 fighter-bomber.
The three-company, 12-month study contracts awarded by the Aeronautical Systems Division of the Air Force Systems Command direct the firms to investigate Scramjet-powered aircraft design concepts.
The Scramjet (supersonic combustion ramjet) engine would permit air to enter the combustion chamber at supersonic speeds, where it would be combined with a high energy fuel. The mixture would be burned to accelerate the aircraft to speeds several times that of sound at altitudes of more than 100,000 feet.
Aircraft engineers will study “hypersonic aircraft concepts; determine mission operational characteristics; match vehicles and missions, and investigate alternate means of fulfilling combat missions.”
That means the Air Force has not decided whether to build a fighter, a fighter-bomber or a new bomber airframe around the already-developed Scramjet engine.
Aircraft engineers claim Scramjet engines eventually could push both military and commercial airplanes along at 17,000 miles an hour, making the supersonic transport appear to be a turtle in the skies.
Army Orders 18 ‘Flying Cranes’
(The New York Times, 26 February 1967) The United States Army has placed a large order for more of the largest and most powerful American-made helicopters. Most of them are expected to be sent to South Vietnam.
According to informed sources, the Army has requested Sikorsky Aircraft of Stratford, Conn., to supply perhaps 18 of its ych-54a Skycrane helicopters in the next several months. Two flying cranes are already headed by ship to South Vietnam, the sources said. These and, perhaps, one more are expected to go to the First Cavalry Division (Airmobile).
The first cranes cost the Army slightly more than two million dollars each, but with increased production the unit price is expected to decrease somewhat. Two cranes have already been lost in South Vietnam.
The machine is 88 feet 6 inches long and 21 feet 10 inches wide and weighs 18,217 pounds. Twin Pratt and Whitney 4,050-horsepower shaft-turbine engines turn the six-bladed, 72-foot-diameter main rotor and the 16-foot-diameter tail rotor to give the aircraft lift and forward power. The factory lists a cruising speed at 109 miles an hour, but pilots in the Airmobile Division suggest that 90 miles an hour is a more realistic cruising speed. Depending on the weight and type of load they are carrying, the pilots said, operating speeds have been as low as 20 miles an hour.
The factory contends that the crane is capable of lifting and carrying 10 tons, but in practice the pilots in South Vietnam have found that eight tons is the aircraft’s maximum. The amount of fuel and the density of the atmosphere are factors determining the lift capability of any helicopter.
Coast Guard Begins ‘67 Iceberg Patrol
(Werner Schwartz in World Journal Tribune, 2 March 1967) The U. S. Coast Guard will start its International Ice Patrol service for shipping on March 10 to provide information and advance warning of icebergs and sea ice in the North Atlantic lanes.
The service, available to all countries, was begun in 1914, a direct result of the sinking of the Titanic in 1912 after colliding with an iceberg. Tests conducted by the ice patrol have proven that radar cannot provide positive assurance of iceberg detection. As sea water is a better reflector of radar signals than ice, a berg or growler (a small iceberg that shows very little above the water) within the area of sea “return” or “clutter” on the radar scope may not be detected.
A central ice patrol office is maintained in New York by the Coast Guard where all data is evaluated and analyzed. Ice conditions are forecast based on the latest observed data, including meteorological and oceanographic factors.
Factors are made via Naval Radio Washington (nss), Canadian Naval Radio Halifax (cfh), and Coast Guard Radio Argentia (nik).
When reporting icebergs, ships are requested to describe the shape and to provide an estimate of the size. The berg description is required to identify and track individual bergs, while the size assists in determining their eventual deterioration.
All ships are urged to make regular four-hourly reports to station nik during the ice season when within the latitudes 40 N and 50 N and longitudes 42 W and 60 W, including ship’s position, course, speed, visibility, sea temperature and wind.
AF Studies Bends—Astronauts Foe
(The New York Times, 24 February 1967) The bends, the unbearable, and sometimes fatal, pains that plague deep sea divers, have not yet become a problem in the space program, an Air Force medical researcher told a scientific meeting here.
Lieut. Col. Robert G. McIver, a doctor, speaking before scientists at a lecture at the Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine, warned, however, that the dangers of the bends would increase with the development of space stations that will use a mixture of oxygen and so-called inert gases, like helium and nitrogen.
The bends, technically known as decompression sickness, develop when a person breathes certain gases, particularly nitrogen, at high pressure, and the gases from bubbles in the bloodstream. Some scientists fear the bends could endanger astronauts who leave their capsules to walk in space or perform other types of extravehicular activity.
The colonel said his experiments indicated that the bends could be forestalled if an astronaut were put on pure oxygen four hours before compression in a space chamber, and did not attempt extravehicular activity for 24 hours. He said poor physical condition and such things as hangovers contributed to the bends. One reason the astronauts have not been troubled with the bends, he said, may be that they are in superb physical condition.
AF Names Senior Enlisted Advisor
(Office of Assistant Secretary of Defense News Release, 21 February 1967) The Air Force today names Chief Master Sergeant Paul W. Airey to its top enlisted position, Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force. Sergeant Airey, until yesterday a First Sergeant with the Air Defense Command’s 4756th Civil Engineering Squadron at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida, was selected today by General John P. McConnell, Air Force Chief of Staff.
Appointed to General McConnell’s personal staff for a two year term, Sergeant Airey’s primary job as senior Air Force airman will be to represent his service’s enlisted men and women in matters concerning their welfare, effective utilization, and progress. He will represent them in seeking solutions with top service leaders.
Sergeant Airey, a native of New Bedford, Massachusetts, is a 24-year veteran, having served as an aerial gunner in Europe during World War II. He was a prisoner of war from July 1944 to May 1945. He is credited with 28 combat missions. He was awarded the Legion of Merit during the Korean conflict while assigned at Naha Air Base, Okinawa. The award was earned for having conceived a means of constructing equipment from salvaged parts that improved corosion control of sensitive radio and radar components. His other military awards include the Air Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster and both the Army and Air Force Commendation Medals.
FDL as Seen from Abroad
(Marine Engineer & Naval Architect, December, 1966): The U. S. Navy has awarded contracts to the three companies which remain as contenders for a huge assignment involving the largest shipbuilding project in peacetime naval history. Litton Industries, Inc., the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation and General Dynamics Corporation were awarded contracts of $5,275,000 to prepare proposals for the Navy’s Fast Deployment Logistics ships (F.D.L.) programme. This may eventually amount to as many as 30 vessels costing in the neighbourhood of $1-billion.
The decision to split the initial award appeared to mean that the Department of Defense has postponed a selection of a single company to carry out the revolutionary idea, for until the announcement was made the three contenders had expected that one of them would be selected to carry out the programme. They were the finalists in a competition that had initially included a number of established conventional shipyards, but all withdrew one by one, leaving Litton, a highly diversified industrial empire that includes a shipyard on the Gulf of Mexico (Ingalls), Lockheed, which has a shipyard in Seattle, and General Dynamics, with its recently acquired shipyard in Quincy, Mass. (the former Bethlehem Steelyard).
Those who withdrew did so for a number of reasons: insufficient financing capability for a programme of such scope, inadequate staff for the extensive research involved or prior commitment of construction facilities.
The F.D.L. concept embraces a fleet of large fast ships of ultra-modern design capable of delivering war materials to any part of the world where a crisis might develop.
Ships fully loaded with arms and supplies would serve as floating warehouse at strategic areas at sea, ready for quick dispatch to a trouble spot. Such “pre-positioning” of the tools of defence and war was proposed as the fastest and most economic way of meeting logistics problems such as the current one involved in the Vietnam conflict.
Concepts on what the ships will be must come from the companies themselves. They will probably be much larger than the big 13,000-ton and 14,000-ton cargo carriers of today, perhaps 700 to 800 feet in length. They will be fast, with a speed of 25 to 30 knots.
The identical contracts include in each case $90,000 a month for the companies involved to maintain their key personnel in preparing proposals. All three of the concerns reportedly have assembled—and with great difficulty in a time when high technical skills are in short supply—large staffs of experts that are already working on the project.
Lockheed have announced that they are already associated with Gibbs & Cox, Inc., of New York, and with the Bechtel Corporation, which will assist in the basic design for a new shipyard. The Lockheed programme is being carried out at its headquarters for the project in Arlington, Va. Litton Industries announced in Beverley Hills, Cal., that Richard H. DuBois, a graduate of the United States Naval Academy, who is a specialist in weapons systems evaluation, had been named to direct its systems engineering and analysis for the programme.
All three of the companies have been searching for a suitable site to build a highly automated shipyard. Optimum weather conditions for full year-round utilization and high-level standards of available labour would be essential, it is said.
It has been estimated that the shipyard may cost well over $100-million. As a by-product of the idea, Navy planners foresee that the “total package procurement” concept would serve to revitalize a declining shipyard industry in America by setting new production standards and developing new construction ideas.
The proposals are due from the three concerns on January 31 and the award of the “total package” contract will be made in June. The possibility that the Navy might again split the award between companies was not ruled out.
Computer for Emergencies at Sea
(The New York Times, 27 January 1967): For eight years, electronic wizardry has watched over seafarers around the world.
Called the Automated Merchant Vessel Report (AMVER) it is a computerized maritime mutual assistance program begun by the United States Coast Guard.
Ships of 62 nations, including several Iron Curtain countries, participate in the program. They may be called upon at any time to help deliver a baby on a ship in the North Pacific, or rescue a yachtsman off the Florida coast.
The Coast Guard unit here is part of the huge communication network that stretches from Guam to Europe’s Atlantic coast. The system, free of charge and entirely voluntary, works this way:
A ship leaving Port Everglades for Tangiers files a report with the Coast Guard in Miami. The report includes the vessel’s call sign, destination, proposed course, estimated cruising speed and such details as radar and radio capability and medical facilities.
The information is then relayed to Coast Guard headquarters at Governor’s Island, N. Y., and fed into a computer.
The computer keeps a daily record of about 1,000 vessels around the world. Upon a moment’s notice it can produce the names and positions of all ships within a specified radius. It also can give the ship’s direction, speed. medical facilities and other information needed in an emergency.
The computer periodically updates its fix on each ship by a process of dead reckoning based on projected course and estimated speed.
“When an emergency arose in the days before AMVER we never knew exactly where the distressed ship was,” Myron Chesler, chief warrant officer at Miami, said. “And often when a ship asked for help via radio it wasn’t too accurate about its location.
“But now, with the computer’s help, we can set up an emergency rendezvous within a matter of minutes or hours where before it might have taken days.” The computer receives about 3,500 messages each day, Mr. Chesler said.
Reserves Not to be Held Involuntarily
(Office of Assistant Secretary of Defense News Release, 18 January 1967) The Secretary of Defense announced today that hereafter reserve officers may not be retained on active duty without their consent.
However, a reserve officer will be required to complete any definite term of active duty which he has expressly agreed to serve or which he is obligated to serve. The latter exception covers, for example, reserve officers who are obligated to serve on active duty for definite terms because of in-service schooling or training that they have received.
Reserve officers now serving on active duty involuntarily who have heretofore requested release from active duty will be released as soon as possible under the circumstances, but in no event will they be retained later than June 30, 1967.
Maritime General
The Liberty Ship Appears Doomed
(Edward A. Morrow in The New York Times, 23 February 1967) Increased surcharges, ranging between 133 and 400 per cent, will be applied by London marine underwriters effective next Wednesday on Liberty ships and certain other vessels built during World War II.
Brokers in the marine market said yesterday that the new rates were so prohibitive that the frequently predicted demise of the Liberty ship was a certainty. The action—by the Joint Cargo Committee, representing British underwriters’ associations—is similar to one taken a year ago when cargo insurance rates for shipments carried on vessels built during the war were doubled.
The 10,000-ton, 10-knot Liberty Ships were mass produced in the United States to provide the backbone of the “bridge of ships” that helped to supply the Allies during World War II. Also affected by the London action are ships of the Empire, Fort, Ocean and Park classes, which bear these designations in their names. They are similar to the Liberty ship, but were built in shipyards of foreign nations allied with the United States.
The action was not unexpected. According to the most recent report of the Liverpool Underwriters Association, 57 of the 159 ships that were casualties last year were vessels in the 1941-1945 age group. Greek, Liberian and Panamanian ships accounted for more than half of the 691,718 gross tons of shipping that was lost.
Shipowners are certain that the new rates will send the price of Liberty vessels plummeting to scrap value. Before last year’s doubling of insurance rates, Liberty vessels were selling for about $320,000. Last month they were selling for about $150,000. Their scrap value is between $40,000 and $50,000.
A year ago, before the doubling of the rates, a full $4-million cargo, taking a total freight rate of $400,000, would call for a $10,000 insurance premium. The premium is $20,000 today and in some cases will now go up to $80,000.
Although the rate action will affect some American shipowners, particularly in the tramp trades, there was no indication of how severely the United States fleet will be affected. There are more than 700 Liberty ships in the nation’s fleet, but at least 600 are laid-up in the nation’s reserve fleet and gradually being sold for scrap. There were three U. S. ship casualties last year; none of them were Liberty vessels.
Spain and Soviet Union Sign Ship Accord
(Tad Szulc in The New York Times, 25 February 1967) Spain and the Soviet Union signed a general shipping agreement in Paris Feb. 17, it was announced here today.
The agreement was the first formal pact between the two countries since the end of the Spanish civil war in 1939. It emphasized the accelerating Spanish policy of encouraging trade with the Communist countries and of broadening Spain’s openings to the East in all spheres.
A regular shipping service linking Spanish and Soviet ports with Spanish and Soviet vessels is to be established through a subsequent accord under the provisions of an exchange of letters between the two governments. In the light of the extent of Spanish-Soviet commerce, the two governments concluded that the goods should be carried whenever possible by Spanish-flag and Soviet-flag ships, instead of letting the bulk of these exchanges be carried by vessels of other nationalities.
The agreement grants each country’s ships the same rights accorded ships of other nations in their respective ports. In practice, this means that Spanish ships sailing to the Soviet Union and Soviet Ships sailing to Spain will now be able to operate under normal procedures, without the need for permits.
Spain’s exports to the Soviet Union— mainly citric fruit, rice, olives and olive oil— jumped from $1.5-million in the first 11 months of 1965 to $5.1-million in the corresponding period last year.
Soviet sales to Spain—chiefly petroleum, timber, foodstuffs and machinery—dropped from $19.3-million in the first 11 months of 1965 to $6.3-million during the same period of 1966.
The signing of the shipping agreement followed the signing of a treaty for full consular and commercial relations by Spain with Rumania last month. That pact was the first step by Spain toward the normalization of ties with Europe’s Communist states. Spain has all along maintained diplomatic relations with Cuba, together with active trade. It is expected that during 1967 consular and commercial agreements will also be signed by Spain with Poland, Czechoslovakia and Hungary to replace the existing payments arrangements involving the nations’ central banks.
In trading with Eastern Europe, Spain has been exporting trucks as well as farm products to Poland. The Poles have sold Spain sugar refineries. Soviet industrial equipment is advertised in Spanish newspapers and both Russian and Polish vodka is on sale at Madrid’s specialty food stores.
F.M.C. Gains Foreign Ship Data
(The New York Times, 26 February 1967) The Federal Maritime Commission claimed a major victory this week in its long-standing efforts to gain sufficient information from foreign steamship operators that would enable it to determine the effects of their operations on U. S. waterborne foreign commerce.
The agency, under the Shipping Act of 1916, is charged with seeing that the nation’s waterborne foreign trade is conducted so as not to give anyone active in it an undue advantage. Commission efforts in the past to obtain sufficient economic information to evaluate foreign trade have been hampered by refusal of foreign-based companies to comply with commission subpoenas to produce such data.
The victory, according to an agency spokesman, was achieved in connection with amendments filed by Atlantic Container Lines, a foreign consortium, to seek permission for the admission of two additional members to the group. Atlantic Container, originally founded as a joint venture of Holland-America Line, Swedish American Line, Swedish Transatlantic Line and Wallenius Lines, filed applications late last year and earlier this year to amend its original agreement on file with the F.M.C. to include the French Line and Cunard Line.
Permission to enlarge the group from four to six members was granted by the regulatory agency, but only under the condition that the group agree: to inform the F.M.C. of any significant developments in the group’s services; furnish the F.M.C. with data on the actual ownership of the corporation formed; make available data on the general characteristics of the combine’s vessels, the ports to be served and the frequency of service to be offered to each port; furnish quarterly summaries of gross revenues earmarked and tonnages carried; and, furnish data on terminals and other port equipment to be used and the principal features in arranging of pier and terminal facilities.
“This represents the first time in commission history,” John Harllee, commission chairman said, in commenting on the action, “that we are able to obtain on a regular basis meaningful data on the operations of a major competitor in the rapidly developing trans-Atlantic container shipping field.”
Access to such data, he stressed, will permit F.M.C. surveillance of this important segment of the North Atlantic shipping trade and will enable the commission to keep informed of any developments that might threaten the orderly and legal development of competition in the trade.
Present operating plans for Atlantic Container, which plans to start container shipping services with new, fast tonnage, are scheduled to start this summer.
The line’s plans call for a fleet of 10 such vessels, each capable of carrying 600 containers that measure 20 by 8 by 8 feet, 1,200 unboxed European automobiles and 150 trailers of the 40-foot variety on special trailer decks.
The line, once all of its 10 ships are in operation—some of the vessels are still under construction or on order—plans to operate weekly services on three routes: U. S. North Atlantic ports to Antwerp, Belgium, Rotterdam the Netherlands, and Scandinavia; U. S. North Atlantic ports to Le Havre, France, and United States North Atlantic ports to ports in England.
Lloyd’s Surveys Containerization
(Shipbuilding and Shipping Record, 26 January 1967) In 1961 the International Standards Organisation began a study on the standardisation of freight containers basing their parameters on then existing U. S. Standards Institute recommendations. A draft recommendation in 1964, and yet to be promulgated, proposed nine standard sizes while proposals regarding corner fitting design will, it is hoped, be circulated this year.
Because of the time taken by the international organisation the British Standards Institute published their own BS.3951 Freight Containers, based largely on I.S.O. draft proposals, at the end of 1966.
In order to apply a real form of standard control Lloyd’s Register of Shipping has now formulated its draft requirements for the construction and certification of containers being built under survey. This will provide, for the first time, both container operators and manufacturers with a tangible measure of quality control in the production and testing of freight containers for shipment by sea with transfer to other forms of transport.
Survey of containers is to involve the approval of manufacturers and of types of containers followed by certification of production series.
The procedure will call for the approval of the structural design of a given container followed by the construction of a prototype under survey. Consequent upon satisfactory testing of the prototype subsequent units can be surveyed in convenient batches and certified accordingly.
The present requirements, which cover design, with particular reference to loading and strength factors, tolerances, constructional details, materials, etc. in relation to five standard container sizes capable of being stowed six high in cells and four high on deck, have been framed particularly in respect to the dry van type containers. They are also applicable in part to open pallet, tank, refrigerated and other specialised containers which would have to comply with relevant additional requirements. Requirements for insulated van type containers are, in fact, at present in the course of preparation.
With the spate of vessels currently on order or known to be contemplated, requiring container outfits some three times their capacity, the ensuring that design and constructional standards are maintained should be of particular value to the container operator.
Ship Has Bridge-Controlled Windlass
(Shipbuilding and Shipping Record, 2 February 1967) An interesting feature of the recently completed bulk carrier Cetra Columba (86,000 tons dwt.) is the provision of remote control for the mooring gear, the complete installation being provided by Brissonneau & Lotz, Nantes.
Independent windlasses, combined with a mooring winch, are provided for each bower anchor, and the unit has a pull of 62 tons at 9.00-m (29½ft.) min. with 98-min. (3⅞-in.) chain with the stalling pull set at 78 tons. Each windlass can be controlled from one of three positions:
(a) from a fixed control pedestal on deck close to windlass;
(b) from a portable plug-in control box for use on the forecastle; and
(c) from a set of pushbuttons on the bridge with signal lamps for brake control.
The signal lamps indicate whether the brake is full on or released; progressive braking or releasing; change-over switch from bridge to local control and vice versa; shackle meter; anchor nearing hawse pipe; and over-speed when letting go the anchor with immediate braking.
Two of the six 15-ton automatic mooring winches also have three control positions: one on deck near each unit, and one in each wing of the bridge. Switching over from one controller to the other is by pushbuttons, and a signal lamp indicates when the controller is energised. There are thus under direct bridge control both windlasses and two mooring winches with obvious advantages in an emergency, and facilitating passage through locks in canals, seaways, etc.
Foreign Military
Spanish Yards’ Output Up 30 Per Cent
(Shipbuilding and Shipping Record, 26 January 1967) First statistical figures for 1966 show that during this period a total of 168 ships of 353,800 tons gross was delivered, which means an increase of 30 per cent compared with the figures for 1965. Launching figures were up by 28 per cent with 172 ships (391,500 tons gross) and 161 ships (378,300 tons gross) were laid down.
The three largest ships delivered in the year were the tankers Alcantara (71,000 tons deadweight), Ildefonso Fierro (60,000 tons deadweight) and Sardinero (54,400 tons deadweight). Two passenger ships, the Juan March and Santa Cruz de Tenerife of 9,000 tons gross each were also completed. The 42 ships built for export were valued at $40 million dollars.
At the end of 1966, Spanish yards had orders on hand for a total of 272 ships of 981,300 tons gross, including 28 ships (191,300 tons gross) for export. The Spanish yards are well provided with work for the next two and a half years.
Among those ships now under construction, there are 10 large tankers, six of 97,000 tons deadweight, one of 71,000 tons, and three of 67,000 tons deadweight.
Soviets Seek to Buy a U. S. Submarine
(The New York Times, 21 February 1967) General Dynamics Corporation said tonight that the Soviet Union was interested in buying an advanced two-man research submarine.
The move by the Soviet Academy of Sciences was believed to be the first Soviet expression of interest in buying an American-made underseas craft. General Dynamics referred the request to the State Department, where it was under study.
The Soviet Union, which has one of the largest submarine fleets in the world, conducts an extensive oceanographic research program. The program is understood to be charting little known areas of the ocean and studying ocean currents, the ocean bottom and even the areas under the North Pole.
Kenneth Simendinger, of General Dynamic’s Washington office, said that the craft, officially named “Star-3,” had been built at the corporation’s Electric Boat Company subsidiary in Groton, Conn. It is 24.5-foot-long craft, weighing 10 tons, and can stay submerged for up to 12 hours. It can dive to 2,000 feet.
Asked if the research craft would be of any value to the Soviet Union in improving its military submarines, a company spokesman said he could not answer without knowing more about the Russian submarine fleet. But a company pamphlet on the $900,000 submarine referred only to such peaceful activities as mining for scarce minerals, charting the bottoms of the seas and tracking fish migrations.
Research and Development
Atomic Plane Is Again Under Study
(George C. Wilson in The Washington Post, 18 January 1967) A nuclear-powered airplane which could stay aloft for months at a time is under serious study again. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration has specialists working full time on the feasibility of using nuclear engines on the Air Force’s giant c-5a transport.
Charles W. Harper, director of NASA’s aeronautical division, said in an interview yesterday that the large size of the c-5a and other future aircraft make nuclear power worth another look.
The Atomic Energy Commission and the Defense Department sank $1-billion into nuclear airplane technology before abandoning the 15-year effort in 1961 as impractical. Big problems at that time were the weight of nuclear powerplants and safeguarding the crew from radiation. The four-engine c-5a with a wing-span (223 feet) and length (246 feet) almost as long as a football field eases both those problems.
“The biggest breakthrough since the old program was canceled is not in nuclear technology so much as the fact we’re now interested in large airplanes,” Harper said. “This removes a lot of constraints.”
As Harper envisions it, nuclear reactors— if both NASA and the Air Force find the idea practical—would take over from conventional jet engines after the c-5a was off the ground. This would eliminate the danger of radiation on the ground.
“We’re looking to engines which could be run between 3,000 and 8,000 hours on nuclear power,” Harper said, meaning an airplane could stay up for about a year, if desired.
nasa’s Lewis Research Center in Cleveland is doing the work on the nuclear aircraft engine. Harper said about $250,000 a year is going into the work. When, if ever, the current research would be expanded into a full-scale development effort depends on Air Force interest in using nuclear power for the c-5a and other big aircraft.
The c-5a, which has engine nacelles of 8.5 feet in diameter—wide and long enough to park a Volkswagen inside the engine container—is being developed by the Lockheed Aircraft Corp, at Marietta, Ga. The first of the transports, which could carry 345 troops, is slated to be finished in February, 1968.
Nylon Chain May Replace Metal
(Shipbuilding and Shipping Record, 26 January 1967) One of the most recent developments in nylon is the Tuff-Link solid nylon moulded interlinked chain.
Tuff-Link provides an alternative to metal chain which cannot be completely protected from rust and corrosion—even when galvanized or heavily greased. Unlike metal chain links, which are welded during manufacture, thus leaving a possible weak section, the Tuff-Link chain link is moulded in one and therefore without a weld.
Tuff-Link is moulded already interlinked. The link design, with thicker ends and a central support for added strength, makes the most of its method of manufacture by the injection moulding process. It is light in weight (as little as 3-oz. per yd. for 1.5-in. link chain), clean to handle, non-magnetic, non-conductive, resistant to atmospheric extremes of temperature, rustless and practically noiseless. It has a high strength-to-weight ratio and is made in three colours and three sizes—easily lockable shackles in sizes corresponding to the chains are also available.
For marine work, Tuff-Link is ideal as it is light in weight, resistant to fresh or salt water and needs no such maintenance as painting or greasing. It is suitable for small craft anchor chain, marker buoys and, as it cannot twist or knot, is increasingly used for fishermen’s net supports.
Navy Waging War on the Barnacle
(Jane E. Brody in The New York Times, 25 December 1966) Navy scientists are moving full speed ahead in an effort to rid ships of barnacles, crusty sea creatures that cost the Navy, shipping industry and pleasure boat owners hundreds of millions of dollars a year.
In the process, a research team at the Naval Applied Science Laboratory in Brooklyn has succeeded for the first time in raising barnacles in the laboratory on a large scale. The step is considered a necessary prelude to the development and proper testing of techniques to effectively overcome the barnacle problem. The magnitude of the problem is easy to see: in just six to eight months at sea, a ship may acquire a growth of barnacles two to three inches thick and weighing more than 100 tons.
This weighty crust can cut the ship’s speed by 10 per cent or more and require a 50 per cent increase in fuel consumption to keep her on schedule. Ridding a ship of her barnacles usually means it must be drydocked. To dock, scrape and repaint the hull of a super-liner like the United States would cost more than $75,000, not counting the loss of service.
The Navy estimates that the cost of dealing with barnacles on its ships amounts to $280-million a year, not including the loss of service. But their removal is absolutely necessary. On a naval warship, a “fouled” bottom—as a barnacled hull is called—could mean a loss of speed that spells a military defeat.
Shipbuilders have tried various paints, lead and zinc, arsenic, mercury, acids and even ground glass to discourage barnacles and other clinging sea creatures. In the mid-19th century, antifouling paints containing copper oxide came into widespread use and, to this day, are the main weapons against barnacles on hulls.
In its efforts to develop a longer-lasting antifouling paint, the Brooklyn naval laboratory found it first had to go into the barnacle-raising business.
Until now, nearly all tests of antifouling agents were done at sea either on ships or on metal testing plates set out in harbors. Results of such tests were unreliable because it was impossible to know whether variations in barnacle accumulations were influenced only by the agent being tested or also by unknown and uncontrollable factors such as currents, salinity and temperature of the water, the researchers said.
Foreign
Soviet Buildup Stirs South Europe
(David Darrah in The Chicago Tribune, 2 March 1967) Russian naval presence in the Mediterranean has become a big factor in European and Near East politics.
While Soviet naval squadrons do not challenge the supremacy of the United States 6th Fleet, they could menace western Europe with guided missiles and threaten the 600 million tons of shipping that annually passes thru the straits of Gibraltar, naval experts in this Mediterranean center say.
For many years, the Russians had sought to establish naval power in the Mediterranean but had been kept out by Europeans in fear of attacks from the south. But since World War II, the Russians have gained an entrance. Their squadrons have many powerful naval units here now under their own or under the flags of friendly countries.
Naval experts list the present permanent Russian naval strength in the Mediterranean as consisting of two destroyers with guided missiles, two classic submarines, one atomic submarine, two oil ships, two scout ships, three electronic “spy” ships, and supply ships. In addition Russian cruisers from time to time ply about anchorages at important points.
The 6th Fleet includes two carriers, three or four cruisers, 20 destroyers, and four submarines. The Russians, however, are closer to their home in the Black Sea and their base at Sevastopol.
The Russians had bases in Albania a few years ago but had to leave when the Albanians adopted the Chinese brand of communism. Jose Diaz de Villegas, a Spanish writer on naval strategy, says that Albania is likely to return one day to the Russian camp as it is now finding the Chinese connection to be impracticable. The Russian aim, de Vallegas writes, is to establish a strong foothold in north Africa. He points out that Moscow is also set up in the Red sea and is trying now to get the Egyptians to grant a naval base at Ras Banas. Moscow has armed Iraq and Algeria and other countries on both the Red sea and the Mediterranean area.
★
* See R. F. Freitag, “Project Transit Navigation Satellite,” U. S. Naval Institute Proceedings, May 1961, pp. 76–83.
See also M. D. Van Orden, “Satellite Communications in the Navy,” U. S. Naval Institute Proceedings, May 1967, pp. 142–146.