Another area in which we have made great progress 

 since your last meeting is in ocean engineering. By ocean 

 engineering I mean all of the development efforts which 

 center around our deep submergence program, including the 

 Deep Submergence Systems project, the Deep Ocean Tech- 

 nology project- and the Man-in-the-Sea program. This inte- 

 grated effort involves several of the Navy's systems 

 commands and laboratories as well as a wide spectrum of 

 private industry. 



As all the world knows since the tragic loss of the 

 THRESHER, the Navy is operating even more complex nuclear 

 submarines to such great depths that lives are placed in 

 jeopardy in the event of a submerged accident. Fortu- 

 nately in the long history of the Navy we have lost very 

 few submarines except in combat. But one is one too many. 



Consequently, an important part of the deep submer- 

 gence program is the capability of rescuing men from 

 disabled submarines on the ocean floor right down to the 

 collapse depth of our most modern combatant types. Rescue 

 will be done by mating a small deep submergence rescue 

 vessel, a DSRV, to the hatch of the disabled submarine. 

 The prototype DSRV is already under construction. 



Plans are proceeding for the development of a 20,000 

 foot deep submergence research vehicle. This will also 

 have the capability for location and recovery of small 

 objects such as the unarmed nuclear bomb we were able to 

 retrieve off Palomares, Spain, with the limited equipment 

 then at our disposal. Incidentally, the 20,000 foot 

 depth accounts for well over 90^ of .the ocean bottom. 



The most urgent problems associated with the 20,000 

 foot vehicles concern hull structure and flotation 

 materials. Fabrication techniques for welding, forming, 

 and machining high-strength steel and titanium alloys are 

 being developed. And we are even experimenting with 

 massive glass. 



Also within the scope of the deep submergence 

 systems project, the man-in-the-sea program is advancing 

 our capability for man to live and work in the oceans. 

 SEALAB III, to be conducted later this year, will demon- 

 strate the ability of men to live and work for extended 

 periods of time exposed to heavy pressures almost to the 

 edge of the Continental Shelf. Tools and equipment for 

 performing useful work will be developed and evaluated in 

 this program. 



