INTRODUCTION 9 



of the nation's competence, and they joined forces with the Navy 

 to meet these wartime needs. 



Based upon the experience gained during World War II, the 

 Navy reahzed the necessity to develop a strong ocean-science 

 program in order to obtain the understanding and knowledge 

 needed to meet the many Naval requirements resulting from the 

 advanced technology of World War II and later periods. Con- 

 sequently, the close working relationships developed during the 

 war between the Navy and the major oceanographic institutions 

 were continued and encouraged to grow. Research programs by 

 new academic groups were initiated, graduate-student training 

 was encouraged to meet critical manpower shortages, new labora- 

 tory and ship facilities were provided, and new avenues for 

 research and methods of attack were encouraged. These programs 

 were started mostly through the combined efforts of the former 

 Bureau of Ships and ONR, who provided the first significant 

 postwar increase of support, in 1950. 



Ocean-science programs also were initiated within the Navy 

 in-house laboratory structure. The intent of these programs was 

 to bridge the gap between the basic research conducted by the 

 academic community and projects associated with the develop- 

 ment of specific equipments. New research groups were formed 

 at the Navy laboratories and the Naval Oceanographic Office to 

 accomplish this. Physical facilities were provided; many of them, 

 such as the sea-ice pool at the Navy Electronics Laboratory, 

 represent a unique national capability. Research ships as 

 well as submersibles, towers, and other platforms also were 

 obtained. In many cases these, too, represent unique research 

 opportunities. 



Through research conducted at these Navy laboratories and at 

 the universities and private institutions, the Navy now sup- 

 ports a program of unprecedented scientific scope and capability. 

 Individual investigations range from the study of the geological 

 structure of the ocean depths to exchange processes across the 

 sea surface, and from the movement of micro-organisms to the 

 dynamics of major ocean-current systems. These investigations 



