54 FRONTIERS EST OCEANIC RESEARCH 



The Soviet oceanography program has been a survey effort to collect ocean- 

 ographic observations of all types over broad geographic areas. (See attached 

 chart of the IGY cruise tracks of Soviet ships.) The present research fleet 

 of the Soviet Union to support this type of effort is comprised of a large number 

 and variety of ship types ranging from small fishing vessels to the Mikhail 

 Lomonosov (5,960 tons). It also includes the research submarine Severyanka. 

 New vessels have been acquired almost annually for this fleet. Since 1957, the 

 Mikhail Lomonosov, 5,960 tons; the Severyanka, 1,050 tons; the Voyeykov, 3,600 

 tons; and the ShokaVskiy, 3,600 tons, have been added. The rate at which new 

 ships are being acquired probably will continue for the next several years. 

 Other converted submarines for research and underwater research vehicles, such 

 as bathyspheres and bathyscaphs, also are expected to be acquired and supple- 

 ment the surface research fleet within the next few years. Soviet plans to con- 

 struct a bathyscaph were announced earlier this year and bathyspheres have been 

 used for several years. 



Shore-based facilities also have been expanded and constructed during the 

 past several years, mostly located in the Moscow area. However, plans to con- 

 struct scientific bases for two oceanographic institutes were announced in 1958 

 and a branch of the Marine Hydrophysics Institute was opened recently in 

 Kaliningrad on the Baltic Sea. Considering the distance from Moscow, and the 

 Soviet effort that has been expended in the Pacific Ocean and bordering seas, 

 the expansion and construction of facilities should be expected in the Far East 

 during the next several years. 



The number of Soviet oceanographers, excluding marine biologists and fisheries 

 researchers, is greater than 500. The total of their professional oceanographers 

 is estimated as high as 800 to 900. The greatest expansion of manpower prob- 

 ably took place when the Soviet Union expanded its program to participate in 

 the International Geophysical Year. Many of the oceanographers are young 

 and lack experience, a partial explanation for the placing of the great numbers 

 of scientific personnel on the large ocean research ships. However, the quality 

 of these young scientists should improve from the experience being gained from 

 present shipboard research and the analyses of data collected since the Inter- 

 national Geophysical Year. It seems that quality rather than quantity of 

 scientists is now needed in the Soviet Union. 



The present research effort is oriented toward applications. Even the basic 

 research conducted at the institutes of the Academy of Sciences tends to be di- 

 rected toward ultimate applications. The institutes subordinate to ministries 

 direct their research to support the efforts of the parent organizations. Polar 

 and deep sea oceanographic research are the strongest areas in the Soviet 

 program. Continued and intensive scientific activity in arctic regions to develop 

 the Northern Sea Route has achieved a leading position in arctic oceanography 

 for the Soviet Union : and the operations of the research fleet throughout the 

 oceans of the world have shown an impressive ability to collect oceanographic 

 data. High quality work also has been conducted in biology and fisheries re- 

 search, marine geology and seismology, particularly in conjunction with deep 

 sea research. The work in other areas of oceanographic research generally has 

 not been of comparable quality. There is no information available concerning 

 their military research efforts in oceanography. As the oceanographers gain 

 experience, the quality of the research should generally improve within the next 

 several years. 



It is generally conceded that the present size and the rate of expansion of the 

 Soviet manpower and ships for oceanographic research are considerably greater 

 than those of the United States, and possibly of the entire free world. Their 

 oceanographic research, rated as excellent in some fields of the science, is gen- 

 erally not as scientifically comprehensive as that of the United States. During 

 the IGY their effort consisted of a well-rounded, exploratory-type program to 

 collect basic information about the characteristics of the seas and oceans of the 

 world. It did much to increase the stature of the U.S.S.R. among the world 

 leaders in oceanography as well as to provide scientific support for the Soviet 

 economic and political aspirations. 



