A Device for Determining the Towing Capacity of Small Vessels

Abstract

The calibration of a variable drag device, known as the Variable Drug Sweep Simulator (VDSS), is described. It is used to measure the capability of wooden hull fishing trawlers to tow mine sweep gear. The Royal Australian Navy intends converting a number of wooden hull fishing trawlers into small auxiliary minesweepers, MSA(S). Australian wooden hull fishing trawlers of interest to the RAN are only 15 to 25 m in length and it is necessary to measure the towing capacity of a fishing trawler prior to its acquisition for minesweeping. Deploying actual sweep gear would present a logistic and/or security problem so a lightweight device has been developed to simulate various types of sweep gear from a tow load, or hydrodynamic drag, viewpoint.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 1990
Accession Number
ADA223620

Entities

People

  • W. J. Turner

Organizations

  • Defence Science and Technology Group

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Ground and Sea Platforms
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Abstracts
  • Calibration
  • Classification
  • Countermeasures
  • Drag
  • Dynamometers
  • Fish
  • Ground Speed
  • Laser Beams
  • Materials
  • Measurement
  • Metacentric Height
  • Sea Water
  • Security
  • Simulators
  • Strain Gages
  • Test And Evaluation

Readers

  • Marine Hydrodynamics
  • Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering.