74 OCEAN SCIENCES AND NATIONAL SECURITY 



C. FACILITIES 



1. Ships 



It is self-evident that oceanographic research, like geology, cannot 

 be conducted to any appreciable extent within a laboratory. The 

 sea, its contents, its bottom., and the relationships which form the environ- 

 ment for marine life require the presence of research staff in and on the 

 oceans to observe, to sample, and to interpret results and subtle interrela- 

 tionships on the spot. Research at sea requires ships. 



Research vessels may be classified according to four basic missions : 



1. Basic research — for any of the types of investigations mentioned 

 in Section V. 



2. Survey ships — to map the oceans, the bottom topography, the 

 coastlines, currents, temperature, and other characteristics of the 

 water. 



3. Resources and fisheries ships — to observe fish behavior; to catch 

 fish, store and process them; to experiment with new types of fishing 

 techniques and equipment; and, regarding mineral resources, to 

 sample the ocean floor. 



4. Ships for military research and development — to test and evaluate 

 new devices and techniques particularly in programs concerned with 

 underwater acoustics, frequently m concert with other elements of 

 the fleet. 



5. Small vessels — for coastal and inshore operations — generally less 

 than 100 feet long, and displacing less than 100 tons. 



The present U.S. fleet of oceanographic research vessels, capable of 

 operating away from purely coastal areas, numbers 50 ships, which in 

 the aggregate displace 79,446 long tons (2,240 pounds). These have 

 been listed according to the first four categories in Table 8. 



New oceanographic research ships, alreadv funded, are listed in 

 Table 9. 



At this point, an apparent inconsistency bears explanation. Earlier, 

 it was stated that the NASCO and other programs excluded military 

 oceanography because of the defense application and military security 

 aspects which characterize that activity. Yet, both in the inventory 

 of existing ships and, as is seen later, in plans for new construction, 

 those vessels initially earmarked for military oceanography have been 

 included. There are two reasons: in the first instance, any ships 

 which are specifically designed for oceanographic research have 

 sufficient versatility that, even though planned for initial use in mili- 

 tary oceanography, they could be used for more basic research. 

 Secondly, and even more important, ships for military oceanography 

 more often than not must compete for construction funds with ships 

 projected for oceanographic research generally. Especially since 

 future budgets will apparently reflect abnormally large proportions 

 for new construction, the complex of elements considered at this time 

 as part of a long-range program should include all major costs such as 

 of new ships, even those to be employed in military operations. On 

 the other hand, funds for military oceanography itself are far more 

 readily available through transfer from particular military require- 

 ments, entailing development of hardware; they are thus more lilcely 

 to be adequately provided for than any similar funds for the con- 

 struction of new ships to do the research. 



