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211
The pressure on surface space may be relieved to some extent if
submarine cargo vessels become a major feature of ocean transport,
but they too will have to travel at different depths, rather like alti—
tude—spacing practised in the air—lames on major routes. Commander
W. R. Anderson, captain of the Nautilus at the time of its journey
beneath the Arctic ice, pointed out that nuclear—powered cargo
submarines would be able to cut 4,900 miles o" the trip between
Japan and Europe. The well—known British inventor—scientist, Dr
Barnes Wallace, told the annual meeting of the British Association
for the Advancement of Science in 196 5, that the future strength of
the nation on the seas lay in the development of submarine merchant
vessels. As Commander Anderson had said, taking the polar route
could cut down the length of their journeys, but what is more,
these submarine transports would remove any British dependence
on the Suez and Panama Canals. Submarine freighters, he argued,
might have to be smaller than surface vessels but their greater speed
and freedom from weather restrictions could more than compensate
for this. Furthermore, fast submarine merchantmen would be less
vulnerable to attacks by hostile submarines than the vessels now
used for bulk cargoes, particularly the tankers which carry vital
supplies of oil and liquid methane.
A switch to carrying cargo underwater would please hovercraft
and hydrofoil operators: high—speed craft are the rst to suffer from
congestion because they lose much of their economic attraction
when they are forced to dawdle. Some indication of the problem is
given by the fact that a hovercraft on a typical crossing of the English
Channel may expect to meet up to forty ships. Considering that
hovercraft (and hydrofoils) travel at speeds of about 70 knots, the
prospect of such frequent encounters with other shipping imposes a
critical test on their navigatiohal systems—a further test might
include a meeting With another hovercraft travelling in the opposite
direction giving et relative
speed of 140 knots! One
solution has been to devise a system, capable of reacting much faster
than conventional marine radar, which provides the hovercraft
navigator with a continuously computed reference of the vessel’s
position marked on a roller map. The map also carries the proposed
route of the hovercraft so that, by comparing planned and actual
positions, the navigator can correct for drift.
Even as new types of transport such as hovercraft ferries became
available, the demise of the ocean liner as a means of regular
211
The pressure on surface space may be relieved to some extent if
submarine cargo vessels become a major feature of ocean transport,
but they too will have to travel at different depths, rather like alti—
tude—spacing practised in the air—lames on major routes. Commander
W. R. Anderson, captain of the Nautilus at the time of its journey
beneath the Arctic ice, pointed out that nuclear—powered cargo
submarines would be able to cut 4,900 miles o" the trip between
Japan and Europe. The well—known British inventor—scientist, Dr
Barnes Wallace, told the annual meeting of the British Association
for the Advancement of Science in 196 5, that the future strength of
the nation on the seas lay in the development of submarine merchant
vessels. As Commander Anderson had said, taking the polar route
could cut down the length of their journeys, but what is more,
these submarine transports would remove any British dependence
on the Suez and Panama Canals. Submarine freighters, he argued,
might have to be smaller than surface vessels but their greater speed
and freedom from weather restrictions could more than compensate
for this. Furthermore, fast submarine merchantmen would be less
vulnerable to attacks by hostile submarines than the vessels now
used for bulk cargoes, particularly the tankers which carry vital
supplies of oil and liquid methane.
A switch to carrying cargo underwater would please hovercraft
and hydrofoil operators: high—speed craft are the rst to suffer from
congestion because they lose much of their economic attraction
when they are forced to dawdle. Some indication of the problem is
given by the fact that a hovercraft on a typical crossing of the English
Channel may expect to meet up to forty ships. Considering that
hovercraft (and hydrofoils) travel at speeds of about 70 knots, the
prospect of such frequent encounters with other shipping imposes a
critical test on their navigatiohal systems—a further test might
include a meeting With another hovercraft travelling in the opposite
direction giving et relative
speed of 140 knots! One
solution has been to devise a system, capable of reacting much faster
than conventional marine radar, which provides the hovercraft
navigator with a continuously computed reference of the vessel’s
position marked on a roller map. The map also carries the proposed
route of the hovercraft so that, by comparing planned and actual
positions, the navigator can correct for drift.
Even as new types of transport such as hovercraft ferries became
available, the demise of the ocean liner as a means of regular