Scripps in the 1940s: The Sverdrup Era

Abstract

classmates of mine who were potential "draft dodgers" on 6 December became enlistees on 8 December.This was a war with the total involvement of the American people.In our family of three, my sister joined the Army Nurse Corps; my mother, the widow of a Marine Corps officer, headed the forklift section at the North Island Naval Air Station loading planes and ships; and I went into the Marine Corps.Amphibious landings on the Palau Islands of the Pacific made me an early "expert" on beaches and coastal studies.The University of California Division of War Research (UCDWR) was created in April 1941.The formation of government laboratories, one on the Pacific coast under the University of California and a companion laboratory on the Atlantic coast under Columbia University, was recommended in a study by Vannevar Bush, chairman of the National Defense Research Committee early in 1941 (UCDWR, 1946).These laboratories were to conduct comprehensive investigations of the methods for detecting a submerged or partially submerged submarine as well as the development of detection equipment.The Atlantic coast laboratory was to develop the equipment and final design of prototype gear, while the Pacific coast laboratory would concern itself primarily with fundamental investigations.These laboratories were funded, retroactively, to April 1941 by the Office of Scientific Research and Development under Vannevar Bush, and were transferred to the Department of the Navy, Bureau of Ships, in March 1945.The Pacific coast laboratory, UCDWR, was led by Vern O. Knudsen as director, succeeded in 1942 by Gaylord P. Harnwell.UCDWR was housed on Point Loma in San Diego and initially shared the building occupied by the U.S. Navy Radio and Sound Laboratory.UCDWR drew scientists from throughout the United States and became a nucleus for a cadre of scientists and ship personnel that later aided in the development of oceanography.Scientists included Carl Eckart, Ken Emery, Dick Fleming, Martin Johnson, Walter Munk, Russ Raitt, Hunter Rouse, R. Dana Russell, Fran Shepard, and Parker Trask (UCDWR, 1945a; UCDWR, 1945b).Acousticians came from various universities, but those with the most practical experience

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