The Navy Vol_22_Part2 1960 - Navy League of Australia

N.Z. SURVEYORS(From page 8)oil the old eharts of her watersand those of her dependenciesin the Pacific.From ships and other sourcescome reports of new dangersnot appearing 011 the existingAdmiralty charts. These mustbe investigated and their existenceor non-existence confirmed.This work can sometimesbe done by the larger surveyingmotor launches, but inmany cases LACHLAN carriesout this task.A recent example was the investigationby the ship of ashoal reported in mid-Tasman.which was carried out in Junelast. When a danger to navigationis confirmed, it becomesthe subject of a Notice to Marinersamending the appropriatecharts to show it.Local small surveys are oftenEarlyLot.Mid.Earlylot.•FirstSailingsSept.Oct.Nov.D«c.Dec.ClassfromAustralian§ORIONfORONTES•ORSOVA§ORION•ORCADES§CabinClassPorts:SrEAM NAVIGATION CO. L10-.undertaken for some immediatespecific purpose. The twosurveying motor launches andLACHLAN have just finishedthe re-survey of the WhangareiHeads area in connection withthe investigation being carriedout to find suitable sites for anoil refinery. This was followedby an investigation survey some15 miles north of Westport inconnection with the projectedcoal trade with Japan.MUD COMES IN HANDYSo the bottom of the oceanis covered with mud! Whocares?The Navy cares and. attimes, is glad of it. The CaliforniaAcademy of Sciences,while engaged in an oceanographicsurvey, sponsored bythe Office of Naval Research,reported that not far off the••oast of California the ocean24.000 tons20.000 tons29,000 tons24.000 tons28,000 tonsffouristOne-classbottom was covered with largeareas of thick, gooey mud.Since the ocean's depth at thatpoint was some 500 fathoms,this appeared to be furtherfascinating information—to befiled.Then some unsung geniusconnected this sticky fact withthe problem of disposing oflarge quantities of radioactivewaste.Now, the waste is loaded intosteel drums, carried to muddybottomareas, and heaved overboard.The drums sink farinto the mud long before theydisintegrate, and the mud absorbsthe radiation. This avoidscontaminating large volumesof sea water, which would happenif the drums happened tobe dropped on a sand or rockbottom.The moral? Basic research isa fine thing whenever applied.Greatly reduced off-season Return rates:Homeward Sack Ratara from:Tourist On.-closs First Clan £240 Stq.Cabin Clots First Class £265 Stg.First Class First Class £290 Stg.Return by Ori.nl, P * O, llu. Funn.lLiiws: from U.K., Jan.-Moy, ItM, or 12months lat.r if required.ORIENT LINEDuring the recent visitof Mr. Wilkinson. Minister forDefence to the United States,the Air Correspondent of theLondon Financial Times saidthat he paid particular attentionto the Skybolt and PolarisMissiles.These missiles, savs the correspondent.eould take theplace of the cancelled "BlueStreak" missile.Skvbolt missile is a twostage.solid-fuelled ballisticmissile capahlc of carrying auuclear warhead over distancesof between 1.0(H) and 1.500miles. It is designed for launchingfrom aircraft — the U.S.plans to use Boeing B-52Hs,but almost any large aircraftcould be modified to act as alaunching platform.Total cost of the project overthe next five to six years, whichis the time it will take to developSkybolt to operationalstatus, is estimated at not muchless than 1.000 million dollars.An estimated BO million dollarsis to be spent on the project inthe next financial year, beginningJuly 1.The big advantage in Skyboltis its mobility, due to thetype of aircraft launching platformsused. The U.S. expectsto form the first Skybolt B-52Hsquadron in 1965. with another'22 B-52H squadrons beingformed thereafter.STRATEGIC AIRCOMMANDMany of these squadronswill be based in the U.S.. butsome of them may be basedwith the outlying posts of theStrategic Air C o m m andthrough the world — possiblyeven in the U.K.POLARIS MISSILESPolaris is the U.S. Navy'sfleet Ballistic Missile — againa solid-fuelled weapon — witha range of around 1.500 miles.BRITISH INTERESTU.S. GUIDED MISSILESA U.S. nuclear submarine blasts off a guided missile.which is intended primarily forfiring from submerged submarines.although smaller versionsof it could be developed forfiring from mobile land-basedplatforms, such as trucks andtrains, or from river-vessels oroff-shore barges.At present, seven nuclearpoweredsubmarines are underconstruction specifically for thePolaris, each capable of carrying16 missiles. The whole costof the Polaris programme isalso put at around 1.000 milliondollars, but this is expectedto be increased substantiallyas current plans for more Polaris-carryingsubmarines cometo fruition.Polaris is an earlier missilethan Skybolt, and it is alreadyundergoing test firings, priorto joining the fleet later thisyear or early in 1961. Recently,the U.S. Navy opened a new 27million dollar Polaris assemblydepot on the Cooper River nearCharleston, South Carolina.Further developments of Polaris.extending its range capabilityto 2,500 miles, could bein service by 1963, accordingto Rear-Admiral William F.Raborn, head of the Polarisprogramme.THENAVYJune.I960