For several years, the NAVSEA computer program system "Ship Design Weight Estimate" (SDWE) has been the accepted standard for weight estimation for Naval ship design. That computer program is written in FORTRAN and requires extensive computer time and core to use effectively. It is also built around integer computer logic to speed operations and lower run costs.

Design engineers and weight estimators have devised many individually formulated methods for predicting the numbers SDWE would generate. With the advent of the current generation of hand-held programmable calculators, it has been possible to stream1ine this procedure and to circumvent the dependence on large machines.

This paper presents one such program developed and used by the author for John J. McMullen Associates, Inc., Ocean Systems Division. Its logic duplicates that of SDWE, and it has the capability to calculate margins. The program presented is written for the TI-59 calculator, but should be adaptable to other machines. The author assumes no responsibility or liability for the use or adaptation of the program presented herein. There is no affiliation between the author and Texas Instruments, Inc.