A VIEW TOWARD THE FUTURE 



The progress made during the 1960s for expansion of the oceanographic fleet can best be 

 summarized quantitatively as a giant step sideways. 



The academic institutions supporting the Navy's oceanographic program are still plagued 

 with old, inefficient and uneconomical conversions. 



Coastal hydrographic surveys are conducted today at speeds about comparable with those of 

 almost 50 years ago. 



Synoptic observations employing a single ship are difficult, if not impossible, to accomplish 

 when current ship speeds are limited to 10 to 15 knots. 



The need to conduct all-weather operations is compromised by ship platforms limited in 

 their seakeeping and seakindly capabilities. 



The future, though, does offer solutions to these problems. 



To supplement the large multi-discipline research ships and satisfy the need for replacement 

 of small conversions, the Navy is planning to utilize small commercial designs such as off-shore oil 

 supply boats to provide economical platforms capable of rapid interchange between oceanographic 

 disciplines through the use of portable equipment and instrument vans. Using a basic hull design, 

 these small AGOR ships, designated AGOR (UTILITY), can be configured to perform such 

 specialized tasks as ocean drilling and submersible vehicle handling. 



Currently under design is a new coastal hydrographic surveying ship class which will carry an 

 advanced surveying system being developed to increase the rate of surveying at least ten-fold. The 

 survey launches being evaluated include hydrofoils and captured-air-bubble (CAB) vehicles. 



Concurrently, the use of hydrofoils and CABs are being considered for use in conducting 

 synoptic observations. The increased use of aircraft to satisfy these requirements is also being 

 reviewed. 



Stable ocean platforms have received widespread attention, particularly from the oil indus- 

 try. Platforms such as the Navy's Spar and Flip have greatly enhanced the capability to conduct 

 research programs. Although no active programs have as yet been initiated, it is logical to assume 

 that future Navy considerations for stable ocean platforms will be based upon the concepts 

 embodied in Spar and Flip and the designs being pursued by the oil industry. 



As our needs for knowledge and understanding of the ocean environment continue to be 

 more demanding and more exacting, our ships must do more— but we are confronted with a 

 paradox. 



It is well recognized that continuing budget constraints have severely impacted upon the 

 Navy. The oceanographic program has had to absorb its share of this impact and consequently 

 with our existing ships we reach for tomorrow with yesterday's hands. There are, however, two 

 cogent arguments which favor the maintenance and strengthening of the oceanographic program in 

 spite of overall funding restrictions: first, the fact that our tleld experiments and the majority of 

 surveys must be done in peacetime, when the operating areas are accessible; and secondly, the fact 

 that, as the numbers of ships in the operating forces of the Navy are reduced, the remaining ships 

 must increase their operational effectiveness. Such increased effectiveness will in large part be 

 dependent upon a more thorough knowledge of the operating environment. 



We look therefore to the future, remembering the words of Matthew Fontaine Maury: 



"Navies are not all for war. Peace has its conquests, science its glories, and no 

 Navy can boast of brigliter chaplets than those gathered in the field of geophysi- 

 cal exploration and physical research." 



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