1 02 THE NAVY OCEAN ENGINEERING PROGRAM 



27 ft. Its Static pressure capability will be 12,000 psi, equivalent to 27,000 

 ft depth. This pressure can be attained in two hours. It will be able to 

 take most of the present generation of small submersibles intact, and the 

 pressure hulls of larger vehicles. This chamber's cycling capability will be 

 4000 psi, at one cycle per minute. 



A medium tank will have an inside diameter of 4 ft and an overall length 

 of 12 ft. It will have the same static-pressure capability of 12,000 psi, but 

 will be able to achieve this pressure in nine minutes instead of two hours. 

 Cycle pressure and time ranges will be the same as those of the large chamber. 



Still in the design stage is the superpressure tank. With dimensions the 

 same as the medium tank, its pressure limit will be 26,000 psi. The cycling 

 limit will be 10,000 psi, at one cycle. 



All of the vessels will have closures that are quick opening. Each will 

 contain inside the tank a 500-channel digital data-acquisition system and a 

 closed-circuit TV to monitor the test item. 



A survey has been completed of all government agencies and activities 

 interested in the ocean environment in order to obtain information for 

 coordination scheduling and efficient utilization of the facility. 



OCEAN ENGINEERING TEST FACILITY 



The Ocean Engineering Test Facility has been established on San Cle- 

 mente Island off the southern CaHfornia coast. The Test Facility is oper- 

 ated by the Naval Undersea Warfare Center, Pasadena, California. 



For the entire spectrum of national undersea technology effort, it is 

 important to have facilities where the equipment being developed can be 

 tested in the actual sea environment. Many pieces of equipment which 

 work well in the laboratory or in a pressure-test facility fail to operate 

 properly when they are placed in the corrosive, hostile, and relatively un- 

 known environment associated with the depths of the sea. Marine life 

 starts to grow on dehcate sensors, electronic cells are set up between dif- 

 ferent metals, with the sea water serving as an excellent electrolyte, and 

 equipment performance degrades due to marked changes in pressure, tem- 

 perature, and sahnity with depth. 



It is anticipated that this facility will be open to the scientific and tech- 

 nological communities, public and private. Users will be expected to pay 

 a prorated share of operating costs and depreciation. 



