About ship speed- Read that Soviet submarines used liquid teflon injectors at the nose of the submarine to decrease friction through the water.
Remember that about 20 years ago, the US America's Cup sailors sanded the shiny bright topsides to a dull red on (I think it was Liberty) as they realized that as the boat heeled, the smooth surface induced the speed reducing laminar flow problems like the vortexes that DARPA is now looking for the physics equation.
Unfortunately, the boat still lost to the challenger.