A flume for handling arrays at sea

Abstract

A large radius (4') flume has been built for deploying and recovering a long (1.5km) hydrophone array contained inside a Kevlar braid strength member. The flume is made of stainless steel and is polished to protect the Kevlar braid from abrasion. It is designed so that the deployment ship can still maneuver even with the array parallel to the stern in the horizontal plane. Details are be presented about the first use of this flume with the array under adverse circumstances.