Section |. Introduction and Summary 
PURPOSE 
In view of the decreasing use of manned under- 
sea research submersibles and habitats (referred to 
herein as undersea platforms), built during the 
1960’s, the Interagency Committee on Marine Sci- 
ence and Engineering (ICMSE) requested a study to 
determine the Federal requirements for manned un- 
dersea activities and the extent of undersea platform 
use. This report presents the findings of that study, 
conducted by the Manned Undersea Science and 
Technology (MUS&T) Office of the Department of 
Commerce’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad- 
ministration (NOAA) during 1972. The findings 
were presented to the ICMSE on October 19, 1972. 
The study concentrated on two major aspects of 
the Nation’s manned undersea activities. The first 
aspect pertained to determining those Federal ma- 
rine science programs, not including military-or- 
iented programs, which were planning to use under- 
sea platforms. The second aspect pertained to the 
status, as of October 1972, of the use and avail- 
ability of manned, civilian-operated undersea re- 
search submersibles and habitats. These aspects were 
analyzed to determine the extent of undersea plat- 
form use that would be possible. 
BACKGROUND 
During the 1960’s, industry invested over $100 
million to develop over 50 submersible systems and 
three habitat systems. There were many reasons for 
these investments, such as to demonstrate techno- 
logical capability in the competition for (primarily) 
Navy contracts and anticipation of substantial sales 
or leasing and greater oceanic exploration, exploita- 
tion, and use. The inventory and technological com- 
plexity of systems outstripped the needs of users, and 
the nonmission-oriented characteristics in many de- 
signs limited the utility of the systems to users. At the 
same time, Navy-owned systems began to meet Navy 
needs, and the Navy gradually withdrew support 
of essentially civil-oriented programs. The result was 
a drop in Navy lease funding from a high of ap- 
proximately $2.2 million in 1968 to zero in 1971. 
At the time there was no civil agency focus, and a 
period of inactivity and decreased use of undersea 
platforms commenced. 
At the same time, however, interest in using 
manned undersea platforms remained high and ap- 
peared to be increasing. A 1969 Navy study (by the 
Carroll committee) recorded 1,603 requests for sub» 
mersibles for dives (984 by Federal agencies and 
619 by academic institutions) when analyzing the 
use of a target $3.0 million lease fund. Of the 1,603 
requests, 768 were recommended through an evalua- 
tion and priority system. Despite this interest, the 
recommendations of the study were not implemented. 
During 1970, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institu- 
tion reported a survey of 346 articles published dur- 
ing the period up to and including 1969. As pub- 
lished in “Research Submersibles in Oceanography” 
by the Marine Technology Society, the results 
showed that significant work is possible in biology, 
fisheries, physical oceanography, geophysics, acous- 
tics, geology, and engineering site surveys when sub- 
mersibles are available and that submersibles pro- 
vide a unique capability for certain types of work. 
The report also noted that earlier efforts had sub- 
mersible technology, not the development of users, 
as the primary goal. In addition, there were sig- 
nificant operational deficiencies in the existing sys- 
tems. Many of these systems remain in today’s in- 
ventory. For example, oil and power companies are 
using several of the submersible systems; in fact four 
submersibles are on long-term lease for oil field work 
overseas. 
The (1972) “First Annual Report of the UNOLS 
Advisory Council to Federal Funding Agencies,” is- 
sued by the University-National Oceanographic Lab- 
oratory System (UNOLS), an association of 18 ma- 
jor facility-operating academic institutions, recom- 
mended one shallow and one deep submersible on 
each coast," and the establishment of a “charter 
fund.” 
* Discussed in section III. 
