A Brief Chronology of Swath Development

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References
Brief Chronology of Swath History...

1880

1880 - A patent is awarded to C.G. Lundborg for the first single-hulled semisubmerged ship.

1938

1938 - Frederick G. Creed, a Canadian, presents his idea for a small-waterplane-area twin-hull aircraft carrier to the British Admiralty. Several years later Creed is permitted to show it to the U.S. Navy, but they do not pursue the concept.

1946

1946 - Frederick Creed is awarded a British patent.

1959
1959 - U.S. Navy activity in moderately high speed "semi-submerged ships" begins with H. Boericke proposing the streamlined "shark form" monohull¹, for which he was awarded a patent in 1962.

1965

1965 - Alan McClure of Houston proposes the MOHOLE platform, with a configuration similar to Blair's, as a mobile drilling rig.

1967
1967 - Dr. Reuven Leopold of Litton Industries presents to the U.S. Navy his moderately high speed TRISEC concept², for which he was awarded a patent in June, 1969.

1968
1968 - The 40m long, low speed small-waterplane-area twin-hull vessel Duplus³is launched by the Boele Shipyard in the Netherlands. Designer of the 1200-ton Duplus is a Dutch naval constructor, J. J. Stenger, who based his design for a self-propelled oil exploration support vessel on the fact that submarines lying at periscope depth experience little wave-induced motion.

1968

1968 - an M.I.T. student proposes a streamlined version of the MOHOLE platform for a class project and carries out model tests on the design, which he called a semi-submerged catamaran.

1968
1968 - Dr. Tom Lang of the Naval Underseas Center (NUC) in San Diego begins intensive development of his concept for a "high speed ship with semi- submerged hulls", for which he was awarded a U.S. patent in 1971. A key element of the concept is the provision of movable horizontal fins located aft of the vessel's center of gravity to stabilize vessel trim and pitch motions at higher speeds.

1970

1970 - Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding Co., in Tokyo, begins basic research on the "semi-submerged catamaran", or SSC.

1972

1972 - Construction begins on the 190-ton SWATH workboat SSP KAIMALINO for NUC after 18 months of research by engineers at NUC and nearly 2.5 years of design and confirmatory model testing⁴. Launching occurs in March, 1973.

1973

1973 - The acronym "SWATH" is coined by U. S. Navy technocrats who promote its use, rather than "semi-submerged" ship or catamaran, to distinguish this concept from conventional catamarans.

1979
1979 - Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding completes the world's first commercial SWATH ferry, the 26.5 knot MESA 80 (aka, SEAGULL), with a capacity of 446 passengers⁵.

1991

1991 - The first of a class of 4 SWATH acoustic Surveillance ships designed by the U.S. Navy, the 71.5 m long victorious, is delivered to the Military Sealift Command.

1992

1992 - Finnyards delivers the first SWATH cruiseliner, the 131 m long Radisson Diamond, to Diamond Cruise Ltd.

1993
1993 - The existence of the world's first so-called "stealth" ship, the U.S. Navy's 50 m long Sea Shadow, an A-Frame SWATH ship built by Lockheed Missiles and Aerospace Co., is declassified and disclosed publicly, leading to a cover article in the July '93 issue of Popular Mechanics.

References

Other Articles:
The Swath Concept
A Brief History
SWATH FAQ's
Ride Quality
Tri-Hull Development
Our Model Testing
Maritech Project
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1. Boericke, H., Jr., "Unusual Displacement Hull Forms for High Speed," International Shipbuilding Progress, Vol. 6 (1959).
2. Leopold, R., "A New Hull Form for High-Speed Volume-Limited Displacement-Type Ships," Paper No. 8, Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers Spring Mtg. (May 1969).
3. Stenger, T.T., "The Trident Stabilized Vessel Concept for Offshore Drilling and Construction Operations," Offshore Technology Conference, Paper OTC 1138 (1969).
4. Lang, T.G.; Hightower, J.D.; Strickland, A.T.; "Design and Development of the 190- Ton Stable Semi-Submerged Platform (SSP)," ASME Paper No. 73-WA/OCT-2 (Nov. 1973).
5. "Mesa 80: Mitsui's Semi-Submersible Catamaran as a Fast Ferry," The Motor Ship, (July 1980).
6. "America's Invisible Warship," Abe Dane, Popular Mechanics, (July 1993).

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Last Updated: June 24th, 1999

\|Home\|About\|Contact\| References	Brief Chronology of Swath History...
1880	1880 - A patent is awarded to C.G. Lundborg for the first single-hulled semisubmerged ship.
1938	1938 - Frederick G. Creed, a Canadian, presents his idea for a small-waterplane-area twin-hull aircraft carrier to the British Admiralty. Several years later Creed is permitted to show it to the U.S. Navy, but they do not pursue the concept.
1946	1946 - Frederick Creed is awarded a British patent.
1959	1959 - U.S. Navy activity in moderately high speed "semi-submerged ships" begins with H. Boericke proposing the streamlined "shark form" monohull¹, for which he was awarded a patent in 1962.
1965	1965 - Alan McClure of Houston proposes the MOHOLE platform, with a configuration similar to Blair's, as a mobile drilling rig.
1967	1967 - Dr. Reuven Leopold of Litton Industries presents to the U.S. Navy his moderately high speed TRISEC concept², for which he was awarded a patent in June, 1969.
1968	1968 - The 40m long, low speed small-waterplane-area twin-hull vessel Duplus³is launched by the Boele Shipyard in the Netherlands. Designer of the 1200-ton Duplus is a Dutch naval constructor, J. J. Stenger, who based his design for a self-propelled oil exploration support vessel on the fact that submarines lying at periscope depth experience little wave-induced motion.
1968	1968 - an M.I.T. student proposes a streamlined version of the MOHOLE platform for a class project and carries out model tests on the design, which he called a semi-submerged catamaran.
1968	1968 - Dr. Tom Lang of the Naval Underseas Center (NUC) in San Diego begins intensive development of his concept for a "high speed ship with semi- submerged hulls", for which he was awarded a U.S. patent in 1971. A key element of the concept is the provision of movable horizontal fins located aft of the vessel's center of gravity to stabilize vessel trim and pitch motions at higher speeds.
1970	1970 - Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding Co., in Tokyo, begins basic research on the "semi-submerged catamaran", or SSC.
1972	1972 - Construction begins on the 190-ton SWATH workboat SSP KAIMALINO for NUC after 18 months of research by engineers at NUC and nearly 2.5 years of design and confirmatory model testing⁴. Launching occurs in March, 1973.
1973	1973 - The acronym "SWATH" is coined by U. S. Navy technocrats who promote its use, rather than "semi-submerged" ship or catamaran, to distinguish this concept from conventional catamarans.
1979	1979 - Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding completes the world's first commercial SWATH ferry, the 26.5 knot MESA 80 (aka, SEAGULL), with a capacity of 446 passengers⁵.
1991	1991 - The first of a class of 4 SWATH acoustic Surveillance ships designed by the U.S. Navy, the 71.5 m long victorious, is delivered to the Military Sealift Command.
1992	1992 - Finnyards delivers the first SWATH cruiseliner, the 131 m long Radisson Diamond, to Diamond Cruise Ltd.
1993	1993 - The existence of the world's first so-called "stealth" ship, the U.S. Navy's 50 m long Sea Shadow, an A-Frame SWATH ship built by Lockheed Missiles and Aerospace Co., is declassified and disclosed publicly, leading to a cover article in the July '93 issue of Popular Mechanics.