CHAPTER 25 



NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN NAVAL ENGINEERING 



New developments in naval engineering tend 

 to be closely related to concepts of strategy. In 

 some instances, new concepts of strategy may 

 force the development of new engineering equip- 

 ment to meet specific needs; in other instances, 

 the development of a new source of power, a 

 new engine, a new hull form, or a new propulsive 

 device opens up new strategic possibilities. In 

 any event, engineering capability is a major 

 limiting factor in strategic planning, since it 

 determines what is possible and what is not 

 possible in the way of ship operation. 



In previous chapters of this text, we have 

 been concerned with naval engineering equip- 

 ment currently installed in naval ships. But it 

 would be unreasonable to assume that present 

 achievements, impressive though they may be, 

 are the last word in naval engineering. Practi- 

 cally everything in the Navy— policies, proce- 

 dures, publications, systems, and equipment— is 

 subject to rapid change and development, and 

 naval engineering is certainly no exception. The 

 rate of change in technological areas is increas- 

 ing all the time. The officer who is just beginning 

 his naval career may well, in the course of a 

 few years, see more changes in naval engineer- 

 ing than have been seen in the past half century 

 or more. And, difficult though it may be, every 

 naval officer has a responsibility for keeping up 

 with new developments. 



Because of the increasingly rapid rate of 

 technological development, it is no mean feat to 

 keep abreast of changes in engineering equip- 

 ment. In order to keep up with new developments 

 in naval engineering, it is necessary to read 

 widely in the literature of the field and to develop 

 a special kind of alertness for information that 

 may ultimately have an effect on naval engineer- 

 ing. 



In the present chapter, we will depart from 

 our previous framework of the here- and-now and 

 mention briefly a few areas which, at present, 



appear to offer some promise for future appli- 

 cation in the field of naval engineering. With a 

 few exceptions, the areas noted in this chapter 

 are ones in which some actual work has been 

 done or in which some serious thought has been 

 given to naval engineering applications. It should 

 be emphasized that this chapter is neither a com- 

 plete survey of new developments nor a crystal- 

 ball type reading of the future. Some of the areas 

 mentioned here may turn out to have little or no 

 application to naval engineering, while areas that 

 are not even mentioned may suddenly come into 

 prominence and importance. 



HULL FORMS 



Many new developments in naval engineering 

 have been aimed, directly or indirectly, at in- 

 creasing the speed of ships. One approach to this 

 problem is to increase the size or change the 

 nature of the propulsion machinery— a solution 

 which, for various reasons, is not always feasi- 

 ble. Even when larger or better propulsion ma- 

 chinery is feasible, it is not always a total solu- 

 tion to the problem of increased speed, since at 

 least some of the increased power thus provided 

 is needed to overcome the increased resistance 

 of the ship at the resulting higher speed. In the 

 continuing search for ways to achieve higher 

 operating speeds, therefore, a considerable 

 amount of thought has been given to new hull 

 forms which will reduce the resistance of the 

 ship as it moves through the water. 



A surface ship moving through the water is 

 impeded by various resistances, ^ chiefly the 

 f rictional resistance of the water and the resis- 

 tance that results from the generation of wave 

 trains by the ship itself. Overcoming each of 



Fundamentals of ship resistance are discussed in 

 chapter 5 of this text. 



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