US Naval Training Center - Compass Yearbook (Bainbridge, MD)

Page 19 text:

NEW GUIDED MISSILE FRIGATE UIRTIST'S CONCEPTIONl In amphibious warfare the United States Marine Corps, the pioneers in amphibious operations the world over, has devised a new concept known as vertical envelopment. It involves the landing of troops from helicopters. The heart of a future ame phibious force is the assault helicopter ship. Aside from its capa- bility of discharging troops with helicopters, it has the additional advantage of carrying a complete battalion landing team and all of the assault equipment inside one hull. There are many advantages to this method: Our ships can operate outside of mineable waters. They can be so dispersed as to minimize the effect of atomic bombing. Their helicopters increase the speed with which the first assault waves can be put ashore. After the Marines have established themselves in an area behind the enemy lines they move forward to secure a beachhead. Through this opening will flow from the sea lanes, personnel and material needed for a sustained campaign. The Navy's building programs feature weapons that are founded on sustained mobility, adaptable to all the aspects of modern warfare. First, in current programs is an attack carrier. This ship, the aircraft carrier, can be said to be the most im- portant single type of ship that we have in the Navy today. It is the most versatile instrument in warfare. For the foreseeable future it will play an indispensable role. It provides the only system of mobile bases for planes. The weapon systems of the attack carrier include guided missiles as well as the heavy attack aircraft with their atomic weapon capability, and the attack aircraft for close support of troops. Its defense weapons system includes anti-submarine patrol, air- craft early warning, interceptor aircraft, and the combat air patrol. Installed aboard the Carrier is the conventional anti- aircraft battery, and in future years will include anti-aircraft guided missile launchers. MARINE VERTICAL AMPHIBIOUS lANDING FROM CARRIER 'I'O COMBAT ZONE v ...I '7 REGULUS MISSILE ABOARD SHIP AIRBORNE ROCKET POWER: THE CUTLASS SHIPBOARD UNCHING OF A .mp1 lONG-RANGE MISSILE

Page 18 text:

FUTURE NAVAL POWER Naval power is divided into the following functions: air war- fare, submarine warfare, anti-submarine warfare, and amphibious warfare and support. In naval warfare all of these functions are closely interrelated. , First, let us discuss the fast attack force. The fast attack force comprises several carriers depending upon the mission. It is screened by guided missile cruisers and guided missile frigates as well as todayls versatile destroyers. The offensive capabilities of this naval force include the destruction of enemy planes and guided missiles before they become airborne, the mining of chan- nels, disruption of interior transportation systems and the de- struction of shipping. The capability of fast carrier forces to destroy naval installations by atomic weapons contributes to that highly important phase of anti-submarine warfare, the destruc- tion of enemy submarines before they get to sea. Fast carrier forces provide bombardment of enemy fortifications as well as closely coordinated air support for the ground forces of the Army and Marine Corps. Defensively, the fast carriers have the built-in capability of defense against enemy guided missiles and aircraft. This far- roving force, in all-out nuclear war with its disastrous conse- quences, may well throw the balance in our favor. The Soviet Union is sure to have every fixed air base in the free world pin- pointed and these will be included in the simultaneous attack on the industrial centers of this country. In contravention, the elusive mobility of the fast attack force imposes a serious burden on the Soviet Union. First, he is never sure of the exact location of this carrier attack force, and, second, he never. knows where this force will strike. At even todayls modest speeds, the fast at- tack force can be anywhere within 1.5 million square miles of open sea in 24 hours. i'wbismov INDUSTRIAL DESTROY xx; AREAS ENEMY AIRCRAFT . AIR SUPPORT FOR GROUND FORCES AL INSfALtk Ions, 'pN .cgmsns, 15 SEA POWER MOBILITY Mobility is of greater importance now than it has ever been in the history of warfare. The destructive power of modern weapons increases the importance of flexible mobility beyond anything in the past. The basic essence of naval power is mobility. The sea lends a mobility which land-based power can never have. The modern and future submarine potential of the USSR impose a serious threat to our national security along the coasts of the United States. This enemy submarine threat falls in three areas: guided missiles, mining, and attacks on our ships. To defeat the Soviet submarine menace is going to take ex- treme efforts on our part. The emphasis must be on offensive anti-submarine warfare. It will take the concerted action of sur- face ships, submarines and planes. Anti-submarine warfare naturally falls into three phases. 'x IDIQTROYEBRIDGES ' Vt. Te. - DESTROY suamygm: PEh First, we must be able to destroy enemy submarines before they get to sea. This job falls to the aircraft of the fast attack force, the guided missile submarine, and in the future to the long range sea plane. In addition, we will use the mining capa- bilities of our submarines in his port approaches. Secondly, we must be able to destroy enemy submarines en- route to the target. This is done by submarines in barriers in coordination with aircraft. The attack submarine itself can sink enemy submarines. A hunter-killer group with its support car- rier in the center and its screen of destroyers carries fixed wing aircraft and helicopters. The helicopter is a new addition to the family of weapons to be used against the enemy submarine and gives great promise. Thirdly, we must be able to destroy enemy submarines after they arrive in the target area. To do this we have escorts for ocean and coastal convoys.

Page 20 text:

NUCLEAR POWERED GUIDED MISSILE CRUISER lARTIST'S CONCEPTIONl NUCLEAR WEAPONS The conversion of cruisers for the use of surface-to-air guided missiles is well underway. In early conversions, gun mounts have been retained forward and the missile launcher is aft. The entire after section has been reconhgured for miSSile storage. One of the new and radical design ships under construction is the nuclear powered guided missile, light cruiser. This ship is about 11,000 tons in displacement and has a length of over 600 feet. It foretells that era in which we will have guided mis- siles aboard nuclear powered ships capable of steaming to the farthest ends of the earth at the highest speeds. It will be able to launch guided missiles at the heartland of any potential enemy. These will be the First nuclear powered surface ships in our Navy. Nuclear powered guided missile submarines now under con- struction are an improvement on the NAUTILUS and also in- corporate design lessons learned in the USS ALBACORE at high speeds submerged. Such ships as these are a fundamental requirement for for- ward strategic planning in an atomic era that requires a strong Navy. Fast carrier forces assure our country of the continuing ability to strike at the enemy. Naval power is the only means of assuring logistic support to friendly forces, land, sea, and air. Deployed Naval power is an on-the-spot deterrent and a ready retaliatory force in the case of limited or nuclear war. a NUCLEAR POWERED GUIDED MISSILE SUBMARINE tARTIST'S CONCEPTI A SPECIAL MESSAGE FROM ADMIRAL BURKE ELCOME to the United States Navy. You are starting your service at a very interesting time in history. The future of the Navy has never been brighter than it is today. The new technologies of the nuclear-missile age will make the Navy of the future a force of unprecedented power and effectiveness. You are a part of that future. The importance of control of the seas to the security of the United States-and of the entire free world-has never been greater than it is today. Without control of the seas there is very little else the United States can do to win a war- or to defend itself. The responsibility for this tremendous task lies with the United States Navy. The strength of the Navy is in the people who man it. No matter how rapidly we introduce advanced weapons and new scientihc and engineering developments, the Fleet can be only as effective as the dedication, the integrity, the educated judgment and the trained skills of the people who man it. Without you and others like you this powerful Fleet would not be possible. Good luck to you, and may God bless you. , . . ADMIRAL ARLEIGH A. BURKE Chief of Naval Operations ONl