Professional Notes
NS Otto Hahn—Germany’s First Nuclear Ship
By Helmut K. Bianchi, Company for the Utilization of Nuclear Energy in Shipbuilding and Shipping, Ltd.
When the Federal Republic of Germany was granted permission to participate in the “Atoms for Peace” drive in 1955, efforts to study and apply nuclear energy for the propulsion of ships began within Germany’s shipbuilding industry. To co-ordinate these efforts, an organization was founded in 1956, and named Gesellschaft für Kernenergieverwertung in Schiffbau und Schiffahrt mbH (GKSS). The English translation is Company for the Utilization of Nuclear Energy in Shipbuilding and Shipping, Ltd.
A research center was erected by the GKSS at Geesthacht (near Hamburg) which today consists of two “swimming pool” reactors, a zero-power (no temperature coefficient feedback) test facility for solid and liquid moderators, and a unique rolling-test stand to simulate ships’ movements at sea. The center employs 450 people.
In 1960, when the preliminary studies were completed, the decision was made to build a commercial nuclear-powered ship. As a compromise between propulsive output investment and safety risks, it was decided to build an ore-carrier with a capacity of 15,000 d.w. tons and 10,000 s.h.p. The contract was awarded to the Kieler Howaldtswerke late in 1962.
Development work on the reactor installation had, at that time, already proceeded to a rather advanced study based on the organic moderated principle. This seemed to offer the most simple construction and also operation recommended by maritime requirements. The GKSS decided to drop this project after difficulties with the organic liquid at a prototype reactor in Ohio. New bids were asked for, using the same specifications as to space and power, so that it could still fit into the compartment on board the ship. An advanced pressurized water reactor, similar to that used on board the U. S. nuclear ship Savannah, was selected.
The Otto Hahn was designed as an ore-carrier with six cargo holds, capable of carrying a load of 15,000 tons. The ship, with her nuclear propulsion, does not differ from a conventional ore-carrier, except for the larger superstructure, which accommodates the crew of 74 and 32 scientists.
In the building of the Otto Hahn, certain requirements and specifications had to be met in accordance with both the Germanischer Lloyd and the Bureau of Veritas classification societies, and also those of the International Maritime Committee (IMCO) as set forth by the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) Convention.
The hull is designed in such a way that the draft may be attained by ballasting only. For this purpose, water ballast can be pumped into side tanks and double bottom tanks alongside and below the cargo holds. Corresponding tank space along the reactor compartment must remain empty for safety considerations.
The part of the hull that contains the installations for the propulsion is subdivided into the following compartments (from forward aft): the forward cofferdam, the service station, the accessories compartment, the reactor room with its containment, the after cofferdam, the engine room, and the auxiliary boiler room. Of these, only the engine and boiler rooms extend over the full width of the hull. A separate auxiliary engine room is located below the bridge.
The classification societies and the SOLAS convention called for certain measures for the safety of the reactor installation, crew, and the general environment. The hull division had to comply with the two-compartment standard of floodability and the highest class of fire fighting and prevention. Moreover, it had to incorporate more than normal structural protection in the reactor region, should the ship suffer grounding or collision.
The Otto Hahn complies with a three-compartment standard for most cases of loading, that is, three watertight compartments may be flooded from the sea without causing the ship to sink or become unstable. Her flooding stability is increased by cross-flooding ducts between opposite ballast tanks. The specified freeboard of 18 feet is exceptionally high for an ore-carrier, and reduces critical listing.
Protection against grounding damage is provided by the high double bottom below the cargo holds, and a special design has been applied to the double bottom below the reactor compartments for the same purpose. Above the conventional double bottom, which is five feet high, an additional watertight double bottom of almost four feet has been inserted to prevent the deformation resulting from a grounding to reach the foundation of the reactor space.
[Figure 1 Power plant for NS Otto Hahn]
[Figure 21 Schematic for NS Otto Hahn]
Special care has been devoted to reduce the effects of a collision in the reactor region by reinforcing the structures between the hull plating and longitudinal bulkheads for about 20% of the ship’s breadth on either side. From the calculations and model tests it may be concluded that the probability of collision damage to parts of the reactor installation is extremely low.
In compliance with another recommendation, the Otto Hahn is equipped with two auxiliary water tube boilers , providing steam for emergency “take-home” propulsion. On the preliminary trials, the ship reached a speed of more than ten knots with this auxiliary power of about 2,000 s.h.p.
There are many other measures taken to increase the general safety of operation. An extra large rudder and steering engine, duplicate of the steering gear, additional anchors, spare auxiliary equipment, and ample electric power supply, are some of them. The reactor safety containment and also the surrounding, secondary shielding walls are ingeniously supported so as to avoid stiffening of, or stress-raising in, the ship’s structure. The Otto Hahn’s reactor is the first pressurized water reactor built according to the integrated principle. The complete primary cycle, including the heat exchangers, is contained in the pressure vessel. This design requires a large volume, but avoids separate vessels for heat exchangers and the necessary intermediate pipe connections. In this way, a high safety standard against damage or rupture is achieved. The primary circulating pumps are flanged directly to nozzles of the pressure vessel. The primary system is self-pressurized by operating at its saturation point, and, therefore, does not require an outside pressurizing vessel. These features mark a distinct improvement over the Savannah's reactor. They also give justification for the name of “advanced pressurized water reactor.”
The secondary steam generated in the once-through steam generator is slightly superheated, and flows directly into the conventional main turbine, propelling the screw through a double reduction gear at a maximum of 10,000 s.h.p.
The fuel loading of the core amounts to about three tons of uranium dioxide. Sintered in the shape of pellets, it fills the stainless steel tubes that build up 12 fuel elements of square and four corner elements of triangular cross-section. Equivalent core height and diameter are both 37 feet. All square fuel elements are fitted with cross-shaped control rods containing boron carbide as absorbing material. The core has four zones with different enrichments of the fissionable uranium isotope U-235, and provides a specified lifetime of 500 days at full Power. The fuel elements must then be replaced. It is estimated that the first fuel load for the Otto Hahn will last for about three years. During this time, about 44 pounds of a total of 265 pounds of uranium-235 will be burned up.
The pressure vessel is forged from fine-grain carbon steel with a main wall thickness of 20 inches, and plated inside with austenite. It is surrounded in its lower part by a shield tank filled with water and containing several cylindrical shields of cast iron, which together with the water serve as a biological shield. The cast iron shielding extends above the tank enclosing the outer control rods, the drives of which are mounted on a ledge of this shielding. The safety containment may be entered for short periods during operation by means of a spherical lock. In the lower part of the cylindrical containment shell, four spring-loaded flooding flaps are inserted to achieve a pressure equalization with the sea in case the ship sinks.
The bulkheads around the containment carry the secondary shielding, consisting of four concrete walls 16 to 20 feet thick. These are cast around strong brackets on the bulkheads, so as not to transmit their weight to the double bottom, and also, not to interfere with the bending and twisting of the hull under wave influence. The upper secondary shielding is supplied by a concrete cupola resting on the four walls.
The containment wall is free for inspection from the outside as well as the inside. The radiation dose rate outside the secondary shielding is sufficiently reduced to permit normal use of the laboratories in the control area, and conventional watchkeeping in the engine room. No secondary shielding is provided below the containment, but while the ship is docked, the double bottom may be flooded to permit repair work on the ship’s hull.
A special feature of the Otto Hahn is the service station on board to store burnt-up fuel elements independently of assistance from ashore. A 35-ton crane on the deck is capable of transferring fuel elements in a cask from the pressure vessel to the water-filled pit in the serviceroom and return.
Early in 1968, the complete core underwent extensive tesing [sic] in the zero-power facility on the site of the reactor center at Geesthacht. The reactor was made operational on 26 August 1968, and, after raising the power gradually while the ship was moored, the Otto Hahn went to sea for the first time on 11 October 1968.
Though the Otto Hahn was designed for ore-carrying, many voyages will be devoted to research programs in order to accumulate experience with this new type of reactor and its behavior under various maneuvers, sea conditions, and climates. Other facets of this research program are the investigation of general problems from the field of ship design and machinery layout, as well as availability of the engineering crew.
Because of the lack of international agreements governing the operation of nuclear ships in foreign territories and the liability in case of nuclear damage, it is still mandatory to negotiate individual treaties with every country for the admission of the Otto Hahn to its ports.
The building of the Otto Hahn cost $15 million, to which the European Community (EURATOM) contributed $4 million. It was stipulated that the Otto Hahn should not prove any economic advantages, but, that she was built primarily to furnish technical information.
The point of view maintained in Germany is that the prospects of nuclear ship propulsion appear optimistic. From recent investigations of the GKSS, it may be expected that the break-even point of economic competition may lie at a total propulsive power of 40,000 s.h.p.; in special cases, even at 30,000 s.h.p. This is the range that will become of interest for big tankers and fast container ships. There is no denying, however, that to reach this goal, intensive development work has to be done.
The design and operation of the Otto Hahn and the eventual construction of a second nuclear “demonstration” ship, present important and necessary steps for the commercial use of nuclear energy for ship propulsion.
Of CVAs and VTOLs
By Commander Tyrone G. Martin, U. S. Navy, Commanding Officer, USS Ozbourn (DD-846)
While the aircraft carrier has continued to evolve since the end of World War II, there has been a little-publicized effort in progress that could have a profound effect on these ships. This effort has been concerned with the development of the vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft-planes that require little or no runway to become airborne and which are capable of flying at fairly high speeds, unlike helicopters. Research in this area has been conducted by the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, and the Soviet Union. While most of the designs have been either pure research platforms or light transport/observation models, combat versions have not, however, been overlooked.
In the United States, the Navy was an early sponsor in the VTOL field. During the 1951-55 period, both Convair and Lockheed were given contracts to develop experimental aircraft whose basic function would be “that of convoy-escort fighter able to take off, fight, and land without the need of a carrier deck.” Both companies came up with “tail stander” designs, i.e., aircraft which rested on small casters or skids affixed to reinforced tail surfaces and took off straight up—“hanging on their propellors.” Both used contra-rotating props driven by a single Allison T-40 turbine. Lockheed’s XFV-1, while capable of speeds of up to 500 m.p.h. in level flight, never was taken off vertically. The delta wing XFY-1 from Convair did, however, successfully take off straight up, subsequently transition to level flight, and return to land on its tail. Successful though it was when it came to achieving the desired flight profile, it could not compete with the speeds and weapons loadings of the jets, and the project was terminated, ending Navy testing of combat VTOL designs for some years.
The first British research VTOL vehicle was launched with rocket assist at Woomera, Australia, in 1949. But the most promising project to date started privately by the Hawker Company in 1957. Based upon some earlier engine design work by a Frenchman, Hawker began development of an aircraft which would take off vertically from a conventional horizontal position using centrifugal compressors driven by a jet engine to provide the necessary lift. This was designated the P. 1121.
In 1959, with the availability of a more powerful engine and official financial involvement, a new aircraft was designated the P. 1127. The first flights, including full transitions to and from horizontal flight, were accomplished in September 1961. During the same year, both Germany and the United States joined in supporting further British development.
In 1963, the first trials of this prototype aircraft at sea were conducted aboard the carrier HMS Ark Royal. Originally named the “Kestrel,” and later changed to the “Harrier,” the aircraft had further sea trials from the commando carrier HMS Bulwark in 1966, the Italian cruiser Andrea Doria in 1967, and the recently converted ASW cruiser, HMS Blake, in 1969. First U. S. trials were conducted in 1966 from the USS Independence (CVA-62) and USS Raleigh (LPD-1). This successful vertical/short takeoff and landing (V/STOL) aircraft is in service with the R.A.F., and 30 have been ordered by the U. S. Marine Corps. It has flown at speeds exceeding Mach 1, and has been outfitted in a wide variety of loads, including droppable fuel tanks, 30-mm. cannon, bombs (up to 1,000 pounds each), air-to-air and air-to-surface missiles, 60-mm. rockets, ASW torpedoes, and photo-reconnaissance pods.
With the announced end of the Royal Navy’s carrier force less than five years away, the advent of a successful V/STOL combat aircraft has come none too soon.
The feasibility studies not only have demonstrated the Harrier’s ability to operate from ships, but, in the case of the Bulwark tests, proved it was possible to operate both V/STOL and helicopters simultaneously from a single deck. Other tests have shown that deck areas as small as 50 feet square are sufficient for the Harrier. Thus, it is quite clear that such an aircraft could operate from a wide variety of ships—combatant, amphibious, or auxiliary. Depending on the mission of the parent ship, a Harrier could be outfitted for air defense, close support, anti-missile boat defense, ASW, or reconnaissance, with combat radii as great as 400 miles. Indeed, the first operational V/STOL combat aircraft in the world offers a startlingly broad range of uses, and could well be the answer to the Royal Navy’s imminent air power problem. In the secretive world of the Soviet Union, evidence of developmental projects is rarely disclosed. The 1958 edition of Jane's All The Worlds Aircraft provided a small glimpse of Soviet efforts in the VTOL field with an illustration of what was called the Matvieyev “Turbolot.” It was a “flying bedstead” sort of machine with a single vertically-mounted jet engine, and looked much like the lunar module trainer used by astronauts. The Turbolot was the sole indicator of Soviet interest in V/STOL aircraft until the 1967 Air Show at Domododevo [sic]. when four different designs were flown Three were short takeoff and landing (STOL) aircraft. The fourth, said to be a Yakovlev product and nicknamed the “Freehand” by NATO, was a VTOL similar in size to the Harrier. One of the two Freehands had a rocket pod mounted under each wing, but it was generally believed that both planes were prototype and did not represent an operational aircraft. The fact that the Soviets revealed the existence of the Freehand does not assist in determining its status, for experience has shown that some displayed units were actually “has beens,” while others subsequently became operational. Aside from these alternatives, it is possible that the Freehand represents the successful prototype of an undisclosed model in production.
Perhaps it is just a coincidence, but 1967 also was the year in which the first Soviet “ASW cruiser” Moskva, was launched. Subsequently, this 20,000-ton hybrid has made several deployments in the Mediterranean, reportedly carrying military versions of the Kamov KA-25K helicopter, which have the NATO nickname “Hormone.” Visible on her 270- to-290-foot flight deck have been markings for four land-launch areas. From a purely dimensional assessment, it would appear to be a simple matter to substitute the Freehand, which is 53 feet long with a wing span of 27 feet, for the Hormone, which swings a rotor almost 52 feet in diameter. Thus, for initial tests of VTOL aircraft at sea, at least, the Soviets appear to have the necessary hardware. The fact that the Moskva's sister-ship Leningrad, said to have been launched a year later, has yet to appear in the Mediterranean—more than a year after the Moskva's debut—may point to a different working-up plan. This could include tests with the Freehand or similar aircraft in the secure areas of the nearly-closed Black Sea.
It would seem that the successful development of VTOL aircraft for shipyard use offers many attractions to navies aspiring to seagoing air power. For them, VTOLs could provide a strike capability without the expense and expertise involved in creating the giant aircraft carrier and its many complex systems needed to handle conventional planes. Other mission capabilities (gun-support, and the like), could be built into the ships, as well, if desired. Since VTOLs would be equally at home in various land environments, no special design technology such as that required by carrier planes now. Training would be simplified by the absence of catapult launches and arrested landings.
Operationally, naval VTOLs could be dispersed to a variety of ships, rendering a greater flexibility of employment possible. At the same time, it would markedly reduce the impact of launching platform losses. By taking advantage of the relative wind created by a moving ship, power and fuel requirements for takeoff and landing could be reduced, and combat radii increased. Interceptor VTOLs could be stationed on picket ships on the periphery of an operating area to extend the defensive envelope and improve aircraft utilization. The present Harrier is capable of turn-up and launch in about eight minutes, and later models should be able to improve on this.
The advent of guided missiles has made it possible for small, relatively inexpensive, and uncomplicated craft to carry the destructive power of a battleship’s broadside. It appears that, in coming years, VTOL aircraft may provide similar benefits to navies interested in seagoing air power. The Harrier’s capabilities, amazing as they are, are on the lower side of the operational characteristics spectrum of today’s combat aircraft. Later VTOLs are expected to extend the range, speed, and load-carrying capabilities significantly upward. For the British, they are a way to compensate for the imminent demise of their dwindling carrier force. For the Soviet Union, they are a way to circumvent the prolonged development of carrier-related technological and operational expertise, in adding the dimension of seaborne air power to the threat posed by a broad family of cruise missiles. For the U. S. Navy, the promise of the Harrier and the implication of the Moskva Freehand, should be assessed most carefully and objectively to ensure that these offensive capabilities are not left later to become—much to our chagrin—a threat to our ability to command the seas.
Applications of Remote Sensing in Oceanography
By Boyd E. Olson, Deputy Scientific and Technical Director, U. S. Naval Oceanographic Office
“Remote Sensing” is an expression heard increasingly in association with space satellites. The concept is not new. Weapons systems dating from World War II have employed remote sensing for detection of targets, guidance of carriers, and triggering of detonations. Prior to the soft landing on the moon, remote sensing was the sole basis of astronomy. Recent association of the term “remote sensing” with the emerging scientific field of oceanography* reflects aspirations—already partially fulfilled—to conduct scientific observations and measurement of marine phenomena from airplanes and space satellites.
* See D. Walsh, “Space Oceanography. The Logical Paradox,” pp. 42-49. February 1969 PROCEEDINGS)
The general concept of remote sensing and remote sampling is well known to the mariner and the marine scientist. Nearly all chemical, biological, and geological sampling in the deep ocean is accomplished by blindly dangling a collector at the end of a long line. Except in the shallowest water, ocean depths have always been sensed remotely by the slackening of a lead line or the echo of a sound signal. Low frequency sound reflections, as well as refraction of sound, have been used for many years by oceanographers and petroleum geologists in studying the sediment structure beneath the oceans.
Such uses of sound energy are valid examples of “remote sensing” within the oceans. More recent use of narrow-beam radar, laser beams, and infrared sensors in obtaining records of waves and sea-surface temperatures from aircraft initiated oceanographic remote sensing in the modern context. Although the earth’s magnetic and gravity fields—the latter with some limitations—are also measured from airplanes, these are not examples of true remote sensing, in that the sensors respond to the local forces of the fields measured. Measured values are reduced to sea level, or some other elevation, by the use of formulas, but not without some loss of definition.
Remote sensing may be defined as the determination of the shape and character of a surface, or the properties of a substance located at some distance from the sensors. It is dependent upon the propagation of energy between the point under examination and the sensor. The energy employed may be either electromagnetic (light, infrared, or radio) or acoustic. The utility of remote sensing techniques is determined by: (1) the level and variability of the source signal; (2) the efficiency of propagation; (3) resolving power (dependent upon wavelength, reflectivity, and the like); and (4) distortion by the medium.
Whereas the oceans are highly transparent to acoustic energy, the atmosphere is not; and, of course, sound is not transmitted at all across empty space. On the other hand, broad bands of the electromagnetic spectrum are propagated efficiently through the atmosphere and space, but scarcely through water. The fact that the sea surface is an efficient reflector of most electromagnetic energy, opens the way to sea and swell measurements by means of special radio altimeters and distance-measuring laser devices. Without some means of coupling across this air-sea boundary, however, only oceanographic variations at or near the surface can be monitored from air or space. Such coupling is sometimes provided by combining sonar and radio in buoyed systems. One of the applications suggested for the Interrogation, Recording, and Location System (IRLS) satellite is the monitoring and relay of oceanographic information collected by buoys designed for this purpose.
Remote sensing may be either passive or active—analogous to these same modes in sonar detection. In the former mode, a passive sensing device or photographic emulsion responds to microwaves or infrared radiation emitted by the sea surface, or to reflected sunlight. In the active mode, light or radio energy is artificially generated and beamed at the sea surface, where it is reflected back to a sensor. In both modes, the strength of the signal is important. Even more critical, however, is the extent to which some characteristic of the signal (amplitude, phase, or frequency) varies with changes in the property of interest. A strong reflection of radio energy from the sea surface which shows no variance with the height or length of ocean waves provides no information on the sea state. On the other hand, a relatively weak reflection, which varies systematically with wave height or lengths, may provide an excellent sea state indicator.
A brief account of the techniques used or contemplated for use in remote sensing in oceanography is discussed here:
Photography (passive)—Aerial photography with a variety of films has been used routinely since the late 1940s in charting passageways for supply convoys in the Arctic Ocean and also in the Antarctic Ocean. During an exhaustive survey of the Gulf Stream in 1950 (Operation Cabot), it was learned that aerial photographs could be used to locate the edge of major currents. Low level aerial photography has also been used to document sightings of whales or schools of fish. A new height in the use of photography in delineating shorelines has been achieved by manned spacecraft. Photographs from the Gemini V mission, for instance, revealed substantial errors in the charted shoreline of Rongelap Atoll. In clear, shallow water, useful information on the configuration of the bottom can be obtained from aerial or satellite photography. The presence of current eddies, regions of upwelling, and surface slicks have also been used to record the extent of algae blooms on some occasions.
Infrared Radiometry and Imagery (passive)—The infrared radiometer is essentially a very sensitive thermometer, designed to respond to filtered infrared radiation from the sea surface with wave lengths between eight and 13 microns. This region of the spectrum is chosen because of the high transparency of the atmosphere and the near absence of interference from scattered sunlight in this range. The sensor can be fixed relative to the path of the airplane on which it is mounted, or it can be made to scan perpendicular to the flight path. Its output can be displayed as numbers or, in the scanning mode, as grey tones so as to produce an image much like a photograph.
Infrared imagery has been found useful in studying sea-ice as well as sea-surface temperature patterns. It provides a sharper contrast between the ice and water than appears in ordinary photographs and reveals small cracks and thin areas not evident to the unaided eye. Infrared imagery provides an excellent record of the continuum of horizontal temperature gradients of the sea surface, together with associated currents and eddies. Infrared sensors were flown experimentally in airplanes in the 1950s to chart sea surface temperatures. Such measurements are now a standard part of airborne oceanographic surveys of the U. S. Naval Oceanographic Office.
The high resolution infrared radiometer, designed for the Nimbus I and II satellites, measures radiant energy in the near infrared region of the spectrum. It has an instantaneous field of view of about 0.5 degrees, providing a resolution of about five miles from an orbiting height of 580 miles at the nadir. This device scans horizontally, recording the temperature of a long narrow strip of ocean with each swing. By synchronizing the scan rate with the speed-of-advance of the vehicle, a continuous image representing the surface temperature is obtained.
Satellite data have been processed to display both numerical values of temperature and areal images. Gross temperature patterns are very comparable to those on charts prepared exclusively from ship measurements of sea surface temperatures. Because of the rather large adjustments required for humidity, calibration drift, and the like, absolute values are not directly comparable. A few extremely low values are probably associated with clouds. Such clouds and the humidity of the intervening atmosphere are the primary sources of error. Accuracy studies have shown aircraft measurements to be within about 0.3° Centigrade of the actual values.
Microwave Radiometry (passive)—Passive interception of radio energy, emitted by the sea surface in the microwave region (wave lengths of one to 30 centimeters), has been proposed as a means of determining both the sea surface temperature and the humidity of the intervening atmosphere. The atmosphere attenuates radio energy selectively according to the radio frequency and the humidity of the atmosphere. By monitoring the energy transmitted at more than one selected frequency, we can determine both the humidity and the sea surface temperature. Experimental evidence of this is yet to be obtained, however, microwave radiometry has already been used successfully to detect the boundary of sea-ice.
Active systems used in oceanographic remote sensing have employed either radar or lasers. Radio energy at wave lengths greater than three centimeters is little effected by humidity or clouds; heavy rainfall causes some attenuation at shorter wave lengths. Radar has been used to obtain information on sea-ice and on wind-generated waves. It has been proposed for use in determining more subtle variations in sea level, such as those caused by gravity anomalies.
The three modes in which radar has been used oceanographically are discussed separately:
Radar Altimetry (active)—The airborne radar wave profiler, which employes [sic] a sensitive radar altimeter, is a proven system for recording wind-generated ocean waves. In this system, the distance between the aircraft and the sea surface immediately beneath it, is measured by the time required for the generated radar pulse to travel from the antenna to the sea surface and back. If the aircraft were able to maintain a perfectly level flight path, this distance would vary only with changes in the elevation of the water immediately beneath the plane. This simple situation is complicated by vertical oscillations about the mean flight path. These vertical displacements, which are always present are measured by use of a device which responds to accelerations (an accelerometer). A record of true wave heights is then obtained by correcting the altimeter record for the aircraft motion thus derived. The forward speed of the airplane must also be taken into account in determining the length of the waves, inasmuch as the time interval measured between crests is dependent upon the velocity of the airplane relative to the waves.
This airborne wave recorder is proving to be an excellent operational tool for measuring sea and swell in deep water, where use of fixed wave recorders is impractical. The speed with which distance can be covered also makes this aircraft system attractive from the viewpoint of rapid sampling of the ever changing wave patterns over large areas.
A parallel use of radar has been proposed for measuring other variations in sea level. The large antenna (33 feet in diameter), required for the proposed system presents a formidable problem.
A proposed alternative system that determines the centroid of the return from a much broader area uses a smaller antenna. It is hoped that such a system will permit determination of details of the geoid (the constant gravity surface coinciding with sea level) over the oceans. It is known that rather large variations in the elevation of the sea surface are associated with local gravity anomalies. It is possible that even more subtle variations caused by wind stress, deep ocean tides, and atmospheric pressure gradients can be measured by such systems.
Radar Scatterometry (active)—The scattering of energy incident on a surface is dependent upon the structure of that surface. Rough surfaces scatter energy in all directions whereas smooth surfaces give specular reflection. By illuminating the sea surface with radar energy over a range of angles, the return signal can be used as a measure of the sea surface roughness (waves). This technique is termed radar scatterometry, and the radar device used to measure this roughness is called a scatterometer. The sea clutter on a ship radar scope, which increases with increasing sea state, is a common, uncontrolled manifestation of this principle. From an airborne scatterometer, the return from a smooth sea is strong near the vertical (directly beneath the airplane) and weak at large slant angles: with increasing sea state (roughness), the signal weakens near the vertical and increases at large angles. Several test flights made by different groups over various sea states show considerable promise for this means of deriving information on ocean waves. Several wave lengths have been used in these measurements. The most common is about two centimeters.
Radar Imagery (active)—Side-looking airborne radar has been used successfully to obtain excellent images of sea-ice. This technique has the advantage of providing extensive, detailed information through an overcast. Because of the high incidence of clouds in Arctic regions, this method increases by many times the amount of information obtainable on an average flight.
Laser Altimetry (active)—At least one laser instrument for measuring distances, a helium-neon device, has been used as an altimeter for ocean-wave measurements. As in the case of the radar altimeter, a short pulse of energy (light) is beamed at the sea surface. Distance is determined by measuring precisely the time required for this pulse to travel to the sea surface, where it is reflected, and returned to the airplane. The main advantage of the laser over radar is the fine resolution afforded. The main disadvantage is that it cannot be used through stratocumulus cloud decks.
Such a device has also been suggested for use in determining water depths from aircraft. It has been determined that the signal can be made to penetrate the air-sea interface and give reflection of the bottom in relatively shallow, dear water. The potential of this application has yet to be determined.
Remote sensing of the ocean’s surface from aircraft is rapidly developing into a useful tool for collecting data efficiently and quickly. To date, the primary impetus for this development has been the need for snyoptic information to be used in oceanographic prediction, the counterpart of the weather network. The speed with which airborne platforms can collect data results in a low cost per data point compared to that for surface ships. Such economic considerations point to increased use of airborne platforms in some oceanographic applications. It is clear that surface platforms will continue to be used extensively, particularly in probing the inaccessible regions beneath the surface.
Spacecraft oceanography holds promise of some very real advantages in monitoring oceanographic phenomena. These advantages, in addition to economic considerations, stem largely front the breadth of area encompassed by a single look from space, coupled with the mobility of the space vehicle. This allows innumerable choices from continuous monitoring of a single sector of the ocean, or more frequent scanning of the entire globe. It is, however, limited to the scanning of only the ocean’s surface
The Spacecraft Oceanography Project was organized by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration 1965. It is aimed at evaluating and developing the application of space vehicles for remote sensing of the marine environment. It is still too early to appraise fully the potential of this effort, but it is a great challenge.
Notebook
New Class Frigate To Join U. S. Fleet In 1974
(Ordnance, March/April 1970)
A new class of nuclear-powered, missile-firing frigates is being added to the Navy’s shipbuilding program for 1970. The new frigate will measure about 600 feet and displace about 10,000 tons fully loaded. Known as the DLGN-38 class, the new ships are similar in design to those currently under construction, but will use more advanced equipment and weaponry and will have greater maneuverability.
Because of these improvements, the new frigates will be better able to counter Soviet antiship missiles. Initially, they will be equipped with the Terrier D Antiaircraft missile, but this will be replaced later by the advanced surface missile system (ASMA), which will be able to cope with both aircraft and antiship missile threats. Two dual-purpose launchers will handle both the antiaircraft and antimissile missiles and the antisubmarine rocket (ASROC).
The five ships approved thus far represent an investment of about $1 billion. The first of them is expected to join the fleet in 1974.
Soviet Influence Being Felt On Wide Front In Oil World
(The Houston Post, 19 April 1970)
Since the Six-Day War in mid-1967, the Russians have taken advantage of every opportunity to expand their influence in the oil world, especially in the Arab countries. As a result, the Soviets have moved into parts of the world never penetrated by the U.S.S.R. The Oil and Gas Journal says.
The Soviets have extended trade, aid, and military equipment on a massive scale these past two years, most of it in the Eastern Hemisphere, but some also in Latin America.
The Soviets say their technical and economic aid is aimed “first and foremost” at developing the “key branches” of the foreign economies—power, iron, and steel, chemical, engineering and construction industries.
Under “power” and “engineering,” of course, falls oil and gas technical assistance. And today, Russian oilmen are involved in the oil programs of more than 20 countries around the world.
Some of this, The Journal says, takes the form of direct physical assistance in drilling—as in Egypt and Iraq—but more often it appears in the shape of loans, barter credits, or technical supervision as in Turkey and Ethopia [sic].
There is no altruism here. The Russians are known as tough bargainers, as the Italians and West Germans can testify after their recent agreements to buy Soviet natural gas. Overall, Communist negotiators are behaving more and more like capitalist businessmen.
By forging agreements in the developing countries, the Soviets are paving the way for future imports of commodities needed by the home economy. And this may well include oil. The Journal says.
As domestic demand soars, and as the requirements of the ComEcon countries continue to grow, it may well be that the Soviets will be hard-pressed to continue oil exports to the West and may for a time turn net importer.
The big problem east of the Urals now is not availability of crude—Soviets claim vast oil fields in western Siberia— but the cost of producing it. Average cost of Siberian oil is reported by Western sources to be between $2 and $3 per barrel higher than laid-down cost of imported Persian Gulf crude.
Economies, not supply deficiency, would be responsible for Russia becoming a net importer, The Journal says.
Russia has revealed that 41 oil fields have now been found in Tyumen, and that only 15% of the prospective area has been explored. So it is doubtful the U.S.S.R. will be a net importer over the long haul.
Garbage Burners Set For Some Norwegian Ships
(News of Norway, 3 April 1970)
Great interest has been aroused in shipping circles by a garbage burner for ships, which has been developed by Saxlund A/S, Arendal, in co-operation with the Norsk Dampkjeleforening (Norwegian Steam Boiler Federation). The burner has been ordered by the Norwegian America Line for its new cruiseliner under construction in England. Shipping companies abroad are also considering installation of such burners.
The model developed by the Arendal firm requires a space of some 30 feet, burning 440 pounds of garbage per hour. Glass is melted to lumps and tin cans are destroyed to an easily corroding mass. Solid particles are automatically removed from the evaporating gas, and automatic regulation of the temperature prevents bad odors. The burner weighs five tons and can be installed as a complete unit or assembled on board.
Should this type of equipment become standard equipment on board ships, an important advance in the war on pollution will be achieved.
New Super Buoys Replacing Coast Guard Lightships
In June, the U. S. Coast Guard started receiving the large navigation buoys (LNB), similar to the prototype Scotland buoy (shown on right). This unit was placed in operation off Sandy Hook, N.Y., in July 1967, as a replacement for the Scotland Lightship (WLV-512).
The buoy is 42 feet in diameter, 42 feet high, exclusive of its antenna, and fully ballasted, displaces 100 tons, with 150 tons of reserve buoyancy. Nested in its 33-foot mast is a 5,000 candlepower light with a visibility range of ten miles in clear weather, a fog horn signal with an audible range of three miles, and a radiobeacon with a minimum range of ten miles.
[Schematic of LNB prototype]
Although the LNB was designed for unattended operation on-station for a year, the fog signal and all operating systems can be monitored continuously from a shore station.
While the new LNBs are essentially the same as the prototype, improvements to the production models include: use of a xenon flash tube to give brighter and more distinctive optic; replacement of the DC electrical system by a 120 volt AC system; addition of daymark panels to increase daylight conspicuity; and the replacement of propane generators by diesel generators.
Royal Navy’s Big Ships Return to Active Service
(Navy, London, January 1970)
It seems that most, if not all, of the Royal Navy’s big ships will be available for duty when Britain pulls out of the Far East. The Defence Ministry is doubtless anxious that no situation could be left behind which would be likely to engender the faintest semblance to withdrawal wars which have been going on ever since World War II.
Strangely enough, with the “phasing I out” of aircraft carriers in mind, it is the big British aircraft carriers and amphibious ships which will be the kingpins of the “standby for withdrawal and look out for what might happen” fleet operations.
The 50,536-ton aircraft carrier Eagle, rebuilt in 1962-1966, and the 28,700-ton intermediate aircraft carrier Hermes, completed in 1959, are already worked-up for active service.
The 50,786-ton aircraft carrier Ark Royal, which has just been “specially refitted” (i.e., reconstructed and modernized) over a period of three years, will be ready for general service this year, and all on board are confident that she could meet any demand made on her East of Suez.
The former 17,000-ton aircraft carrier Triumph, converted into a fleet support ship, is in the Far East on completion of her present refit to cover the withdrawal of British forces.
The former 27,300-ton aircraft carrier Bulwark, now a helicopter carrier and commando ship, has been commissioned for service East of Suez, and her sister ship, the 27,300-ton Albion is being refitted for further service in the Far East.
Three other amphibious ships, the 12,120-ton assault ships Fearless and Intrepid, and the recently converted 12,080-ton helicopter cruiser Blake, will also be ready for Far East duty. The Intrepid and the Blake are already on station, and the Fearless commissions after refit in June for East of Suez duty.
Thus, all the Royal Navy’s might, under the flag officer carriers and amphibious ships (Ark Royal, Eagle, Hermes, Albion, Bulwark, Fearless, Intrepid, and Blake) will be ready either for the withdrawal in the Far East itself or for standby duty for emergency in any other part of the world while the withdrawal is being effected.
U. S. To Build Harrier V/STOL Aircraft by 1975
(Government Executive, April 1970)
The “Buy American” policy favored in Congress, will add $24.2 million to the Fiscal Year 1971 bill for the British-developed Harrier aircraft for the Marine Corps, Secretary of Defense Melvin R. Laird has indicated.
In his defense program and budget statement to the Senate Armed Services and Appropriations Committees, Laird requested $96.2 million to buy 18 Harriers* in FY 71, plus $22.1 million for initial spares and advance procurement for additional aircraft to be purchased in Fiscal Year 1972.
“Now that we have decided to move ahead with this program,” Laird said, “and in view of the Congressional desire to produce the aircraft in the United States, we have included $24.2 million (within the $96.2 million) to provide for the cost of partially assembling the 18 aircraft in this country under a licensing arrangement. This $24 million would not be required if we were to continue procurement directly from the United Kingdom.”
Over a period of four years, the actual fabrication of almost all components, except the engine, will be shifted to the United States as the required tooling is put in place, leading to a full air frame production capability by 1975.
The first 12 Harriers for the Marines were purchased directly from the United Kingdom under the Fiscal Year 1970
* See H. C Boschen, Jr., “V/STOL—New Force For The Amphibious Task Force,” pp. 46-51; and T. G. Martin, “Of CVAs and VTOLs,” pp. 123-125, this issue, U. S. Naval Institute PROCEEDINGS.
Russia Seeks Bases For Indian Ocean Fleet
(Ernest Weatherall in the Washington Star, 5 April 1970)
The Soviets are launching an economic offensive in South Asia in an effort to secure naval bases in the Indian Ocean. Their biggest target so far is Mauritius, an island off the African coast, which received its independence from Britain three years ago.
Mauritius is a small, over-crowded island which was discovered by the Portuguese more than 400 years ago, occupied by the Dutch, settled by the French, and captured by the British, who imported laborers from India. Its main crop is sugar, but since the British are withdrawing their inflated subsidy, the island faces economic collapse.
The Soviets already are buying oil and supplies in Port Louis, the capital of Mauritius, for their growing Indian Ocean fleet, and are anxious to secure a land base on the island. In return, Moscow has promised to set up some industries to help the island’s economy.
With this tempting offer, Mauritius can hardly turn down Moscow’s overtures, but the possibility of a Russian naval base in the Indian Ocean has caused great concern in London and Washington. There is a fear the Soviets will turn the ocean into a “Red Sea” when the British pull their forces out of the Far East in 1971.
At present, the Soviet fleet is supplied by a “sea train,” a tactic developed by the U. S. Navy in the eastern Mediterranean. Warships are supplied at sea by auxiliary ships and oilers, thus making a land base unnecessary.
The big problem is that the Soviet ships in the Indian Ocean must return to the Black Sea ports via the African cape thousands of miles away or to the Siberian naval base at Vladivostok, for repairs and maintenance.
The Soviets are looking for a base on the Indian subcontinent. Moscow is going all out to woo Pakistan away from the Red Chinese, but the Soviet influence is not strong enough as yet to bring up the question of a naval base.
Russian influence in India appears to be even greater than that of the United States. Moscow has not only supplied India with millions of dollars for economic aid, but has equipped the Indian navy with submarines, destroyer escorts, missile-equipped patrol boats, and its air force with MiG fighters.
Funds Restored For A-Carrier
(Philadelphia Inquirer, 17 April 1970)
In a surprise turnabout, the House Armed Services Committee has restored $152 million for a third nuclear aircraft carrier and tentatively approved a military procurement authorization totaling $20.24 billion.
Chairman L. Mendel Rivers (Dem., S.C.) said a final vote would not be taken until a study ordered by Congress to justify the carrier is completed.
The Committee had cut the $152 million for the carrier out of the bill on the argument the study could not be completed before next September, and so the funds could not be used anyway.
Earlier, the committee overwhelmingly approved President Nixon’s request to add a third site to the Safeguard Antiballistic Missile system.
The action virtually guaranteed passage by the House of the expansion plan. A much tougher fight, however, is expected in the Senate.
Rivers led the support of Safeguard expansion. He had threatened earlier to withhold support unless the administration showed a willingness to spend more for Navy shipbuilding.
Rivers and Mr. Nixon met privately at the White House, and the President reportedly assured him that he would give favorable consideration to any additional shipbuilding funds provided by Congress.
Included in a $20.3 billion annual weapons authorization cleared by the committee Thursday—and including $330 million for an ABM site in Missouri—was an extra $345 million for procurement of Navy warships.
The committee also approved $100 million for development of a new long-range manned bomber known as the B-1.
French Oceanographic Fleet Continues to Grow
(Oceanography International, April 1970)
A new French oceanographic vessel, the 158-foot Cyros, destined for the growing fleet of the National Center for Ocean Exploitation (CNEXO), has been launched. The second oceanographic vessel launched in three months, the Cyros is equipped with biomedical, physics, and biological laboratories, and accommodates nine oceanographers and a crew of 22.
The Cyros will be capable of making measurements and taking hydrological samples to depths of 16,000 feet and undertaking dragging and soundings to 5,000 feet. She will be used for programs of the Scientific and Technical Institute of Maritime Fisheries.
The Capricone, launched last November, presently is undergoing trials before being put into service later this year. The Jean Charcot, flagship of the French oceanographic fleet, is in the Atlantic studying the eastern sector of the big fracture of the ridge at 53° North, as part of a survey to determine the center and importance of the compression which affects the Mediterranean basin.
U. S. Navy To Turn Over 280 Craft To South Vietnam
(Joseph Fried in the New York News, 10 April 1970)
In the biggest turnover of naval equipment of the war, the United States will transfer 280 battle craft to South Vietnam in June, enabling the American Navy to blow out of the fighting here, reliable sources disclosed.
The number of patrol boats and river assault craft is about equal to the total boats already given South Vietnam throughout the war.
The ceremony will mark South Vietnam’s takeover of naval riverine combat duties from the United States. Thereafter, U. S. Navy personnel will serve only as advisers and training programs.
Greece Joining Mediterranean Maritime Air Reconnaissance
(Aviation Week, 30 March 1970)
Greece soon will join NATO’s maritime Air Forces Mediterranean (MarAirMed)* reconnaissance organization using a fleet of Grumman HU-16 amphibious aircraft. Already in the organization, which is aimed at keeping track of the Soviet naval squadron in the Mediterranean, are the U. S. Navy with Lockheed P-3Bs, Italian navy with Grumman S-2Es and Sikorsky SH-34s, British, Royal Air Force with Avro Shackletons, and the French Navy with Breguet Atlantics. The S2s are to be replaced by Atlantics and Shackletons by Hawker Siddeley Nimrods.
Despite the French departure from NATO military forces, the country’s Atlantics are an important contributor to NATO reconnaissance on Soviet shipping.
In the 16 months since the reconnaissance command was established,* it has become obvious that the Soviet Navy is in the Mediterranean to stay. There is an average of 40 Russian surface ships there at all times, and the force includes the Moskva helicopter carrier with Hormone ASW helicopters, now on its fourth deployment, destroyers, cruisers, electronics intelligence (Elint) ships as well as tenders and oilers. There are also eight to ten Russian submarines in the Mediterranean at all times, making it the most concentrated submarine threat the United States faces in any single area.
* See R. W. Blanchard, “Maritime Air Forces Mediterranean,” U. S. Naval Institute PROCEEDINGS, January 1970, pp. 115-117.
In an effort to confuse the opposition, Russia has used three different hull numbers on the Moskva—857 on the first and third trips, 854 on the second, and 841 on its current deployment. Reconnaissance photographs identify such obvious characteristics as dent marks, which do not change.
Admiral W. F. A. Wendt, U. S. Navy, commander of U. S. Naval Force in Europe, said only one % of Soviet naval ships are over 20 years old, while 60% of U. S. ships are over the age of 20.
One unusual aspect of the Soviet squadron here is that ships seldom make port calls for crew recreation. They normally are deployed for a maximum of four months and remain at sea the entire time. Ports are available in Egypt and Algiers, and Malta has agreed to allow Russian ships to dock there.
German Shipyards Maintain No. 2 Position in World
(The Journal of Commerce, 1 April 1970)
With a 16% increase in the ship tonnage launched in 1969, compared to the previous year, German yards maintained their No. 2 position in the world shipbuilding race.
The total for the year came to 1.61 million gross tons, compared to 1,352 million gross tons in 1968. Tankers accounted for 771,756 gross tons of the total, and included two supertankers from the Weser yards of Bremen: the Esso Scotia (127,158 gross tons) and the Esso Europa (113,759 gross tons). Bulk carriers totaled 211,717 gross tons and general cargo ships, 508,505 gross tons, of which 110,053 were container ships.
Sixty-five % of the total tonnage, i.e., 104 million gross tons, was for export, with 497,097 gross tons earmarked for Great Britain. Despite the good overall growth in German yards, containership construction was down from 197,685 gross tons in the previous year. Interestingly enough, there was a similar drop in the United States, on a lower scale: from 157,314 gross tons to 56,876 gross tons.
Good as the year was for German builders, they were overwhelmed by the output of Japanese yards. Of 42 ships over 100,000 tons built in the world in 1969, 20 came from Japan, and of these, two were of the new Universe class of 149,623 gross tons.
Japan’s total output was 9.3 million gross tons, an increase of 720,000 gross tons over 1968. Sixty % of all orders were for export, including 2.58 million gross tons for Liberia and 1.04 gross tons for Great Britain.
Swedish output was up 180,000 gross tons to 1.29 million, giving her a secure third place among the world’s shipbuilders. Export orders accounted for 1.01 million gross tons, with slightly less than half being for British owners.
In England itself, only 1.04 million gross tons were built in British yards, while the country was buying 2.14 million gross tons abroad.
France set a new building record for that country with 791,193 gross tons, up 300,000 from 1968. Tanker tonnage was 512,843 gross tons.
Japan To Have Minesweeping Helicopter Squadron by 1972
(Flying Review International, March 1970)
Japan’s Maritime Self-Defense Force is scheduled to establish its first mine-sweeping helicopter squadron by 1972. The squadron will be equipped with six Kawasaki-Vertol 107-11 helicopters specially modified for the role.
One experimental conversion of the KV 107-11 is already under test, another will be similarly modified this year, and four will be supplied from new production, two from FY 1970 funds and two from FY 1971 funds.
Fueling Platform Tests By U. S. Navy Successful
(Space Craft, Inc. News Release)
An experimental “platform” two miles aloft capable of maintaining a steady position for long periods of time in winds as high as 60 mph, has undergone successful initial tests by the Navy.
The “platform” is an ordinary helicopter which is linked to the ground for continuous fueling through the hollow core of a light but strong aluminum tether which can be reeled on or off large spool.
In a series of feasibility tests, a standard Navy SH3A helicopter, towing aloft its refueling tube, made a dozen flights to altitudes of up to 10,000 feet. At a predetermined point, the pilot turned over the controls to an automatic system which kept the craft at stationary hover in a fixed position relative to the tether for hours at a time. The automatic controls did not require ground-furnished signals of any kind.
In theory, only the mechanical endurance of the helicopter would limit duration of a tethered flight. In the actual demonstrations, flights were terminated after several hours, since there was no requirement for longer missions. The elevated platform concept is considered to have important potential uses, both military and commerical [sic], and would be practical for drone helicopters, as well as for manned craft.
Heart of the new concept, dubbed “Operation Long Drink,” is the remote fuel supply system, which is mounted on mobile truck trailers. One trailer (middle photo, right), carries a 10-foot reel, on which the aluminum tube is wound or unwound. A second trailer (bottom photo, right), carries equipment to power the reel unit and to force fuel upward through the two-mile tube to the helicopter (top photo, right). The fuel itself is supplied from a conventional fuel tank truck. The new system is considered relatively simple and practical.
Several pioneering developments, including some fabrication “firsts,” were involved in design of the new system. It was not believed, for example, that aluminum tubing strong and rigid enough to meet the requirements would still be flexible enough for repeated winding and unwinding on a drum. Nor was it thought possible to develop a tube of such length having neither internal nor external irregularities of any kind. The tube used for the tests was approximately ⅝ of an inch in diameter, with a wall thickness of ⅛ inch.
Pentagon Admits Drug Abuse
(Charles W. Corddrey in the Baltimore Sun, 26 March 1970)
The Defense Department has acknowledged that drug abuse among servicemen has become “a very serious problem,” particularly in Vietnam where an especially potent variety of marijuana is plentiful, cheap, and apparently, it is widely used.
At a press conference. Vice Admiral William P. Mack, U. S. Navy, deputy assistant defense secretary for manpower, indicated without elaboration that the use of marijuana is a “major problem” in fighting units in the field in Vietnam, as well as in rear areas.
Admiral Mack outlined the extensive measures being undertaken by the armed services to counter the spreading use of drugs, a combination of education about their effects, punishment where indicated and rehabilitation. He said:
Our goal is to save everybody we can and not dump them back on civilian society. We’ve got a long way to go.
The Admiral cited statistics showing a huge increase in use of marijuana and hard drugs over the past five years within the services; but, as he noted, they also could show how little previously was known about this “very serious problem.”
In 1965, [all] the Services investigated 522 cases of reported marijuana use. Last year, 19,000 cases were investigated. The respective figures for hard drugs were 153 and 3,357. A “case” could involve several servicemen.
Admiral Mack said that the investigations in 1969 established that marijuana actually was used in 1,995 of the cases and hard drugs in 252.
The majority of the cases had to do with men in Vietnam, he said. He added that authorities can neither prove nor disprove contentions that 50 to 80% of servicemen in Vietnam use marijuana.
Admiral Mack gave some assurance that the problem of drug abuse by men assigned in “critical areas” is under “pretty good control.” Such areas would involve nuclear-delivery systems such as missiles and airplanes, nuclear power plants, and intelligence operations.
The Admiral said that each of the services had uncovered only 20 to 30 cases in the last five years of off-duty use of drugs by men in these sorts of specialities. They were “promptly removed,” he said.
The Services are selective about volunteers and screen draftees, Admiral Mack said, but “we’ve got a very serious drug problem in this country” and he added that the young men entering the Service “reflect the society” from which they come.
Navy Discharges 3,800 Men For Illegal Use of Drugs
(The Washington Post, 20 April 1970)
More than 3,800 Navy men have been discharged in the past year for illegally using or pushing drugs, but the problem is not centered in Vietnam as many persons believe.
“Our experience in drug abuse* in Vietnam is not any higher than in other places, such as Norfolk or San Diego,” Vice Admiral Charles K. Duncan, U. S. Navy, the chief of naval personnel, told members of a House Appropriations subcommittee.
Duncan said there has been “a rather rapidly rising curve” of drug use in the Navy over the past two or three years. We are watching it very closely,” he said. “We do consider it a serious problem.”
He said those discharged last year included 151 men on “hard narcotics,” such as heroin, and 1,857 LSD users. Marijuana does not result in discharge usually, unless an individual sells it, he said.
Duncan said Navy investigators found about 1,450 men who were only “curiosity sniffers” and were not discharged. Another 1,991 drug users were successfully rehabilitated, he said.
* See J. A. Pursch, “Drug Abuse in the Navy,” U S. Naval Institute PROCEEDINGS, this issue, pp. 52-56.
Soldiers In Vietnam Tell Of Using Marijuana
(James P. Sterba in The New York Times, 4 April 1970)
Nearly one out of five front-line soldiers surveyed in an elite American combat unit in South Vietnam said that they smoked marijuana at least once a day, according to an Army physician’s study.
The study, made in February, found that of 494 soldiers questioned at random, 173, or 35%, said they had smoked marijuana once or more a week, and 94 among them, or 19% of the total, said they had smoked marijuana “just about every day” or “more often than once a day just about every day.”
Contrary to a widely held opinion that most marijuana smoking is done among soldiers in large rear-base camps, the study found that nearly two-thirds of the soldiers who had admitted smoking marijuana were stationed at forward base camps, and had spent most of their time on “field duty,” or combat and pacification operations in the countryside of South Vietnam.
Of the total sample, including both front-line and rear-area soldiers, 32% said they had never used marijuana, 37% said they had tried it “once or twice” but never since, 15% said they had used it once or more a week, and 16% said they had used it “about every day” or “more often.”
A total of 1,064 soldiers in the 173d Airborne Brigade were questioned in the study by Major John J. Treanor, the brigade surgeon and chief medical officer. Major Treanor found that 89% of the regular marijuana smokers were under 25 years old and that use decreased sharply as rank and seniority increased. He found that 73% of the regular users had been in the military service less than three years.
According to the statistics, the use of marijuana increases gradually among soldiers during their first tour in Vietnam, but drops off sharply among those who extend their time here. Most of the regular users said they were dissatisfied with their jobs and nearly half had requested transfer.
Among regular users, the majority had started smoking marijuana before coming to Vietnam, Major Treanor said. There appears to be an increased usage with field-type duty, he said. According to the statistics, of 158 soldiers interviewed with administrative jobs, 22% were regular users. While of 494 field soldiers interviewed, 35% were regular users.
A total of 36% of 405 soldiers interviewed at small outposts near the battle front said they were regular users.
Major Treanor said:
We have not yet seen the brilliant young man of higher education using marijuana to express his disgust with our hypocritical society. What we have seen clinically is a majority of rather incapable, frustrated, poorly educated, passive aggressive personalities complicating the many problems they already have by becoming involved with the use of marijuana.
Construction Begins on First Type 42 Seadart Destroyer
(Naval News Summary, Royal Navy, February 1970)
The first section of HMS Sheffield, the first of the Royal Navy’s new Type 42* Seadart destroyers, has been laid down at the Barrow Shipyard of Messrs. Vickers Limited. She will have an all gas turbine main propulsion, consisting of Olympus and Tyne gas turbines made by Rolls Royce Limited—the Tyne for cruising and the Olympus to meet full power requirements.
The ship is a major step forward in the modernization of the Royal Navy, and will incorporate the latest techniques of automation. The armament of the Type 42 includes the Seadart guided missile, which has a very effective surface-to-air performance and also a surface-to-surface capability, and a new type of 4.5-inch gun with a high automatic rate of fire. Both of these weapons are linked to a controlling computer. The main antisubmarine weapon consists of torpedoes carried by the ship’s helicopter the new Westland W.G.13.
The last ship to bear the name Sheffield was a 9,100-ton cruiser with a main armament of 12 6-inch guns built in 1936. During World War II she took part in the operations which led to the sinking of the German battleship Bismarck and the German battle cruiser Scharnhorst. The Sheffield was scrapped by the Royal Navy in 1967.
* See Notebook item, U. S. Naval Institute PROCEEDINGS, October 1969, pp. 158-159.