SHIPS-OF-OPPORTUNITY 



by improving instrument exposure and observational procedure. 

 Eventually, the use of navigational satellites will reduce the data 

 positioning problem. 



With the possible exception of moored oceanographic platforms 

 (buoys) still being developed, and the planned employment of air- 

 craft for synoptic observations, none of the above efforts is directed 

 toward solving the problem of inadequate data distribution. The 

 efforts directed toward enhancing data accuracy and sensing addi- 

 tional elements may, in fact, deter solving the data distribution 

 dilemma for at least the immediate future, because of the great unit 

 cost often related to instrumentation development. As an example, 

 the STD (salinity-temperature-depth) System being developed under 

 the ASWEPS program will provide more data, with greater accuracy 

 and at greater depths than now possible. Because of the relatively 

 high cost plus installation and upkeep, however, the output from this 

 instrument development will be limited to four data points in the 

 North Atlantic for. at least, the near future. Present plans for 

 utilization of the expendable BT's indicate that about 32 platforms 

 will be outfitted and approximately 22,500 units expended during 

 1966. Here again, the expendable BT's will replace the mechani- 

 cal BT on Fleet ships with no significant improvement in data 

 distribution. 



The data location or navigation problem is an inherent limiting 

 factor in any ships-of -opportunity program. Most of the commercial 

 ships available for this program employ LORAN A for navigation. 

 Under normal operations at sea, LORAN is utilized only within 

 several hundred miles of the coast, so that in mid-ocean greater 

 errors than the optimum are common. From all indications, even new 

 construction has made few provisions for precise positioning devices. 

 It is also doubtful that commercial ships will convert to navigational 

 satellite systems to any great degree in the next decade. 



A program involving the development of highly accurate (and 

 highly expensive) oceanographic instrumentation for employment 

 on platforms which cannot provide companion accuracy in data 

 location may not be realistic. 



Therefore, the ships-of-opportunity program over the next few 

 years must concentrate on synoptic data distribution. This is not 

 meant to imply that ultimate data accuracy and instrument sophisti- 

 cation is not required. In the immediate future, while instrument 

 availability and costs of sophisticated instrumentation are limiting 

 to mass distribution, considerable advantage can be gained in 

 developmental forecasting by utilizing less refined (and less ex- 

 pensive) gear to obtain wide data distribution at frequent intervals. 

 Implementation of this concept will undoubtedly see a greater and 

 greater expansion of the commercial fleet of ships-of-opportunity. 



Once the necessary instruments become available in the quantity 

 desired, the number of potential ships-of-opportunity can be equated 

 to the number of U. S. Flag and, perhaps, U. S. owned merchant 

 ships. With this vast fleet theoretically at our disposal at some 

 future date, definite plans for its utilization are now being made. 

 The Naval Oceanographic Office, in collaboration with other 

 interested Offices of the Navy Department, is considering the de- 

 velopment of an oceanographic system consisting of a transportable 

 oceanographic laboratory, manned by one person, capable of obtain- 

 ing oceanographic and meteorological measurements in ships-of- 

 opportunity at speeds up to 23 knots. The laboratory van would 

 contain essential instruments and equipment, including expendable 

 sensors, to accomplish this mission. It would be self-sustaining with 

 respect to electrical power and essential services. It would be of 

 light, rugged construction, fully weatherproof, transportable to and 

 from port areas by truck, rail, or air and designed for simplified 

 loading and offloading from ships of various sizes and configurations. 



An engineer or graduate student would operate the laboratory, 

 including attached appurtenances (boom, winch), recorders, and ex- 

 pendable sensors. The data would be obtained with modem electronic 

 instrumentation and recorded in analog or digital format, as appro- 

 priate, with provision for the entry of complementary navigational 

 data. The format in which the data would be collected must be com- 

 patible with data processing, storage, and retrieval methods employed 

 by the National Oceanographic Data Center and the Naval Oceano- 

 graphic Office, which would be the recipients of the data collected. 



The essential components of the ships-of-opportunity oceano- 

 graphic systems would be as follows: 



(a) An expendable sensor capable of measuring temperatures 

 and sound velocity to a depth of 2,000 feet. This instrument might 

 consist of two parts, namely, a buoy at the surface to telemeter data 

 to the laboratory van and a free-fall element containing the sensors. 



Above — Special winch for 

 handling bathy- 

 thermograph. 



Right —S. S. AFRICAN 

 RAINBOW, first of 

 a new class of 

 Ships-of Opportu- 

 nity. 



47 



