616 
suggest that it will mount a major thrust toward offshore mining 
during its 1976-80 5-year plan.!”* 
OCEAN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 
Ocean science and engineering are the key to the proper manage- 
ment of ocean resources, the design of advanced ships and equipment 
for the Navy and merchant marine, waste management, weather 
forecasting, and other needs. 
Marine science is a relatively young field. The United States, for 
example, entered the Second World War with only about 50 scientists 
who could properly be called oceanographers; after the war there 
were 300 oceanographers and numerous experienced technicians. The 
need for ocean science was recognized in the early war years and 
it has been strongly supported by the U.S Navy. Teams of scholars 
with oceanic knowledge and young graduates in physics, chemistry, 
biology, geology and engineering have worked together and gained 
considerable experience. The Soviet Union did not begin to develop 
a comparable oceanographic capability until the middle 1950’s. 
In terms of additions to manpower and ship construction, the Soviet 
Union advanced very rapidly during the 1960’s. In 1964, the number 
of Soviet ocean scientists and technicians was estimated at between 
1,500 and 2,000; 10 years later the number was estimate ran at 
as high as 7,000 to 8,000.14 The United States had a considerable 
lead over the Soviet Union in terms of scientific manpower, in the 
early 1960’s. Although comparisons of manpower strength are not 
entirely accurate (due to different categories of scientists and 
technologists in the two countries), experts agree that the Soviet Union 
now has at least as many ocean scientists as the United States and 
probably a larger number of ocean engineers and technical support 
Stati" 
With respect to the U.S. and Soviet oceanographic fleet, the 
overwhelming U.S. superiority in the 1950’s and early 1960’s has 
not only vanished but has been reversed. By the end of 1974, the 
U.S. ocean science community (public and private) had 120 research 
ships while the Soviet Union had 200.!7° Mark W. Janis and Donald 
C. F. Daniel estimated that, in 1970, the Soviet oceanic research 
fleet had a total displacement of 320,000 tons while its American 
counterpart had a total displacement of only 180,000 tons. One reason 
for this disparity if the fact that researchers in the United States 
analyze their data more frequently in laboratories on land and there- 
fore can function with smaller research vessels with limited laboratory 
space. They spend less time at sea on any one voyage. The Soviet 
oceanographers prefer to do much of the data analyses on board 
their oceanographic ships. There are indications the Soviet Union 
continued to expand its capabilities after the time when U.S. spending 
for basic oceanic research peaked (1967). 
3 James E. Mielke, “Soviet Exploitation of Ocean Mineral Resources,” p. 372. 
™4U.S. Congress. Senate. Committee on Commerce, National Ocean Policy Study, Soviet Ocean 
Activities: A Preliminary Study, op. cit., p. 40. 
‘ST | Ibid., p. 40. 
176 Ibid., p. 45. 
