THE FUTURE OF OCEANOGRAPHY — SPILHAUS 367 



take people through the reefs and underwater world so different from 

 their normal environment. Underwater hunting and photography 

 will become ever more popular sports. 



One of the best means of averting war is complete surveillance. If 

 peoples and nations make their moves openly, exposed to the vigilant 

 eyes of their world neighbors, there is less chance of conflict. This 

 is the basic reason for developing surveillance systems on land and 

 in the air. It is equally valid for the sea. Fixed defenses, such as 

 mines and bottom-moored weapons, are tremendously effective, but 

 because of international ownership of the sea, in times of peace, they 

 cannot be placed unless it is covertly done. This is very different 

 from the pre-aimed intercontinental ballistic missile silos that stand 

 ready on home land. 



Until the time comes when we have complete surveillance in the 

 sea, the first military task for submariners is to "see" yet be "unseen." 

 And all the developments of sonar and the silencing of submarine 

 weapons and vessels are toward this end. The second important mili- 

 tary objective is to go deeper in the sea than your enemy. In fights 

 between aircraft, the one that could climb higher had the advantage. 

 First rockets, and now satellites, have virtually removed any ceiling. 

 In the sea, the only way to be sure the enemy cannot get below us is 

 for our submarines to be able to go to the deepest part of the ocean. 



But speed is as important as depth. All submarines up to the present 

 time have been built with positive buoyancy so that if the engines 

 failed or were shut off, they could float directly to the surface. Per- 

 haps this idea should be abandoned, as it was with aircraft when we 

 moved from the floating dirigible to the dynamically supported air- 

 plane. Pencillike submarines with negative buoyancy might have the 

 strength and streamlining for the necessary depth with speed. They 

 would rely on the dynamical lift of their hydrofoils with the reliability 

 of their motors to raise them from the deeps. The third point is to 

 know where you are. This has been satisfied by the submarines' new 

 navigational aids. The fourth military consideration is to be able to 

 hit what you aim at. It is incredible that the United States can guide 

 a probe to the vicinity of Venus, yet not be sure of hitting a target 

 from a submarine a mile away. 



The ocean engineering of submarine travel, research, exploitation 

 of the sea, and living in or upon it does not, for the most part involve 

 new inventions. The elements are now known. A vehicle can be 

 built to take us anywhere in the sea, even 7 miles down. We know 

 how to build the structures and how to arrange communications. 

 These new engineering products will emerge just as soon as research, 

 defense, or industrial needs demand and justify them economically. 



Flip^ the ship that goes to sea and then submerges its stern with 

 just the bow peeking out of water as a floating station, can easily have 



