108 OCEAN SCIENCES AND NATIONAL SECURITY 



Voyeykov, 3,600 tons; and the Shokal'skiy, 3,600 tons, have been added. The 

 rate at which new ships are being acquired probably will continue for the next 

 several j-ears. Other converted submarines for research and underwater research 

 vehicles, such as bathyspheres and bathyscaphs, also are expected to be acquired 

 and supplement the surface research fleet within the next few years. Soviet plans 

 to construct a bathyscaph were announced earlier this year and bathyspheres 

 have been used for several years. 



Shore-based facilities also have been expanded and constructed during the past 

 several years, mostly located in the Moscow area. However, plans to construct 

 scientific bases for two oceanographic institutes were announced in 1958 and a 

 branch of the Marine Hydrophysics Institute was opened recently in Kaliningrad 

 on the Baltic Sea. Considering the distance from Moscow, and the Soviet effort 

 that has been expended in the Pacific Ocean and bordering seas, the expansion 

 and construction of facilities should be expected in the Far East during the next 

 several years. 



The number of Soviet oceanographers, excluding marine biologists and fisheries 

 researchers, is greater than 500. The total of their professional oceanographers 

 is estimated as high as 800 to 900. The greatest expansion of manpower probably 

 took place when the Soviet Union expanded its program to participate in the 

 International Geophysical Year. Many of the oceanographers are young and 

 lack experience, a partial explanation for the placing of the great numbers of 

 scientific personnel on the large ocean research ships. However, the quality of 

 these young scientists should improve from the experience being gained from 

 present shipboard research and the analyses of data collected since the Inter- 

 national Geophysical Year. It seems that quality rather than quantity of 

 scientists is now needed in the Soviet Union. 



The present research effort is oriented toward apphcations. Even the basic 

 research conducted at the institutes of the Academy of Sciences tends to be 

 directed toward ultimate applications. The institutes subordinate to ministries 

 direct their research to support the efforts of the parent organizations. Polar 

 and deep sea oceanographic research are the strongest areas in the Soviet pro- 

 gram. Continued and intensive scientific activity in arctic regions to develop 

 the Northern Sea Route has achieved a leading position in arctic oceanography 

 for the Soviet Union; and the operations of the research fleet throughout the 

 oceans of the world have shown an impressive abihty to collect oceanographic 

 data. High quahty work also has been conducted in biology and fisheries research 

 marine geology, and seismology, particularly in conjunction with deep sea re- 

 search. The work in other areas of oceanographic research generally has not 

 been of comparable quality. There is no information available concerning their 

 miUtary research efforts in oceanography. As the oceanographers gain experi- 

 ence, the quality of the research should generally improve within the next several 

 years. 



It; is generally conceded that the present size and the rate of expansion of the 

 boviet manpower and ships for oceanographic research are considerably greater 

 than those of the United States, and possibly of the entire free world Their 

 oceanographic research, rated as excellent in some fields of the science, is generallv 

 rnvf, '^pientifically comprehensive as that of the United States. During the 

 IG Y their effort consisted of a well-rounded, exploratory-tvpe program to collect 

 basic information about the characteristics of the seas and oceans of the world 

 It did much to increase the stature of the U.S.S.R. among the world leaders in 

 oceanography as well as to provide scientific support for the Soviet economic and 

 political aspirations. 



Much has been AVTitten concerning the relative size and strength of 

 national programs in scientific research as between the United States 

 and the U.S.S.R., and conclusions regarding the two programs are 

 lamiiiar to the reader. Insofar as the special field of oceanography is 

 concerned, numbers of participants and size of research ships reveal 

 only the more obvious characteristics of a program. 



On the basis of the statistics just presented, however, it is apparent 

 that oceanography in Soviet Russia is not neglected. Moreover, it 

 can be supposed that, in a country that closely controls its assignment 

 ot scientific manpower, the enlargement of this program is deliberate. 



