"In the 1970s, the U.S. Navy Tried to Talk Like Whales" Topic
5 Posts
All members in good standing are free to post here. Opinions expressed here are solely those of the posters, and have not been cleared with nor are they endorsed by The Miniatures Page.
For more information, see the TMP FAQ.
Back to the Modern Naval Discussion (1946 to 2013) Message Board Back to the Cold War (1946-1989) Message Board
Areas of InterestModern
Featured Hobby News Article
Featured Link
Featured Ruleset
Featured Workbench Articlecombatpainter has been watching some documentaries lately set in the Western Desert, and was inspired to create this...
Featured Profile ArticleWhat if you want to game something too controversial or distasteful to put on the tabletop?
Featured Movie Review
|
Please sign in to your membership account, or, if you are not yet a member, please sign up for your free membership account.
Tango01 | 18 Jan 2017 9:56 p.m. PST |
"In the summer of 1974, a pod of pilot whales swimming near California's Catalina Island heard some unexpected sounds. Coming through the water was a familiar set of messages—swooping whistles, keening cries, and zippy chirps. It sounded like a pilot whale, but not one they had ever heard before, and talking absolute gibberish. As they swam up to investigate, they must have realized their mistake. This wasn't a pilot whale. It was a U.S. Navy submarine—150 feet long, made of titanium, and speaking their language. Look back into U.S. military history, and you'll find a menagerie of animals—bomb-carrying bats; bioengineered spy cats; pigeons trained to rescue soldiers lost at sea. A newly declassified report housed at Government Attic reveals another attempt at zoological mastery: Project COMBO, a plan to let U.S. submarines have underwater conversations by disguising them as whale sounds. During the Cold War, military researchers had to figure out how to look, listen, and communicate deep beneath the sea. For inspiration, they often turned to marine creatures. The U.S. studied beluga whales, which echolocate, to beef up their own sonar capabilities. They trained a bottlenosed dolphin named Taffy to carry equipment and lead divers to safety. The Soviet Union had, essentially, suicide-bomber dolphins, which would dive under ships with bombs strapped to their backs. Scientists on both sides thought bioluminescent plankton might help with submarine detection…." Main page link Amicalement Armand |
Old Wolfman | 19 Jan 2017 8:05 a.m. PST |
Reminds me of Harland Williams's character,"Sonar",in the navy comedy "Down Periscope" |
Tango01 | 19 Jan 2017 11:23 a.m. PST |
|
Lion in the Stars | 19 Jan 2017 1:04 p.m. PST |
Down Periscope might be a comedic movie, but it's a documentary about the cast of characters on a real submarine crew! I have served with multiples of each one of those characters. And disguising underwater comms is important, it's otherwise virtually impossible to communicate with another submarine. (OK, there is an underwater telephone, but that's more like a party line, everyone in the water knows what you're saying). |
coopman | 21 Jan 2017 6:11 a.m. PST |
We were young once, and bored…. |
|