Page 17: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (February 1981)

Capt. Thomas Bush (at podium), head of the navigation branch of the U.S. Navy's

Strategic Systems Project Office, presents Sperry division personnel with a special flag at a recent ceremony commemorating the 25th anniversary of the beginning of the Fleet Ballistic Missile program. Holding the flag are: Robert L. Wendt (left), president of Sperry division; Norman Meyer (center, behind flag), Sperry vice presi- dent for strategic systems; and Kurt Merl (right), vice president and general man- ager of Sperry division's Systems Management unit.

Navy Honors Sperry Contribution

On 25th Anniversary Of FBM Program

Insertion of a new 81-meter-long midbody added 140,000 dwt to the tanker Seawise

Giant making her, at 560,000 dwt, world's largest tanker. Conversion was performed at Nippon Kokan's Tsu Shipyard in Japan for Universal Petroleum Carrier Inc.

The U.S. Navy has presented the Sperry division of Sperry Cor- poration with a special flag hon- oring the company's contribution to the Fleet Ballistic Missile (FBM) program, and commemo- rating the 25th anniversary of the beginning of the program that led to the development of the strategic nuclear-powered submarine fleet.

Sperry has served as the sys- tems manager of the navigation systems for the FBM program since the program began. In ad- dition, Sperry also provides key pieces of hardware for the navi- gation system, including the nav- igation control console, which is the central control and monitor station for operation of the sys- tem. Sperry has developed nine generations of navigation sys- tems for the Polaris, Poseidon, and Trident submarines to meet the increasing needs for higher accuracy and longer periods of submerged operation between navigational fixes. "We are honored by this pres- entation, and are extremely proud of it," said Robert L. Wendt, president of the Sperry division. "We take great satisfaction from the fact that, despite more than 1,500 operational patrols by this submarine fleet, no patrol has ever been aborted because of a navigation system failure. We are also pleased that, in part because of Sperry's contributions, the

FBM submarines remain the least vulnerable part of the strategic triad."

The FBM program was begun on November 17, 1955 with the establishment of the Special Proj- ects Office of the U.S. Navy, after authorization of the development program in September by Presi- dent Dwight D. Eisenhower.

The first FBM submarine, the

USS George Washington, was launched less than four years lat-

February 1, 1981

Jumboized 'Seawise Giant7 Is

Now World's Biggest Tanker er, on June 9, 1959, and the first successful submerged test firing of the Polaris missile was made from the submarine off Cape Ca- naveral on July 20, 1960. The

USS George Washington began its first operational patrol on No- vember 15, 1960, carrying 16 Po- laris missiles, each with a range of 1,200 nautical miles.

The Sperry division, one of five divisions of Sperry Corporation, is a leading developer of systems and hardware for defense and the maritime industry, and is the cor- poration's principal contributor of new technologies for land, sea and missile applications.

The Seawise Giant, a 420,000- dwt tanker owned by Universal

Petroleum Carrier Inc., has been jumboized at the Tsu Shipyard of NKK (Nippon Kokan) in Ja- pan. The huge ship gained 81 me- ters in length and 140,000 tons (metric) in deadweight to become, at 560,000 dwt, the world's larg- est tanker. She is classed by the

American Bureau of Shipping.

Shin ichi Hirayama, president of NKK America Incorporated, said that the operation was car- ried out by cutting the tanker into two parts at about 120 me- ters from the stem, and adding a new midbody between them.

Her overall length went from 377 meters to 458.45 meters (1,237 to 1,504 feet) and her draft increased from 23.62 meters to 24.56 meters (77.5 to 80.6 feet).

Beam and depth remained the same at 68.8 and 29.8 meters, re- spectively (225.7 and 97.8 feet). 19

Write 257 on Reader Service Card

We've Just Scratched The Surface . . .

At Goff we discovered if our airless shot blast equipment were portable it would save time, money, require less man- power and provide easier access to surfaces that require blast cleaning. So, Goff is proud to introduce Portable

Power Blast Equipment. / Goff's Port able Power Blast Equipment is de- signed to clean horizontal, or slightly inclined steel or concrete surfaces such as ships' decks, storage tanks, offshore platforms, warehouse floors, roads or airport runways. Our Portable Power Blast Equipment offers the most modern and efficient method of blast cleaning sur- face preparation ever introduced to the industrial market. /

For a free brochure and complete information on Goff's Portable Power

Blast Equipment write or call today,

P.O. Box 240, Tuttle, OK 73089, 405-381-3022.

ONE PLEASANT GROVE RD. • P.O. BOX 1607 • SEMINOLE, OK 74868

INTRODUCES ^

PORTABLE POWER

BLAST

EQUIPMENT