188 OCEANOGRAPHY IN THE UNITED STATES 



Technology ; we therefore can truthfully say that intergovernmental 

 coordination in oceanography is well in hand. I would like now to 

 close this testimony with a few remarks regarding the international 

 situation in oceanography. 



To the Xavy, the oceans contain little romance; their study is hard 

 work, and they provide a hiding place for possible enemy submarines, 

 so we should examine the facts confronting us. 



The next slide, No. 8, shows the Russian research ship Mikhail 

 Lomotiofiov. The most striking feature of this ship is, of course, its 

 size, which allows it to carry about 20 different, but completely 

 equipped, laboratories and a scientific complement of from 50 to 60 

 oceanographers. A comparison of the research ships of the United 

 States, Russia, Japan, and Great Britain are shown in slide No. 9. 

 The United States is seen to lag far behind the other nations in large 

 research ships. We, in this country, do not agree that research ships 

 must be large in order to be efficient. This is demonstrated by slide 

 No. 10, an artist's conception of a new ship which we plan to build in 

 fiscal year 1960. 



In 1961, two more ships of this type are planned and there are 

 plans to produce 18 research ships by 1966. 



They will not all be like this one, however. This ship is 209 feet 

 long with a 37-foot beam and about 1,400 displacement tons. She 

 will carry 15 scientists over a period of 60 days and 12,000 miles 

 range. She contains 1,600 square feet of laboratory space. Although 

 this new ship is small compared to those used by the Russians, she will 

 be the best research ship in this country. 



The Russians successfully completed during the International 

 Geophysical Year the largest program of any nation and there were 

 27 countries participating in oceanography. Slide No. 10 shows the 

 area covered by the Russians, which covers practically all the oceans 

 of the world, including some work in the Arctic and a very great 

 amount of work on the continent of Antarctica. 



While slide No. 11, the last slide, shows the area covered by the 

 United States, the artist who produced this slide left off some ship 

 tracks in the Atlantic which go back and forth between the continents 

 of North America and Europe and South America and Africa. 



In addition, the cruise which you see terminating at the tip end 

 of Africa was continued up into the Indian Ocean, so our program 

 docs look somewhat better than this slide shows. 



We are not too alarmed at this unfavorable comparison when we 

 consider that our work in the marine sciences is generally conceded to 

 be of higher quality than that of the Russians. The point is that the 

 Russians have decided to compete in oceanography, and that they are 

 competing very well. Their scientists are well trained. With a few 

 years of experience at handling huge quantities of data they will be 

 as good at it as we are, and the size of their effort will automatically 

 place them in the lead. The Russians are in oceanogra})hy for ob- 

 vious military and economic reasoiis, and it appears to be their objec- 

 tive to stay in and to excel. 



This brings to a close my formal, written testimony. 



At this time, I would like to present a short documentary movie 

 which shows in an excellent fashion some of our methods of doing 

 research at sea. The film was produced by (he Woods Hole Oceano- 

 graphic Institution, and was kindly Inaiu'd to \is for this presentation. 



