This html article is produced from an uncorrected text file through optical character recognition. Prior to 1940 articles all text has been corrected, but from 1940 to the present most still remain uncorrected. Artifacts of the scans are misspellings, out-of-context footnotes and sidebars, and other inconsistencies. Adjacent to each text file is a PDF of the article, which accurately and fully conveys the content as it appeared in the issue. The uncorrected text files have been included to enhance the searchability of our content, on our site and in search engines, for our membership, the research community and media organizations. We are working now to provide clean text files for the entire collection.
British Pacific Veterans for Scrap
By Desmond Wettern[1]
With the commissioning of five new carriers in the Royal Navy, four of the older fleet carriers have been removed from the Navy List and will shortly be scrapped.
First of the four, the Indomitable, was laid down in the fall of 1937 and was launched by Mrs. Winston Churchill in the spring of 1940. The ship displaced 30,000 tons and was 760 feet in length. Her motto was “Inflexible, Invincible.”
The Indomitable was completed in the fall of 1941 and sailed on a shakedown cruise to the West Indies. Early in 1942 her aircraft covered the landings in Madagascar. In July 1943 she covered the landings in Sicily and was hit by aircraft torpedo from an Italian plane. After temporary repairs she sailed for Norfolk, Virginia for a complete refit.
The “Indom” joined the Eastern Fleet in July, 1944, for operations against the Japanese. In early 1945 she joined the British Pacific Fleet under Admiral Sir Bruce Fraser, R. N., under supreme command of Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz, usn. She took part in attacks on Formosa and Okinawa.
The British fleet sailed from Leyte on May 1, 1945, and at noon on May 4, the battleships under Admiral Rawlings parted company with the carriers to bombard one of the islands in the Sakishima group. Just as the battleships left, a Kamikaze made a sudden attack on the Indomitable’s sister ship Formidable. Eight men were killed, and eleven aircraft were destroyed in this ship. A few minutes later a second aircraft bounced over the port side, happily doing little damage. Only a few minutes after this attack a second Kamikaze crashed into the sea ten yards from the ship’s bow.
In November, 1945, the Indomitable returned to England and was refitted as a troopship carrying service personnel due for demobilization home from the Far East theater. After a three-year refit she was recommissioned in 1951 for further service in the active fleet. She took part in various major
NATO exercises including castenets. In 1952 she became the first carrier to be flagship of the British Home Fleet, for any length of time.
On February 3, 1953, while steaming off Malta a tremendous explosion occurred on the starboard side of the hangar deck below the island. The cause was thought to have been the ignition of gasoline leakage in a feed pipe to the hangar. The damage was severe, and though the ship was repaired, it was decided that she should be moth-balled prematurely. Her last public appearance was at Queen Elizabeth’s Coronation Fleet Review in 1953. She is now being scrapped.
Pacific Veteran No. 2 to be scrapped is the Implacable (nicknamed the “Old Incapable” rather unfairly). Laid down in 1939, she was launched on December 10, 1942, by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, now the Queen Mother. In early 1944 this ship joined the British Home Fleet, and the rest of the year was spent in attacks on German shipping off Norway. During the last quarter of 1944 her aircraft destroyed or damaged 68,770 tons of shipping.
In March, 1945, the Implacable left the Home Fleet and joined the British Pacific Fleet two months later. Her aircraft attacked Truk and the Carolines during May and June, 1945. Six Japanese aircraft were shot down, and a large floating dock was destroyed.
During the rest of the war the Implacable was in Halsey’s Third Fleet and was operating against targets in the Japanese homeland. During this time her aircraft destroyed
or damaged 148,000 tons of Japanese shipping and brought down 113 aircraft. Her Sea- fire aircraft were the first Allied fighters to operate over Japan, and her Firefly strike aircraft were the first British aircraft to appear over Japan. Throughout this time the Implacable remained undamaged.
The Implacable remained with the British Pacific Fleet until May, 1946, during which time she took home 2,100 POW’s from Manila to Vancouver, 2,100 Dutch troops to Borneo, and 5,000 Australians from Borneo to Australia. During her time in the Pacific she steamed 61,903 miles.
Since 1946 the Implacable has been with the Home Fleet, but in 1952 she became a training ship (seagoing) and ceased to operate aircraft for she was used for basic training, and her hangars were used as classrooms. Now she is in a breaker’s yard, i The third Pacific veteran, the Indefatigable, is also being scrapped. Launched in 1942 and commissioned one year later, her first blooding was when her aircraft attacked the German battleship Tirpitz in a Norwegian fjord.
But it was in the Pacific that the Indefatigable showed her teeth. At dawn on April 1, 1945, six days after the opening shots in the battle for Okinawa had been fired, a Japanese Kamikaze diving out of low clouds hit the carrier on the flight deck. The plane’s engine went out over the starboard side by way of the island. It ploughed straight through the pilots’ briefing room which, only a few minutes before had been crowded, but was now happily empty. Fires and explosions resulted from the hit; ten men were killed, eighteen others were injured, of whom four later died. Damage control teams and fire fighting units prevented the fires from spreading. Exactly 37 minutes later her aircraft, returning from a strike on Sakishima Gunto, were landing on the flight deck.
After the fall of Okinawa the Indefatigable steamed for Sydney. After some repairs she returned to join the British Task Group for attacks in July on the Japanese homeland. The ship’s air group was still operating the morning the Japanese capitulated. The last morning the Indefatigable saw action her aircraft were detailed to attack a seaplane base. Twelve Japanese fighters which tried to in-
tercept were shot down. After the cease fire a lone Jap bomber carried out a furious attack and narrowly missed the carrier; the aircraft was shot down by three U. S. Corsairs.
The Indefatigable remained around Tokyo with Halsey’s carriers to provide cover should it be needed for the landing operations. Her aircraft flew many miles locating POW camps and dropping supplies. Yok- kachi camp in Southern Honshu was one of the camps discovered by her aircraft. Later she was employed on trooping duties from the Far East to Britain and took British brides of Australian troops to their new homes on the outward trip.
During her time with the Pacific Fleet the Indefatigable fired 3,230 rounds of ammunition, and her aircraft used 500,000 rounds of small caliber ammunition as well as 1,500 rockets and 450 tons of bombs.
In 1947, the Indefatigable paid off and for a long time remained in reserve at Portsmouth. Then in 1950 she was refitted for service as a seagoing training ship. In 1954 she was relieved by a smaller ship and was paid off into a low category of reserve. Recently she was towed to a breaker’s yard.
HMS Illustrious was probably the most famous of the four carriers, and she was also the oldest. She was nearly sunk on several occasions while escorting convoys to Malta in the early days of the war in the Mediterranean. After one severe attack she was seriously damaged and, after temporary repairs, sailed for Philadelphia to undergo a major refit. At this time she was under the command of then Captain Lord Louis Mount- batten, present First Sea Lord.
Early in 1944 the Illustrious joined the British East Indies Fleet. In April her aircraft, working with the strike groups from the USS Saratoga, carried out a highly successful attack on the Japanese naval base at Sabang in Sumatra. In June, Port Blair in the Andaman Islands was bombed. In February, 1945, she joined the British Pacific Fleet at Sydney. On May 31, she was hit by a Kamikaze and went home. She was relieved by her sister ship HMS Formidable.
After the end of the war the Illustrious was the Royal Navy’s trials carrier. The mirror deck landing aid was first tried out in her.
It was an apt salute to the old vessel that the 1954 reunion dinner to commemorate the first major naval air operation of the war—the attack on the Italian fleet at Taranto in 1940—was held aboard her. At the end of 1954 the Illustrious paid off, having been in service continuously for fourteen years. She is now being scrapped.
The scrapping of these veteran carriers is part of the Royal Navy’s plan to have an all
modern fleet. These old ships might have been fitted with the “Hot Ride” and canted deck, but the cost, in view of their general condition, did not make this worthwhile. A large number of the older ships in the Royal Navy’s mothball fleet are to be scrapped for it would be impossible to mobilize them in a few days. It must be pointed out that the number of ships in active service in the Royal Navy is not being reduced nor are ships fit for refitting and re-equipping with modern gear to be scrapped. Four new carriers have recently been commissioned in the Navy.
Grumman Turns TF-1 into WF-2
Aviation Week, March 4, 1957.—Grumman WF-2, an early warning modification of the TF-1 Tracker, mounts .051 aluminum alloy skin radome above fuselage on prototype. Production version radome probably will be fiberglas honeycomb sandwich. Radome dictated complete redesign of tail to provide twin vertical fins at stabilizer tips. It also meant redesign of wing folding geometry be-
cause of interference of radome with folded outer panels. Other changes: wing midsection modification for additional fuel; 18-in. extension of fuselage forward cabin area to improve airplane balance; nose wheel strengthening; complete tail wheel redesign because WF-2 becomes tail wheel airplane with wings folded. WF-2 is a four man, five place airplane—two pilots, two operators. One pilot moves to tactical director’s seat, otherwise unoccupied, during operations.
The Signalman, the Junior Officer of the Watch, and the Radio Telephone
By Lieutenant Commander Edward F. McCartan, U. S. Navy[2]
The return of the Signalman, proudly wearing his crossed flags, to the bridge of the naval vessel at once raises the question, “What is he going to do in this age of electronic communication?” The answer is revealed in the latest change to the Manual of Qualifications for Advancement in Rating. In addition to the traditional duties, which were considered important enough to require restoration of the rate, the qualifications significantly include the ability to handle the voice radio; specifically, in order to make second class a Signalman must be able to “operate voice radio, using proper radio telephone procedure.” When the rate previously existed, he did not have to do this—in fact, he was rarely allowed to touch the magic box. The same situation prevailed in respect to the Quartermaster. Now, however, he must operate the radio telephone to qualify for third class. This is a new and logical, although somewhat tardy development. Further search through the Manual of Qualifications discloses that only two other rates are expected to deal with voice radio. The Radarman striking for RD2 is required as part of his Practical Factors to “transmit, receive and authenticate on CIC radio telephone circuits, using standard vocabularies and procedure”; the Radioman is expected to “transmit, receive, and authenticate on radio telephone circuits, ...” if he hopes to advance to RM3. The Electronics Technician is required to fix the remote amplifiers and the hand-sets when they fail but, strangely enough, he doesn’t have to know how to use them to make a rate.
The broadening of the qualifications for signalmen and quartermasters will have the timely effect of roughly doubling the number of personnel available to answer the radio telephone. On the bridge, the effect should be even more important. A major problem has not been extant because, with the exception of a few post-war years, there has usually been a junior officer around to pick up the R/T when it sounded off. In fact, it has become the primary duty as well as the prerogative of the junior officer of the watch on many ships to handle bridge voice radio communications. Paradoxically, seamen strikers and junior petty officers are left to interpret and answer signals sent by code over flashing light and CW circuits or by flaghoist, but are not considered capable of understanding, relaying or answering a verbal message sent in plain language over the radio telephone. The reason for this situation is probably lost among the complexities of recurring expansions but part of it, at least, can be laid to two factors.
The first might be classed as a personnel factor; during World War II the lack of trained and experienced petty officers, the excess number of junior officers populating the ships of the fleet, their unfamiliarity with flashing light and signal flag codes and the newness of voice radio communications all combined to create a situation whose effects still linger on. The stabilization which was being approached during the post-War II years was upset by the Korean affair and the problem renewed. Basically, the Navy petty officer had been molded by tradition to be inarticulate; the junior officer, on the other hand, even though lacking in tradition and technical training could usually be counted on to understand and be understood over the low-fidelity circuits of past years. The human voice, even though garbled by unfriendly elements and poor tuning, is an intensely personal thing; a message sent by mechanical means loses its personality, however pointedly it is worded. Moreover, the latter does not normally have to be acted upon until it is decoded and receipted for. Just as a message is more easily sent by voice, so are rebukes for delays and errors more fluently and personally delivered by the commander. Thus the pattern grew which assigned the conning officer or the junior officer of the watch the task of always listening for and answering the phone. In the early days of group control by R/T, all ships addressed would normally have to acknowledge before and after execution of an order; today, execution more often than not accompanies the original order, with no delay in between to insure receipt. This leads into discussion of the second factor.
This element might be termed material, as opposed to personnel. Since the late twenties we have been able to turn on our radios at home and expect uninterrupted and audible reception. With this background, it is not strange that many users of naval voice communications were not able to appreciate the limitations of the equipment. Through our communication publications of the past fifteen years can be traced the efforts to improve reliability not only of the material, but equally of the user through standardized and simplified procedures. All too familiar are the frequent attempts over the circuits to supplement the weakness of tubes by strength of voice, the many “say again your last”s, the annoying and channel-blocking long count. It is understandable that a lack of confidence in the equipment arose, characterized by the desire of the captain or conning officer to insure the safety of the ship and the success of the operation by personally handling voice-radio transmissions. Great improvement has taken place in quality and reliability of the gear but this did not immediately release the officers on the bridge from their burden because the advances were paralleled by increased use of the R/T circuits with less time allowed to react.
Stepping back, however, and looking at the over-all situation, it can be seen that the factors which forced the junior officer of the watch to spend his time standing by the remote R/T transmitter and speaker have been removed or minimized. Physical manipulation of the voice radio circuits is a detail which should be the duty of designated members of the watch section, leaving the officer free to concentrate on his larger function. Official sanction has been given to this concept by the added requirements for advancement for Signalmen and Quartermasters. This change has been highlighted by the reappearance of “Flags” in his old habitat. Now is the time to start making full use of his talents by letting him handle the R/T as well as the signal light and the flag bag.
* * *
U. S. Cannot Disregard Growing World Responsibilities
By General Maxwell Taylor, Chief of Staff, United States Army
Army-Navy-Air Force Register, March 2, 1957.—Our over-all military potential is somewhat like an iceberg which, as it floats in the Arctic Sea, presents only about a ninth of its body above the surface of the water.
It is this visible ninth which warns the mariner and induces him to change his course. In the same way, it is only a certain portion of our military establishment which is visible to an enemy or is knowable to him which induces him to adjust his course of action in our favor. Our winning strength is represented by that deeper, submerged part of the iceberg which is not seen but from which we draw strength for the long pull.
This strength is concealed in our atomic igloos, in our factories, in our economic and industrial and financial structure, in our political code and governmental organization, yes, and most importantly, it is concealed in the hearts and the wills of our citizens.
Only insofar as this strength can be divined does it contribute to deterrence. Thus, deterrent strength is not entirely synonymous with winning strength; provision must be made for both; both require special study and analysis in order to assure that in proper combination they provide security for our Nation.
Deterrent Strength
Our military deterrent strength will be of little value if other peoples are not firmly convinced that we have the will and capability to use it, wherever necessary, to defend the principles for which we stand. It will be difficult to convey this impression if we do not have real convictions on important issues and the unfeigned intent to support those convictions.
We cannot be fence-sitters with respect to world issues if we are to impress others with our firmness of purpose. Hence, a general understanding of the purposes of our government is an indispensable contributor to our over-all deterrent posture. There must be no doubt in our own minds as to what we stand for, what we live for, and what we will fight for.
Understanding
I
If we have this understanding of our national problems, it is quite likely that we will be willing to bear the burdens which are implicit in our deterrent military program. The burden of security is not presently light nor will it be materially lightened by any wonder weapon or device which I know about. We are facing a long period of tension wherein our deterrent posture must be maintained
even if at great effort. We have assumed responsibilities in world leadership which we cannot put down. In the terms of the athletic field we must be in training throughout the entire year—not for a season, but this year, next year, and henceforth for the indefinite future. The maintenance of national security is not a seasonal sport.
Greatest Challenge
The deterrence of war in this age of high yield weapons is the greatest challenge that this Nation has ever faced. It is no longer a task that can be entrusted solely to the soldier, the statesman, or the diplomat, because the deterrence of conflict rests on the concerted efforts of all Americans.
If we are to deter the greatest catastrophe of another world conflict, we can do so only by the unified efforts of all of us—each contributing according to his station.
Merging Strength
Only by merging all of our strength—military, economic, political, and moral—in harmonious and effective combination, can we ensure the future of America and the peace of the world. Militarily this integrated effort requires not one single form of military force, but a tri-dimensional balance of forces applicable to objectives on land, at sea and in the air. It demands a political-military strategy flexibly adjusted to the needs of unforeseen situations, not geared to any single weapons system or a single concept of future war.
In short it should embrace all reasonable measures to prevent general and local war, and at the same time contain the potentiality of waging any war, large or small, in such a way as to achieve our national objectives. It is in such an integrated national strategy that the Army prepares itself to play its essential part.
New Orleans Has “Bingest Year”
Baltimore Sun, February 10, 1956.—The port of New Orleans is now in the best condition in its history, both financially and in regard to commerce across its wharves, Edgar A. G. Bright stated to the Board of Commissioners as he stepped down as its president.
“We have just completed the biggest year in the history of this board—8,393,189 tons of export-import cargoes moved across the public wharves in 1956,” Mr. Bright said.
Nearly 4,000 Ship Arrivals
“We had nearly 4,000 ship arrivals and there were tonnage gains in every major commodity shipped through this port except grain.
“While we have not completed our books for the calendar year 1956, our fiscal year figures showed a net operating gain of $991,323.71.
“During the past year we got completed or under way seven major construction projects, and these represent a total outlay of $17,745,000.”
He listed the following projects:
1. Rebuilding of First Street Wharf at $2,500,000 cost.
2. A 40,000-square-foot addition to Harmony Street Wharf.
3. Addition and renovation to two others.
4. A $1,800,000 wharf and storage area in the Industrial Canal.
5. Land-filling for an $8,000,000 stretch of wharves above the Public Grain Elevator.
6. .Test pile-driving for the $4,000,000 West Bank Wharf.
W. D. Roussel, New Orleans coffee broker, replaced Mr. Bright as president. Harold W. Roberts, steamship executive, became a new member of the board.
Drydock Job at Sea Involves P5M
Baltimore Sun, February 19, 1957.—The Navy demonstrated one of its newest mobility concepts, taking a huge seaplane patrol bomber into a floating drydock while both were at sea.
The delicate operation was performed in the northern Chesapeake Bay, about a mile and a half off Maryland’s Eastern Shore and involved the Navy’s landing ship dock Ashland, and a two-engine P5M Marlin flying boat.
This test was the first semi-public demonstration of the new technique. It was staged for about seventy Martin engineers and design specialists, Navy officers from the Pentagon and a handful of newsmen.
The experiment, while using a Martin
Martin, anti-submarine patrol bomber, was described by navy officials and representatives of the Martin Company in Baltimore as the basis for future operations of the P6M, 600-m.p.h.-plus jet seaplane Martin is building for the Navy.
The whole water-base concept is to give the Naval Air Force the greatest amount of mobility possible.
The Ashland, tall as a four-story building from bow waterline to bridge and 98 feet to the top of her mast, has an over-all length of 458 feet. Its well deck takes up 394 feet of that distance and can be flooded to an overall depth of 10 feet to take in ships, or in this case the Marlin, a 96-foot-long seaplane with a wingspan of 102 feet.
For the test, a temporary water barrier had been erected 130 feet forward from the stern and only this aft section was flooded to receive the plane.
Taking ballast on her 20-mile trip from Baltimore to the rendezvous point, the Ashland dropped anchor in 35 feet of water off Tolchester Beach and completed taking ballast to a depth of thirteen feet. Since only the stern, normally seventeen feet above the water line, was flooded for the experiment, the Ashland took on a three-to-five degree, bow-to-stern slant, which made her look as if she were sinking stern first.
The P5M flew to the rendezvous from the Norfolk Naval Air Station and landed less than a half mile off the Ashland's stern.
The operation was carried on in ideal weather conditions—sunshine and a nearly smooth bay—but it took considerable maneuvering of the plane and auxiliary craft launched by the Ashland to position the
Marlin about 150 feet off the Ashland's stern. Only two and half feet above the water at the stern due to the ballast in her well, the Ashland held steady.
But the 62,000-pound flying boat had been carried by the tide forty feet to starboard by the time the retrieving line had been attached to her nose and three sets of twin wheels had been attached to the underside of the plane’s belly and her tail. The wheels enable her to roll up the submerged ramp of the ship’s stern.
From the time the air officer on the Ashland, gave the order on the bullhorn to “start retrieving,” it took just 26 minutes to bring the Marlin into the well and close the tail gate on the Ashland. No attempt was made for speed, since the crew of this plane and some of the equipment were new to the operation.
In a combat area and faced with the necessity of a quick withdrawal, these floating drydocks can get under way as soon as the plane is secured, even before the ship’s tail gate is closed or the water ballast is pumped out.
The plane’s wings overlap the ship, about 27 feet on each side, but she sits high and dry in the well while the ship steams to another area where the plane will be launched.
With modifications, new floating drydocks will be able to accommodate three such planes at one time.
In this operation, admittedly part of an experimental program on which changes are being made constantly, the Ashland’s crew launched the Marlin in fourteen minutes.
Neil’ Missile Guiding Eyed
By Mark S. Watson
Baltimore Sun, March 7, 1957.-—When the Navy’s air-to-air missile Sidewinder went into business throughout the fleet a short time ago it restored to attention the principle of infrared guidance as an occasional substitute for radar guidance of missiles.
Sidewinder is very highly regarded—partly because it is much smaller than the Navy’s older air-to-air missile Sparrow and, being smaller, can be carried in quantity.
Although Sidewinder’s guidance system was so identified in mid-1956 by the service’s aviation manual, the Navy still declines to discuss the matter.
The Air Force, which has used infrared guidance experimentally for years and even employed it with the short-lived missile Felix in the Far East during World War II, is equally reticent about Air Force development of the principle, other than to hint that such a device may become operational shortly, presumably in the new missile Ding- dong.
Progress Made
So much progress has been made in infrared experimentation that the current issue of Aviation Week, highly regarded by technologists, presents infrared as an agency actually challenging radar and possibly capable of replacing it in some fields of airplane guidance and target-detection within a decade.
The fact that the Navy (in the case of Sidewinder) and presumably the Air Force (in the case of Dingdong) are actually so employing it strengthens that suspicion.
One of the peculiar virtues of infrared guidance is its cheapness, in an era when almost everything new in armament is extremely costly. This was clearly pointed out a few weeks ago when Dr. William B. McLean, of the Naval Ordnance Test Station in California, was given the government’s $25,000 award for his part in the development.
Is Not Selective
The explanation was that his contribution to Sidewinder’s guidance system saved the Navy over $40,000,000 which would have been spent on radar guidance.
Despite certain remarkable advantages of infrared guidance, there are deficiencies which forbid its universal use as a radar substitute. Notably, it is not at all selective and will home on whichever heat-emitting object happens to lure it. Even a cloud glistening in the sun’s rays will distract it from its proper target.
That, no doubt, is why Sidewinder is the first conspicuous employment of infrared guidance in missiles now operational. For Sidewinder is a relatively short-range missile which is launched only by the pilot of the carrying airplane, and the pilot’s own eyesight can make sure that there is no distraction to take the missile away from the enemy plane he is shooting at.
Another serious disadvantage so far as spotting enemy targets is concerned is that the infrared detection does not include rangefinding, which is one of the most valuable of all radar’s properties.
Above Cloud-Level
A third disadvantage is that the moisture common in lower altitudes makes the device unreliable; the system is most effective at altitudes above cloud-level, which again explains why it is well adapted to air-to-air missiles employed in daylight, such as Sidewinder.
Infrared has very large advantages over radar in that it is not subject to enemy “jamming,” as is radar. It is much more compact, a major consideration in plane design. Also it defines the detected object much more accurately, readily distinguishing between a propeller-driven and a jet plane.
Being attracted by heat, whereas radar is attracted by bulk, the infrared detection of the fiery exhaust of jet planes (now in increasing use) promises far more than radar in future detection missions.
Further, the speed of planes considered, infrared detection provides protection against enemy jet raiders long before radar would give warning, which is a consideration of immense importance in the equipping of the nation’s warning systems.
Not New Discovery
Infrared is by no means a new discovery. It was the basis for the World War II sniper- scope, which enabled a rifleman to see his target (illuminated by infrared rays which the rifleman’s optical device converted into light visible only to him).
As mentioned, it was also used in the bomb Felix to guide it toward an enemy installation’s very moderate heat. It has been employed in a whole succession of test vehicles which never became operational, but which supplied scientific knowledge now applied in Sidewinder and certain to be applied in much more important missiles now on the secret list.
Present scientific judgement is that at present infrared, whether for guidance or for
detection, is a supplement rather than a replacement for radar. Its deficiencies, noted above, are so grave that it cannot be a sole reliance.
But in some fields it is manifestly better than radar today, and these possibilities seem due for rapid development. For long-range activities it seems equally sure that radar and infrared must be used in combination, each making up for the other’s lacks.
(Editor’s Note: See page 106, January 1957 Proceedings for photograph of Sidewinder.)
Douglas Delivers Final AD Skyraider to V. S. Navy, Ending 12 Years of Production
Douglas Aircraft Company Release, February 18, 1957.—Twelve years of continuous production of the world’s most powerful single engine, propeller-driven airplane came to a halt as Douglas Aircraft company’s El Segundo, Calif, division delivered the last of 3,180 AD Skyraiders to the Navy. Simultaneously, company officials announced that a speedy jet bomber, the bantam A4D Sky- hawk, is taking the AD’s place with the fleet.
hirst flown on March 18, 1945, two weeks before the U. S. invasion of Okinawa, the Skyraider today is regarded as the most versatile combat airplane in existence and holds the international load carrying record for aircraft with one reciprocating engine.
The midget A4D which holds the official world speed record of 695.163 miles per hour over the 500-kilometer closed course, is America’s smallest jet combat airplane and
is designed for a variety of missions, including atomic bombing.
The AD, a rugged carrier based attack bomber, carried the brunt of the air war in Korea for the Navy and Marine Corps and earned the title, “Workhorse of the Fleet.” It has been in constant production at Douglas’ El Segundo and Torrance plants longer than any other combat craft in history.
An AD4 set an all-time single engine load carrying mark in May, 1953, when it went aloft at Dallas, Texas, with a total useful load of 14,941 pounds, including 10,500 pounds in bombs. This exceeded the craft’s basic weight by more than 3,000 pounds.
Guided Missile Frigate DLG-11
By R. C. Wilkinson
San Francisco Naval Shipyard Drydockcr, February 15, 1957.—Work has started on San Francisco Naval Shipyard’s first new construction of a major combatant vessel, the as yet unnamed DLG-11.
The ship, one of the Navy’s largest and most highly developed destroyer-type vessels, represents a new concept in destroyer design with conventional armament supplemented by versatile guided missiles and other modern features.
Dimensions, exceeding existing destroyers to a significant degree, include a 512-ft.-long hull, a 50-ft. maximum beam and a light displacement of 3,900 tons.
Building the ship is expected to take almost three years, with completion scheduled for December 1959. Design and planning, based on BuShips specifications, is being developed by Gibbs and Cox, New York naval architects.
Ten to Date
To date, 10 DLGs have been contracted for. The USS Coontz (DLG-9) and USS King (DLG-10), sister ships of DLG-11, are being built at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. The others have been assigned to Philadelphia Naval Shipyard and two commercial shipyards on the East Coast.
Pre-Production Planning
Pre-production planning has been going on at SFNS since November 1955. Currently, special alloy steels and structural com-
ponents needed for hull fabrication during the pre-keel period are being delivered on schedule.
Procurement of thousands of material items and components required have been carefully organized by the Planning and Supply departments so that Production’s scheduled requirements will be met. Procurement of critical items needed long manufacturing periods (in many cases more than a year) has been started.
Master erection schedules, projecting all phases of the job from pre-keel to completion, have been developed and distributed by the Production department.
Laying of the keel is expected to occur late in the summer of 1957, at which time hull assembly will start in Drydock 2.
DLG-11 will add a potent and versatile force to the Fleet upon completion. She promises to be a proud contribution from the resources, skills, ingenuity and dedication of a “can do” shipyard.
RAF Ending Most of Its Auxiliaries
Baltimore Sun, January 16, 1957.—Britain is disbanding most units of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force.
It is a part-time flying organization that works beside the RAF and it brought down the first German plane destroyed over Britain in World War II. Many auxiliaries later served in Korea.
A recent Air Ministry announcement said the RAAF is no longer needed in its assigned role of defense against low level attack because the danger now is from high level attacks and the RAF defends against these.
Economy in money and gasoline appear to be factors.
The units being disbanded include twenty fighter squadrons and nine of the thirty fighter control and radar reporting organizations.
Disbanding the RAAF will save the equivalent of about $15,400,000 a year. The part-time flyers used 17,000,000 gallons of aviation fuel yearly.
The Admiralty announced recently that the air branch of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve also is being disbanded.
The War Office, in another economy move, said draftees will not be called up in 1957 for part-time training.
Two Guided Missile Cruiser Awards Announced by Navy
Department of Defense Release, February 1, 1957.—-Contracts to convert the light cruisers USS Springfield and USS Oklahoma City to guided missile light cruisers have been awarded to the Bethlehem Steel Company shipyard at Quincy, Massachusetts, and the Bethlehem Pacific Coast Steel Corporation at San Francisco, California, respectively, the Navy announced.
The USS Springfield, to be converted to the CLG-66, will be equipped with the Terrier missile. The contract price is $13,986,000, subject to redetermination at 70 per cent of completion. Springfield will be converted at Bethlehem Quincy, the yard which built her in 1944.
USS Oklahoma City, to be converted to the CLG-91, will be equipped with the Talos missile. The contract price is $14,000,000, subject to redetermination at 70 per cent of
«
completion. This will be the first guided missile ship conversion to be awarded to a west coast commercial yard.
Springfield and Oklahoma City are light cruisers of the Cleveland class, having a length over-all of 610 feet, beam of 66 feet, and light displacement of 10,500 tons.
The Springfield will be the fifth cruiser converted to employ the Navy’s surface-to- air Terrier missile. The first, USS Boston, was commissioned in November, 1955, and is now deployed with the Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean. The second, USS Canberra, joined the fleet in June 1956, and two more, USS Topeka and USS Providence, will be converted at east coast naval shipyards.
Oklahoma City is the third Talos cruiser conversion announced by the Navy. USS Galveston, the first ship which will carry the longer range surface-to-air Talos, is scheduled for completion in April 1958. Completion date for the second, USS Little Rock, has not been announced.
Self-Contained Refueling Unit
Douglas Aircraft Company Release, March 6, 1957.—Quick conversion of Navy fighters and attack bombers into aerial tankers will be possible with a self-contained refueling unit.
Airplanes not required for tanker use can be restored to their normal combat function by removing the externally-carried refueling unit.
Already flight tested and in production, the torpedo-shaped unit has been selected by the Navy for use on the propeller-driven AD Skyraider attack bomber and the A4D Skyhawk, midget jet bomber.
The Douglas in-flight refueling store is entirely self-sufficient and does not rely on the “mother” plane for its primary power.
A compact package just short of seventeen feet long, the refueling unit is powered by a ram-air turbine driven by a four-bladed propeller on the nose. Besides the turbine, the refueling store contains hydraulic motors, fuel pump, a flexible hose on a reel, a collapsible drogue and, of course, fuel.
The aluminum device is carried under the fuselage and can be jettisoned in an emergency.
The refueling operation is controlled by the pilot of the airplane carrying the refueling unit. Refueling is accomplished in a matter of minutes by the familiar probe-and- drogue method.
Device Lands Plane on Carrier
New York Herald Tribune, February 28, 1957.—The Navy and the Bell Aircraft Corporation demonstrated today a new pushbutton electronic system to land planes automatically on a carrier deck even when visibility is zero and the ship is rolling and pitching.
Officials said that while many existing navigational aids will bring a plane close to a runway or carrier deck, this new radar- and-radio technique is the only one which achieves complete landing without any guidance at all by a pilot’s hands.
The forecast that the system recently unveiled would score landings at the rate of one every thirty seconds—close to the rate attained in carrier landings in perfect weather using normal pilot control.
The new device already proved remarkably precise in more than 1,200 test landings on land, is soon to undergo four months of sea tests.
Navy fliers said that the new system—so responsive that it waves off planes suddenly if landing conditions deteriorate dangerously as planes are coming in to land—would be of great value not only in poor weather but also in bringing in pilots who were wounded or over-tired.
Tests conducted so far have employed six different types of jet fighters, large transports and small commercial planes. Bell explained the system this way:
“Radar locates the airplane and determines its altitude and position in relation to the carrier deck. An electronic computer does the rest, sends the necessary course corrections to a device which directs the airplane into the desired flight path ... the system takes into account the carrier’s movement the instant the plane is to touch the deck.”
Bell engineers said that the system has obvious civilian flying application and, combined with a cross-country navigational system, could provide “completely automatic flight” under all weather conditions. In the land-based tests, the ground equipment was mounted in a trailer with its own power unit.
The military need for it has long been felt. During the Korean conflict, carrier strikes were called off more than once because poor visibility might jeopardize return landings.
Nautilus Will Better Her Fuel Economies with New Generator
By Jack Raymond
New York Times, March 9, 1957.—The Navy indicated that its atomic submarine, the Nautilus, got about 60,000 miles to a little more than eight pounds of uranium before it docked at Groton, Connecticut, for refueling. That was calculated, in fuel-oil equivalents as two-tenths of a mile to a gallon.
An announcement disclosed that the first of the United States’ growing fleet of atomic submarines was getting a new generating machine that would “greatly extend the fuel performance.”
In addition, the Navy said, new, fully tested engineering improvements would make fuel consumption “simpler, less expensive and more reliable.”
* * *
In announcing the refueling of the Nautilus, after more than 60,000 miles of steaming,
the Navy said the submarine’s nuclear reactor core was being replaced. This involves installing a new heat generating machine inside the empty steel container that remains.
The tests of the new engineering improvement were conducted at the naval reactor facility at Idaho Falls, Idaho, for the past year. I hey included a 1,600-hour full-power run by a core embodying the new features, officials said.
The announcement did not disclose the amount of uranium that has been expended since January 17, 1955, when the Nautilus’ skipper sent the message “under way on nuclear power.”
It did note that a conventional submarine of comparable size would have used about
3.0. 000 gallons of fuel oil, weighing 22,500,000 pounds and filling 300 tank cars, to travel the distance covered by the Nautilus.
Unofficial mathematicians and physicists took up the challenge from there. They said one pound of uranium was equal to 360,000 gallons of oil, according to most sources.
I his indicated the Nautilus had consumed 8.3 pounds of uranium, making allowances for inefficiency in usage of both oil and uranium.
I hus the Navy’s fuel oil equivalent of
3.0. 000 gallons for 60,000 miles indicated a performance rate of two-tenths of a mile per gallon.
The Nautilus is being refueled at the Electric Boat Division of the General Dynamics Corporation in Groton, Connecticut. It is the first of fifteen nuclear powered submarines now under various stages of design construction or testing.
B-58 External Pod
Convair Release, February 16, 1957.—It became clear why the Convair B-58—the nation’s first supersonic bomber—has such stilt-like landing gear.
The United States Air Force and the Convair Division of General Dynamics Corporation jointly disclosed that the B-58 will carry a detachable “pod” slung under its narrow fuselage.
A primary reason for the B-58’s elongated landing gear is to keep the pod from scraping along the runway.
Photographs of the pod were released for publication following the first flight of the B-58 with its pod attached. Previous photos showed the faster-than-sound bomber without its pod.
This combination of a supersonic carrier and detachable pods will give the Air Force an extremely versatile weapons sytem.
The B-58 was designed specifically to carry such capsules, enabling it to perform a greater variety of missions.
Navy Announces Three Contract Awards for Nuclear-Ship Propulsion Machinery
Department of Defense Release, March 4, 1957.—Three new contracts totalling $19,546,375 for main propulsion machinery for six nuclear-powered ships were announced today by the Navy.
Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Es- sington, Pennsylvania, has obtained a contract, following competitive negotiations, to manufacture the main steam propulsion machinery for the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier (CYAN). The contract includes turbines, gears, condensers, and associated machinery, with a fixed price of $8,170,060.
Authority and funds for advance procurement of components for the nuclear-powered carrier were included in the appropriation for the Navy’s fiscal 1957 shipbuilding program. The announcement of the award to Westing- house of a contract for furnishing reactor compartment components for this ship was made on November 2, 1956.
General Electric Company, Lynn, Massachusetts, has obtained two contracts, following competitive negotiations, to supply propulsion machinery and gears for the nuclear- powered submarines SSN 588, 589, 590, 591 and 592. One contract, having a fixed price of $8,333,925, provides for manufacture of main propulsion machinery, turbine generators, and associated equipment. The second contract, having a fixed price of $3,042,390, provides for manufacture of gears and clutches.
The five submarines for which General Electric will supply turbines and gears will be constructed in the following shipyards:
SSN 588—Mare Island Naval Shipyard
SSN 589—Electric Boat Div., General Dynamics Corp.
SSN 590—Ingalls Shipbuilding Corp.
SSN 591—Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co.
SSN 592—Ingalls Shipbuilding Corp.
Robot Helicopter
Kaman Aircraft Corporation Release, February 21, 1957.—Kaman Aircraft engineers have developed an external control system known as a “halter,” for the Kaman robot (remotely controlled) helicopter, which permits ground personnel to “walk” the robot to any desired location. The halter is connected to the robot’s control system in such a way that movement of the halter in any direction by a man on the ground results in a corresponding movement of the robot. Using the halter, a ground crewman can cause the robot to take off, hover and land, or he can lead the helicopter around in forward, backward or sideward flight. Simple to operate, the halter can be used by ground personnel after only two or three minutes of explanation as to what it does.
One application of the halter which has been successfully demonstrated, is its use in the loading and unloading of externally slung cargo carried by the robot. In this case the cargo is placed in a cargo net on the ground.
INSTRUCTIONS
Using the halter, a ground crewman walks the robot to a hovering position over the cargo and attaches the load to the robot’s cargo hook. Once this is accomplished, the ground crewman operating the halter relinquishes control of the robot to the operator of a ground control station. Through radio control, the ground control station operator flies the robot to its destination where another ground crewman takes over control with the halter, walks the robot to the spot where the cargo is to be unloaded and, while hovering the robot, releases the cargo. This ground crewman can then either relinquish control of the robot to a ground control station for flight to a second destination, or he can land the robot on any desired landing site.
The robot also can be taken off and landed remotely by the ground control station operator and it can be flown from an airborne control station carried in another helicopter. Control can be passed back and forth between halter operators, ground control stations and airborne control stations, and the robot can be flown on a memory course fed into either airborne or ground control stations.
★
[1] Mr. Wettern, a British journalist by profession, is a contributor to naval and marine journals on both sides of the Atlantic. A reprint from the Nautical Magazine of his article on British ASW appeared in the Professional Notes Section of the December 1956 Proceedings. Mr. Wettern is currently a sub-lieutenant, RNVR, serving with a sea cadet unit helping with the training of teen-agers as potential recruits for the Royal Navy and merchant navy.
[2] A graduate of the Naval Academy Class of 1945, Commander McCartan has served as commanding officer of minecraft, as executive officer of the USS Gatling (DD-671), and is prospective commanding officer of the USS Stalwart (MSO-493).