National Security 



Since the first ship was built, marine engineering and naval archi- 

 tecture have been vital elements of national security. A fleet, second 

 to none for more than thirty years, reflects the high technical skills of 

 the U.S. Naval Establishment, and the significant contributions of 

 the technical industries that support it. By far the largest fraction 

 of Federal funds for ocean engineering has been spent in the defense 

 area and, for some years to come, this is almost sure to continue. 

 Today, however, new demands are being added. For nonmilitary 

 as well as military reasons, man is venturing below the thin layer 

 near the ocean surface to utilize the relatively unexplored and unused 

 third dimension of the sea. 



Search and Recovery — An Area of Emphasis 



As noted earlier, an area considered by the Council as deserving 

 special emphasis concerns a deep-ocean search and retrieval capa- 

 bility. Steps to increase development in that field are proposed for 

 the Navy for fiscal year 1968 in the context of that agency's mission. 

 The Thresher catastrophe dramatized both the compelling reasons 

 for finding and recovering objects from the deep-ocean bottom, and 

 the frustrating discovery that, in 1963, this Nation had virtually no 

 capability to accomplish such tasks in water more than 400 feet deep. 

 In January 1966, when two U.S. aircraft collided over Spain, the 

 importance of deep-ocean search and recovery skills was again con- 

 firmed. The subsequent recovery of an unarmed nuclear weapon 

 from 2,850 feet of water near Palomares, demonstrated that the 

 Nation had acquired some capability, embryonic though it might be, 

 in the three intervening years. The task, however, required three 

 months, dozens of ships and aircraft, thousands of people, and millions 

 of dollars. Subsequently, the Navy has conducted a dozen or more 

 search and recovery operations which not only salvaged especially 

 valuable aircraft, torpedoes, and other equipment, but also developed 

 needed experience. 



To date, the deepest important recovery was from 3,000 feet, yet 

 more than eighty percent of the world seas exceed that depth. To im- 

 prove and extend that capability, the Navy program for fiscal year 

 1968 contains funds to start the development of a small, manned 

 submersible and associated equipment capable of operating eventually 

 at depths down to 20,000 feet. Only deep trenches which comprise 

 two percent of the world's oceans are deeper. Initial emphasis will be 

 on development of suitable materials and equipment, and on outfitting 

 the currently approved 3,500-foot depth rescue vehicles with equip- 

 ment to gain more practical experience in search and recovery at sea. 



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