Navy certification is divided into three 

 areas: a) Systems certification, b) operator(s) 

 competency and c) operational safety. The 

 Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) was as- 

 signed the responsibility of assuring safety 

 in these areas and delegated systems certifi- 

 cation to The Chief of Naval Material (CNM), 

 who subsequently directed the Naval Ship 

 Systems Command (NAVSHIPS) to promul- 

 gate the criteria by which submersibles can 

 be evaluated for certification. Submarine De- 

 velopment Group 1 (SUBDEVGRU-1) was 

 designated as the inspecting activity for op- 

 erators' certification, and their requirements 

 are outlined in Chief of Naval Operations 

 Instruction (OPNAVINST 9290.3). Chief of 

 Naval Operations (OP-23) is the recipient of 

 information on operational safety aspects 

 and pertinent environmental data. 



Systems Certification 



Certification of a submersible for material 

 and procedural adequacy must be obtained 

 by the Naval user prior to signing a contract 

 for lease or purchase. When a naval activity 

 contracts for construction of a vehicle the 

 certification requirements must be invoked. 

 Those submersible systems which material 

 and procedural adequacy treats fall under 

 the Certification Scope and ". . . includes 

 the sea water pressure boundary, the mate- 

 rials, equipment, and operating procedures 

 systems, needed to recover from a malfunc- 

 tion or accident and above all a system for 

 sustaining life which will permit recovery 

 of the operators, divers, or occupants of the 

 Deep Submergence System without unduly 

 impairing their health or well being." (8). 

 Examples of such systems or equipment are: 



Pressure hull, hard structure and appurte- 

 nances 



Ballast systems 



Life support systems 



Jettisoning systems 



Non-pressure compensated equipments 

 subject to implosion 



Release devices for external appendages 



Fire fighting devices or systems 



Intership/intraship communications sys- 

 tems 



Depth measurement devices 



Obstacle avoidance systems and electric 

 propulsion motors as applicable 



Accessibility to vital equipment 



Submersible stability and buoyancy 



Buoyancy materials and/or devices 



Electrical power systems 



Operating procedures 



A detailed and lucid explanation of the 

 requirements for systems and procedural ad- 

 equacy is presented in NAVMAT Publication 

 P-9290 of July 1973 System Certification 

 Procedures and Criteria Manual for Deep 

 Submergence Systems which is available to 

 the public through the Government Printing 

 Office. 



To obtain Navy certification a submersible 

 must first be sponsored by a projected Naval 

 user. Only the highlights of Navy material 

 certification will be discussed, and informa- 

 tion regarding this aspect of certification 

 was obtained mainly from the above 

 NAVMAT publication. 



Required Records 



The scope of certification is not a pre- 

 determined list of Naval demands but is a 

 detailed list of those portions of the submers- 

 ible which in the builder's judgement fall 

 within the certification scope. 



Additionally, the applicant is asked to pro- 

 vide the criteria and supporting justification 

 for limiting the scope of certification. Gener- 

 ally, the following procedures are expected: 

 — the applicant must establish and identify 

 the pertinent design parameters, e.g'., op- 

 erating depth, safety factors, design life, 

 etc., used in the design and needed to 

 evaluate the safety of the submersible; 

 ■ — a design review report should be submit- 

 ted which minimally includes a summary 

 description of the vehicle, design param- 

 eters, agreed-upon certification scope, 

 system descriptions, operability and 

 maintenance criteria and procedures and 

 material justification; 

 — the design of each system, including the 

 fluid, electrical, compressed air and gas 

 systems, must be described by the appli- 

 cant; 

 — design calculations which state all as- 

 sumptions and rationales used in the 

 analyses must be submitted to demon- 

 strate the adequacy of design; 

 — test reports, used to justify design ade- 

 quacy, must be self explanatory, conclu- 



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