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Aviation History
1960
1960 - 1175.PDF
-LIGHT, 29 July 1960 149 1959 The left-hand photograph was taken on May 14, showing a missile at San C/emente leaving the water obliquely through waves generated by the cruiser seen in the background; on May 29 the middle photograph was secured during one of the Fishhook launchings; and the third photograph illustrates the first firing from the ship-motion simulator at Cape Canaveral, which took place on August 14 sentative of a submarine in a heavy sea. Thirteen days later another AX was successfully launched from Observation Island off the Cape, and again all test objectives were met. At the beginning of this year several major hurdles remained to be surmounted, and each was successfully overcome. Two new pads, 29A and 29B, were commissioned at the Cape and a new series of test vehicles, known as the A1X model, has been fired to solve the remaining problems preparatory to the achievement of initial operational capability. The A1X vehicles are externally similar to their predecessors, and differ only in slight improve- ments to the second-stage propulsion and the guidance system. The first night firing (from Pad 25A) came on December 15, although a daytime launch on December 30 resulted in destruction by the range safety officer. By February 10, six consecutive test vehicles had flown 900 miles down the Atlantic Missile Range, all impacting in the target area. On February 26, a fully-guided round was fired from the ship simulator and the following day a success- ful re-entry test was made. On March 28 the first propelled missile to be fired from an underwater tube broke surface at San Clemente, but an automatic cutoff prevented ignition of the small amount of propellant in the first stage. The following day a fully guided A1X was successfully launched 900 miles down the Atlantic range from Observation Island. A major advance was successful ignition following an underwater launching, achieved at San Clemente on April 14; the first stage burnt for 5sec and the missile was recovered from an apogee of 1,800ft. First flight of over 1,000 miles was made from Cape Canaveral on April 25. A re-usable Polaris, devoid of propulsion, is being employed in the checkout of submarine launch tubes and in the training of crews. Named Dolphin, the device is approximately the same size and weight as the operational missile, but differs greatly internally. Its backbone is a 25ft tube (which in all Dolphins so far delivered started life as a 16in-gun barrel-liner intended for Missouri-class battleships) charged with air at high pressure. After pneumatic launching from the submarine, the air in the central tube is ported to the base of the missile body to expel some 14,0001b of water in a forwards direction. This transfer of momentum halts the missile at, or only just above, the surface, and the empty Dolphin floats. Keeping step with the missile's development, the FBM sub- marines are being commissioned at the rate of three a year. At present nine have been ordered. The first batch, SBB(N)598 et seq, carry 16 missiles each and have a surface displacement of 5,400 tons. The next class, beginning with SSB(N)608, have an additional hull bay and certain major improvements, and a third generation, SSB(N)616 onwards, will incorporate additional refinements. [Continued overleaj I960 On January 22 Missile A1X-10 was fired from Pad 29B at Cape Canaveral (left); a Dolphin was tested on March 25, and on April 14 Lockheed achieved the first light-up of first-stage propulsion after a launching from beneath the surface of the ocean. Depicted in the third illustration, this ignition was achieved very close to the water surface, with the missile rising vertically
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