OCEAN SCIENCES AND NATIONAL SECURITY 137 



With the engineering developments of the future, salvage may be 

 placed on a sound business basis, free of the technical limitations 

 to shallow water, and of the high risk that attends these endeavors. 



7. Submarine cables 



After years of unbelievable frustration, disappointment and failure, 

 the Great Eastern succeeded in laying the first transoceanic cable 

 between Valentina, Ireland, and Ne\\^oundland in 1866, and thus 

 estabhshed the feasibiUty of this mode of telegraphic communication. 

 Submarine cables were eventually developed to accommodate tele- 

 phone as well as telegraph communications, and by 1929, there were 

 some 360,000 miles of such cable in operation. 



Activity in this field has been greatly stimulated by the technological 

 development of "repeater stations" wherein electronic amphfiers 

 having proved rehability and long life may be embedded at intervals 

 within the cable itself, and thus afford high quality voice transmissions 

 over unlimited distances. Added to this development is the use of 

 coaxial cables and automatic switching systems which permit the use 

 of one set of cables for a number of simultaneous transmissions, in 

 fact as many as 120 on a single coaxial line. 



As a consequence, a sharp increase has been noted in new submarine 

 cables reported as planned for the near future. Included are: 



(a) Puerto Rico to Antigua to Brazil (British Cable and Wire- 

 less) . 



(6) Hawaii to Guam to Wake to Philippines to Oldnawa to 

 Japan (Atlantic Telephone & Telegraph) (A.T. & T.). 



(c) Transatlantic 60 channel (British Cable & Wireless). 



Id) Transatlantic 120 channel (A.T. & T.). 



(e) New Zealand to Hawaii to Vancouver (B.C. & W.). 

 Although cable la^-ing is always preceded and accompanied by 

 hydrographic surveying, the plotting of submarine cables may now be 

 undertaken with a higher level of precision. Charts are anticipated 

 whereby cable locations are shown with great accuracy so that fishing 

 boats in the areas can take necessary steps to avoid accidental cutting 

 of cables by trawling operations. Since such cables carry military as 

 well as civilian traffic, the loss of such cables is regarded as extremely 

 serious, particularly during intervals of intense sunspot activity when 

 long-distance radio circuits are lost. Protection of such cables from 

 intentional dismemberment constitutes another problem of under- 

 water engineering stimulated by a tense international situation. 



B. INCENTIVES FOR COMMERCIAL SPONSORSHIP OF RESEARCH 



Most research and development programs appear to benefit from 

 combinations of participants, both in terms of performance com- 

 ponents and in terms of financial sponsorship. When research is 

 heavil}^ dominated by too few interests, certain ingredients of breadth, 

 vigor, continuity, and imagination may be lost with resulting limits 

 in achievement. In our system of government, a suitable mixture is 

 not something that can be deliberately achieved. The freedom of 

 choice must be preserved; the mixing then occurs entirely as a 

 consequence of incentives. 



