High-Speed Marine Craft: One Hundred Knots at Sea Peter J

Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-09041-5 - High-Speed Marine Craft: One Hundred Knots at Sea Peter J. Mantle Frontmatter More information

HIGH-SPEED MARINE CRAFT

This book details the efforts to build a large naval vessel capable of traveling at 100 knots. It is the first book to summarize this extensive work from historical and technical perspectives. It explores the unique principles and challenges in the design of high-speed marine craft. This volume explores different hull form concepts, requiring an understanding of the four forces affecting the lift and the drag of the craft. The four forces covered are hydrostatic (buoyancy), hydrodynamic, aerostatic, and aerodynamic. This text will appeal to naval researchers, architects, graduate students, and historians, as well as others generally interested in naval architecture and propulsion.

Peter Mantle’s long career as a naval architect and aerospace engineer includes positions as a Chief Engineer and Test Pilot for the first surface effect ship (an aerodynamic air cushion craft); Technical Director and Program Manager of the US Navy 100-ton displacement surface effect ship, “SES-100B,” that set a world speed record of 91.90 knots; Director of Technology Assessment, Office of Secretary of Navy (SECNAV), and Chief of Naval Operations (OPNAV) in The Pentagon for all R&D on aircraft, ships, submarines, missile systems and classified projects; Chairman, NATO Studies on Air, Land and Sea Battles; and Chairman, US Delegation to NATO Industrial Advisory Group, on defense matters for NATO. He is the author of numerous research articles and three books: A Technical Summary of Air Cushion Craft Development, Air Cushion Craft Development,andThe Missile Defense Equation: Factors for Decision Making.

© in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-09041-5 - High-Speed Marine Craft: One Hundred Knots at Sea Peter J. Mantle Frontmatter More information

High-Speed Marine Craft

ONE HUNDRED KNOTS AT SEA

Peter J. Mantle

32 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10013-2473, USA

Cambridge University Press is part of the University of Cambridge. It furthers the University’s mission by disseminating knowledge in the pursuit of education, learning, and research at the highest international levels of excellence.

www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9781107090415 © Peter J. Mantle 2015 This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published 2015 Printed in the United States of America A catalog record for this publication is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Mantle, Peter J. High-speed marine craft : one hundred knots at sea / Peter J. Mantle. pages cm 1. Warships – Design and construction – History – 21st century. 2. Warships – Design and construction – History – 20th century. 3. Warships – United States – Technological innovations. 4. Ground-effect machines – United States – Design and construction. 5. Hydrofoil boats – United States – Design and construction. I. Title. II. Title: One hundred knots at sea. V800.M24 2015 623.825–dc23 2014048657 Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-party Internet Web sites referred to in this publication and does not guarantee that any content on such Web sites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.

To Dr. Scott Carson Rethorst, who with his original work on the Surface Effect Ship “Columbia,” almost got us there to a practical one hundred knots at sea

Contents

About the Author ...... page xv Preface ...... xvii Acknowledgments ...... xxi

1 The Goal of One Hundred Knots ...... 1 1.1 A Brief Outline of the Key Types of Advanced Marine Vehicles . . 2 1.1.1 Fundamental Types of Hydrofoils ...... 2 1.1.2 Fundamental Types of Air Cushion Craft ...... 7 Amphibious Air Cushion Craft Basic Form ...... 8 Non-Amphibious Air Cushion Craft Basic Form ...... 10 Aerodynamic Air Cushion Craft Basic Forms ...... 14 Category A: Wing-in-Ground Effect ...... 15 Category B: Ram Wing ...... 18 Category C: PAR Wing-in-Ground-Effect ...... 20 Category D: Channel Flow Wing-in-Ground-Effect . . . . 24 1.2 Main Marine Vehicles considered by the US Navy for High Speed 25

2 History of High Speed Ship Development...... 27 2.1 One Hundred Knots Under What Conditions? ...... 29 2.2 High Speed at Sea ...... 31 2.3 Brief History of Hydrofoils ...... 34 2.4 Brief History of Air Cushion Craft ...... 37 2.5 Modern Day Developments to Achieve One Hundred Knots .... 42 2.6 Early Developments (1916–1930) ...... 46 2.6.1 Douglas Warner’s Captured Air Bubble (CAB) Boat (1929) ...... 46 2.7 Dr. William R. Bertelsen’s Hovercraft (1958+) ...... 49 2.8 Sir Christopher Cockerell’s Developments (1955–1999) ...... 50 2.9 Hovercraft Development Ltd Sidewall Hovercraft (1963+) ..... 52 2.10 Saunders-Roe Developments (1959–2000) ...... 53 2.11 US Navy Amphibious Air Cushion Craft Development (1965–today) 56 2.12 US Navy Developments in Sidehull SES (1960–1980) ...... 59

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2.13 The Joint MARAD and US Navy Program on Surface Effect Ships (1967–1970) ...... 61 2.14 US Navy Surface Effect Ship Program Office Developments (1969–1980) ...... 61 2.15 Postscript ...... 62

3 The First Surface Effect Ship ...... 64 3.1 Basic Theory of Channel Flow ...... 65 3.2 The MARAD Surface Effect Ship “Columbia” ...... 69 3.3 MARAD Test Craft “VRC-1” ...... 71 3.3.1 Bow Flap ...... 76 3.3.2 Center Channel Flap ...... 77 3.3.3 Rear Jet and Jet Flap ...... 78 3.4 Stability & Control Jets and Induced Drag Reduction Mechanism . 80

4 History of US Maritime Administration “Large Surface Effect Ship” Program ...... 86 4.1 Nuclear Ship N. S. Savannah ...... 87 4.2 MARAD Hydrofoil Ship Denison Program ...... 89 4.3 MARADAerodynamic Surface Effect Ship (Columbia and VRC-1) Program ...... 91 4.4 US Department of Commerce “Surface Effect Ships for Ocean Commerce (SESOC)” Study ...... 92 4.4.1 Hydroskimmer ...... 94 4.4.2 Captured Air Bubble (CAB) ...... 95 4.4.3 Hydrokeel ...... 96 4.4.4 VRC Channel Flow ...... 98 4.4.5 Weiland Craft ...... 100 4.5 Booz-Allen and MARAD Designs for Surface Effect Ships . . . . 101 4.5.1 Booz-Allen Adjustments to Candidate Designs ...... 101 4.6 Conclusions and Recommendations of the SESOC Committee . . 103 4.6.1 SESOC Conclusions and Recommendations on Channel Flow and CAB Concepts ...... 103 Aero-Hydro Dynamics and Control Panel Findings . . . . . 104 Speed, Resistance, and Seakeeping Panel Findings . . . . . 105 Propulsion Panel Findings ...... 106 Hull Panel Findings ...... 106 Operations Panel Findings ...... 108 4.7 SESOC Committee Conclusions and Recommendations ...... 108 4.8 Ongoing SES Experience While SESOC Committee Was Deliberating ...... 109 4.8.1 Amphibious Air Cushion Craft ...... 109 4.8.2 Non-Amphibious Air Cushion Craft ...... 113 British Sidewall Hovercraft ...... 113 Soviet “Sidewall” Craft ...... 115 4.8.3 Aerodynamic Air Cushion Craft ...... 116 Lippisch Wing-in-Ground-Effect Craft ...... 117 Soviet Ekranoplan Development ...... 118 4.9 MARAD Plans Post SESOC ...... 119

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5 History of US Navy “Large High Speed Surface Effect Ship” Program 121 5.1 MARAD and US Navy Schedules for 100 Knot SES ...... 122 5.2 Chronological History of 100 Knot SES Program ...... 123 5.3 Postscript ...... 137 5.3.1 SESPO’s Designs for Larger SES in 50 knot Class . . . . . 142 5.3.2 “US Navy Successfully Meets All Objectives of High Speed SES” ...... 145 5.4 Summary of the Two Decades of Development ...... 146

6 SES-100A and SES 100B Test Craft and the “THREE THOUSAND TON SES” ...... 149 6.1 Evolution of Captured Air Bubble (CAB) and Sidehull SES ..... 150 6.2 Different Key Technologies of the SES-100A and SES-100B . . . . 151 6.3 Sidewall, Sidehull and Sideboard ...... 155 6.3.1 Sidehull Shaping of SES-100A and SES-100B ...... 158 6.3.2 Some Additional Comments on Stability ...... 163 6.3.3 Lateral Stability Rules for Air Cushion Craft ...... 167 6.4 Seal System Differences ...... 170 6.4.1 SES-100A Rigid Planer Seal Design ...... 170 6.4.2 Pitch Stiffness of CAB Planer Seals on SES-100A . . . . . 173 6.4.3 Sidehull SES-100B Flexible Seal Design ...... 175 6.4.4 The Problem of Flagellation ...... 180 6.5 Structural Design Approach ...... 187 6.6 Engines and Their Arrangement ...... 189 6.7 Lift System and Ride Control ...... 190 6.8 Propulsion System Differences ...... 194 6.8.1 SES-100A Waterjet Propulsion System ...... 195 6.8.2 SES-100B Propulsion System ...... 196 6.9 Comment on the Key Technology Differences between the SES-100A and SES-100B ...... 202 6.10 Performance of the One Hundred Ton Test Craft ...... 202 6.10.1 Maximum Speeds of the SES-100A and SES-100B . . . 203 6.10.2 SES-100B Performance in Rough Water ...... 204 6.10.3 SES-100B Habitability Envelope ...... 206 6.10.4 SES-100B Lift Drag Ratio and Transport Efficiency . . . 208 6.10.5 Comment on Scaling ...... 213 6.10.6 SES-100B Range ...... 215 6.10.7 SES-100B Turning Performance ...... 215 6.10.8 SES-100B Acceleration Performance ...... 217 6.10.9 SES-100B Deceleration Performance ...... 220 6.10.10 SES-100B Successfully Meets All Program Objectives ...... 221 6.11 The Three Thousand Ton Surface Effect Ship ...... 223 6.11.1 Relationship of 3KSES to SES-100A and SES-100B ...... 223 6.12 Conclusion of the US Navy High Speed Large SES Program . . . . 225

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7 Economic Considerations ...... 228 7.1 Declining American Marine Industry ...... 228 7.2 Direct Operating Costs ...... 230 7.3 Bréguet Range Equation ...... 231 7.3.1 The Three Bréguet Efficiencies for Economic Transport . 234 Propulsion Efficiency ...... 235 Aerodynamic Efficiency and Transport Efficiency . . . . . 236 Effective Lift-Drag Ratio ...... 237 Structural Design Efficiency ...... 238 7.4 What Price Speed? ...... 242 7.5 Transport Efficiency of Vehicles since 1967 ...... 251 7.6 The Problem Facing the High Speed Ship Designer ...... 253 7.7 Acquisition Cost of High Speed Marine Craft ...... 255 7.8 Inflation Indices and Cost Trends Over Time ...... 260 7.9 Weight and Cost Algorithms ...... 262 SWBS Group 100: Structure ...... 264 SWBS Group 200: Propulsion ...... 265 SWBS Group 500: Auxiliary Systems ...... 267 Cost Algorithms ...... 268 Cost of Follow-On Vehicles ...... 269 Detailed Cost Estimating Relationships ...... 271 Group 100 Structure Cost Estimating Relationship ...... 271 Group 200 Propulsion Cost Estimating Relationship ...... 271 Group 500 Auxiliary System Cost Estimating Relationship . . . 272 Frigate Sized SES Cost Example ...... 273 7.10 Conclusions of Economic Considerations ...... 275

8 Technical Considerations ...... 277 8.1 Drag of High Speed Air Cushion Craft ...... 279

8.1.1 Cushion Induced Wave Drag (Dwave) ...... 280 8.1.2 Aerodynamic Drag (Daero)...... 286 8.1.3 Momentum Drag (Dmom)...... 287 Air Flow in Calm Water ...... 288 Air Flow in Rough Water ...... 289

8.1.4 Skirt or Seal Drag (DSK) ...... 291 Calm Water Skirt Drag (DSK)...... 291 Rough Water Skirt Drag ...... 292

8.1.5 Sidehull Drag (DSH)...... 295 From Sideboard to Sidehull ...... 298 Sidehull Design for Lower Speeds ...... 301 Sidehull Shaping for Performance and Stability ...... 304 Sidehull Lift and Drag ...... 308 Lift and Drag Characteristics of Planing Hulls and Seaplanes 309 Flat Plate Planing Theory and Test ...... 310 Effect of Hull Deadrise on Lift Coefficient ...... 319 Application of Planing Hull Results to SES Hullforms . . . 321

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Sidehull Skin Friction Drag ...... 321 Sidehull Wavemaking Drag ...... 327 8.2 Total Drag Estimation ...... 328 8.3 Design Speeds for SES ...... 330

Speed for Maximum Lift-Drag Ratio (L/D)max ...... 331 Maximum Lift Drag Ratio ...... 335 8.4 Analysis of the Gabrielli-von Kármán Specific Resistance Curves . 336 Aerodynamic and Hydrodynamic “Barriers” ...... 338 Aerodynamic “Barrier” to Transport Efficiency ...... 338 Hydrodynamic “Barrier” to Transport Efficiency ...... 340 8.5 Comparing Vehicles on Design Speed or Maximum Speed ..... 348 8.6 Assessment of SES-100B Drag Theory and Test ...... 349 8.6.1 Sea States, Wave Heights and Wave Lengths ...... 350 8.6.2 Drag of SES-100B in Calm Seas ...... 352 8.6.3 Drag of SES-100B in High Sea States ...... 352 8.6.4 Drag of Sidehulls in Rough Seas ...... 354 8.6.5 SES-100B Skirt System Design for Rough Water Operation ...... 356 8.7 Fan and Cushion System Dynamics ...... 357 8.8 Dynamic Similitude and Scaling Laws ...... 363 Reynold’s Number ...... 364 Froude Number ...... 364 Cavitation Number ...... 364 Cushion Density ...... 365 Pressure Number ...... 366 Flexible Structure Scaling ...... 367 8.9 Some Statistical Scaling Relationships ...... 368 Cushion Length and Cushion Pressure Design Trends ...... 368 Total Installed Power and Lift Power Design Trends ...... 370 Transport Efficiency Design Trends ...... 372 8.10 Scaling from SES-100B to Frigate Size SES ...... 375 8.10.1 Magnitude of Lift Drag Ratio ...... 378 8.10.2 Speed for Maximum Lift-Drag Ratio ...... 379 8.10.3 Scaling of Transport Efficiency ...... 380 8.11 Useful Load, Disposable Load and Empty Weight ...... 382 8.12 Design Efficiencies and Performance Measures ...... 383 8.13 Summary ...... 386

9 Navy Military Operations Considerations ...... 390 9.1 Speed and Amphibious Capability ...... 392 9.2 Amphibious Warfare: Past, Present and Possible Future ...... 397 9.3 Speed and Stealth ...... 399 9.3.1 Sea Shadow Stealth Ship ...... 405 9.3.2 The 100 knot Submarine ...... 408 9.3.3 Stealthy Surface Piercing Submarine ...... 409 9.4 Summary ...... 409

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10 Advanced Naval Vehicles Concepts Evaluation (ANVCE) Project . 411 10.1 Types of Vehicles Considered ...... 415 10.1.1 The ANVCE Point Designs ...... 416 10.1.2 Common Combat Suites ...... 417 10.2 Point Designs ...... 419 10.2.1 Surface Vehicle Point Designs ...... 419 10.2.2 Air Vehicle Point Designs ...... 420 10.3 Summary of Technological Issues to be Resolved ...... 424 10.3 1 Selected Key Limiting Technologies in SES and Hovercraft 424 Structural Weight ...... 425 “Rule of Thumb” on Impact Pressures ...... 429 Structural Weights of ANVCE Point Design Surface Vehicles ...... 432 Lift Systems Technology for Air Cushion Craft ...... 436 Lift Fan Systems ...... 436 Flexible Skirt System State of the Art ...... 440 10.4 Ride Quality of High Speed Hydrofoils and Air Cushion Craft . . 444 10.4.1 Ride Quality Criteria ...... 444 Motion Sickness Criteria ...... 445 Work Efficiency Criteria ...... 446 10.4.2 Ride Quality of SES-100B ...... 447 10.4.3 Variable Geometry Hydrofoil ...... 449 10.4.4 What Price Ride Quality? ...... 452 10.5 Other Novel Forms Evaluated by ANVCE ...... 457 10.5.1 Supercritical Planing Hull ...... 457 10.5.2 Double Propeller Transom Configuration ...... 462 10.6 Sidehull or No Sidehull? ...... 463 10.7 ANVCE Project Evaluation of Aerodynamic Air Cushion Craft . 467 10.7.1 The Vagaries of the Sea ...... 467 10.7.2 German School of WIG Craft Design ...... 471 10.7.3 Russian School of WIG Craft Design ...... 472 10.7.4 US Navy Design Philosophy for WIG Design ...... 473 WIG (H) Point Design ...... 474 WIG (S) Point Design ...... 477 WIG(O) Point Design ...... 479 10.8 Empty Weight Trends for Landplanes, Seaplanes and WIGs . . . 481 10.9 Techno-Economic Parameters ...... 486 10.9.1 Speed for Maximum Range ...... 488 10.9.2 Maximum Speed and Speed for Maximum Range . . . 490 10.9.3 Transport Efficiency ...... 491 10.10 Conclusions and Recommendations from ANVCE Final Report . 495 Surface Effect Ships ...... 496 Air Cushion Vehicles ...... 496 Hydrofoils ...... 496 Supercritical Planing Hulls ...... 496 Wing-in-Ground-Effect Vehicles ...... 497 10.11 Assessment of the ANVCE Project ...... 497

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11 Aerodynamic Air Cushion Craft ...... 501 11.1 Aerodynamic Underpinnings ...... 501 11.1.1 Lanchester-Prandtl Lifting Line Theory ...... 504 11.1.2 Modifications to Lifting Line Theory for Finite Wings . 505 11.1.3 Adaption of Lifting Line Theory to Wing-in-Ground- Effect (WIG) ...... 508 11.2 Simple Theory for Lift and Drag of Wings in Ground Effect (IGE) 511 11.3 NASA Wind Tunnel Tests of Wing-in-Ground-Effect with No End Plates ...... 512 11.4 Effect of Aspect Ratio on Lift Curve Slope ...... 521 11.4.1 Effect of Aspect Ratio on Lift Drag Ratio in Ground Effect ...... 522 11.5 Lift and Drag in Ground Effect with End Plates ...... 523 11.6 Wings in Ground Effect with Air Seals ...... 528 11.7 Theory for Wings in Ground Effect with End Plates ...... 533 11.8 Available Experimental Evidence of WIG with End Plates . . . . 540 11.9 Summary of Key Equations for Lift and Drag in Ground Effect . 544 11.10 Choosing Cruise Height for a WIG Craft ...... 546 11.11 Alternate Theories for Induced Drag in Ground Effect ...... 551 11.12 Transport Efficiency of Ekranoplan ...... 557 11.13 Alternate Forms of “End Plates” ...... 560 11.14 Impact of Wing Loading and Cushion Density on Craft Size . . . . 562 11.15 Empty Weight of Aerodynamic Air Cushion Craft ...... 564 11.16 Military Operations for ekranoplan ...... 569 11.17 Aerodynamic Air Cushion or Aerostatic Air Cushion? ...... 571 11.18 Mother Nature Knows Best ...... 573 11.19 Variable Geometry ...... 575 11.20 Wing in Ground Effect with Wing-Tip Jet Blowing ...... 580 11.21 Bréguet Range for Jet Engine Powered Craft ...... 582 11.22 Summary of Aerodynamic Air Cushion Craft ...... 584

12 Lessons Learned and Where to Next? ...... 587 12.1 The “Size-Speed-Mission” Triad ...... 588 12.2 Lessons Learned ...... 589 12.3 Domains of High Speed Marine Craft ...... 592 12.4 Outgrowths of High Speed Marine Craft Development ...... 595 12.4.1 High Speed Hydrofoils ...... 595 12.4.2 High Speed and Stealth ...... 595 12.4.3 Variable Geometry Craft ...... 596 12.5 Recommended Avenues to Pursue ...... 596 12.5.1 Large Ocean Going High Speed Ships (Next Step) . . . 596 12.5.2 Aerodynamic Air Cushion Craft (Next Step) ...... 597 12.6 Summary ...... 598

Index ...... 599

About the Author

Peter J. Mantle has been closely involved in hovercraft and surface effect ship development since Sir Christopher Cockerell first developed the hovercraft with Saunders Roe, Ltd (now British Hovercraft Corporation) in England in 1956. Mr. Mantle began his career at Saunders Roe, Ltd in 1951. In 1958, after graduating from the College of Aeronautics, Cranfield, England with a Master’s Degree in Aeronautical Science (DCAe), he emigrated to Quebec, Canada to conduct upper atmosphere research with Dr Gerald Bull at the Canadian Armament Research & Development Establishment (CARDE) in Valcartier, Quebec. In Canada, he received a Master’s Degree in Aerodynamics and Mathematics (magna cum laude) from Laval University, Montreal in 1959. He immigrated to the US in 1960, receiving his Engineer’s Degree (Ae. E.) in Aeronautics from California Institute of Technology (CALTECH), Pasadena, California in 1964. From 1960 to 1964 he designed, built and was the test pilot of the US Maritime Administration (MARAD) first surface effect ship (SES) test craft (VRC-1), based on Dr Scott Rethorst’s “Columbia” channel flow surface effect ship which was the chosen high speed ship concept by (MARAD) in 1961, to find a new solution to the declining US Merchant Marine. Peter Mantle continued his career in hovercraft and surface effect ship development by becoming the Technical Director and Program Manager of the US Navy Surface Effect Ship “SES-100B” at Bell Aerosystems (now Bell Aerospace) in 1969. He holds the patent for the unique propulsion system (a semi-submerged, supercavitating, controllable pitch propeller system) that allowed the “SES-100B” under US Navy trials to achieve the world speed record of 91.9knots on 30 June 1976 displayed in the Guinness Book of Records of that year. In 1975, he wrote the first technical compendium of the technology of hovercraft and surface effect ship work, with a major update in 1980 called “Air Cushion Craft Development” published by the US Navy. From 1976 to 1978, Peter Mantle was the Deputy Project Officer and Technical Director of the US Navy’s Advanced Naval Vehicle Concepts Evaluation (ANVCE) Project, a major effort of analyses, model testing and full scale testing of several candidates including aircraft, ships, hydrofoils, hovercraft, SWATH ships and surface effect ships, to help the Navy and the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) make

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informed decisions on the proper course to follow for future Navy high speed ship development. From 1978 to 1984, he was the Director of Technology Assessment in the Office of the Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV) responsible for advising on the Basic Research, Technology and Advanced Development of all Navy vehicles (ships, submarines, and aircraft). This included Special Access and stealth programs. In 1984, he joined Lockheed Marine Systems, part of Lockheed Corporation (now Lockheed Martin Corporation) in Seattle (and later in Sunnyvale, California), as Director of Strategic Planning and after different assignments became Program Director of the (now declassified) Sea Shadow stealth ship. From 1989 to 2000, Mr. Mantle was the Chairman of several NATO studies on sea, land and air defense, chairing what became the basis for the current NATO missile defense plans to protect both Europe and the US from missile attack. From 2003 to 2007, Peter Mantle was the Chairman (now Chairman Emeritus) of the US Delegation to the NATO Industrial Advisory Group (NIAG) to advise NATO on a variety of industrial and defense matters before the twenty-six (now twenty-eight) nation Alliance. His book “The Missile Defense Equation – Factors for Decision Making” based on that work was published by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) in 2004. Peter Mantle is an aerospace consultant and resides with his wife Kathleen on Vashon Island, Washington.

Preface

The design principles of high speed marine craft are much less established than the well-established techniques honed over centuries of practice in the design of low speed marine craft with their displacement hull origins. High speed marine craft design, on the other hand, involves study of different hull form concepts, each requiring an understanding of four basic forces resulting in the lift and the drag of the craft. These four forces are: hydrostatic (buoyancy); hydrodynamic; aerostatic and aerodynamic. Each of these four forces scale by different laws of physics making scaling difficult from small models to large ship sizes. The combination of those forces applies differently in each case depending on the choice of concept being considered. In a broad sense, for the hydrofoil, the hydrodynamic forces dominate; for the amphibious air cushion craft, the aerostatic forces dominate; for the wing-in- ground-effect craft (WIG), the aerodynamic forces dominate. Coupled with these different forces, the high speed marine craft must also contend with the physics of subcavitating and supercavitating flows in both the hull hydrodynamics and in the propulsion schemes envisaged. This influence of the four forces has a significant impact on the size and speed of the craft and its use or mission. This intrinsic triad of “size-speed-mission” is a key consideration when asking what is achievable in attaining high speed at sea. This relationship is expanded upon throughout the book. Because of these complex interactions between the various forces and choice of craft concept, the programmatic history of developing high speed marine craft has been somewhat sporadic with isolated successes among various setbacks caused by both technology issues and programmatic stumbles. Upper limits of low speed marine craft speeds using displacement hulls have remained relatively unchanged over several centuries with typical values of 25–35 knots, depending on ship size and sea conditions. The “speed limits” for high speed marine craft vary widely depending on the concept selected but speeds from 50 to 250 knots covers the experience base under discussion. Two major thrusts in the US for high speed marine craft were by the US Maritime Administration (MARAD) for commercial shipping, and by the US Navy for military ships and craft. MARAD conducted two major thrusts; first a surface piercing hydrofoil with planned speeds of 60–100 knots and subsequently, a combination hovercraft and WIG design for 100–150 knots. The US Navy also had two

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major thrusts; first, for an amphibious air cushion craft for amphibious assault missions with speeds of 40–50 knots (other nations have developed craft with higher speeds). The second thrust was with a non-amphibious air cushion craft for open ocean naval missions of speeds of 80–100 knots. Each of these programs had both successes and setbacks that are detailed in the various chapters of the book. It is important to note that speed alone was never the aim of either the MARAD or the US Navy programs. The world speed record over water today is 276 knots, so obtaining speed alone over water is relatively “easy” to obtain for special purpose boats. The problem is how to achieve high speed in a commercially viable or military useful ship under water conditions more likely to be found at sea than on a calm water lake under controlled conditions speeding in a straight line. History documents many false starts over many centuries in high speed ship development to conquer, or at least tame, the “cruel sea” as various ship designs have been tried, tested and failed to get much beyond the 25–35 knot capability of even today’s most modern ship designs. In the last four decades, serious effort had been embarked upon by many nations to achieve some significant improvement over this 25–35 knot “barrier”. In the 1960s and 1970s as the hovercraft and hydrofoil principles and other forms of dynamic lift in ship design gained a foothold, the idea of a “100 knot Navy” started to take on a major thrust in ship development. Even though there was no direct rationale for the specific value of “100 knots” (economically or militarily) this number did provide an important impetus to aeronautical engineers, naval architects and military planners alike to seek answers in this new territory of “high speed” marine transportation. The US Navy’s 105 ton displacement surface effect ship “SES-100B” achieved a world speed record of 91.9 knots for “warships” on 30 June 1976. This was the pinnacle in the decade long US Navy pursuit of “100 knots at sea” that ended on 9 January 1980 with the cancelation of the frigate size 3000 ton displacement surface effect ship “3KSES” program without attaining that “100 knot” goal in a practical design. The end of this major thrust by the US Navy was not the result of the fuel crisis of the 1970s (a common misconception), it was due to unresolved technological solutions to complex issues in the design of such craft. This book takes a look at the history of the failures and many successes in the critical two decades of development (1960–1980) chasing the “one hundred knots at sea” capability; first as a means to document the history for later researchers to use appropriately, and secondly to identify some possible avenues to explore in this, as yet, unrealized dream. Along the way, many valuable offshoots of technology and designs produced significant findings in other mission areas and in many areas of hydrodynamics and aerodynamics basics for high speed marine craft design across a broad speed spectrum other than “100 knots”. These are documented in the book. The book contains much previously unpublished original work on technical solutions, theories, analyses and test data. The book has twelve self–contained chapters (with ample cross-referencing) for ease of documentation for both the historical record and the technical features in the development of high speed marine craft. Chapter 1: The Goal of One Hundred Knots. This chapter covers the key developments that have been pursued on hydrofoils, hovercraft, and wing-in- ground-effect craft including the ekranoplan variants and outlines the successful technology features used in each of the operational high speed marine craft.

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Chapter 2: History of High Speed Ship Development. More technical detail on each craft type and programmatic history of the key concepts under discussion is provided in this chapter. Chapter 3: The First Surface Effect Ship. The history and technical design characteristics of the US Maritime Administration’s program of the Columbia Surface Effect Ship Project is given in this chapter. Chapter 4: US Maritime Administration “Large Surface Effect Ship Program”. This chapter documents the entire program by MARAD for the nuclear ship N.S. Savannah; the hydrofoil HS Denison and the Columbia project to seek improve- ments in the US Merchant Marine. It documents a critical review by independent experts on the merits of the various candidates for high speed ships for ocean commerce. Chapter 5: History of US Navy “Large High Speed Surface Effect Ship” Program. This chapter gives a detailed chronological history of all programmatic, political and technical achievements in the US Navy program to develop a high speed frigate size ship for military missions. It contains a postscript of the Navy’s subsequent plans on high speed ships for ocean transport and combatants. Chapter 6: SES-100A and SES-100B Test Craft and the Three Thousand Ton SES. The detailed characteristics of the two test craft, and their Trials data is provided in this chapter. It covers both performance and stability characteristics as well as sub- system descriptions. It also provides details on how these two craft contributed to the design of the 3,000 ton class frigate size surface effect ship (SES). Chapter 7: Economic Considerations. How the economic requirements of a ship design are related to the technical characteristics is provided in this chapter. Chapter 8: Technical Considerations. This chapter delves into the many technical characteristics of high speed marine craft. It provides detailed derivation of many of the key characteristics of high speed ships on both performance and stability parameters. It includes many experimental results from multiple sources for comparison with the developed theories. It provides design tools for determining optimum geometries for efficient cruise speeds under varying conditions. It treats both hydrodynamic aspects and aerodynamic aspects of the different hull forms applicable to high speed marine craft. Chapter 9: Navy Military Operations Considerations. An important element in the design of high speed marine craft for military use is the need to incorporate features driven by military operations’ needs. This chapter develops the military considerations for amphibious assault missions and for stealth missions and outlines guidelines for future designs. Chapter 10: The US Navy ANVCE Program. This chapter documents the US Navy Advanced Navy Vehicles Concepts Evaluation (ANVCE) Project which was a major effort to evaluate many surface and air concepts for high speed missions. These concepts included air loiter aircraft, airships, seaplanes, wing-in-ground-effect craft including ekranoplan variants, monohull ships, planing hull craft (including supercritical planing hulls), SWATH ships, hovercraft, surface effect ships and hydrofoils. Much original technical work pertaining to these vehicles is documented and serves as a substantial data base for future work. Chapter 11: Aerodynamic Air Cushion Craft. The chapter covers basic wing-in- ground-effect (WIG) craft; channel flow craft (a combination of hovercraft and

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WIG) and ekranoplan craft. Detailed development of the key equations on performance and other characteristics are provided together with much experimental data obtained from multiple sources of wind tunnels and hydrodynamic tow tanks to form a reliable set of design tools. Chapter 12: Lessons Learned and Where to Next. This chapter pulls together the key results from the earlier chapters and summarizes the current efforts to guide future developments of this fruitful area of high speed marine craft for many different uses, both commercially and militarily.

Acknowledgments

Sir Christopher Cockerell, of course, deserves especial acknowledgment with his seminal work in originating and developing both the amphibious and the sidehull forms of air cushion craft. Both forms of which have received significant development in the UK (country of origin) and in the US as well as elsewhere in the world. His sage advice is deeply acknowledged, especially as the author struggled with the later studies by the US Navy to seek the proper forms of high speed ships. Without the work by such stalwarts in the hovercraft industry initiated in Saunders-Roe on the Isle of Wight, England (later British Hovercraft Corporation) this book could not have been written. All the folks at Saunders-Roe were pillars in the industry. Dick Stanton Jones (Chief Aerodynamicist and later Managing Director) is especially acknowledged together with Jack Lloyd (Dick’s right arm); Bill Crago and Dave Perry of the Saunders-Roe Tow Tank; Ray Wheeler in the Stress Department (who later took over from Stanton-Jones as Chief Designer); Peter Crewe (Chief of the all-important Project Office where original ideas including Christopher Cockerell’s hovercraft were nurtured in the company) and the many other engineers and designers at Saunders-Roe whose names are unfortunately forgotten in the passage of time but their help and nurturing of the author as an apprentice at Saunders-Roe in those early years is gratefully acknowledged. Dr Scott Rethorst and all the engineers and technicians at Vehicle Research Corporation, Pasadena, California (Tor Strand, Toshio Fujita, Helge Norstrud, Dr Win Royce, and many others) deserve special thanks for originating and developing the first surface effect ship, the “Columbia” and the test craft “VRC-1” for the US Maritime Administration. The experience gained by the author in designing, building and as test pilot for the “VRC-1” proved invaluable in gaining insight into the sophisticated characteristics of wing-in-ground-effect vehicles (WIG) specifi- cally and in high speed marine vehicles generally. All of the 40 engineers who moved with the author from Buffalo, New York to New Orleans, Louisiana to design, build and test the world record breaking Surface Effect Ship, “SES-100B” deserve special thanks. The cultural shock of moving from Buffalo to New Orleans was offset by the enthusiasm and excitement of designing, developing and testing such a unique ship. The long and friendly association with Ed Butler, the liaison officer from the US Navy/MARAD SES Joint Project Office,

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xxii Acknowledgments

while the author managed and directed the SES-100B Program, made many of the difficult decisions a pleasant experience. During the US Navy ANVCE Project, continued discussions on key aspects of unique marine craft with such stalwarts as Baron Hanns von Schertel, Dott. Ing. Leopoldo Rodriquez, Peter Payne, Peter Crewe, Dr Alexander Lippisch, Sir Christopher Cockerell, and many other highly capable engineers and scientists will be forever appreciated. The team in the ANVCE Project Office: Capt Tom Meeks (Project Director); Cdr “Corky” Graham; Dave Gicking performed herculean tasks keeping such a wide ranging project under control; and their direction, guidance and support is deeply appreciated. Especial acknowledgement is due to Bill Ellsworth at the US Navy David Taylor Research & Development Center (DTRDC) who sponsored the author’s first two books on air cushion craft technology and design in 1975 and in 1980, that laid the ground work for this new book on high speed marine transportation and the pivotal subject of “100 knots at Sea”.