findings were cheering; others were depressing,, The subcommit- 

 tee members found that the Navy had made good progress in the 

 development of supersonic echo-ranging gear,, But they also 

 found that the Navy had been too pinched for funds to explore 

 other means of submarine detection thoroughly., The existing 

 detection gear was far ahead of the training of those who were 

 to operate it„ Basic information to enable its most effective 

 employment was lacking and instruments for guiding an attack 

 were badly needed 



Subcommittee Report, 



As a result of their studies the members of the subcom- 

 mittees, on 28 January 1941, made recommendations for a broad 

 program of research and development., They stressed the impor- 

 tance of better methods of selecting and training sound opera- 

 tions, maintenance men, and officers. They urged that greater 

 attention be paid to the fundamentals of undersea warfare, in- 

 cluding the development of equipment for the measurement and 

 recording of underwater sound, the determination of the sounds 

 produced by various types of ships under varying operating 

 conditions , the phenomena of sound propagation in the ocean, 

 and the study of magnetic and micro-wave detection devices. 



Following the submission of this report by the subcommit- 

 tee, which by then had become popularly known as the Colpitts 

 Committee from the name of its chairman, Dr„ Bush and Dr. Jewett 

 held a number of conferences with officers of the Navy„ They 

 were asked to submit to the Navy ? s General Board recommendations 

 concerning the type of organization needed for a comprehensive 

 study of the anti-submarine problem In answer Dr„ Bush and 

 Dr„ Jewett assured the Navy that both NDRC and the National 

 Academy of Sciences were ready to do everything possible to 

 get a broad program of research in the anti-submarine field 

 under way 



Preliminar y Activities . 



In August 1940, following up a Navy suggestion, Mr„ CO' 

 Do Iselin, Director of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 

 had sent Dr„ Jewett a memorandum concerning the Institution's 

 facilities which might be useful In anti-submarine warfare re- 

 search. After consultation with the Navy a comprehensive out- 

 line was prepared on 19 September 1940 summarizing the princi- 

 pal objectives of an investigation of the oceanographic aspects 



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