Large Object Salvage System (LOSS) salvage pontoon will permit 

 the recovery of objects weighing up to 100 tons from water depths of 

 850 feet when development is complete. Through the use of 

 hydrazine gas generators, it is hoped to extend LOSS capabilities to 

 20,000 feet, though lift capacity will be reduced to perhaps 10 tons at 

 this greater depth. Currently there is under development an 

 unmanned, cable-controlled device called the Remote Underwater 

 Work System (RUWS), which will provide a 20,000 foot capability 

 for search, location, classification, and limited recovery. This 

 system will complement the manned, 20,000-foot-capable 

 Bathyscaph Trieste 11. Also there are operational recovery systems 

 in the CURV family (Cable-controlled Underwater Recovery 

 Vehicle) which are capable to 7,000 feet. This year one CURV is being 

 converted to a 10,000 foot working depth. 



The deep submersible Alvin, which is operated for the Navy by 

 Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, will have its working depth 

 upgraded from 6,000 feet to 12,000 feet this year through the 

 installation of a new titanium pressure hull, new electronics, high- 

 pressure ballast pumps, and other new equipment. 



The Navy's two Deep Submergence Rescue Vehicles (DSRV) are 

 undergoing their test and evaluation at San Diego. Last year actual 

 underway hookups were made between DSRV-1 and a mother 

 submarine while submerged, and people were transferred during the 

 operations. 



Navy's extensive past efforts in development of diving equipment 

 and techniques provided the capability and technology which 

 permitted the completion of a working dive at sea to a depth of 1010 

 feet. This Navy dive was a world's record for an open-ocean dive. 

 Developments in heating, physiological monitoring, communica- 

 tions, gas mixing, masks, and tools are continuing. 



The major medical program established in 1968 to provide for 

 health maintenance of swimmers and divers has determined thermal 

 requirements for divers, completed a sample X-ray survey of U.S. 

 Navy divers for incidence of aseptic bone necrosis, and developed an 

 improved transcutaneous bubble-detection device which is under 

 field evaluation. Studies have also been initiated with animals to test 

 drugs protective against decompression sickness and oxygen 

 toxicity. 



Although the Navy is both producer and consumer of its own 

 efforts in oceanography, it provides much of the data and technology 

 used by the civil sector. Conservatively, about 90 percent of the 

 Navy ocean program is unclassified and can therefore be made 

 available immediately to meet civil requirements. 



The Advanced Research Project Agency (ARPA) is continuing its 

 support of research and development to improve work systems for 

 deep-submergence vehicles and to provide more precise navigation 

 for undersea operations. 



The marine science programs of the Corps of Engineers support 



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