30 ADVANCEMENT OF MARINE SCIENCES 



by act of Congress, and the Hj^drographic Office which is under the 

 jurisdiction of the Chief of Naval Operations. 



Basic research is conducted, principally through contracts with 

 research groups at universities and institutions, by the Office of Naval 

 Research, which also supplies the ships or vessels used for researeh by 

 the institution. 



Basic research programs, as pointed out in a report of the Inter- 

 agency Committee on Oceanography of the Federal Council for 

 Science and Technology, include studies of — 



current regimes in the ocean, growth and movements of the 

 biological populations, conservative and nonconservative 

 chemical concentrations and their determination, physical 

 processes occurring about and through the air-sea interface, 

 the shape and composition of the ocean bottom, long-term 

 chronology of the physical and chemical characteristics of 

 water masses through radioactive dating, and the effect of 

 the physical, chemical, biological, and geological environ- 

 ments (and their changes) on the propagation of sound and 

 electromagnetic radiation. 



Studies relating to sound propagation, a nuijor key to efficient sub- 

 marine operation and defense as previously indicated, will be emplia- 

 sized at most contract and Navy laboratories, the report adds. 



Fifteen universities or oceanographic institutions have contracts 

 with the Navy to carrv' out one or more studies under this program. 

 They are: 



Arctic Research Laboratory, University of Alaska. 



Chesapeake Bay Institute, Johns Hopkins University. 



Coastal Studies Institute, Louisiana State University. 



Florida State University. 



Hudson Lal)orat()i'ies, New York [University. 



[.^ainont (xeological Observatory, Columbia L'liiversity. 



Marine Laboratory, University of Miami. 



Massacluisetts Institute of Technology. 



Narragansett Marine Laboratoiy, University of Rhode Island. 



Oregon State College. 



Scripps Institution of Oceanography, I'nivcrsity of California. 



Texas Agricultni-al S: Meclianical College. 



ITniversity of Southern California. 



University of Washington. 



Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. 

 Eleven of these institutions operate research vessels, but of these 

 only six have ships for research in the open sea, the remainder having 

 small coastal craft. 



Although the Navy lists the present force level of oceanographic 

 research ships at institutions as 30 vessels, operating schedules for the 

 coming fiscal year are given for only 16. 



One reason nuiy be that 15 of these vessels displace less than 150 

 tons and 11 of them less than 100 tons. Only two displace more than 

 600 tons, and the 600-ton ship is a tuna clipper borrowed from the 

 Bureau of Connnerci:d Fisheries. The two exceptions are the 2,100- 

 ton Argo and Chia)i, both converted World War 11 auxiliary vessels. 

 Including these two ships the average displacement of the Navy's, 

 research fleet is 350 tons, and excluding these two it is 205 tons. 



