10 USC § 8673 - Model Basin; investigation of hull designs

---
identifier: "/us/usc/t10/s8673"
source: "usc"
legal_status: "official_legal_evidence"
title: "10 USC § 8673 - Model Basin; investigation of hull designs"
title_number: 10
title_name: "ARMED FORCES"
section_number: "8673"
section_name: "Model Basin; investigation of hull designs"
chapter_number: 863
chapter_name: "NAVAL VESSELS"
part_number: "IV"
part_name: "GENERAL ADMINISTRATION"
positive_law: true
currency: "119-84"
last_updated: "2026-04-17"
format_version: "1.1.0"
generator: "[email protected]"
source_credit: "(Aug. 10, 1956, ch. 1041, 70A Stat. 451, § 7303; Pub. L. 89–718, § 41, Nov. 2, 1966, 80 Stat. 1120; renumbered § 8673 and amended Pub. L. 115–232, div. A, title VIII, § 807(d)(2), title X, § 1015(a), Aug. 13, 2018, 132 Stat. 1836, 1949.)"
---


# § 8673. Model Basin; investigation of hull designs

The Secretary of the Navy may authorize experiments to be made at the Model Basin for private persons. The costs of experiments made for private persons shall be paid by those persons under regulations prescribed by the Secretary. The results of private experiments are confidential and may not be divulged without the consent of the persons for whom they are made. However, the data obtained from such experiments may be used by the Secretary for governmental purposes, subject to the patent laws of the United States.

---

**Source Credit**: (Aug. 10, 1956, ch. 1041, 70A Stat. 451, § 7303; Pub. L. 89–718, § 41, Nov. 2, 1966, 80 Stat. 1120; renumbered § 8673 and amended Pub. L. 115–232, div. A, title VIII, § 807(d)(2), title X, § 1015(a), Aug. 13, 2018, 132 Stat. 1836, 1949.)

| Revised section | Source (U.S. Code) | Source (Statutes at Large) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 7303 | 5 U.S.C. 430a. | May 6, 1936, ch. 333, 49 Stat. 1263; June 20, 1940, ch. 400, § 1(a), (b), 54 Stat. 492. |

In subsection (a) the authority to purchase a site and construct the model basin is omitted as executed. The words “David W. Taylor Model Basin, Carderock, Maryland” are inserted to designate the model basin established under this authority. The words “investigations to determine” are substituted for the words “work of investigating and determining.” The phrase “vessels, including aircraft” is changed to read “vessels and aircraft”, and the words “their design” are substituted for “ship design”.

## Editorial Notes

### Amendments

2018—, renumbered  as this section.

, struck out subsec. (b) designation before “The Secretary” and struck out subsec. (a) which read as follows: “An office or agency in the Department of the Navy designated by the Secretary of the Navy shall conduct at the David W. Taylor Model Basin, Carderock, Maryland, investigations to determine the most suitable shapes and forms for United States vessels and aircraft and investigations of other problems of their design.”

1966—Subsec. (a).  substituted “An officer or agency of the Department of the Navy designated by the Secretary of the Navy” for “The Bureau of Ships”.

## Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

### Effective Date of 2018 Amendment

Amendment by  effective , with provision for the coordination of amendments and special rule for certain redesignations, see , set out as a note preceding .