1. Science, Salt Water, Submarines and Symbiosis
Knowledge for Development Seminar, Center for International Development
Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University
November 6, 2003
Science, Salt Water, Submarines and Symbiosis
Doing R&D with the Navy
Robert A. Frosch
Part II: Practice
Nov 6, 2003
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2. Submarine Warfare in WWII
Sonar
Periscope detecting Radar
HF/DF and Doenitz’ mistake
A close shave anyway
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3. The Navy’s Worries after WWII
Won the submarine war, but close!
Late German submarine developments (eg snorkeling) very worrisome
What will nuclear submarines mean?
What will the Soviets do?
Will there be true, quiet submarines?
How can we deal with this?
11/17/2018

4. Underwater Sound during and after WWII
‘Afternoon effect’, the bathythermograph (BT)...
Ewing and Worzel, GSA Mem. 27
Long range very low frequency underwater sound (~ 0 -3 octaves below A 440)
REALLY long range: 6 lb TNT: 3000mi
probably (later confirmed) >10,000 mi
Wartime research by cooperation
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5. “In July 1943 Ewing wrote...to the Bureau of Ships, Navy Department, proposing this long-range transmission as a system of communications. In January 1944 the Underwater Design Section of the Bureau of Ships approved tests …. by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and the US Navy Underwater Sound Laboratory at New London, Conn,; the USS Saluda and the SC 665 were assigned for these experiments. The services of….and most of the…equipment were lent by the Naval Ordnance Laboratory, and the remaining equipment was assembled at Woods Hole. The operational arrangements were made by the US Navy Underwater Sound Laboratory. The ships arrived on station ready to work on March 22, 1944.” - Ewing, M., GSA Mem. 27, p. 3
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6. Underwater sound (cont’d)
Convergence zones
SOFAR, LOFAR, etc
Ted Hunt and ‘an ocean an hour’
ambient noise
wind, waves
animals
ships
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7. The Navy’s Response to its Worries
Science and ONR
SOSUS (Project Jezebel)
Project Julie (made passive buoys active)
Hartwell Report
Hudson Labs (Project Michael) (Pupin)
Do the oceanographic science of low frequency underwater sound for anti-submarine warfare.
11/17/2018

8. The ONR way of Science I “Nature, to be commanded, must be obeyed.”
Roger Bacon, Novum Organum, 1620
We’ve got questions; you figure out what science to do, and how.
Program officers as (rotating) peers
Experienced, educated, Naval Officers
Scientists comfortable with the Navy
some were recent ex-naval officers
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9. The ONR way of Science II
The investigators’ ‘Club’
The relaxed ‘we’re all in this together’ style
Creating an epistemic community!
Mutual acculturation
Mix and match (in the same room, or ship):
Naval officer experience
University research (SIO, WHOI, MIT…)
Navy lab research (NRL, USL, NEL, DTMB)
Industrial contractor research (BTL, Raytheon)
FFRDCs (Draper, IDA) and Private consultants
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10. The ONR way of Science III
Hey, I was talking to….,who has an interesting idea, would you call him/her?
Advisory oversight
Hudson: The Brooks Committee
Ad hoc committees for particular purposes
Informal peer visits, sometimes with ONR staff
NRAC
NAS/NRC: The Undersea Warfare Committee
(later the: Naval Studies Board)
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11. Hudson Labs Experiences I
Theoretical Prediction: Ray tracing to guide SOSUS
for BTL, Western Electric
Coherence of U/W sound in the ocean
How long can an array be at low frequency?
(~> 1500 mi., Eleuthera to Sable Island)
Where does ambient noise come from?
What’s its spectrum? Its angular distribution?
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12. Hudson Labs Experiences II
Will internal waves interfere with sound?
What can be done in shallow water?
Can you build an active version that will get echoes at 100mi? (Third convergence zone)
Project Artemis (Roman goddess of the hunt)
(Project Diana was taken)
Can you come to DC Thu? We’re getting some guys together to talk about……
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13. Hudson Labs Experiences III
USS Alleghany (ATA 179)
Lt (SG) “Queeg” commanding
Project Medea (1955)
5 Ships Mix and match in the Norwegian Sea
USNS J. Willard Gibbs
The Undersea Warfare R&D Planning Council
Mix and match
Search for the SSN Thresher
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14. Another DoD Example: ARPA
‘We can’t do it for everything, but if someone calls a program officer before noon with a great new idea, we can usually get them authorization to start spending money on the idea by the close of business the same day.’
Bernie Korenblit
ARPA Procurement Officer
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15. And, as ASNR&D Working with the Admiralty Intra-service rivalries
Inter-service rivalries
Working with DDR&E & Staff
AsstSecDef for Systems Analysis & Staff
Gordon Hamilton and the loss of SSN Scorpion
Alvin and Palomares
The weekly R&D luncheon
The tale of the three mathematicians
Does everyone need to know what their work can be used for?
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16. Finally SYMBIOSIS Hudson Labs, ARPA, ASNR&D, NASA, GM:
Success in making science work for a customer’s purposes always has the same name:
SYMBIOSIS
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17. Symbiosis: Some Ingredients
Reasonable mutual respect:
scientists and customers ->
Conversation -> Mutual acculturation ->
A reasonably clear agreed-upon purpose ->
A working community; a ‘club’
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18. Symbiosis: More Ingredients
Facilities and $$$$$$$ appropriate for task
May be a lot, or not
Enough, but not too much, bureaucratic support
External advisory/oversight system
And always: LISTEN!
But be careful to think about what you hear
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