and tow characteristics, i.e., certain shapes towing quite erratically when puUed by a boat. 

 Tests were also run to determine the effectiveness of sunken Liberty ships for possible use as 

 breakwaters. 



■Still another wave research project studied at the BEB during World War 11 was that of a 

 proposed seadrome, known as the Armstrong Seadrome. The idea was to maintain in the 

 mid- Atlantic Ocean a floating landing field some 5,000 to 6,000 feet long where planes 

 could stop and refuel. A number of tests were run to determine the forces upon, and the 

 stability of, such a structure under wave action.^ ^ ^ However, the plan was never put into 

 operation for, as the war progressed, planes were improved to the point where such a 

 refueling stop became unnecessary. 



Knowledge of the depth of water along a potential landing beach was a vitally important 

 piece of information, but one equally difficult to secure. Then it was hypothesized that 

 depths could be determined by using aerial photography of the wave conditions at the beach 

 site. It was known that the wavelength decreases as a wave moves into shoal water. By 

 calculating from photos this change in wavelength, the water depth could then be found. 

 For a period during which the Board's staff, especially Mason, was working on this 

 particular problem, they were assisted by a British Intelligence officer, Maj. W. W. Williams. 

 Maj. Williams, a professor of geography at Cambridge University in civilian life, stayed with 

 the Board for a number of weeks.^ ^ ^ With the development of this technique, the BEB staff 

 became more and more involved in aerial photography and its interpretation. 



To better coordinate the military intelligence work, the Joint Army-Navy Intelligence 

 Service (JANIS) was set up in late 1943. Under this arrangement, the BEB was specifically 

 assigned the task of preparing all beach reports. This not only avoided duplication of effort 

 but also encouraged development of a standard report format. 



During the course of the war, the BEB maintained close Uaison with other Federal 

 agencies. For example, starting in the early spring of 1944, they took part in a program to 

 train personnel, largely from the Military Branch of the U.S. Geological Survey, in coast and 

 landing beach intelligence. After spending several months at the BEB, these men would then 

 be assigned to various military locations, largely in the Pacific theater, to act as consultants 

 and to gather additional data. On occasion, they were required to study a beachhead just a 

 few days following an actual landing to determine how accurate the landing report had 

 been, and to suggest methods for improvement.^ ^'^ Among those who were at the BEB for a 

 period of time in this capacity were: A. Lincoln Dryden,* John Rodgers, and 

 Robert M. Garrels. 



It is an undisputed fact that, during the years of World War II, the BEB bore a great 

 responsibility involving the Uves of many thousands of men. Its small staff, with a wartime 

 average number of some 30 to 35 people, prepared well over 50 highly valuable reports 



*Dryden also authored one of the Board's wartime publications, "Surface Features of Coral Reefs," Technical 

 Memorandum No. 4, dated May 1944. 



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