82 OCEAN SCIENCES AND NATIONAL SECURITY 



(c) A fuel handling system capable of absorbing the 30,000-gallon fuel load of 

 the Tneste should be provided at the facility. 



{d) Shop space in the order of 5,000 square feet should be available and ex- 

 pandible to provide a machine shop, instrumentation shop, storage of delicate 

 equipment and spare parts, work area for sphere instrumentation and repair, a 

 darkroom for special deep-sea cameras, and a high pressure test facility. 



(e) The berthmg space for the Trieste should be a protected space which gives 

 good insurance against waves from passing vessels, boarding by unauthorized 

 personnel and maximum protection against possible fires. The group also has a 

 53-foot landmg craft converted to a workboat and a 17-foot wooden lobster boat 

 which is used as a tender boat during operations. These two craft require docking 

 space near the bathyscaph. 



(/) Machinery stowage space should also be provided. 



{q) A stowage area for flammable fluids should be built. 



The delicate bathyscaph was not built to withstand the stresses of a long tow 

 at sea. During the recent operations on Project Nekton it was necessary to tow 

 the craft for several days at a time through fairly rough sea conditions. At the 

 completion of each tow and prior to diving a careful inspection was made of the 

 craft and each time we found several items either destroyed or missing. Thank- 

 fully, nothing was damaged such that we could not make the dive; however, this 

 was just a matter of luck and if we continue to operate in this fashion we will 

 most certainly sustain a disabhng casualty. 



The large workboat cannot be taken to sea on any operation more than a few 

 miles off the coast. The small tender boat can be put aboard the towing vessel 

 for transport to the diving area. 



The afloat facilities necessary to support the Trieste and other deep submersibles 

 should consist of the following: 



(a) A mother ship which is capable of picking up and cradling the vehicle or 

 vehicles and the attendant small boats. This ship would also have numerous 

 laboratory and shop facilities such that it would be a floating research facility 

 capable of carrying out independent bathyscaph operations in any ocean. Until 

 this ship IS available the Trieste is virtually limited to coastal waters due to the 

 extremely slow rate at which she can be towed. 



^1, ^\^ converted LCM landing craft has been modified so that it is able to tow 

 the Trieste m sheltered waters thus obviating the need for requesting a tugboat 

 each time we wish to move the 120-ton bathyscaph. 



(c) The small tender boat is a small lobster boat which now fills the bill 

 perfectly. 



{d) A rubber raft is often used when the seas are too high to permit the launch- 

 ing of the tender boat.^^ 



It would seem that the logistic support for the Trieste is limited 

 and incompatible with the research program outlined previously for 

 which the vehicle was originally purchased. 



That the bathyscaph has impressed its operators with the unique 

 potential of making measurements from a fully submersible labora- 

 tory IS abundantly clear. As a progenitor to manned descent to the 

 bottom, has been deemed a major accomplishment, and those making 

 the deep dives have been decorated by President Eisenhower. How- 

 ever, despite the superlative depth-seeldng performance, by its very 

 nature, the Trieste lacks maneuverability, endurance, payload-carrying 

 capacity, and ruggedness necessary for extended and effective use by 

 scientists wherein primary attention can be devoted to the task at 

 hand, rather than to the operation of the vehicle itself. 



The solution has been considered partly to lie in the promise of 

 deep-diving true submarines, mentioned in "Section IV-.4.. In essence 

 studies have revealed that through the use of unorthodox materials or 

 geometric shapes, a true submarine can be designed that could safely 

 descend to very great depths, with scientific payload, and eventually 

 with comba t payload, and yet derive buoyancy purely through dis- 



«i "Frontiers in Oceanic Research," op. cit., pp. 32-33. 



