The touchdown delay firing mechanism eliminated the third line problem 

 and was able to withstand the shock of firing the anchor. However, it 

 imposes restrictions on the salvage vessel movement if the delay 

 process is to be of any value in lifting the anchor before firing to 

 reset it or to retrieve it. This constraint would be difficult to 

 achieve by an unmoored salvage vessel attempting to place the anchor 

 in a moderate or rough sea. 



A fire control and command system that does not require an electrical 

 connection or that does not require precise ship positioning such as 

 is now needed for the touchdown delay mechanism would be an asset. An 

 acoustic command system seems to offer a potential solution and bears 

 investigation for possible incorporation in the design in the future. 



Though no malfunctions traceable to the cartridge rounds were 

 experienced, they are awkward to assemble and handle and generally 

 are unsatisfactory for service use. Standardizing them as much as 

 possible as to size and type of propellant for future use with the 

 different anchor-projectiles would be a decided advantage. 



Cables and Connections 



Damage due to rapid payout during ejection of the anchor-projectile 

 was negligible. In one instance damage to the down-haul cable resulted 

 from the launch vehicle falling back down on the cable. Still, the 

 cable did not fail during short time loading. 



The mechanical device used to release the beach gear leg and down- 

 haul cable from the launch vehicle, Figure 7, was a significant 

 improvement over the explosive bolt release system. No evidence of its 

 failure to function was recorded. However, the cable that attaches to 

 the anchor-projectile and pulls the release bar is susceptible to damage 

 as it penetrates hard seafloors. If it should break, the release would 

 not take place. Also, the cable release is exterior to the launch 

 vehicle hull section and can be damaged if it strikes the side of the 

 ship during launching. 



A serious consideration in the design and use of explosive anchors 

 is that the cable(s) that follows the anchor-projectile into the seafloor 

 is subject to abrasion and is more susceptible to deterioration by 

 corrosion than is the chain. The 1-1/2-inch cables used in the tests 

 did not fail but they were not subjected to long-term abrasion or 

 exposure to the environment. Mean s to lessen or circumvent these 

 adverse™effects need to be explored. 



Deep Water Placement 



In Test 30, the explosive salvage anchor was set on the seafloor 

 and retrieved in 600 feet of water. To accomplish this operation, the 

 beach gear leg was laid before the anchor was lowered. A crown buoy 

 was attached to the bitter end of the beach gear leg with a synthetic 

 line. Next, the crown buoy, synthetic crown buoy line, and the beach 



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