By William Palmer

WEST BETHESDA—Test engineers recently rode Swift (HSV 2, for High Speed Vessel) to measure the ship’s seakeeping and load bearing abilities. The high-speed catamaran is modified from a commercial high-speed ferry design and outfitted with a flight deck and weather-protected stowage area for two H-60 helicopters, a vehicle load ramp capable of holding a 60-ton M-1 Abrams tank, berthing space for 107 with a reconfigurable seating area to provide an additional 87 berths when required, and enough communications gear to support a wide range of missions. Doug Griggs (5200), Martin Donnelly (5400), and James Gray (6530) sailed on Swift as she transited from Naval Amphibious Base at Little Creek, VA, to Jacksonville, FL, then to an operational area off the coast of Honduras, supporting a Joint Logistics Over The Shore (JLOTS) exercise called New Horizons, a joint Navy/Army/Air Force humanitarian relief exercise.

Prior to her departure for Little Creek, Swift tied up at Old Town Alexandria, VA, as a public demonstration for DoD personnel, dependents, and contractors, and to show the Department of Defense’s use of new technology to support traditional missions. One feature of the ship is that it is currently the only ship in the Navy authorized to use a paperless navigation-steering system, designed to use no paper charts.

Because the ship is manned with two crews, the operational tempo is intense, leaving little room for down time. So when the trio of engineers collected data, they had to act when opportunities arose. Hours after getting underway from Little Creek, Swift encountered waves approaching 12 feet in height off Cape Hatteras. The team used that time to measure seakeeping and structural response information, with a number of wave “slamming” events being recorded. The sea conditions encountered almost perfectly matched the most severe test regime in the evaluation program.

Upon the ship’s arrival in Jacksonville, three H-60 helicopters, several HUMMV military vehicles, and aircraft support equipment were loaded aboard. The Carderock Division team was at work here as well, as they instrumented the load ramp and mission deck with strain gauges. The gauges remained in place for the duration of the exercise, which consisted of loading vehicles from a larger transport “roll-on, roll-off” ship and moving the vehicles 100 miles to a port. The catamaran made trips between the transport ship and shore averaging about three hours, carrying a large selection of vehicles, including 2.5- and 5-ton trucks, tractor-trailer tankers, cranes, graders, loaders, ambulances, and various trailers. Offloading the ship took about 30 minutes, with no tugs or shore support used in the offload.

Swift is built by Incat, a commercial shipbuilding firm in Hobart, Tasmania, leased under contract to Military Sealift Command, and operated by the Mine Warfare Command at Ingleside, TX. For more information about Swift, contact Doug Griggs at 301-227-4921, DSN 287-4921, or griggsdb@nswccd.navy.mil.

By William Palmer

WEST BETHESDA, BAYVIEW, AND PHILADELPHIA – In a program of research and development which has been years in the making, Office of Naval Research (ONR), Rolls Royce Naval Marine Inc. (RRNMI), and the Signatures Department (Code 70) are preparing a demonstration of an advanced waterjet-based propulsion concept, named AWJ-21.

RRNMI, Walpole, MA, has developed the AWJ-21 propulsor concept with the goals of providing increased propulsive efficiency, reduced acoustic signature, and improved maneuverability over DDG 51 Class combatants. For this demonstration, a 130-foot-long craft designated the Advanced Electric Ship Demonstrator (AESD) will be built. The AESD is being funded by ONR to demonstrate advanced electric ship and propulsor technologies.

The ground-breaking demonstration is sponsored by Stephen Schreppler (formerly of Carderock Division) of the Office of Naval Research, who co-chairs the project integrated process team with Dr. Thurman Harper of RRNMI. The RRNMI project is being managed by Jeffrey Langsner with the AWJ-21 design development being lead-developed by Frank Lanni. Additional benefits from the AWJ-21 technology are expected to provide more compact propulsion systems with reduced weight and volume.

William Martin (7014) is the Carderock Division program manager, and he is joined by John Wojno (7250), Jonathan Cummings (7250), Steve Finley (7260), and Roger Ford (7014). Finley is the central point of contact at the Division’s Acoustic Research Detachment in Bayview, ID, where most of the testing is scheduled to commence in FY 05. Members of Philadelphia’s Code 90, Michael Mimnaugh and Michael Grady, are supporting machinery and electric drive quieting for the AESD. General Dynamics Electric Boat division will similarly apply its expertise to the electric drive propulsion system. ARL at Penn State has provided test support for the early waterjet development, and MIT has assisted with the waterjet pump design. Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) is responsible for the overall AESD boat design. Dr. Stu Jessup (5030) is leading the effort to assist in hydrodynamic design for the AWJ-21 concept and the AESD. In another AWJ-21 effort, Jessup will be leading AWJ-21 testing at the Large Cavitation Channel in Memphis, TN, in mid-FY 05.

The AESD will be an approximate quarter-scale destroyer class combatant with a length of more than 133 feet and a full load displacement of 239,000 pounds. The AESD hull form is based on the 5565 tumble-home hull tested early in the DD(X) program. As a result of availability of the AESD demonstrator craft, planning is underway to conduct other technology demonstrations. In one such effort, Jim King (7070), a West Bethesda research scientist detailed to ONR, and Dave Etherton (7420) are leading design of a low signature deckhouse for the model. Following the AWJ-21 demonstration, General Dynamics Electric Boat division and Carderock Division will be conducting a demonstration of the GD/EB RIMJET propulsor on the AESD.

For more information about this program, contact Bill Martin at 301-227-1534 or martinwj@nswccd.navy.mil.

By Commander Paul G. Gregory, USNR (Ret.); localized by Leslie Spaulding

Portions reprinted with permission of the Marine Corps Gazette; copyright retained by the Marine Corps Gazette

NORFOLK—Originally envisioned as a replacement for the Rigid Raiding Craft (RRC) for use as a riverine platform, testing of the Small Unit Riverine Craft (SURC) has exceeded operational expectations to make it a viable littoral/riverine craft.

The primary mission of the SURC is to provide tactical mobility and a limited weapons platform for the ground combat element of a Marine Air Ground Task Force in littoral and riverine environments. The SURC provides significant tactical capabilities in a water-dominated environment. When fully fielded in 2005, it will be capable of lifting the assault echelon of an infantry battalion and providing a sustaining presence in a riverine/littoral area of operation.

The secondary missions of the SURC include command and control, reconnaissance, logistic/resupply, medevac, counter-drug operations, humanitarian assistance, peacekeeping, and noncombatant evacuation operations. The craft has twin inboard diesel engines with marine transmission and waterjet propulsion systems. It incorporates a global positioning system capability, has a depth sounder and surface radar, an intercom system, and integrates current and future Combat Net Radio systems. The craft also has three weapons mounts that are interoperable with current and future universal weapon mounts and pintle adapters for tactical vehicles.

Marine Corps Systems Command (MCSC) awarded the prime contract for the SURC to Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems in May 2002 and SafeBoats International, Port Orchard, WA, is the builder of the craft. As the life cycle engineering agent for the SURC, the Combatant Craft Division (Code 23) has provided support to MCSC since 1998. Support included providing the initial life cycle cost estimate and performing numerous technology investigations. Code 23 employees have also provided maintenance and supply support planning and analysis, as well as served on and chaired technical committees for source selection and contract systems engineering.

As lead developmental testing coordinator, Code 23 personnel worked with NAVSEA Warfare Center Crane Division, NAVSEA Warfare Center Dahlgren
Division’s Combat Systems Station, NAVAIR, U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command NATICK Soldier Center, Naval Research Laboratory, and numerous other agencies to conduct developmental testing on three prototype SURCs. Code 23 personnel examined the craft’s principal characteristics; its performance in calm waters looking at speed, trim, fuel consumption, and horsepower; its performance in rough water looking at speed and fuel consumption; and its maneuvering and acceleration.

Transportability was a major concern for the SURC. Working with many of the agencies identified above, Code 23 coordinated transportability integration certifications. Developmental testing showed that the SURC design can be carried internally with strategic aircraft (C-130, C-17, C-141, and C-5) and externally with the CH-53E. The SURC can also be transported to the theater of operation by sealift. It is compatible with amphibious shipping, roll-on/roll-off shipping, and can be craned on and off sealift ships. The SURC also demonstrated the capability to be launched and recovered from a Landing Craft, Air Cushioned (LCAC) and a Landing Craft, Utility (LCU).

Another important area of testing involved survivability. Code 23 conducted and coordinated survivability tests on the SURC, looking at ballistic protection, camouflage development, smoke obscurants, night vision imaging system (NVIS) compatibility, acoustic detectability, electro-optical/visual, and weapons. Said project engineer Jason Marshall (23), “The Combatant Craft Division is directly responsible for the SURC being the first military craft with smoke obscurants, NVIS compatible lighting, reduced acoustic signature, ballistic protection, and camouflage integrated into the prototype craft during production. This provides more value to the warfighter, cheaper acquisition cost by integrating the capabilities up front, and technology insertion from research and development into production.”

Acquisition support continues as the first two production SURCs are undergoing acceptance trials in April 2004. The current plan is for 17 craft to be fielded over the next year to Small Craft Company located in Camp Lejeune, NC.

The SURC is bringing significant capabilities to the Navy/Marine Corps team in littoral/riverine warfare. It radically improves the ability to transport and sustain forces in a littoral/riverine environment by several orders of magnitude over the current capability with the rigid raiding craft. The SURC will provide outstanding service well into the 21st century. Although it is single-sited at Camp Lejeune, the SURC is truly capable of being a worldwide reachback asset to the Navy/Marine Corps team. It is critical to future Navy/Marine Corps littoral/riverine operations for commanders to understand and employ its capabilities.

By Stephan Verosto

WEST BETHESDA—When a cargo ship comes into port, it frequently discharges ballast water to compensate for the added weight of its cargo. Foreign organisms contained in the ballast water, when discharged into U.S. harbors, can have a disastrous effect on local ecology. One nonindigenous specie (NIS), the zebra mussel, not only survived its transit across the Atlantic Ocean from Europe but thrived in the Great Lakes, drastically altering the aquatic ecosystem, as well as causing damage to industrial water intake/discharge piping in the millions of dollars.

Industry is developing effective treatments, but, at present, ships must use ballast water exchange (BWE) to prevent the continued influx of NIS into U.S. waters. Basically, BWE pumps mid-ocean seawater into ballast tanks to displace coastal water taken aboard in a foreign port. Theoretically, heavier seawater should push lighter fresh water up and out of the tank. In reality, extremely high flow rates cause turbulent mixing, and the complex internal tank structure can hide pockets of the coastal water. Thus, BWE only partially flushes tanks. Although ships entering the Great Lakes must use the process by law, and this mandate will soon apply to all ships coming into any American port, an accurate measurement of BWE’s effectiveness does not currently exist.

In a search for better techniques for assessing BWE, the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) Warfare Center West Bethesda’s Codes 632, 5400, and 5600; the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Great Lakes Environmental Research Lab (GLERL); and NAVSEA 05D1P, Ship & Force Architecture Concepts (S&FAC) Program, assembled a team of technical experts to use computational fluid dynamic (CFD) modeling and experimental validation to better understand BWE. Sponsors of the project are NOAA, through their 2002 Ballast Water Technology Demonstration Grants Competition, the S&FAC Program, and Chief of Naval Operations Surface Warfare Office (N76).

This project consists of an experimental phase to study tank fluid behavior, and a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) phase to model fluid behavior and study BWE effectiveness in different scenarios and tank configurations. For the project’s experimental portion, the team constructed a 1/3-scale model of a double-bottom ballast tank section. The present study includes dilution and mixing experiments to determine the remaining fraction of fluid, and particle image velocimetry (PIV) experiments which study BWE flow fields. The CFD segment will build on data from the experiments to develop a computational tool that studies BWE effectiveness in bulk carrier ballast tanks holding more than 400,000 gallons, and with filling rates of 1,000 to 3,000 gallons per minute. A computer model simulating tank flow subdivides the tank volume into computational grids containing as many as 20 million data points.

The experimental and visualization data will define, validate, and refine the computational model, and comparisons between the computational simulations and the 1/3-scale experimental tank will validate the CFD code. Project engineers are utilizing the Center for Computational Visualization (CCV) at West Bethesda’s Hydroacoustic/Hydrodynamic Technology Center, where the project’s transient data can be viewed in three dimensions.

Team members include co-principal investigators Stephan Verosto (6320) and Dr. David Reid, NOAA-GLERL. Other members are Dr. Paisan Atsavapranee (5600); Michael Bosworth, NAVSEA 05D1P; Code 5400’s Susan Brewton, Dr. Peter Chang, and Wesley Wilson; Captain Philip Jenkins of Philip F. Jenkins & Associates; Thomas O’Connell of M. Rosenblatt and Son; and Dr. Jerry Shan of Rutgers.

By Gui Marques and Dennis Buckley

WEST BETHESDA—In Fall 2003, a team from Code 633 conducted a 65-day shipboard evaluation of a sewage (or “blackwater”) treatment system operating on HMCS Moncton, a Canadian Kingston Class maritime coastal defense vessel (MCDV). The purpose was to evaluate a fixed activated sludge treatment (FAST) system manufactured by Smith & Loveless, Inc. to help determine its suitability for use aboard U.S. Navy vessels.

The FAST system is a biological sewage treatment system. The system uses fixed polyvinylchloride (PVC) media placed inside aerated tanks to support fixed-film biological growth and oxidation of organic matter, and uses chlorine tablets or ultraviolet light to disinfect the effluent prior to discharge overboard. A large-sized FAST system has been selected as the sewage treatment system for installation aboard CVN 77 and is a leading candidate for CVN 78.

HMCS Moncton was commissioned in 1998 and is one of 12 Canadian Navy MCDVs built between 1996 and 1999 that use the FAST system. All Kingston Class vessels are part of the Canadian Navy’s Reserve Fleet and spend much of their time underway, as was the case during this evaluation. The primary role of this ship is coastal surveillance, naval reserve force training, fisheries patrol, minesweeping, and mine inspection operations. The ship’s complement at sea is 45 Navy reservists.

The Moncton departed from her homeport of Halifax, Nova Scotia, on a four-month training mission for reservists. The first British town in Canada, it is located on the second largest natural harbor in the world. Nicknamed the “Gateway to Atlantic Canada,” Halifax is a quaint town, rich in culture and heritage. During our time aboard, we witnessed the many duties required of this type of vessel and its crew: the fishery patrols in the North Atlantic where the ship would play host to the Natural Resources Police who ensure that local fishermen abide by the law; MARS IV training where officer candidates receive introductory ship handling, navigation, and bridge watchkeeper instruction; and the daily barrage of fire drills, engineering drills, and rescuing “Oscar” during man overboard drills. Of course, let’s not forget the cookouts on the sweep deck or swimming stations in the Gulf Stream off the coast of North Carolina. These events reminded this ship rider of the WWII movies, where Sailors lounged with their shirts off, taking a dip when they got hot. The difference here is that you might see a cold beer in someone’s hand, for yes, the Canadians stock their reefers with beer!

Not everything was routine. On our way to our first port visit, Savannah, GA, the Moncton responded to a distress call. Two USMC F/A-18 Hornets went down in the Atlantic, and the condition of the pilots was unknown. At top speed (20 knots) in Sea State 4 (talk about a thrill ride) we made our way there, just in time to see the United States Coast Guard pulling the slightly injured pilots into their rescue helicopters. We stayed on station for several hours pulling debris from the ocean, which was not the first time for the crew of HMCS Moncton, who responded to the 1996 TWA crash off the coast of Long Island, NY.

Aside from Savannah, other ports visited during this evaluation included Argentia and St. John’s, Newfoundland, and Boston, Massachusetts. Several people helped to ensure the successful accomplishment of this evaluation: Rocco Gabriele, Dennis Buckley, Scott Mangum, and Gui Marques (all 633), and Thomas Walters (634), traveled for as long as three weeks at a stretch to complete the mission. Representatives from the Canadian Department of National Defence, Mario Gingras and Commander Robert Jones, assisted in securing the necessary permissions to proceed with the evaluation. Lieutenant Commander Phillip Harris of the Fifth Maritime Operations Group assisted with planning and logistics within the Halifax Naval Ship Station. Finally, and most importantly, we offer our thanks to Lieutenant Commander Timothy O’Leary (Commanding Officer) and the officers and crew of HMCS Moncton who provided us assistance and warm hospitality throughout the evaluation.

By William Palmer

DIVISION—In a newly-signed cooperative research and development agreement (CRADA), Carderock Division engineers and scientists will work with their counterparts at Florida Hydro Power and Light (FHPL) to develop and perfect a method of using the Gulf Stream current to generate electricity, augmenting Florida’s power grid at a cost expected to be far below fossil-fueled power plants.

The method involves a device called an open center turbine unit, which acts much like a windmill turned by the wind. Instead of the wind, the Gulf Stream ocean current off Florida’s east coast will be used to turn turbine blades on the unit to generate electrical power, which will be connected to the power grid in the Florida area. The Gulf Stream is like a river in the ocean and is enormous in its dimensions and energy. The speed of the current is about 3.5 to 4.5 knots, with a total flow of about 30 million cubic meters of water per second.

The turbine unit has an open center to ultimately improve power output and has an outer stationary ring, which supports the inner rotating turbine blades on bearing surfaces. It is constructed of composite material with embedded flotation material which will help it achieve neutral buoyancy, will be moored to the ocean floor, and be suspended in the Gulf Stream by large flotation devices. A 9-foot diameter prototype, turning at 30 rpm, has already been successfully tested, producing 22 kilowatts of electrical energy. The final vision for this technology is to have a field of 3,520 units in place, each unit being approximately 100 feet in diameter and suspended 200 feet below the ocean’s surface. Assuming each unit produces 2.4 megawatts, the entire field should produce 8.44 gigawatts. The state of Florida uses approximately 38 gigawatts.

Among concerns to be addressed are the cost and logistics of running electrical output cable from the field of turbines to the shore, a distance of about 10 miles, and the impact on coral reefs and fish populations of running the cable ashore should it be decided to run the cable along the ocean bottom.

The relationship between FHPL and Carderock Division began about a year ago, when FHPL principal investigator Herbert Williams and members of his team made contact with Bruce Webster (5050). “The more we talked, the more Mr. Williams realized we had a lot to offer,” says Webster, “not only in being able to design and improve the blades of the turbine using our propulsor background, but also from the standpoint of the vehicle that would support the turbine, and in our expertise in mooring installations.” Other areas of impact provided by the Division are improving the efficiency of the permanent magnet/generator coil design, provided by Code 90, and anti-fouling measures, provided by Code 60. Code 90 will also provide expertise in using the unit’s output as a source of hydrogen, in which electrical energy is routed through water, which breaks water into its component parts, hydrogen and oxygen. The advantage of using the turbines to produce liquid hydrogen is that they would not be limited to areas that are close to shore (as with electricity), and they could take advantage of tides.

This CRADA will benefit the Navy by supporting Carderock Division’s core equities in hydromechanics; and national energy security, domestic supply, and infrastructure stability will be strengthened and sustained. The Division’s technical point of contact for the CRADA is John Johnston (5300) and project engineer Bob Pellegrini (5300). Yu Tai Lee (5400) will provide numerical computation expertise in refining turbine blade design. Machinery Research Division (Code 98) head Dr. Mike Golda and Drs. Chahee Cho and Samuel Doughty of the Machinery Science and Technology Branch (Code 984) have been approached regarding the unit’s generator design. Pete Tatro (7110), who heads the South Florida Test Facility (SFTF), and Dr. Bill Venezia (7110), who has experience in waterborne turbine design, will be consulted regarding logistical support in the area where prototype testing will be conducted.

Cabling normally used to conduct acoustic testing will be put to use in routing electrical energy generated from prototype turbine units to shore. Once prototype technology is established, plans include powering facilities of Florida’s Miami-Dade county government.

By Joe Garner

WEST BETHESDA—Joe Fuller (2052) and Eric Jorgensen (2052) received the Defense Standardization Program (DSP) Distinguished Achievement Award for leading a government and industry team to develop an international specification for interactive electronic technical manuals (IETMs). The prestigious DSP award was presented during the 2004 Defense Standardization Conference, March 16 through 18. The other Navy-led team receiving an award was the Joint Strike Fighter’s (JSF) program to standardize weapons attachments. The DSP citation for this award is presented in the sidebar on this page.

This award followed a three-year development and coordination effort which spanned all the military services, the major U.S. defense contractors, and Ministry of Defense and industry partners “across the pond” in Europe. Fuller chaired the Tri-Service IETM Technology Working Group, which undertook most of the work for the DoD. He also negotiated with the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) for U.S. technical development and administration of the specification. Jorgensen was the principal architect of the United States-supplied content for the international specification and served as the official DoD representative to the U.S. and European Industry Associations that actually manage the specification.

One result of this activity is that the unsupported and nearing technical-obsolescent DoD IETM military specifications will be replaced by a continually updated specification. This specification applies to all air, land, and sea DoD systems. This industry-managed specification is also one that is relevant to modern information-presentation and automated data management technology.

The ultimate benefit of this effort will be the increased ability to provide common support documentation for the maintenance and repair activities of the multi-service and multi-country supplied weapon systems used in true internationally joint operations in the future.