EFFECTIVENESS OF THE COMMITTEE ON OCEANOGRAPHY 113 



Mr. Dingell. Without objection, it is so ordered. 

 (The information referred to follows :) 



USNS "ELTANIN" ON WASHINGTON, D.C., VISIT TO JOIN U.S. RESEARCH FLEET 



The USNS Eltanin, recently converted to serve as a floating laboratory for 

 research in antarctic waters, joins the research fleet of the United States with 

 this week's official visit to Washington to mark the event. She will begin her 

 first antarctic cruise in early April, following her postconversion shakedown 

 cruises, the National Science Foundation announced today. 



"Eltanin is really a full antarctic research station, but afloat instead of land 

 based," said Dr. Alan T. Waterman, NSF Director, in making the announcement. 

 "She will be equipped not only for physical oceanography and marine biology 

 studies, but also for atmospheric physics research, submarine geology, and meteor- 

 ology. She will enable U.S. scientists to do research in areas of the world that 

 have scarcely been explored, let alone studied scientifically. 



"We are proud," he said, "to make her available to the scientific community, 

 and delighted with the excellent arrangements being made by the Military Sea 

 Transportation Service, which operates Eltanin for us." 



Dr. Albert P. Crary, Chief Scientist of the Foundation's Office of Antarctic 

 Programs has been named Chief Scientist for NSF aboard the Eltanin for her 

 first cruise. 



With a length of 266 feet and full load displacement of 3,886 tons, Eltanin 

 will accommodate about 32 scientists and technicians from 12 university and 

 Government scientific organizations. She will be operated by a 47-man civilian 

 crew of the U.S. Navy's Military Sea Transportation Service. 



Eltanin is named after a navigational star of the constellation Draco in the far 

 northern sky. Completed in 1957, her original purpose was resupply of arctic 

 radar stations. Her bow is cut back to enable her to ride onto ice instead of 

 hitting it, to help her break through, but she is not designed to penetrate heavy 

 pack ice. 



Master of the ship is Capt. Sven Rydberg of MSTS. 



Conversion of Eltanin consisted of substantial rearrangement of both interior 

 and deck spaces, to provide scientists with the laboratories and facilities they 

 require. Cargo holds were replaced by a meteorology laboratory, marine biology 

 laboratory, electronics laboratory, hydrographic laboratory, and scientists' state- 

 rooms. A large cosmic ray scintillation counter was installed. 



Aft, a hangar for inflating weather balloons and a platform for launching them 

 was provided. A helicopter deck was also added. 



Large antiroll tanks have also been provided, which will make the ship more 

 stable. Equipment added includes a deep-sea coring winch, bathythermograph 

 winches, and antenna for measuring low-frequency and high-frequency radio 

 noise. 



The National Science Foundation budgeted $1,500,000 in fiscal year 1961 for 

 conversion of the Eltanin, and $700,000 in fiscal 1962 for maintenance and oper- 

 ations. 



The course of the Eltanin in antarctic waters will be a series of north-south 

 lines, each leg about 125 miles apart, crossing and recrossing the antarctic con- 

 vergence, where the cold waters from Antarctica sink under the warmer waters 

 of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans. This is an area of especial interest 

 to scientists because it is exceptionally rich in marine life, the action of the cur- 

 rents is very important to Southern Hemisphere oceanic movements, and the 

 climate of the Southern Hemisphere is belieyed to be vitally affected by the action 

 of waters at the convergence. 



Eltanin will steam south to the antarctic pack ice, steam westward, parallel the 

 ice front, then northward to 55° S. latitude (at about the tip of South America), 

 move further westward again and repeat the process. Each cruise will be about 

 6 weeks long, with a rest and resupply period in Valparaiso, Chile, or other south- 

 ern ports following each cruise. 



The first cruise will take place in the Drake Passage and Scotia Sea areas, the 

 famous stormy waters off Cape Horn between South America and Antarctica. 

 Succeeding cruises will take place in the southernmost areas of the Pacific Ocean. 



Scientific work to be undertaken on Eltanin's first cruise will consist of the 

 following: 



A study of the fundamental biological characteristics of the southern 

 oceans, particularly in the area of the antarctic convergence, will be made 

 by University of Southern California scientists. In an area abundant in 



