Navy shore facilities have encountered considerable difficulty and much expense in maintaining adequate protection from corrosion for buoys and ground tackle used in Fleet moorings. The rates at which the protective coatings deteriorate and the steel corrodes in seawater vary greatly in different locations because of differences in temperature, nature of environment, and type of service rendered. It has been stated that "...in certain far eastern water the average effective durability of a steel navigational buoy is only about eight years, and that even in this short life repairs to the underwater shell are required every third to fifth year."1 Thus, a large portion of the buoy deterioration occurs where the structure is continually immersed; this is the only area where cathodic protection from corrosion can be effective. The purchase and maintenance costs of mooring chains are several times those required for mooring buoys. As a consequence, the Naval Civil Engineering Laboratory (NCEL) was asked to investigate the use of cathodic protection for protecting both the submerged portion of mooring buoys and the ground tackle used to secure them in place.
