US Navy Revises Fleet Numbers
In its latest 30-year shipbuilding plan, the US Navy (USN) has distanced itself from its ambitious 2005 plan of fielding a 313-ship fleet by the middle of the coming decade.
Instead the service has told Congress that it wants a 301-ship fleet by 2040, a force level that will require a consistent funding level of USD15.9 billion on average per year.
The new plan envisages a fleet consistent with the irregular warfare and ballistic missile defence focus of the 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR).
Emphasizing “reasonable levels of funding”, the procurement of larger surface combatants has been curtailed in favour of smaller, cheaper ships such as the Littoral Combat Ship multirole frigate and the Joint High Speed Vessel, a shallow-draught intra-theatre connector.
The future large surface combatant programs – the Zumwalt-class (DDG 1000) destroyer and the nascent CG(X) cruiser replacement – have been replaced by the purchase of more Arleigh Burke-class (DDG 51) destroyers, which will eventually incorporate the navy’s Air and Missile Defense Radar development efforts.
By 2016 the navy expects the new DDG 51 hulls will be purpose-built for the ballistic missile defence role. Additionally, the navy plans to extend the service life of the Flight IIA Arleigh Burkes (pennant numbers DDG 79 and higher) to 40 years.
UK Seeks French Defence Entente
Britain is calling for enhanced military co-operation between the UK and France, saying greater defence collaboration with the European Union may be essential if the nation’s armed forces are to operate on a reduced budget.
A green paper published earlier this week sets out the terms on which Britain will conduct its forthcoming Strategic Defence Review, the Ministry of Defence will reassert that no military alliance is more important to the UK than the one with Washington.
But the document, drawn up by Bob Ainsworth, defence secretary, will put an unexpectedly strong emphasis on the need for the UK to work with the EU if it is to maintain its role on the world stage.
The 52-page document, called Adaptability and Partnership: Issues for the Strategic Defence Review, applauds the decision by Nicolas Sarkozy, French president, to take France fully back into NATO : “The return of France to Nato’s integrated military structures offers an opportunity for even greater co-operation with a key partner across a range of defence activity.”
The paper will underscore the importance of European security and defence policy to a degree not seen in a government policy paper for some years.
“The UK will greatly improve its influence if we and our European partners speak and act in concert,” it says. “A robust EU role in crisis management will strengthen NATO. Playing a leading role at the heart of Europe will strengthen our relationship with the USA.”
The green paper even suggests that Britain may need to re-examine the weight it attaches to its relationships with NATO and the EU: “The review will need to determine where there is scope to increase the effectiveness of those relationships in delivering our security or to rebalance our investments across the organisations.”
The next government will take decisions after this year’s general election on how it will restructure the armed forces, given the pressure on the UK public finances. In particular, it must decide whether to proceed with the current decision to construct two aircraft carriers.
However, defence experts believe the forthcoming defence review must not only examine the balance between the three armed services, but whether the UK should reconfigure its alliances with the USA and EU.
Few defence officials expect an immediate warming of relations between Britain, France and the EU. David Cameron’s Conservatives have, in the past, expressed strong scepticism about the EU’s defence arrangements. But pressures on the UK defence budget may force the next government to look harder at whether it can avoid duplicating key defence assets with France and other EU states.
United States 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review Envisions a Do-It-All Military
The 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) unveiled Feb. 1 envisions a U.S. military that would be very different than the one Defense Secretary Robert Gates found upon taking office in 2006. The much-anticipated review calls for a force shaped for a wide swath of activities in many hotspots, not one only shaped to simultaneously fight two peer militaries.
The 2010 review keeps a requirement for a force capable of conducting two major contingencies at once, but it “breaks from the past … in its insistence that the U.S. Armed Forces must be capable of conducting a wide range of operations.”
And it’s no short list, ranging from two big operations to “homeland defense and defense support to civil authorities, to deterrence and preparedness missions, to the conflicts we are in and the wars we may someday face,” the QDR states.
Gates, during a briefing at the Pentagon, told reporters he found the Cold War-era force planning construct “too confining,” and felt it “didn’t represent the real world” in which the U.S. military will operate for years to come.
The secretary prompted the change in the Pentagon’s force planned construct months ago. As the QDR process was getting underway, Gates told reporters he asked DoD researchers and planners what would happen if the U.S. military, which already is involved in a pair of major operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, faced another serious challenge.
Examples the secretary listed included a major earthquake like the one that destroyed much of Haiti last month and a major domestic disaster. The new construct “stresses the importance of fielding forces that are versatile and that, in aggregate, can undertake missions across the full range of plausible challenges,” according to the QDR.
“Because America’s adversaries have been adopting a wide range of strategies and capabilities that can be brought to bear against the United States and its forces, allies, and interests, it is no longer appropriate to speak of ‘major regional conflicts’ as the sole or even the primary template for sizing, shaping, and evaluating U.S. forces,” the review states.
Instead, the quadrennial study calls for a U.S. force “prepared to conduct a wide variety of missions under a range of different circumstances.” It goes on to describe operations that “may vary in duration and intensity for maritime, air, ground, space and cyber forces.”
Some former officials and analysts have raised concerns about the notion of creating a military largely composed of so-called “full-spectrum forces,” meaning they are able to do many things.
One source who reviewed a copy of the quadrennial study before it was publicly released said he worries it is pushing for a generalist U.S. force.
“That notion is a total misnomer,” the source said, adding he feels forces should have a clear and strong expertise.
The Pentagon seems to have heard such alarms.
“Ensuring flexibility of the whole force does not require each part of the force to do everything equally well,” the quadrennial review states. “Not all challenges pose the same degree of threat to national interests, rely on U.S. military capabilities equally, or have the same chance of occurrence.”
The new force-shaping model was derived from what the draft report calls the Pentagon’s four defense strategy priorities: “prevail in today’s wars; prevent and deter conflict; prepare to succeed in a wide range of contingencies; and preserve and enhance the force.” Sources say the priorities are known within the QDR process as “the Four Ps.”
The study also establishes frameworks that look beyond the five-year DoD budget plan that was rolled out along with the QDR.
“Whereas [past] QDRs have often emphasized shaping the force beyond the five-year time frame, this QDR, of necessity, had to focus intensively on present conflicts as well as potential future needs,” it states. “Our force-sizing construct therefore takes into account the realities of the current operational environment. In order to shape the force of the future, however, the construct also establishes sizing criteria for the midterm [5–7 years] and long term [7–20 years].”
The study also hints Obama administration defense officials agree with many Pentagon observers who have long said past QDRs failed to make a lasting impact because they often aren’t implemented within the Pentagon’s annual budgeting process.
“To ensure a tight coupling of strategic ends to means, the QDR force-sizing construct is defined according to the priority objectives of the defense strategy,” the study states.
Additionally, the draft QDR says Pentagon officials built the review around six key mission areas: defend the United States and support civil authorities at home; conduct counterinsurgency, stability and counterterrorist operations; build partnership capacity; deter and defeat aggression in anti-access environments; impede proliferation and counter weapons of mass destruction; operate effectively in cyberspace.
The QDR calls for steps to ensure success in each mission area that could influence Pentagon procurement and research accounts.
For defending the homeland, initiatives include enhancing crisis response forces, speeding development of nuclear and radiation detection tools, and bolstering counter-IED tools to thwart potential bomb attacks inside the United States.
Under the counterinsurgency-stability-counter terror goals, the QDR calls for increased availability of helicopters, unmanned and manned ISR planes, increasing “enabling assets for special operations forces.”
For “deterring and defeating” foes in “anti-access environments,” the QDR cites a list of steps: more long-range strike systems; “exploit advantages in subsurface operations”; enhance ISR platforms; and assure access to space.
The QDR raises cyberspace operations to the top of the department’s focus list. Here, the Pentagon must “develop a more comprehensive approach to DoD operations in cyberspace.” Also needed are “greater cyber expertise and awareness,” and better organization and command of cyber activities within DoD and across the federal government, it states.
Meantime, the QDR also spawned a follow-on study that will “determine what combination of joint persistent surveillance, electronic warfare, and precision-attack capabilities, including both penetrating platforms and stand-off weapons, will best support U.S. power projection operations over the next two to three decades.”
That study will inform budget plans for long-range strike programs for fiscal 2012 through fiscal 2017.
Reaction to the QDR from Capitol Hill has been largely predictable, with Democrats praising the strategic review and Republicans voicing questions and concerns.
The top Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, Rep. Howard “Buck” McKeon, R-Calif., said in a statement he is “concerned we are not making the necessary investments in research and development – as well as across-the-board investments in our weapons platforms – that will be required to meet the threats outlined in the Quadrennial Defense Review.”
Industry analysts say the review will create new opportunities for defense firms in realms like cyber security, giving a boost to helicopter- and unmanned aircraft makers.
Crude Oil Buoyed by Weak Dollar, Positive Manufacturing Data
In a bout of post-weekend short-covering, crude futures edged back into positive territory on the New York Mercantile Exchange this past Monday led by encouraging domestic manufacturing data and a weaker dollar. As the U.S. currency lost ground against the euro, its denominated price of light, sweet crude oil for March delivery gained more than $1.50 from last week’s lower price tag to settle at $74.43 a barrel.
Additionally, Wall Street was encouraged by Exxon Mobil Corp.’s earnings report, which beat out analysts’ expectations. The world’s largest publicly traded oil and gas company, ExxonMobil posted upstream earnings of $5,780 million, up $146 million from the fourth quarter of 2008.
“Oil prices were starting to lose momentum, and coming in this week, without the dollar continuing to rebound and with better-than-expected manufacturing numbers, the market took that as a sign that things may be turning around,” said analyst Gene McGillian at Tradition Energy in Stamford, Connecticut. On Friday, the oil price exited the month of January down more than 8% from December 2008.
He continued, “I think that the market is showing strong resistance near $74-$75, and for the price to get boosted above that, we’ll need to see another round of unexpected economic data.”
Littoral Combat Ship RFP: Cost Will Be Chief Factor
The Request for Proposal (RFP) issued Jan. 26 by the U.S. Navy for the next round of bids for Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) details factors that will guide the choice later this year of a design basis for Flight 0+.
Navy officials have indicated that cost will be the foremost determining factor in their choice between a Lockheed Martin design and one from rival General Dynamics. But the RFP makes it clear a number of other criteria will be considered – chiefly technical and management factors.
Unclassified portions of the RFP were made public Jan. 28, posted on the Navy Electronic Commerce Online (NECO) Web site.
The RFP lists three primary bid items for the contract: a basic seaframe, or ship; selected ship systems equipment, consisting of weapons, sensors, computers and the ship’s combat system; and the systems to handle the integration and testing of the ship’s systems and equipment.
At stake is an award this year for 10 ships, including selected ship systems – two ships per year through 2014. A follow-on competition is scheduled for 2012, when a second shipyard will be chosen to build five ships over three years. A second source also will be chosen in 2012 to supply select ship systems.
Technical and management factors listed by the RFP are, in order of preference: affordability and production approach; management; technical data package adequacy, and rights in technical data and computer software; design change impact; past performance; and life-cycle cost reduction initiatives.
The guidelines also caution bidders to provide realistic price data.”Experience in Navy programs indicates that a contract awarded to a contractor submitting an unrealistic price proposal … may cause problems for the Navy as well as the contractor during contract performance,” the RFP reads in part.
The LCS program became a poster child for cost growth in Navy shipbuilding after the $220 million ships contracted for by the Navy in 2004 more than tripled in cost.
The inability of either contractor to meet a congressional cost cap of $480 million for each of the new ships led the service in September to drop plans to buy both variants. Instead, the Navy took up a new plan to buy only one design, hoping to find economies in standardization and quantity orders.
The RFP lists technical management as “approximately equal in importance” to price and cost as the chief factors in determining a winner.
However, it cautioned, “the importance of overall evaluated price/cost as an evaluation factor will increase with the degree of equality in technical/management between competing proposals.”
Ice Is ‘Rotten’ in the Beaufort Sea
Recent observations show that Beaufort Sea ice was not as it appeared in the summer of 2009. Sea ice cover serves as an indication of climate and has implications for marine and terrestrial ecosystems.
In early September 2009, satellite measurements implied that most of the ice in the Beaufort Sea either was thick ice that had been there for multiple years or was thick, first-year ice.
However, in situ observations made in September 2009 by Barber et al. show that much of the ice was in fact “rotten” ice — ice that is thinner, heavily decayed, and structurally weak due to a uniform temperature throughout.
The authors suggest that satellite measurements were confused because both types of ice exhibit similar temperature and salinity profiles near their surfaces and a similar amount of open water between flows. The authors note that while an increase in summer minimum ice extent in the past 2 years could give the impression that Arctic ice is recovering, these new results show that multiyear ice in fact is still declining.
The results have implications for climate science and marine vessel transport in the Arctic. The research appears in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.
Authors include David G. Barber, Ryan Galley, Matthew G. Asplin, Kerri-Ann Warner and Mukesh Gupta, Centre for Earth Observation Science, Faculty of Environment, Earth and Resources, University of Manitoba; Roger De Abreu, Canadian Ice Service, Environment Canada; Monika Pućko, Centre for Earth Observation Science, Faculty of Environment, Earth and Resources, University of Manitoba, and Freshwater Institute, Fisheries and Oceans; Simon Prinsenberg, Bedford Institute of Oceanography, Fisheries and Oceans; Stéphane Julien, Laurentian Region, Canadian Coast Guard.
Icelandic Trawlers Return to Port in Protest
Virtually all Iceland trawlers in the Vestmannaeyjar (Westman Islands) region of the country have been returning to port in the past few days to protest over a Government plan to take away one of their few income tax “perks”. Vestmannaeyjar is one of the largest fishing regions in Iceland.
It has also had the unusual step of uniting the two sides in the industry – the fishing unions and the country’s trawler owners association.
They are also angry over proposals to re-distribute fishing quotas and to impose a levy on exports of unprocessed fish.
Called the fishermen’s rebate, the tax scheme, which is causing the most concern, is the only one of its kind in the country and has been running for more than 50 years. The current rebate is around € 5.5 (C$8.25) for every one day spent at sea. Both the owners and the fishermen say it is a modest compensation for a fisherman’s long absence from their home and families.
A Spokesman for the Iceland Fishing Vessel Owners Association said: “These tax breaks have been in place since 1954. Those who want them eliminated cite that vessels are now not what they were etc – i.e working conditions are now much better. “
Things have certainly moved on – also in the private and public sector where people receive tax free travel expenses to cover food and accommodation when staying away from their natural habitat. Fishermen look at their tax breaks as a somewhat similar thing.
He said he could not see the proposal going through the Althing (Iceland’s Parliament) without a major political fight. It was also being suggested that the tax breaks should be fitted into a ‘one system fits all’ day allowance system.
In a separate move all Icelanders (including fishermen) face a big increase in income tax, VAT and alcohol duties as the government tries to get the economy back on its feet.
Measuring The Chinese Fleet
A mistake by a US Navy intelligence official has given the world an unexpected peek into the secret world of China’s navy. The US Office for Naval Intelligence (ONI) committed the blunder of posting, on an open website, the agency’s assessment of the state of the Chinese navy. Before the ONI could rectify this indiscretion by pulling off the report, it had been downloaded and posted on publicly accessible websites.
The 47-page report, entitled, “A Modern Navy with Chinese Characteristics”, is still posted on the website of the Federation of American Scientists, a policy advocacy body at: http://www.fas.org/irp/agency/oni/pla-navy.pdf
The ONI report analyses the capabilities and the future direction of the People’s Liberation Army (Navy), or PLA(N). Interestingly, the ONI assessment differs substantially with the conventional view — widely prevalent in India and the Indian Navy — of a China racing unstoppably towards naval superpower.
The assessment notes China’s recent deployment of Task Groups — each consisting of two warships and a replenishment vessel — for anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden. This marks the first time in over 600 years that a Chinese flotilla has operated in waters beyond China’s immediate vicinity. But the report concludes, “none of these operations indicates a desire on the part of the PRC (People’s Republic of China) to develop a constant global presence. Beijing’s ambition appears to remain focused on the East Asian region, with an ability to protect the PRC’s maritime interests in distant seas when required.
The Chinese navy last went global during the Ming rule in the early 15th century, when the great Chinese admiral Zhang He stamped the authority of the Chinese navy across the Indian Ocean, reaching to the shores of Africa. But, in 1435, China decided to focus inwards. Around 1477, by the emperor ordered the burning of records of Zhang’s seven great voyages, from 1405-1435. Thereafter, no further naval activity was permitted in the southern seas.
This inward focus continued through Mao’s revolutionary war, which brought the communists to power. Thereafter, a coastal navy was sufficient to enforce China’s claims over most of the East and South China Seas, and the need to deter Taiwan from declaring independence. But the US Navy’s dominating presence in the Asia-Pacific and need to protect China’s supply lines convince Beijing of the need for greater naval power. China’s Defence White Paper of 2008 calls for expanding the navy’s operating range, and a greater role in international security.
The PLA(N)’s most key acquisition, says the ONI report, is a sophisticated anti-air capability, which would allow its ships to operate in “distant seas”, far from land-based air-defence systems. The Luyang I class of destroyers, already formidable, have been followed by the Luyang II class and the Jiangkai II frigates, which are linked with an air-surveillance network as good as America’s world-standard Aegis system.
Submarines, both conventional and nuclear, will be a key deterrent in the PLA(N). The ONI report says that Beijing will replace its large number of low-tech submarines with “smaller numbers of modern, high-capability boats (submarines)”. But while the number of surface ships remains constant, today’s fleet of 62 submarines will increase over the next 10-15 years to 75. [In that time-frame, India’s submarine fleet will be about one-third that of China’s.]
Most worrisome for the US Navy’s pre-eminence in the region, is the programme to develop the world’s first Anti-Ship Ballistic Missile (ASBM), a variant of China’s Dong Feng – 21 missile. The ONI report reveals that the ASBM’s peculiar flight path, involving a mid-course trajectory correction, will make it very difficult to intercept.
Despite the addition of high-tech platforms, US intelligence estimates that much of the PLA(N) will still remain outdated 10-15 years from now. Its surface ships will remain vulnerable to air attack, while command and control systems will still be relatively undeveloped. Therefore, while the PLA(N) will be gradually expanding beyond the South China Sea, it will focus on what Beijing calls, “military operations other than war.” These include protecting its international lines of supply, humanitarian relief, and naval diplomacy.
The strength of the Chinese fleet was listed as:
Submarines- 62 (53 diesel Attack Submarines, six nuclear Attack Submarines, three nuclear Ballistic Missile Submarines). The U.S. has 72 submarines, all nuclear (53 attack and 18 ballistic missile.)
Destroyers-26. The U.S. has 52.
Frigates-48. The U.S. has 32, including two of the new LCS vessels.
Amphibious Ships 58. The U.S. has 30, all much larger and equipped with flight decks and helicopters, plus landing craft.
Coastal Patrol (Missile)- at least 80. The U.S. Navy had a few of these, but got rid of them. China uses these for coastal patrol and defense, a concept they inherited from the Russians.
In addition, the U.S. has eleven aircraft carriers (ten of them nuclear powered) and 22 cruisers.
Most of the Chinese ships are older (in design, if not in the age of the vessels) than their American counterparts. China is building new classes of ships, with more modern equipment and weapons.
Their new destroyers have better anti-aircraft weapons, although nothing to match the American Aegis system, much less the 20 U.S. Aegis ships with anti-missile capability. China is trying to develop classes of nuclear submarines that come close to the capabilities of their American counterparts.
China is also vastly outmatched in naval aviation, with nothing comparable to the hundreds of American maritime patrol (P-3) aircraft. But China is building aircraft carriers, and upgrading its naval aviation.
Only a portion (about a third) of the U.S. fleet is facing China, because of other commitments, while nearly all the Chinese fleet operates along their coast. But the U.S. also has major naval allies in the region (like Japan and South Korea), while China has none. The Chinese fleet is no match for the U.S. Navy now, but the Chinese are building and planning for the future. In another few decades, the Chinese expect the situation to be quite different. But the question is the timeline and scale of the ambitious building plan of PLA Navy.
The former Russian carrier Varyag is now in Chinese possession.
The Varyag aircraft carrier, Type 052C “Chinese Aegis” and Type 093/094 submarines are always the focus point of Western defence analysts. Some sources in the Chinese defense industries indicate that China will continuously push its huge Navy construction in world economic crisis. In next few years the hardware construction of Chinese Naval Force is going to enter an higher climax.
In Dalian Shipbuilding Corporation, Varyag has become a covering smog of PLA Navy’s intention. China will simultaneously build two 70,000-80,000 displacement Carriers in Dalian Shipbuilding Corporation and Shanghai Jiangnan Changxing shipbuilding base. Chinese’s new carrier is believed to have conventional power propellant (some people notes that one conventional power and another is nuclear power) and steam catapult, not ski-jump ramp. Besides, Dalian Shipyard will build a steam turbine powered large air-defense destroyer, which will be a expanded type of 051C destroyer (Type 051D?).
Not only the aircraft carrier, Shanghai Jiangnan Changxing shipbuilding base will build other 3 general 7000-tonne class (some opinions say 9000-10000 ton) missile destroyer, whose armament includes HHQ-9G long-range air-defense missile, HHQ-16 medium-range air defense missile, YJ-XX anti-ship/land-attacking missile, anti-submarine missile and 1 Z-15 helicopter. As the fire-control system, the improved Array Scan Radar in Type 052C is an option but Chinese people are developing a ship-borne sensor which is similar to SAMPSON multi-function air tracking radar used in British Type 45 destroyer.
An artist rendering of Type 052D Destroyer
Type 052D, the upgrading version of well-known Type 052C destroyer, will become the air-defense core of PLA Navy Aircraft Carrier Group. Huangpu Shipbuilding Corporation located in Guangzhou will start the production of 4 Type 052D destroyers.
Hudong Shipbuilding Company, another shipbuilder in Shanghai, will carry the task of producing 6-8 23,000-tonne class “flush deck” amphibious transport dock ships. As the bloom of Type 054A frigates appeared in Chinese ship yards, the performance of this new missile frigate has been recognized by PLA Navy. It can be sure that the production of Type 054A frigate will be continue in Hudong and Huangpu shipbuilding Yards.
One Type 041 AIP diesel-electric submarine in Wuchang Shipbuilding Industry Co.
The underwater fleet is also being paid great attention by PLA Navy planners. In their international fleet review, PLA did not uncover its newest submarines, such as Type 093/094 nuclear submarines and Type 041 (NATO “Yuan” class) diesel-electric submarine.
China’s first aircraft carrier (36 combat aircraft) battle group is said to be supported by 4 type 052D destroyers, 4 General missile destroyer, 2 Type 054A frigates, 2 Type 093 Nuclear Submarines. Such a battle group would pose a significant strike force presence in the South China Sea Island.
Coping With The Great American SSN Shortage
The U.S. Navy is facing a temporary SSN (nuclear attack submarine) shortage, and there is no solution that will not involve some pain. The problem is that new Virginia class subs cannot be built quickly enough to replace all the Cold War era Los Angeles class boats that have to retire. Even that will be delayed, at least for 16 Los Angeles class subs, that will get enough refurb to keep them at sea for up to two more years. Meanwhile, many of the shipyards used to build all those Los Angeles class boats, were discarded as part of the Peace Dividend for winning the Cold War.
The shortage will begin in 2022, when the number of SSNs will fall below 48. The bottom will be in 2028, when only 41 SSNs will be available, and the shortage won’t end until 2034. While keeping boats at sea more than six months per cruise will insure that all current requirements (that need about ten boats at sea at any given time) are met, the navy won’t be able to meet its wartime need for 35 boats. Keep in mind that a certain number of boats are always laid up for upgrades, maintenance or repairs. And some of this work can be speeded up, or even put aside, to get boats to sea in wartime, or a major crises.
Keeping existing boats at sea for longer cruises also comes with a cost. For each additional day (beyond six months) you keep a crew at sea, a certain percentage of them will not stay in the navy. Those long months at sea are hard on the families, and sailors as well. Too much of that, and more of them leave. For submarine crews, the most highly trained, with the highest standards, in the navy, this is no small problem.
There are other ways around the problem. The navy and the shipyards have found ways to built SSNs more quickly. Currently it takes 70 months to build a Virginia. But in the next few years, that will be coming down to 60 months. For the navy, the worst solution is to change war plans, and peacetime use patterns of SSNs, and adapt to a smaller number of attack boats. The navy would rather not think of this, but politicians often do, so the navy must.
50th Anniversary of World’s Deepest Dive
Fifty years ago, two men voyaged to the bottom of the deepest sea. Nobody has been back since.
On Jan. 23, 1960, Navy Lt. Don Walsh and Swiss explorer Jacques Piccard, in the submersible Trieste, descended seven miles into the Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean. The feat was celebrated Saturday at the Naval Undersea Museum, where the vessel’s successor, Trieste II, is displayed.
“The surprising thing is that more people have walked on the surface of the moon than have been to the deepest part of the world’s ocean,” said museum director Bill Galvani. “These two guys went in 1960. No one has been back since. No one has been even close. In the meantime, we’ve sent 12 people to the moon and many people into space. We know more about the surface of the moon, and even the opposite side of the moon, than we do about the deep ocean.”
Piccard died in 2008, leaving Walsh as the only living person to have made the 37,799-foot dive, 200 miles south of Guam. The 78-year-old Walsh, who lives in southwest Oregon, will be attending another Trieste anniversary event Saturday in San Diego.
The Trieste was designed by Piccard’s father, Auguste Piccard, and built in Italy in 1953. The U.S. Navy bought it in 1958. Walsh, then a 28-year-old Navy submariner, became its officer in charge.
The strange-looking vessel was called a bathyscaphe, or “deep ship.” There was just enough room in its 7-foot crew sphere for two people. Most of the vessel was huge tanks of lighter-than-water gasoline that functioned as a big balloon. To descend, air tanks were filled with seawater. To return to the surface, steel pellets were released.
Twenty-five-foot waves pounded the Trieste on the morning of the historic dive as it bobbed on the surface with its headquarters ship, the USS Lewis. At about 8 a.m., its heavy door clanked shut, and the vessel slipped under the waves. No other vessel had ever dived deeper than 12,300 feet, and the Trieste hadn’t gone below 23,000 feet.
Between 4,000 and 7,000 feet, drops began seeping in, but decreased as the dive continued. Walsh and Piccard were jolted by a big bang at 31,000 feet, as if something had broken. They couldn’t find a problem, so they kept going.
At 34,000 feet, the water beneath them began to lighten up as Trieste’s light reflected off the seafloor. At 36,000 feet, they still hadn’t reached it, however, nor at 37,000. Finally, they released just enough shot to make an easy landing. The depth gauge read 37,800 feet.
“Jacques and I shook hands and expressed our feelings of relief and joy,” Walsh said. “It was a great day for all of us who had worked so hard for nearly five months at Guam.”
They didn’t take any pictures because the Trieste had stirred up so much bottom sediment that there was no visibility.
“It was like being in a bowl of milk for our entire time on the bottom,” Walsh said.
At 1:30 p.m., after sitting at the bottom for only 20 minutes, the Trieste dumped ballast and headed home so it could reach the surface before sundown. The ascent took 3 1/2 hours.
Back in the states, Walsh and Piccard became heroes. They were ordered back to Washington, D.C., to be acclaimed by political and military heavyweights, including President Dwight D. Eisenhower, and wound up on the cover of Life magazine.
