ARTICLE CRITICAL OF CARRIERS STAMPED 'SECRET' BY NAVY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00845R000200930001-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 30, 2010
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: May 4, 1982
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

STAT
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/06/30: CIA-RDP90-00845R000200930001-3
THE WASHINGTON POST
4 May 1982
By Morton Mintz
Washtnyton past Staff WMW
.The,U.S. Navy has,put a "se..
cret.". stamp on an-,unpublished
article that questioned. whether
two American aircraft 'carriers
,,survived" simulated-'So'viet sub-
marine and surface ship attacks
in Ocean Venture-'8f,-the largest
exercise ever held b 'Atlantic
Fleet. r,
The writer of an article solic-
ited by the nonofficial Naval In-
stitute's Proceedings magazine,
Lt. Cmdr. Dean L. Knuth, was
the chief analyst of Ocean Ven-
ture '81, and its 1980 piedeces-
sor. In both naval-exercises he
was the American-adviser to the
British Navy's Vice Adm.'.John
Cox, who was responsible for
protecting the North Atlantic
Treaty Organization' ` "Blue"
team's nuclear-powered USS Ei-
senhower and ~- conventionally
powered USS Forrestal from at-
tack by the enemy.-'Orange-
team in the Norwegians Sea. -
team
While the U.S:: Navy's official
position is that botlrircraft car-
riers did well enough in' the ex-
ercises to warrant- the purchase
of two more nuclear-powered
carriers, Knuth is critical of that
interpretation.
"It'is hard foe,.- mer`to ,accept
the "proposition that?tlie? Fisen-
hower and the Forrestal reached
the Norwegian Sea- from the
North' Atlantic:,without being,
?attacked successfully,, :: even
though- the :.Orange, threat was
very' low," Knuth;'said ;id one of
-"
eseverarinterviews from.his home
.in Morr%town,?N.J N.J.
"What happened after that is
of.lesser importance, partly be-,
Article critical of Cariiers
Stamped `Secret'. by Navy
cause: most of the Orange submarines and
.,surface ships went into port. The fact is, our
taccraft carriers. were attacked by torpedoes
or missiles from `submarines in our` major'
,exercises. And..yet.-the Soviet submarine
.force is many. times larger than the handful
of 'Orange submarines in Operation "Ven-
he said:TheSoviets have-260 attack
and'emise-missile submarines.
In December, Knuth submitted a- draft to
'Proceedings, .whick'is published in Annap-
`olis - Later'that month, the institute asked
t.Navy security officials to review the paper so
that no classified material would . appear in .
ktlie,final version; which was being considered.
for the May issue.-.
Last Thursday, the Senate. Armed Ser-
vices Committee` staff made inquiries of the
Navy about the draft. On Friday, the Navy
phoned Fred H. "Rainbow, managing'edifor-
rof the Proceedings; to say that it. had clas-
sided the paper *secret."
``The survivability of the aircraft"carriers is
at the heart of a bitter dispute about wheth
er to spend $6.8 billion on two more nuclear-'
powered carriers the most expensive single.;
item of weaponry in the fiscal: 1983 Defense.
Authorization Act.:.
The Senate began to debate the bill yes-
terday. The key test will come later' in the
week ' on -a substitute proposal from Sen.
:.Gary Hart?(D-Colo.), who wants to delay.
consideration o f'one of the large'carriers and
"ulti=mission" light carvers, at
to buy twom
an estimated cost, of$3.3 billion, in place of
i the second tr=y
? Hart recently received a copy'- of Knuth's
:draft. On April 26,.Hart sent it to. Sen. Wil
Liam S. 'Cohen, (R=Maine), chairmen of the'
Senate.ArmedaServices sea power, and force,
:projection' subcommittee, which.on March 16
;was briefed about the maneuvers; by Adm.
Harry D. Train,Ilt, the commander-in-chief
of the Atlantic' Fleet. The Navy has not yeti
provided a sanitized transcript of the testi
mony_
"While the specific`conclusions presented.
in .the briefing are classified;" Hart wrote in
an_ accompanying-letter, 'they- are,- sal- you
know, strongly, favorable .toward the -large
aircraft carrier; in terms- of its survivability
.and ability to operate even in high-threat
areas. The conclusions were used explicitly
to support and justify the current Navy pro,
gram, which includes the. two large carriers
Bu-t,*.Hart continued, he had recentlyre-
ceived Knuth's paper. "Far from proving
highly survivable"the carriers were "effec=;_
tively attacked by both submarines and.sur-.
face ships," Hart;wrote. The paper "raises
serious questions concerning the accuracy of
the information presented to. the subcommit-
tee by the Navy" he wrote.
In his letter to Cohen. Hart asked for an
investigation of the results of Ocean Venture i
and of the Navy briefing and fora "hold". on
authorizing the .two large. carriers '"until the
? fate of the carriers in' Ocean Venture '81 can
b&- determined accurately." Cohen's staff'
began to - make : "preliminary, ;inquiries"
Thursday..
Yesterday, Cohen,sent a letter to Hart-in
-which he disagreed'.witli Hart's'.interpreta
tion of the briefing. After a' review .of all the
pertinent materials,.Cohen said in a state-
ment: "The subcommittee was not .misled
and the conclusions. of. the exercise. [Ocean
.Venture as presented remain valid." He also
said there is ?no:reason'.'not.t6_ buy the= two
large carriers; which: are of the Nimitz class::
Y In reporting; the defense authorisation bill
last month,'the_Senate Armed Services.'sub
committee said -i`'TheNimitz clas3,carrier re-
mains the most'oast-effective?and'surviyable
means of deploying aircraft to sea:"-,
(='-`Hart disagrees. "We"need to disperse our
'naval aviation' onto` a significantly4larger
`number of ships-and two,,is nota 'signifi-
'cant ' number," he wrote otheraenators in `a
March 19 letter".Yet;'if wee keep binding
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/06/30: CIA-RDP90-00845R000200930001-3