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APR 2 195]
Colonel Schnittke:
On March 28 in the company of Mr. Corman, of Holmes & Narver, Walter
Gibbins, of UCRL, and a half dozen technical and scientific UCRL
personnel, I visited an escort carrier at the San Francisco docks.
The carrier visited was under the operational control of the Navy
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and is being used in the service of transporting planes, trucks,
etc.
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‘This visit was for the purpose of getting some general idea
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of the suitability of this type vessel for use as a diagnostic ship - ot ik oe
in connection with a possible operaiion.
Although I am not: tease
in position to comment on the
adequacy of the ship from the standpoint of purely diagnostic capabilities, I was very favorably
impressed with many features, particularly from the standpoint of
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operation and providing service to the laboratories, the principal
ones being:
a.
The large, flat, clear flight deck, approximately 600 feet
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in length and around 80 feet in width, with hold-down
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to work on and add to as required. A portion of it could
easily be reserved for a limited number of helicopters for
use in re-entry and damage survey investigations following
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facilities and a wooden surface which would be very easy
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a detonation.
b.
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The large, clear space of the hanger deck, which I estimate
to be a minimum of 50 feet in the clear and width approxi-
mately 425 feet in length with 18 feet of head room.
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would be very easy to partition this space for offices,
quarters, machine shops, and other uses for the scientific
personnel.
c.
The two large elevators, which would be most useful in transporting materials to and from the hanger deck and if left
open during periods when the ship was at anchor, would provide good ventilation throughout the hanger deck.
d.
The general simplicity of the ship, as compared to most
military-type ships, is most important if we are to man the
ship or arrange for its manning through MSTS. The engines. .
are of a somewhat ancient vintage, but they are recipicating
steam engines which are extremely dependable and easy to
operate and maintain. Very little space is taken up with
engines, boilers; and, although the ship is not particularly
NATIONS
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