Military Vessels Research Articles

Improved Shipboard Signage

This paper provides an introduction to shipboard signage design, construction, and installation. It is intended to assist the naval architect and marine engineer in the design of signs for shipboard use, help the shipyard in its initial procurement and installation of shipboard signage, help the ship's crew determine what additional signs are needed during the life cycle of the vessel, and aid in the sign replacement process. There are a number of standards and specifications, both commercial and military, that deal with signage but few are in complete agreement. Research into these standards has resulted in the development of a user-friendly shipboard signage guide, applicable to both military and commercial vessels, which is paraphrased in this paper. Guidance is provided for the most commonly used shipboard signage applications and includes the use of new materials which are less expensive, lighter weight, and more visible even in low or no light conditions. By using this guide, effective signs which offer reduced cost (material and installation) and weight, with improved readability, clarity, and meaning will result. Specific areas addressed include signage types, layout, wording, symbology, physical properties, installation, and cost.

The Future of Minimal Manning and Its Effects on the Acquisition and Life-Cycle Costs of Major Coast Guard Cutters

Since the 1970's, the world's merchant fleets have been pursuing crew reductions as a way to cut costs: however, the United States military has been slow to adopt this trend. In the current age of tight budgets and defense cutbacks, the Coast Guard and Navy can no longer afford to continue in this manner. Both services have now initiated research and acquisition projects which address minimal manning. These projects must be carried out and minimal manning practices implemented if our sea going services are expected to maintain their edge as world leaders. This paper presents a study designed to research the quest for minimally manned crews and its applicability to military vessels. It is meant to provide guidance to the United States Coast Guard and other interested parties on future surface combatant acquisition projects including but not limited to the Coast Guard Deepwater Program. Emphasis is placed on the theory behind automation and the organizational impacts associated with minimal manning.

Toward protection of the marine environment: Uniform national discharge standards for military vessels

AbstractOn February 10, 1996, President Clinton signed into law a new mechanism for controlling discharges from military vessels. Section 325 of the 1996 Defense Authorization Act requires that Uniform National Discharge Standards(UNDS) be developed for vessels of the armed forces. The three primarily responsible agencies (Navy, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and Coast Guard) recently have undertaken a process to implement the new statute. Since the implementation process will determine the manner in which control of discharges from all U.S. military vessels will change over the next few years, it is a key activity in terms of protecting the quality of our marine environment. Information on the implementation process may assist state representatives, stakeholders and others in achieving more effective participation in it. The process also will guide major new environmental investments necessary to meet the evolving requirements and thus may be of interest to a variety of environmental contractors.

Large-Scale Processing Machinery for Fabrication of Composite Hulls and Superstructure

Large-scale mechanical systems for impregnating and positioning composite materials are now permitting efficient manufacturing of composite hulls up to 60 m (200 ft) and greater. Recreational, commercial, and military vessels fabricated from composite materials are gaining acceptance around the world; however, processing of thermosetting resins and fiber reinforcements in quantities exceeding 90 000 kg (200 000 lb) per unit presents a new set of challenges to production engineers responsible for maintaining quality control. Impregnation systems are currently being used at several mine-hunter production shipyards worldwide. Large-to-medium sized recreational yachts are also in production with impregnation systems. This paper reviews some past and current impregnator installations, the selection process used for choosing the systems, and production engineering factors.

A quantitative evaluation of surface-based observations of oceanic cloudiness

Observations of cloud amount and cloud character are made regularly at ocean locations worldwide, predominantly from civilian ships but reports are also obtained from military vessels, research and rescue ships, voyaging boats, and oil and other drilling platforms. There is a long historical record of these observations of oceanic cloudiness but, to date, very few attempts have been made to try to establish the verity of this cloud climatology. All-sky camera photographs were obtained from voyages of research vessels in the summer of 1986 in the Atlantic and Indian oceans and the Mediterranean Sea. Detailed analysis of this data base generally validates the cloud observations made by the ships officers. Agreement between the synoptic observation and the image analysis was usually within one okta (eighth) of sky cover for total cloud amount. On the other hand the photographs reveal a considerable temporal heterogeneity in oceanic cloud amount. It is not clear whether the synoptic reports sample cloud amount adequately. The all-sky photographs underline the difficulty of identifying cirrus cloud. Occasionally ship reports miss clearly identifiable high cloud.

Canadian Security In the High Arctic: a Strategic Analysis In Three Parts- Part 3 - Military Considerations

Dr. Critchley's paper is available in three parts; Part 1, the "Fourth Boundary Problem," Part 2, "The Energy Shortage," and Part 3, "Military Considerations." III. Military Considerations Canadian security policy is strongly related to our participation in the NATOand NORAD alliances. NATO is seen as the defence against the Warsaw Pact threatto Western Europe. NORAD, The Canada-U.S. agreement originally formed toprovide for continental defence against the Soviet Union'sstrategic bomber threat to the United States, is now regarded as a subsidiarypart of the NATO arrangement. Several recent developments in militarytechnology, and reactions to these developments on the part of the Soviet Unionand NATO members, may cause parts of the arctic region to become a new focus ofmilitary activity and of NATO and NORAD concern. NATO-related developments willbe analyzed first. Currently, the use of the Arctic Ocean and adjacent seas by military vessels isconfined to nuclear-powered submarines. Evidence in the public domain indicatesthat such usage appears to be in the form of occasional experimental-trainingexercises(1)· The attention of strategic analysts and naval planners is concentrated not onthe Arctic, but on the North Atlantic. The reason for concentration on the North Atlantic is the build-up of the Soviet Northern Fleet, which is based in Murmansk and other ports on the Kola Peniusula. As of mid -1981, that fleetincluded approximately 82 major surface combat ships, 135 attackand cruise-missile submarines and 45 ballistic-missile-carryingsubmarines(2). Three types of nuclear-powered submarines are assigned to this and other fleetsof the Soviet navy: attack submarines and cruise-missile submarines(designated as SSNs and SSGNs respectively) have the mission ofattacking an adversary's surface shipping and submarines at sea;ballistic-missile submarines (SSBNs), armed with long-range missiles withnuclear warheads, have major military installations, industrial complexes andurban centres as probable targets in the event of a nuclear war. The veryexistence of SSBNs, along with other strategic nuclear weapons, is thought toprevent such a war from occurring. Of particular concern to NATO is the Soviet Union's assignment of a large Proportion of SSNs, SSGNs and most of their Yankee-class and Delta-class SSBNsto the Northern Fleet. More specifically, the Northern Fleet has 65% of the Soviet navy's SSBNs and 52% of all other types of Sovietsubmarines(3). The build-up of the Northern Fleet in relation to the Baltic, Black and Pacific fleets appears to relate to the existence ofchoke-points (narrow water channels or straits) which govern the exits of thelatter three fleets from their home ports and the absence of such a choke-pointfor the Northern Fleet. Submarines and surface vessels can make way from their Barents Sea ports to the Atlantic without having to pass through any narrowstraits. Although only a small portion of that fleet deploys into the North Atlantic at any given time(4), this and other evidence has led mostanalysts to conclude that the fleet's primary tasks are strategic and tactical(anti-shipping) offensive missions in the North and Central Atlantic. The NATO response to these developments and analysis has been acontinuing effort to construct a "choke-point" at the GIUK gap.

The circular form of the linear superconducting machine for marine propulsion

The superconducting linear synchronous machine (LSM) has been shown to be a highly efficient means of propulsion for application to advanced ground transport systems. We have shown that it would also appear to have significant advantages in marine engineering, e.g. for the propulsion of large commercial ships, tankers and military vessels, where the basic requirements of high torque at relatively low shaft speeds, together with the ease of reversibility, are readily met. A design utilising the circular form of the LSM as a ship's drive motor has been proposed and the details of a specific form of the LSM, namely the linear commutator machine (LCM) are discussed. The many advantages of this type of heteropolar machine are listed and compared with the superconducting homopolar motors which have been developed for ship propulsion. In particular, its flexibility in design, the built-in redundancy factors, hence reliability, together with other design details of the cryogenic magnets and the armature winding are described.

ORIGIN, FORMATION AND FUNCTIONING OF THE MILITARY-JUDICIAL INSTITUTIONS ON THE PRIMARY STAGE OF THE MILITARY-JUDICIAL REFORMS OF PETER I

The article is devoted to the study of problematic issues of the origin, formation and functioning of military-judicial bodies at the primary stage of the military-judicial reforms of Peter I. A brief description of the literature revealing some issues of reforming the military-judicial system of the reign of Peter the Great in the history of the Russian state is given. In the study, the place and role of the "Code or the law of conduct of general, middle and lower ranks" of 1702 (or the Code of B.P. Sheremetev) and the "Short article" of 1706 (or the Short article by A.D. Menshikov) on the primary stage of the military-judicial reforms of Peter I at the beginning of the XVIII century. The article refers to the date of the creation of Russian military vessels on January 27, 1702. On that day, by a decree, General-Field Marshal B.P. Sheremetev The Code of 1702 became valid, which legislatively ensured the administration of justice by the "assembled military court" (collegial body). An attempt has been made to establish the normative sources that formed the basis for the creation of the BP Code. Sheremetev and a brief article by A.D. Menshikov, as well as to identify the goals and objectives that were set by the legislator in compiling the described codes of conduct for military personnel in Russia. The article gives the established term in practice, which was used to refer to the reformed bodies of military justice as krigsrecht, the procedure for considering cases in a military court, the participants in the process, their rights and duties were characterized. The organs of the central military administration are mentioned, which have not lost judicial functions, despite the creation of the krigsrecht system. It is concluded that the newly created military courts sent justice, apart, closing in on the military command. On the example of specific military-criminal processes the activities of military courts (krigsrecht) the maintenance of discipline and law and order troops are shown.

Adequate Strength for Small High-Speed Vessels

The paper presents a method for the determination of the critical minimum scantlings for small high-speed vessels. Particular attention is given to the shell plating strength for hydrodynamic impact loads. The suggested method uses an integrated approach involving assumed loads, suggested safety factors, and preferred stress-analysis method. The stress analysis uses plastic theory based partly on the works of J. Clarkson and Thein Wah. Included in the paper is a comparison of the relative structural strength of several commercial, military, and experimental hydrofoil vessels along with a few planing boats and a seaplane hull. This shows the variation of existing vessel structures and compares them to the results obtained by the suggested method. Most commercial, military, and recreational vessels exceed the minimum scantlings of the suggested method. The most significant deviation is the hull of the seaplane: