-6- 



Science Foundation has provided funds for the design 

 and construction of a research ship. The Bureau of 

 Commercial Fisheries is building three ships to replace 

 existing hulls. 



By far the largest part of the budget for new 

 construction is for ships for applied research and develop- 

 ment and for surveying. ■ The Coast & Geodetic Survey, the 

 Bureau of Commercial Fisheries, and the ilavY all have 

 budget items for such ships. These ships can be put to 

 v;ork on important development work and on the ocean-wide 

 survey as soon as they become available. Hew ways of 

 world-wide precise navigation will sooii be available, 

 Tliis will be of great importance to the ocean-wide survey 

 progra-a. 



In terms of total tonnage new ships are coming into 

 being almosi as rapidly as the Coromittee had hoped. They 

 will be excellent ships and if present plans are followed, 

 we will soon have more adequate sl'.ips at sea. 



The design s*:udies carried out to date strongly 

 support our original recommendation that ships especially 

 de.u.gne:l for luarine science can be much more efficient 

 than existing ships, v;hich for the most part are conversions. 

 To date, howe^'er, no nev/ly designed ships have been de- 

 livered and subjected to the test of actual operations. 



Vie continue to emphasize the need for adequate advance 

 deoign -/ork c^i each of the new ships. Each must be 

 di\s5igned for, and in close coordination v;ith, the future 

 operator. Each, in a particular class, should be a step 

 forward in the evolution of research ships and not a 

 carbon copy of an existing "adequate" design. The "savings" 

 w-iich iT''.':;ht be achieved by constr acting a fleet of 

 on'.— deaign hulls will be lost by the earlier obsolescence 

 of these new ships. 



Operating Costs of Research Ships 



At present, two ships in the I'iOO ton class are 

 assured for basic research. Budgeting for operation of 



