The new smaller class of Navy-built oceanographic ships uses an adaptation of 

 an economical standard ship design. These ships, like the Gyre, can be used in 

 deep ocean research as well as coastal investigations. 



laboratories and the San Francisco Naval Shipyard. Aivin is now 

 capable of performing useful work on 30 percent of the world's ocean 

 floor. 



Ocean Engineering. 



Historically, navies of the world have operated in the upper 5 

 percent of the oceans. This limitation has been governed chiefly by a 

 lack of the ocean engineering technology necessary to develop the 

 equipment and techniques for operating at greater depths. Within 

 the past few years, the U.S. Navy has embarked upon a program to 

 develop the technology necessary to operate at greater ocean depths, 

 to provide operational options, to improve our defense capability, to 

 protect national security. 



Testing is an important part of this development and it requires 

 the assembly of components into systems and exposure of these 

 systems to the deep ocean environment to identify deficiencies in 

 technology. Therefore, Navy's ocean engineering program includes 

 design and assembly of many unique items to permit testing of 

 components and technology. These items may have a specific 

 application, or they may be single components of larger systems 

 being developed on a step-by-step basis. 



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