enough heat to raise the temperature S00 degrees 
in a 12-foot sphere. 
No single agency is assigned responsibility for 
safety and certification. The Navy has published a 
certification manual, Material Certification Proce- 
dures and Criteria Manual for Manned Non- 
Combatant Submersibles (NAVSHIPS Publication 
#0900-02802010), which applies to vehicles on 
which Navy personnel are diving. Legislation pro- 
posed to Congress would vest in the Coast Guard 
responsibility to certify undersea systems. Both 
the Marine Technology Society (MTS) and the 
American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) are issuing 
guidelines for safety and certification of manned 
submersibles. The guides are similar in many 
respects. MTS’s Safety and Operational Guidelines 
for Undersea Vehicles will serve as an initial 
standard for the industry, while the ABS guide, 
willingly or unwillingly, will be followed by those 
who wish to enjoy the reduced insurance pre- 
miums compliance would bring. The Deep Sub- 
mersible Pilots Association (DSPA) has published 
Guidelines for the Selection, Training, and Qualifi- 
cation of Deep Submersible Pilots. This material 
was contained in early form in the MTS guidelines 
and now is available in revised form from DSPA. 
All these documents will be very useful to the 
operator and the prospective operator of undersea 
systems. None, however, to date has the force of 
law. 
b. Future Needs Research programs are needed 
to determine the likelihood of accidents, the 
extent of danger, and methods for anticipating the 
hazards involved. This information should be made 
available to the designer. 
Emergency escape capability is needed. One 
approach is the detachable buoyant crew capsule, 
used on Alvin and the Autec vehicles, operable by 
the crew or by rescue teams. Another is to develop 
points for easy attachment of lift cables. 
Protection from fire is one of the most severe 
problems. Technology must be developed to: 
—Minimize the presence of combustibles. 
—Precipitate or remove smoke particles rapidly. 
—Inhibit the spread and duration of fires. 
—Extinguish fires without overloading air purifica- 
tion systems. 
—Minimize and/or isolate sources of ignition. 
Materials to be used internally should be tested for 
flammability and behavior at high temperature. 
Methods to suppress fire with powder or inert gas 
will not be feasible without auxiliary oxygen 
breathing apparatus. In compartmentalized vehi- 
cles the crew must be able to retreat from a fire, 
seal off the area, and oxygen-starve the fire or 
extinguish it with built-in systems. 
An authority for control of ocean system 
safety, certification, operation, and maintenance is 
needed, possibly similar to the combined Federal 
Aviation Administration/Civil Aeronautics Board 
control over aircraft. The group could serve as a 
source of information on system safety and, like 
Underwriters Laboratories, could develop lists of 
safe materials, equipments, and methods. It would 
investigate accidents, report on causes, and make 
recommendations to prevent recurrence. 
The Coast Guard seems the logical agency to 
exercise this authority. Appropriate legislative 
action would be required to extend the control 
now vested in the Coast Guard for surface ship 
activity to underwater operations. Its authority 
would extend over the safety of vehicles, diving 
chambers, underwater power plants, diving sys- 
tems, on-bottom and in-bottom underwater habi- 
tats, and underwater storage facilities. Criteria for 
review authority would be that a failure could 
affect human life and safety, seriously disrupt the 
environment, or damage property of a second 
party. 
2. Search and Rescue 
a. Current Situation The Navy has a surface fleet 
of 10 submarine rescue vessels (ASR) which carry 
McCann chambers. Dependable operation of the 
chambers requires diver support. As a result of 
recommendations of the Deep Submergence Sys- 
tems Review Group (DSSRG) following the loss of 
the U.S.S. Thresher, the Navy (DSSP) has placed 
contracts for two Deep Submergence Rescue 
Vehicles (DSRV). The first DSRV will be ready 
for sea trials in 1969 and will be operational in 
1970. Design studies for another DSSRG recom- 
mended system, the Deep Submergence Search 
Vehicle (DSSV) to operate at 20,000 feet, have 
been completed, and a prototype vehicle contrac- 
tor has been selected. 
