High-Speed Marine Craft One Hundred Knots at Sea

This book details the efforts to build a large naval vessel capable of traveling at one hundred 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), hydro-dynamic, 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.

1. The goal of one hundred knots; 2. History of high speed development; 3. The first surface effect ship; 4. History of MARAD 'large surface effect ship' program; 5. History of US Navy 'large surface effect ship' program; 6. SES-100A and SES-100B test craft and the 'three thousand ton SES'; 7. Economic considerations; 8. Technical considerations; 9. Navy military operations considerations; 10. The Advanced Naval Vehicles Concepts Evaluation (ANVCE) project; 11. Aerodynamic air cushion craft; 12. Lessons learned and where to next?

Peter Mantle's long career as 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 research and development 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, and The Missile Defense Equation: Factors for Decision Making.