NSWC Carderock Upgrades Its MASK Facility

Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) Carderock completed major renovations to the maneuvering and seakeeping basin (MASK) facility, Aug. 16.

The 360-foot long and 240 foot-wide facility holds approximately 12 million gallons of water and is used to evaluate the maneuverability, stability and control of scale models.

Carderock built the MASK in 1962 to test the scale model performance of ships, platforms and moored systems in realistic sea conditions. During the six-year upgrade, Carderock replaced the original pneumatic wave-making system in the MASK with 216 individually-controlled electro-mechanical wave-boards that significantly enhance the capability to create a precise wave environment.

 “This new finger-style technology provides the Navy with an unprecedented capability to create a realistic ocean environment inside of the facility, which enables us to collect more precise test data,” said Jon Etxegoien, NSWC Carderock Naval architecture and engineering department head. “This upgrade, along with the size of the facility, makes the MASK the most advanced test facility of its kind in the world.”

 NSWC Carderock hydromechanics facilities engineering and operations division head Joseph Moeller said the upgrade allows his team to simulate the ocean’s most extreme conditions. “In this facility, we can test scale models up to 30 feet in length in order to predict the full-scale performance of ships in the open ocean,” he said. “We are very excited to begin exploring the facility’s new capabilities and integrating them with our existing test equipment.”

NSWC Carderock, a field activity of the Naval Sea Systems Command, leads the Navy in hull, mechanical and electrical engineering. Headquartered in West Bethesda, Md., NSWC Carderock employs approximately 3,600 scientists, engineers, technicians and support personnel and includes the Ship Systems Engineering Station located in Philadelphia as well as detachments in Norfolk, Va., Cape Canaveral, Fl., Andros Island, Bahamas, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Memphis, Tenn., Bangor, Wash., Ketchikan, Alaska and Bayview, Idaho.

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Press Release, August 27, 2013