INTRODUCTION 13 



The Navy laboratories have acquired four AGOR-3 class re- 

 search ships since 1963, and it is planned to increase this capa- 

 bility materially by replacing the leftover World War II militarily 

 configured ships now in use. The availability of the number of 

 ocean-going ships by Navy laboratories, universities, and private 

 institutions provides the Navy and the country the capability to 

 conduct ocean-science research in all areas of the world oceans. 

 The research fleet is also supplemented by a variety of other 

 types of platforms that have been developed to meet the needs of 

 the Navy Ocean Science Program. They include the following: 



1. A capability to establish scientific camps on drifting ice in 

 the arctic basin 



2. Tower structures suitable to maintain scientific teams and 

 equipment for extended periods of time (such as Argus 

 Island, located in the North Atlantic Ocean 30 miles 

 southwest of Bermuda) 



3. Aircraft that range in size from single-engine to four-engine 

 long-range craft 



4. Buoy systems to collect oceanographic data continuously 

 for periods extending to a year 



5. Underwater research vehicles able to take man to any depth 

 in the oceans. 



As a result of the Navy efforts to develop these facilities, to- 

 gether with the manpower and program of scientific and techno- 

 logical inquiry, a national resource now exists so that the Navy 

 £ind the nation can undertake the exploration and exploitation 

 of the oceans. 



Participation in National Ocean Science 



In developing its own ocean-science program, the Navy has 

 had a significant influence on the national oceanographic effort, 

 particularly in the past decade. The initial upsurge in ocean- 

 ography in the post-World War II period began in 1950. The 

 most significant expansion, however, has taken place since the 

 late 1950's. One contributing factor in this upsurge was the 



