70 OCEANOGRAPHY IN THE UNITED STATES 



and what they wanted to bring to this or any other legislative com- 

 mittee in the form of recommendations ? 



Admiral Richmond. No, sir, I do not know. I know that a week 

 ago Monday there was a meeting of Government agencies at \Nliich 

 some members of the committee, I am quite sure, were present. 



Mr, Lennon. Some members of the Science Committee ? 



Admiral Richmond. That is right, sir. Some members were pres- 

 ent but, answering your question specifically as to whether tliey liave 

 met with any Government agencies, I do not know, sir. 



Mr. Miller. Thank you very much. Admiral. I am certain that 

 from time to time we will be calling on you for more assistance. 



Admiral Richmond. Thank you for the opportunity to appear, sir. 



Mr. Miller. We are very happy to see the Honorable Clarence G. 

 Morse, Chairman of the Federal Maritime Board, here. 



We always welcome you here, Mr. Morse, whether it is on a subject 

 as technical as this or on the more practical phases of maritime opera- 

 tion. You are the favorite of this committee. I am happy to see a 

 fellow Californian and particularly one from the Bay District here. 



STATEMENT OF CLARENCE G. MORSE, CHAIRMAN, FEDERAL MARI- 

 TIME BOARD, AND MARITIME ADMINISTRATOR, ACCOMPANIED 

 BY CHARLES R. DENISON, COORDINATOR OF RESEARCH, AND 

 VITO L. RUSSO, DEPUTY CHIEF, OFFICE OF SHIP CONSTRUCTION, 

 MARITIME ADMINISTRATION, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 



Mr. Morse. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. 



This opportunity to appear before you today and to express the 

 views of tlie Federal Maritime Board and Maritime Administration on 

 the subject of oceanography and its relation to the U.S. merchant 

 marine is appreciated. The Maritime Administration in the discharge 

 of its duties of fostering a merchant marine adequate for mobilifiation 

 and commercial purposes realizes that knowledge of the ocean environ- 

 ment and its effect on shipping is fundamental to improving the effi- 

 ciency of ocean transportation. 



Our research and development work at the present time involves 

 development of seakeeping instrumentation, cooperative investigations 

 with the Navy relating to stresses induced into ships' hulls by sea state, 

 methods for obtaining data with respect to wind and sea state by 

 remote-controlled buoys, and the automatic transmission of such data 

 by radio in order to permit optimum routings so that the ships will 

 arrive at destination in the least time with the least damage to cargo. 

 The informaion now available does not allow this to be done satis- 

 factorily. 



The Maritime Administration is interested in obtaining funda- 

 mental information relating to ocean currents, sea temperature, sea 

 state (wave conditions), and direction and intensity of winds and the 

 extent of storm areas, including areas of low visibility due to fog and 

 snow. Information is desired on ice conditions both with respect to 

 floating and anchored ice. The Administration is interested in sea life 

 that fouls ship hulls. Our interest extends to the levels of radiation 

 in the sea at the present time and the possible effects of increased radi- 

 ation in sea water due to manmade radiation and the possible eilects 

 of nuclear contamination resulting from nuclear-propelled ships. 



