and control. Recently a deep-running torpedo for scientific purposes 

 has been made and used by scientists at the University of Washington. 



A torpedo can make almost any simple measurement that can be 

 miade on wires or cables, or from submarines. The fact that it is 

 remote from the miother ship is an advantage that deserves more ex- 

 ploitation. Properly programmed torpedoes can miake observations 

 along lines radiating away from a stationary ship. There is also a 

 possibility that echo-sounders could be mounted on slave torpedoes 

 that run parallel to the mother ship. With such a combination a 

 single survey ship accompanied by a systemi of slave torpedoes 

 could echo-sound a broad path across the ocean. Somiething like 

 these echo-sounding slave torpedoes that navigate acoustically from 

 the mother ship and return to one mother ship for battery charging 

 might turn out to be a nnore economical way to do bathymetric sur- 

 vey work than to use two conventional ships. 



We usually think of an echo-sounder as looking down at the 

 bottom from a surface ship. The detailed depth and slope of a 

 rough bottom might be found more accurately if an inverted echo- 

 sounder is run close to the bottom on a torpedo so it can look up 

 at the relatively flat surface. An echo-sounder of this type would 

 permit more detailed bottomi measurements because a point on the 

 bottom would be much smaller and miore discrete than averaging 

 the central Fresnel Zones from a surface-miounted sounder. 



The above are thoughts on special torpedo-like devices that 

 you might consider. Some of these devices might only be needed in 

 quantities of five or ten a year. However, if they really make a 

 magnitude of difference in oceanographic capabilities, the quantity 

 required might increase to proportions that would frighten the user 

 and please the supplier. 



In using conventional nriilitarY' submarines, availability and 

 operational control have been limiting factors. Submarines have 

 normally been used as specialized ships of opportunity on which 

 one could measure such variables as temperature, salinity, or 

 sound velocity. The special capabilities of great stability have 

 made the submarine an emiinent platform for gravity measurements. 

 Their quiet mechanical and acoustical background have also made 

 them ideal for certain kinds of acoustical measurements. A port- 

 able set of special instruments and attachments for a Navy sub- 

 marine might make them much more useful and generally avail- 

 able for research work. 



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