SHIPS-OF-OPPORTUNITY 



As an example of this application, the U. S. Bureau of Commercial 

 Fisheries publishes such a chart showing a 15-day synopsis of surface 

 temperatures along the west coast of the United States. 



Unfortunately, the majority of surface temperature measure- 

 ments reported by ships are generally obtained from the ship's intake 

 thermometer, an instrument of questionable value for measuring sea 

 surface temperatures. The World Meteorological Organization, 

 Commission for Instruments and Methods of Observation (1957), con- 

 cluded that "intake temperatures suffer from lack of proper location 

 of the thermometer, from unsatisfactory thermometers, and from 

 crudeness (sic) of reading or timing". 



To improve the quality of reported sea surface temperatures, the 

 Naval Oceanographic Office conducted extensive tests in the labora- 

 tory and in the field to determine the effectiveness of various sea 

 surface temperature measuring devices. The tests consisted of a 

 comparative analysis of the classical devices and a newly developed 

 device now commonly known as the Near Surface Reference Tem- 

 perature (NSRT) System. The new device consists of a thermistor 

 probe installed in the intake and electrically connected to a tempera- 

 ture indicating meter on the bridge. (See below.) Instantaneous 

 measurements of surface temperatures can be obtained by merely 

 depressing a button, thus permitting the watch officer to make 

 the reading. The intake probe and meter readout proved espe- 

 cially promising from the standpoint of dependability, accuracy, 

 and convenience. 



Typical synoptic Sea Surface Temper 

 ature Chart as received by facsimile 

 broadcast. 



r" 



NSRT — Near Surface Reference Temperature meter and tfiermistor probe. 



In late 1964, the U. S. Naval Oceanographic Office, in connection 

 with ASWEPS, invited the U.S. Weather Bureau, Coast Guard, 

 MSTS, and the Fleet to install and operate 125 systems. Upon com- 

 pletion of this pilot program, installations will have been accom- 

 plished on proportionate numbers of Coast Guard vessels, cargo and 

 tank vessels of the MSTS, destroyers and aircraft carriers of the 

 Fleet, commercial ships participating in the U. S. Weather Bureau 

 cooperative weather reporting program, and several oceanographic 

 research vessels. This wide variety of sea-going platforms is truly 

 representative of the modern concept of ships-of-opportunity. 



Experience gained in connection with the NSRT program will be 

 used as the basis for further standardization of equipment and tech- 

 niques. Meanwhile, shipboard personnel will appreciate the NSRT's 

 capability for accuracy and the ease with which the observation can 

 be made. 



In addition to the observations required by the synoptic network, 

 selected ships-of-opportunity having the necessary sounding equip- 

 ment have been requested to record the depth and thickness of the 

 Deep Scattering Layers wherever encountered. The data thus accu- 



mulated is forwarded to the Naval Research Laboratory for analysis 

 in conjunction with their continuing studies of that biological-induced 

 phenomenon. 



PROJECT NEPTUNE 

 On October 19, 1964, the 8,000 ton American Mail Lines freighter, 

 the SS Java Mail, departed Seattle, Washington, bound for Yokohama, 

 Hong Kong, and other ports in the Pacific and Far East. From all 

 appearances, the ship was embarked on a routine voyage. She was 

 laden with a cargo consigned for another continent, and her officers 

 and crew went about their work just as they had on many previous 

 voyages. On this occasion, however, a Navy trailer van was lashed 

 to the after deck and a six-man scientific party was berthed in the 

 ship's cabins. Quite incidental to her task of delivering her cargo 

 to foreign ports, the Java Mail was participating in the U. S. Navy's 

 PROJECT NEPTUNE. 



PROJECT NEPTUNE was executed to determine the feasibility 

 of collecting biological oceanographic research data from a merchant 

 ship without interferring with the routine of the ship's operation. 

 By this singular demonstration, the Office of Naval Research, 

 sponsor of the undertaking, hoped to establish the practicability of 

 the concept of a fleet of "research ships-of-opportunity" (RSO's), 

 specifically, ships of the American Merchant Marine. The project 

 was the culmination of NRL's long standing desire to prove that con- 

 cept and brought together the interests and resources of the General 

 Motors Defense Research Laboratory which developed special sam- 

 pling devices for the experiments; the Naval Missile Center at Point 

 Mugu, California, which provided the laboratory van; and tHe 

 American Mail Lines, which arranged for the Java Mail to serve as 

 the first experimental RSO. In addition, PROJECT NEPTUNE 

 received considerable encouragement from members of the staff of 

 Congressional committees concerned with oceanography, particularly 

 the House Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries. 



This particular variation of the ships-of-opportunity concept 

 features the deployment of a mobile laboratory with a team of on- 

 board scientists to perform all of the duties connected with the 

 scientific mission. The latter element is to enforce the "not-to- 

 interfere" principle of the original idea. The mobile laboratories 

 designed for RSO's could be stored at central or regional depots. 

 When needed, any appropriate group of scientists could rent, lease, 

 or charter one or more from the depot and arrange to have them 

 transported to the port where the selected RSO is docked. The 

 laboratory unit would then be hoisted aboard the ship and either 

 fastened to the deck or placed in a hold, as appropriate. When 

 necessary, the unit would draw upon ship's power and utilities, 

 although, preferably, each laboratory would be a self-contained unit, 

 independently powered. The scientists and technicians accompanying 

 the laboratory would utilize the tourist accomodations of the host 

 ship. 



Demonstrating as many of these basic conditions as possible, the 

 Java Mail proceeded upon her scheduled voyage. During its Pacific 

 crossing, the vessel served as a platform for a variety of oceanographic 

 investigations. Plankton samples were taken with a "jet-net", a 

 bullet-shaped pod specially designed to collect undamaged specimens 

 at the surface of the ocean while being towed at a relatively high 

 speed. The vessel's main injection was used to take plankton 

 samples and record sea water temperatures. Three times a day the 

 group obtained bathythermograph data to a depth of 1,500 feet 

 utilizing an experimental high-speed expendable bathythermograph. 

 A thermistor was towed astern which measured water temperature 

 continuously. Continuous atmospheric samples were taken recording 

 radiations and other values. Water analyses were made to ascertain 

 salinity, chemical composition, and oxygen content. Disposable radio 

 transmitters were put into the sea and tracked periodically. Finally, 

 drift bottles were cast overboard every eight hours. 



The results of all tests and samplings were quite encouraging. 

 By the time the Java Mail arrived at Hong Kong, all scientists 

 aboard were completely convinced that the project was a great 

 success and that the use of a merchant vessel for oceanographic 

 work was entirely feasible. 



On 22 January 1965, the House of Representatives Subcommittee 

 on Oceanography of the Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries 

 met in Washington, D. C. The purpose of the meeting was to 

 bring together the oceanographic interests of the government and 

 industry to hear, first hand, the results of PROJECT NEPTUNE and 



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