correlate the results of the oceanographic studies conducted 

 at Woods Hole and by the San Diego Laboratory D The Special 

 Studies Group, in addition,, followed up work on other projects, 

 such as merchant vessel protection, sea water batteries, under- 

 water sound detection ranging gear, and the preparation of 

 Summary Technical Reports . (The last-named project later became 

 the province of a special group known as the Summary Reports 

 Group coming under the jurisdiction of the Office of the Chair- 

 man of NDRC ) 



On 1 July 1941, a contract was arranged with the Western 

 Electric Company authorizing the Bell Telephone Laboratories 

 to engage in a study of testing and calibrating methods for 

 use in underwater sound measurements and to develop standard 

 instruments and testing equipment „ Test stations were set up 

 at Mountain Lakes, New Jersey, and Orlando,, Florida „ Later, 

 on 15 April 1942 s at a meeting called by Rear Admiral J. A. 

 Purer, Coordinator of Research and Development for the Favy ? 

 it was decided that these laboratories should be operated by 

 an independent organization having no direct interest in the 

 development or manufacture of underwater sound devices. Ac- 

 cordingly,, on the recommendation of NDRC. the laboratories 

 were transferred to the Columbia University Division of War 

 Research to be operated as the Underwater Sound Reference 

 Laboratories under the direction of Dr. Robert So Shankland, 

 Professor of Physics at the Case School of Applied Science 

 The work of these laboratories is discussed in a later chapter. 



Expansion of Activity, 



Almost from the first $ the work of NDRC ' s subsurface war- 

 fare group began to expand in scope . Starting with respon- 

 sibility only for basic research and the development of devices 

 to detect submerged submarine s 9 it was not long before research 

 and development work was being done in the fields of ordnance, 

 especially aircraft ordnance, pro-submarine equipment, and 

 torpedoes . 



A similar expansion in types of activity took place. Late 

 in 1941 j, a comprehensive program of assistance to the Navy in 

 the selection and training of sonar personnel was started. 

 This activity is described in Chapter XIII. A program of op- 

 erational research,-, discussed in Chapter VI was begun in early 

 1942. 



During the closing months of 1942, as various improvements 

 in anti-submarine equipment became available or gave promise 



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