OCEANOGRAPHY IN THE UNITED STATES 149 



from the Hawaiian Islands to Puget Sound. United States Naval vessels have also run many 

 other lines of soundings. In addition to the soundings, the Navy Department has endeavoured 

 to assist investigations in many other fields, so that it has now become one of the world's 

 major agencies in oceanographic research. Serial sections for subsurface temperatures and 

 salinities, the plotting of sea surface temperatures and surface drift and the utilization of sub- 

 marines for the determination of gravity at sea are noteworthy." 



The U. S. Navy Hydrographic Office has been responsible for carrying out the work de- 

 scribed above. Since the publication of Vaughan's report in 1937, so much more work in oce- 

 anography has been accomplished by that agency that it would take volumes to describe it. 

 Soundings have been added to and improved, temperatures at depth have been added to the sur- 

 face temperatures, special surveys of convoy routes and other particular areas have been 

 completed, new and accurate bottom-contour charts have been produced, and sound- velocity 

 charts and bottom- sediment charts have been published, together with innumerable volumes on 

 oceanographic and navigational subjects. It is a record of which the Navy is proud and one 

 which should never be allowed to drift without the constant replenishment of new scientific 

 ideas, equipment, and facilities. 



Since 1947, the Office of Naval Research has taken over the support of oceanographic 

 research for the Navy. Considerable research had been accomplished by the Bureau of Ships 

 during the war and afterwards, which contributed immeasurably to our knowledge of the oceans 

 as it applied to the many problems of submarine and mine detection. The importance of Navy 

 support, in terms of this paper, is that the operation of research ships has been sponsored 

 along with the research. As a general rule, about one quarter of all research funds during the 

 last 10 years have gone for the operation of ships, including such maintenance and fitting out 

 as has been accomplished. About $11,500,000 has been spent in support of ships working on 

 the Navy's research program for the last 11 years. This figure does not include funds expended 

 on the governmental ships listed in Table I, which are employed on surveys and special projects 

 rather than fundamental research. 



In view of the long history of the Navy in oceanographic studies, and because of the Navy's 

 vital need for oceanographic information in antisubmarine warfare, mine warfare, and amphib- 

 ious warfare, the Office of Naval Research has argued that the Navy should provide the scien- 

 tists with proper facilities for collecting the information. These facilities include research 

 ships. Fuilhermore, because of the threat of the Russian submarines, the possession of a 

 suitable research fleet by the United States is of burning importance. Legally, and without 

 special permission from Congress, the Navy can construct ships for the use of Navy contrac- 

 tors, so long as these ships are civilian manned and do not appear on the Navy register. The 

 question of whether the ships should be constructed with Research and Development funds or 

 Ship Construction and Maintenance funds has not been settled; but the settlement will be a mat- 

 ter of policy rather than of legality, since either kind of money may be used. 



THE FUNCTION OF A RESEARCH SHIP 



The mission of a research ship is to carry scientists to sea for the purpose of research. 

 In the Navy the research has its ultimate application to naval warfare. The ships are employed 

 in the following tasks in order to meet this application: 



a. Performing basic and applied research at sea which will lead to new military applica- 

 tions, particularly in undersea warfare. 



b. Studying the effect of the environment on sound transmission in the ocean. 



c. Carrying out scientific investigations in oceanic areas of naval interest. 



d. Testing the environmental effects of the ocean on the ship and on scientific and naval 

 Instruments. 



e. Obtaining the oceanic data necessary for the installation and improvement of oceanic 

 surveillance systems of both a scientific and military nature. 



