Submarine Base Research Articles

Distribution, abundance, and density of harbor porpoises in Hood Canal, Washington

AbstractHarbor porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) are the only cetaceans routinely sighted in Hood Canal, a narrow fjord that comprises the western edge of Puget Sound, Washington, USA. Harbor porpoises are sensitive to anthropogenic sounds, including noise from recreational and commercial vessel traffic, and the United States Navy, which conducts military training and testing within Hood Canal that can include underwater sound sources. This study was funded as part of the Navy monitoring program to assess potential impacts of naval activities on cetaceans. We conducted vessel‐based line‐transect surveys for harbor porpoises in Hood Canal in 2022–2023 to derive seasonal estimates of abundance and density. We carried out surveys over 37 days and surveyed the entire canal twice per season totaling 2,176 km of on‐effort track line. We recorded 809 on‐effort harbor porpoise groups and 1,385 individuals. Seasonal abundance estimates were lowest in winter (308 animals, 95% CI = 189–503) and gradually increased through spring and summer to a peak of 1,336 animals (95% CI = 826–2,160) in fall. Overall porpoise density was highest in central Hood Canal, an area that includes a designated United States Navy training range, though porpoise sightings were notably absent in a 21‐km2 area adjacent to the naval submarine base within this otherwise high‐density region. Though we collected only a single year of data, these results suggest that harbor porpoise abundance in Hood Canal increased significantly since it was last estimated (2013–2015). The notable seasonal fluctuation of harbor porpoise abundance suggests Hood Canal may host a larger percentage of the overall Washington Inland Waters stock during the fall season, raising important management considerations.

Selection of Naval Bases and Stations for submarines: a multimethodological approach

With the PROSUB program, the Brazilian Navy (MB) has been renewing its feet of submarines. However, this is not a movement that is exclusively Brazilian. With the worsening of crises around the world, many countries are in the process of expanding their armed forces, and coastal nations, in particular, are paying significant attention to their submarine weapons. However, as it is not only convenient to acquire submarines but also to operate them, it is necessary to define from where they will do so. Given the above, this current work aims to present a framework with a multimethodological focus, that is, presenting a combined use of the problem structuring method (PSM) Strategic Choice Approach with the multicriteria method MPSI-MARA. As a result, the ordering of some points along the Brazilian coast, made non-specific, is presented as a suggestion for the implementation of new Submarine Bases and/or Naval Support Stations.

The Neglected Remains of the Royal Citadel of Messina, Sicily: A Proposal for a Suitable Conservation and Re-Use Project

Neglected and abandoned heritage sites are a complex research topic, which always requires a thorough understanding of the site’s past and current condition. This article examines how research on history, architecture, and participation can contribute to creating a suitable re-use project for such heritage sites, focusing on a single case study: the Royal Citadel of Messina, Italy. Within the field of history, the city and fortification’s past underscores the importance of the site’s architectural and historical value. An urban analysis and documentation campaign were carried out during the field architecture. The urban analysis focused on the site as a remarkable natural landscape with industrial surroundings. The digital documentation, concentrating on the so-called cistern, emphasized the site’s values. Within a revalorization process, community participation is vital and is, therefore, one of the suggestions to consider in further developments. The last applied method is a comparative case study, namely, the submarine base at Saint-Nazaire, France. Considering the complexity and fragilities of the site, a framework is designed that provides suggestions for the conservation, revalorization, and re-use of the site of the Royal Citadel.

A practical optimisation method of submarine base considering vibration reduction, light-weight and shock resistance

ABSTRACT Engine base plays an important role in a submarine. To enhance the vitality of the submarine, the base should resist shock under underwater non-contact explosion situations. To improve the submarine’s acoustic-stealth characteristics, the base also needs to have an excellent vibration isolation ability. This paper establishes a multi-level and multi-objective optimisation method for the submarine base structure. The strong coupling interaction between the submarine structure and seawater is considered. Taking structure shock safety, vibration isolation and base light-weight as multi-objectives, the artificial intelligence technology is applied to optimise the size and shape of the base structure. With the optimisation, the total vibration level difference in the base is improved by 3.06 dB and the mass of the base is reduced by 26.16%. The adopted optimisation method in this paper could give references for the engineering design of the submarine base.

Watching Me, Watching You: Reflections Upon Surveillance, Gare Loch Duality and the #UndesiredLine

From my local observations, the everyday military surveillance, an ever-present panopticon, perpetuates both conscious and unconscious stress in the lives of those who endure it. In this paper I will reflect upon my experiences of a 224 mile pilgrimage that I undertook in 2018, over a period of 50 days. It was a daily walk from the front door of my house to the front door of the Faslane Nuclear Submarine Base, on the Gare Loch in Scotland. A walking performance, through which I drew an Undesired Line on the grass verge in parallel to an existing "undesired line" - the perimeter fence of the Base. Throughout the time the performance was in progress, I made an online text artwork using the Twitter hashtag #UndesiredLine. One year later, I reactivated the #UndesiredLine text-work in order to analyse subsequent observations and to establish a platform (and outlet) to examine the complex reality of Gare Loch ‘duality’. I will look at the potential legacy for The Undesired Line, and how I can use the documentation: video, photos, daily journal writings, field recordings, tweets and maps. In addition to appraising my own work, I will discuss surveillance focused artworks by David Rokeby, Janet Cardiff and The Surveillance Camera Players. I will also consider some of the ethical challenges of interactive art, as well as the implications and limitations of "piggy-backing" an online artwork onto existing online platforms such as Twitter and Google Maps.

Gas Geochemistry at Grande Comore and Mayotte Volcanic Islands (Comoros Archipelago), Indian Ocean

AbstractThe Comoros archipelago is an active geodynamic region of intra‐plate volcanism within which the youngest and oldest islands (Grande Comore and Mayotte respectively) are characterized by recent volcanic activity. The frequent eruptions of the large shield volcano Karthala on Grande Comore (last eruption 2007), and the recent birth of a large submarine volcano since 2018 at the submarine base of Mayotte are associated with permanent fumarolic emissions, bubbling gas seeps, and soil gas emissions, which are studied in detail here for the first time. CO2 fluxes and chemical and isotopic gas compositions acquired during two surveys in 2017 and 2020 are integrated with older data sets collected between 2005 and 2016, permitting the identification of a possible influence of the recent volcanic and magmatic activity at Mayotte. At Karthala, high gas fluxes with high temperature, and a marked magmatic signature are concentrated close to the summit crater area, while only weaker emissions with a stronger biogenic signature are found on the volcano flanks. At Mayotte, lower temperature and higher CH4 content are recorded in two main seep areas of CO2‐rich fluid bubbling, while soil emissions on land record a higher proportion of magmatic fluids compared to Karthala. Our preliminary results reveal two quite separate gas emission patterns for each island that are distinct in composition and isotopic signatures, and well correlated with the present state of volcanic activity. This work may potentially provide support for local observation infrastructures and contribute to the improvement in volcanic and environmental monitoring.

Gardens of Interstitial Wildness

This paper looks into ‘gardens of wildness’ that have been established in metropolitan interstitial spaces. These unused, unfunctional urban spaces could be considered as spatial-temporary interstices of the metropolitan landscape. These ‘interstitial spaces’ possess the potential to host diverse social-ecological minorities that tend to be excluded by regulated urban spaces. The ecological qualities of interstitial spaces are recognised by French garden designer Gilles Clement, who regards spontaneous ecologies, which emerge in neglected spaces of the city, as cherished reservoirs that diversify and sustain the urban ecology. Specifically, this paper discusses the value of making gardens of interstitial wildness. If the garden is a potential design approach magnifying the quality of the place, what would be the role of interstitial wild gardens? Furthermore, how do these gardens respond to the relationship between interstitial spaces and the metropolitan landscape? In this paper we will analyse Gilles Clement’s garden design of Jardins du Tiers-Paysage (Gardens of The Third Landscape), located on the roof of the repurposed submarine base of Saint-Nazaire (FR). Reading Saint-Nazaire’s urban context and examining the design from ecological and experiential points of view, this paper shows how the gardens re-introduce the submarine base as a place in the metropolitan landscape of Saint-Nazaire. Orchestrating the experience of the site’s spatial characteristics and the emerging wildness, the gardens elicit an appreciation of the autonomy of non-human agencies and simultaneously reflect upon the heterogeneity of the metropolitan landscape.

МІСЦЕ МОЗАМБІКУ У ВІЙСЬКОВО-ПОЛІТИЧНІЙ СТРАТЕГІЇ СРСР НА ПІВДНІ АФРИКИ

В статті проаналізовано місце Мозамбіку у військово-політичній стратегії СРСР на півдні Африки, звертається увага на ідеологічні мотиви зовнішньополітичних акцій Радянського Союзу. Зазначається, що свій вплив на Африканському континенті СРСР намагався поширювати насамперед за допомогою комбінацій політико-дипломатичних зусиль, економічної допомоги та поставок зброї.Зроблено висновок, що наприкінці 1980-х рр. Мозамбік залишався одним з найбільш відданих союзників Москви в Африці. Надаючи Мозамбіку допомогу у будівництві збройних сил, радянські лідери прагнули будь-якою ціною утримати його в сфері свого впливу. Серед причин слід вказати, передусім, геополітичні фактори, а саме – можливість впливати на сусідню Південну Африку. Крім того, радянський флот мав потребу у базах на західноафриканському узбережжі.

US Navy sub base breaks ground on FCE fuel cell microgrid

The US Naval Submarine Base New London (SUBASE) in Groton, Connecticut has begun construction of its 7.4 MW fuel cell park, which features two SureSource 4000™ molten carbonate fuel cell power plants from FuelCell Energy to generate power for the base and local power grid.

James Fleming McHarg

James McHarg V.R.D. died on 10 March 2003, in his 86th year. ![Figure][1] He graduated in Medicine at Edinburgh University in 1940 and then served in the Royal Navy, first on an Atlantic convoy destroyer and then as senior medical officer to a submarine base, achieving the rank of surgeon-

Occupational health concerns: An analysis of physical activity of submariners

BackgroundSubmarine crew have low physical activity by virtue of their professional requirements. Lack of space and inadequacy of regeneration capabilities render physical activity almost impossible during deployments. However, sufficient data for physical activity levels and trends are required to measure the magnitude of inactivity. MethodsData was collected from 362 personnel belonging to six submarines and one submarine base using Global Physical Activity Questionnaire. Four study groups were defined: Base, Refit, Operational/Harbour and Operational/Sea. ResultsOverall, 30.11% of the crew had insufficient physical activity (4.04% in Base, 5.75% in Refit, 15% in Ops/Harbour and 91.67% in Ops/Sea groups). Of the total physical activity, 48.7% was contributed by activity at work, 18.71% by travel related activity and 32.62% by recreational physical activity. Base group recorded the highest recreational activity of 1468.28Minutes-per-Week. Recreational activity contributed 43.22% to total physical activity for this group. Mean total physical activity was highest for ≥45 years and lowest for ≤24 years. ≥45 years old also recorded the highest recreational activity. ConclusionThe greatest cause for concern comes from the crew in operational submarines and the younger crew. Physical activity profile of the crew when at sea cannot be changed and greater research is required to assess the long-term health effects of physical inactivity in this group. However, what can be modified are the work schedules for refit submarines and operational submarines when in harbour. Targeted interventions and strategies are required to establish sustainable behaviour patterns with regards to physical activity in these groups.

Dream port: Morale, memory and allied submariners in Western Australia during the Second World War

Fremantle, Western Australia, served as a major Allied submarine base during the Second World War. Among the American and British submariners who served there, Western Australia is remembered as the best leave centre in the Pacific. This study argues that Fremantle’s reputation relied in part on the lack of comparable amenities at other bases. At the same time, Western Australia’s civilian population was especially welcoming and enabled visiting submariners to experience the community as a surrogate home during the war.

Frances Crowe, 95-year-old antinuclear activist

In this interview, legendary activist Frances Crowe looks back on 70 years of protesting against the use of nuclear weapons and nuclear energy. She describes the impact that the news of the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima had on the American public in 1945—and how she and her husband, a radiologist and physician who had educated her on the effects of radiation poisoning, then decided to take a stand against its use. Among other acts of civil disobedience, she went on to spend a month in federal prison after spray-painting “Thou Shalt Not Kill” on the casings of missile tubes at a nuclear submarine base in Rhode Island. This grandmother of five has been arrested nine times for trespassing at the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station and was arrested again on January 14, two months shy of her 95th birthday. On the eve of the publication of her book, Finding My Radical Soul, Crowe tells about growing up in the Midwest during an era of Progressive politics, her evolution as a protestor, the limits of civil disobedience, what drove her and her husband—and what continues to drive her today.

Seamounts off the West Antarctic margin: A case for non-hotspot driven intraplate volcanism

New radiometric age and geochemical data of volcanic rocks from the guyot-type Marie Byrd Seamounts (MBS) and the De Gerlache Seamounts and Peter I Island (Amundsen Sea) are presented. 40Ar/39Ar ages of the shield phase of three MBS are Early Cenozoic (65 to 56Ma) and indicate formation well after creation of the Pacific–Antarctic Ridge. A Pliocene age (3.0Ma) documents a younger phase of volcanism at one MBS and a Pleistocene age (1.8Ma) for the submarine base of Peter I Island. Together with published data, the new age data imply that Cenozoic intraplate magmatism occurred at distinct time intervals in spatially confined areas of the Amundsen Sea, excluding an origin through a fixed mantle plume. Peter I Island appears strongly influenced by an EMII type mantle component that may reflect shallow mantle recycling of a continental raft during the final breakup of Gondwana. By contrast the Sr–Nd–Pb–Hf isotopic compositions of the MBS display a strong affinity to a HIMU-type mantle source. On a regional scale the isotopic signatures overlap with those from volcanics related to the West Antarctic Rift System, and Cretaceous intraplate volcanics in and off New Zealand. We propose reactivation of the HIMU material, initially accreted to the base of continental lithosphere during the pre-rifting stage of Marie Byrd Land/Zealandia to explain intraplate volcanism in the Amundsen Sea in the absence of a long-lived hotspot. We propose continental insulation flow as the most plausible mechanism to transfer the sub-continental accreted plume material into the shallow oceanic mantle. Crustal extension at the southern boundary of the Bellingshausen Plate from about 74 to 62Ma may have triggered adiabatic rise of the HIMU material from the base of Marie Byrd Land to form the MBS. The De Gerlache Seamounts are most likely related to a preserved zone of lithospheric weakness underneath the De Gerlache Gravity Anomaly.

Large-scale active slump of the southeastern flank of Pico Island, Azores

We report evidence for ongoing lateral slump of part of the southeastern flank of the Pico volcanic ridge in the Azores. Data from a high-resolution digital elevation model, field work, GPS, and radar interferometry show that: (1) the slumping sector is several cubic kilometers in size; (2) the structure involves several curved scars with normal fault kinematics; (3) the central part is undergoing little horizontal displacement toward the southeast (1.6 ± 1.3 mm/yr), but significant downward movement (5–12 mm/yr); and (4) the outer part of the southeastern flank of Pico is subsiding faster than the inner parts; this likely reflects recent individualization of a steep seaward-dipping fault in the moving mass. The slump shares similarities with active slumps recognized elsewhere, although the studied area may represent only the proximal part of a much larger complex potentially affecting the deep submarine base of the island. Displacement of the subaerial part of the southeastern flank of Pico seems to be accommodated by the movement and rotation of large blocks along listric normal faults.

Cool Hand Nuke: Lessons From the Quiet Diplomacy of the Cienfuegos Non-Crisis

How does presidential framing and signaling of problems affect the potential solutions available to solve those problems? For example, the Cuban Missile Crisis was immediately labeled a crisis and limited alternative solutions. Conversely, the Cienfuegos submarine base dilemma of 1970—despite having graver potential consequences—was never framed as a crisis, was out of the public eye, and was equally successful at repealing a Soviet threat. We offer a Force Dilemma model that suggests the president's problem definition process should produce crisis classifications sparingly, considering and employing less confrontational instruments of power, without prematurely sending unnecessary signals to adversaries, contemporaries, and the public.

A critical test of the concept of submarine equilibrium profile

The existence of a slope equilibrium profile has been widely used to account for erosional and depositional processes on submarine slopes and turbidite systems. Profiles out-of-equilibrium are commonly observed in actively deforming areas where channels seem to be deflected or diverted by seafloor structures. In this study the concept of the submarine equilibrium profile is tested in an area of extensive surface faulting to examine whether channels adopt an equilibrium-type profile through time. The study area is on the slope of the Nile Delta, which is disrupted by a number of surface-rupturing normal faults. Prior to fault linkage, several submarine channels flowed down the slope and either utilised relay ramps or flowed through fault scarps of the fault array. Where a relay ramp had been utilised, post fault linkage, the channels of the area either avulsed or converged into one major channel in response to a change in the deformed slope profile to a more concave shape. The thalweg of the post fault linkage channel and two slope profiles either side of it are measured in the area of the fault array, to understand how the channel evolved in response to the active faulting. When fault displacement is relatively small the combination of channel erosion and aggradation results in a channel thalweg profile near-equilibrium with predictable modifications of channel dimensions (depth and width) even if sediment supply was infrequent and episodic. It is concluded that turbidite channels can conform to the concept of equilibrium and submarine base level if it is the most energy efficient route for submarine gravity flows downslope. The most energy efficient route will be one where flows bypass the slope without eroding or depositing and move in a direct downslope course towards base level.

Marine magnetic investigation of the submarine base of Mt. Etna and Hyblean Plateau

Two marine magnetic surveys were carried out during 1997 and 1999 in the Ionian Sea off the eastern coast of Sicily to investigate the magnetic structures of the eastern base of Mt. Etna and the Hyblean Plateau. The investigated area is approximately 85 km long and 15 km wide, running from North to South, in the Western Ionian Sea. Models along two profiles parallel to the coast and over the entire area provide a possible distribution of volcanic bodies and volcaniclastic deposits off the eastern coast of Sicily and their relations with the sedimentary substratum. 3D modeling suggests the presence of magnetized bodies, inserted in the sedimentary substratum, plausibly related to Hyblean Plateau volcanism in the south sector and to Mt. Etna activity in the north. We speculate that the Malta Escarpment could have produced preferential ways for magma ascents off the Hyblean Plateau. The spatial continuity of the volcanism affecting the entire investigated area could testify spatial transition between Hyblean and Etnean volcanism supporting the hypothesis that the magma process migrated with time from south-east to north-west.

How Change Does Not Happen: The Impact of Culture on a Submarine Base

This study was part of a Knowledge Transfer Partnership project involving the University of Strathclyde and Royal Navy Base Faslane on the Clyde. The main focus was a market research study to assist in the development of a retail hub for service personnel and civilians to use while on the base. In the course of the study, it was noted how many obstacles to change there were. The researchers have used Johnson's concepts of the cultural web and organisational paradigm to identify what the 'blockages' to change are, and suggest a number of possible ways of addressing these issues. The research suggests that this phenomenon may become more common as more public organisations develop partnerships with private organisations, leading to the potential for clashes of corporate and personal cultures.

How Change Does Not Happen: The Impact of Culture on a Submarine Base

This study was part of a Knowledge Transfer Partnership project involving the University of Strathclyde and Royal Navy Base Faslane on the Clyde. The main focus was a market research study to assist in the development of a retail hub for service personnel and civilians to use while on the base. In the course of the study, it was noted how many obstacles to change there were. The researchers have used Johnson's concepts of the cultural web and organisational paradigm to identify what the ‘blockages’ to change are, and suggest a number of possible ways of addressing these issues. The research suggests that this phenomenon may become more common as more public organisations develop partnerships with private organisations, leading to the potential for clashes of corporate and personal cultures.