THE APPLICATIONS OF RADAR AND OTHERELECTRONIC SYSTEMS IN THE ROYAL NAVY IN

WORLD WAR 2

photograph by Bassano & Vandyk Studios

ProfessorJohn Flavell Coales, CBE, F Eng., FRSsenior survivor of the prewar radar pioneers at HM Signal School

and doyen of wartime Naval gunnery radar

The Applications of Radar andOther Electronic Systems in the

Royal Navy in World War 2

Edited by F.A. Kingsleyfor the Naval Radar Trust

M

© Naval Radar Trust 1995Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1995

All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission ofthis publication may be made without written permission.

No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied ortransmitted save with written permission or in accordance withthe provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988,or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copyingissued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham CourtRoad, London WIP 9HE.

Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to thispublication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civilclaims for damages.

First published 1995 byMACMILLAN PRESS LTDHoundmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 2XSand LondonCompanies and representativesthroughout the world

ISBN 978-1-349-13625-4 ISBN 978-1-349-13623-0 (eBook)

A catalogue record for this book is availablefrom the British Library.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 104 03 02 01 00 99 98 97 96 95

Copy-edited and typeset by Povey-EdmondsonOkehampton and Rochdale, England

DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-13623-0

Contents

~~~~~ ~

List of Tables xiv

Preface xv

Development and Installation of British Naval Radar - Milestones xxi

Notes on the Contributors xxv

PART I RADAR-SYSTEM APPLICATIONS IN WEAPONDIRECTION, WEAPON CONTROL, ACTIONINFORMATION AND FIGHTER DIRECTION, 1935-45

Editorial Note 3

1 Weapon Direction in the Royal Navy, 1935-45 5H. W. Pout

Summary 5Introduction 6Sensors 7Large ship sensors 10Types 79 and 279 10Types 280, 281 and 960 12Small-ship sensors - 104m wavelength: Type 286 series, 290

and 291 165-band sensors - 10-cm wavelength 19Specialised target indication radars 25Weapon Direction 27Early methods 27Advances in weapon direction 29Type 293 and Target Indication Unit Mark 2 30Limitations of Type 293 and TIU 2 32Type 992 and TIU 3 33Future Staff Requirements for a gunnery direction system 35Appendix 1: Extract from AFO 57 - Gunnery Terms - Revision 37Appendix 2: Summary of Warning Radar Parameters 38Appendix 3: Summary of Range Performance 42

v

vi Contents

2 Weapon Control in the Royal Navy 45H. W. Pout

Section 1 Weapon Radar Development 45Summary 45Introduction 45The Weapon Problem at Sea 46Weapon-Control Systems 48

LA gunnery 49HA gunnery, long range 50HA gunnery, close range 51

The Applications of Radar to Weapon Control 52The first phase: 50-cm (L-band) weapon radar appears,1938-40 52The second phase: improving the 50-cm radars, 1940-2 54The third phase: the centimetric radar systems, 1941-5 65The fourth phase: Lessons learned and proposals for the

future, 1944-6 74Future Systems 77

The early stages 77Type 901 radar 78The medium-range gunnery systems 82The longer-term future - a footnote 82

Section 2 Weapon Systems and Their Performance 84Summary 84Introduction 84The Prewar situation 85The High-Angle Control System (HACS) 87Case 1: The Basic HACS, Without Radar 89Early improvements 96Case 2: HACS with Radar-Ranging only 97Remote Power-control (RPC) and LOS Stabilisation 99Case 3: The Gyro Rate-Unit (GRU) 101Case 4: Velocity Trigger (VT) Shell Fuzing 106Case 5: Radar Type 275 and New Director Mark 6 108Other errors 109Medium and Long-range Anti-Aircraft Gunnery and the

'Ultimate' Design 112Case 6: The 'Ultimate' Gunnery System 114

Radar 114Fire-control 116The Weapon 118Target behaviour 119Overall errors 120

Contents vii

Appendix 1: Explanation of Terms Used in Section 1 124Appendix 2: Summary of Gunnery Radars manufactured or

Developed from 1938 to 1946 127Appendix 3: Notes on Aiming by Radar 130Appendix 4: Explanation of Terms used in Section 2 136Appendix 5: A Description of the HACS 138Appendix 6: Extract from the LRS1 Staff Requirements and

Cover Note 142

3 The Action Information Organisation 147Cdr. A. E. Fanning

Summary 147Introduction 147The Situation Prior to World War 2 148The Introduction of Radar to the Fleet 150Early Developments in Action Information Plotting 150The Requirements for an Action Plotting Organisation 151Plotting Developments in the Battle of the Atlantic 153Formal Requirements for an Action Information Organisation 155The Ala Training Centre 156Getting the Ala to Sea 161Appointment of the Co-ordinating Authority for the Ala 164The Use of Radar in Navigating and Conducting Operations 166Tailpiece 170

4 Fighter-Direction Materiel and Technique 173Lt. Cdr R. S. Woolrych

Summary 173Introduction 174The Birth of Fighter Direction in the RN 174Formation of the Fighter Direction Training School 177Fighter-Direction Developments at Sea 178Further Developments and Improvements 181Experiences in Other Theatres 183

PART II ELECTRONIC WARFARE DEVELOPMENTS, 1939-45

Editorial Note

5 Electronic Countermeasures in the Royal NavyF. A. Kingsley

SummaryIntoduction

189

191

191192

viii Contents

The Beginnings of Radar Countermeasures in the Royal Navy 193The First Operational Test of the Naval Jammer 195The Radio War at Dover 196The Naval Radar Monitor Station at Dover 197Monitoring of E-boat Communications in the Channel 199Shipborne Radar Jammers 201The 10-Centimetre Radar Problem 202Countermeasures Against Airborne Radar 210XG2 Staff Developments 210German Developments in Anti-Ship Guided Weapons 211Preparations for the Invasion of Europe 214Planning for the Allied Assault on France (Operation

NEPTUNE) 216The Diversionary Operations 218Application of the Radar Countermeasures Plan 219The Outcome 220The Invasion of Southern France (Operation DRAGOON) 221The End of the ECM War in Europe 22210-centimetre Radar-Jammer Development 224Developing ECM Effort Against Japan 225

6 High-Frequency Direction Finding in the Royal Navy:Development of Anti-V-Boat Equipment, 1941-5 229P. G. Redgment

Summary 229Introduction 229The Operational Problem 231Outline of Radio OF Theory 233Twin-Channel (Watson-Watt) CRDF 235The Development of Shipborne HF OF 235

The site and the antenna system 236Shipborne receiving equipment 240Test equipment 241Relation to USN developments 244Other developments 246

Shore-Based HF OF 248Antenna systems 249Receiving equipment 249Plotting and statistical methods 250USN Navy shore-stations 252

German HF OF 253Some Views with Hindsight 254

The relation between OF and 'Ultra' 254

Contents ix

Shipborne HF DF performance and operational needs 256The contribution by the twin-channel CRDF 258The German failure to appreciate the threat of shipborneHF DF 261MF DF - an opportunity missed? 262

Conclusion

7 Review of German Maritime Radar Developments 267F.A. Kingsley

Summary 267Introduction 268The World's First Radar Experiments, 1904 268Experiments with Pulsed Radar Systems in the Interwar Years 270Early Radar Operational Requirements and Developments

Naval radar systems 274Luftwaffe radar systems that ult imately had Naval

applications 276A Note on Radar-System Nomenclature 278The Operational Application of Gema Radar Systems, 1939-40 279

Shipborne installations 279Shore-based installations 281

Early Air-Defence Radar Developments Having MaritimeApplications 281

The Next Generation of Gema Radars 286Shipborne systems 286Coast-defence systems 289

Discovery of British em-Wave Radars, 1943, andConsequences 290Naval developments 291Land-based applications 293

Naval Radar Developments in the Decimetre Waveband,1943-5 295

IFF Developments (Funkmesserkennung, FuME) 296Passive Radar (Radar Search/DF Receivers)

(Funkmessbeobachtungsempfanger, FuMB) 297Conclusion 305

Appendix: Type Numbers of Radars in the Royal Navy up to 1945 309

Glossary 315

Select Bibliography 325

Index 331

List of Illustrations

1.1 Target Indicating Unit, Mark 2A, with Rangefinding OutfitRTB 31

1.2 Reliable detection range: simplified coverage diagramsagainst medium-sized bomber targets 43

2.1 Type 285, showing six 'fishbone' antennae on the high-angledirector control-tower, ranging panel L12, and fire-controltable 55

2.2 Panel L12 displays: (A) 6000-yd maximum range for close-range set; (B) 15000-yd maximum range for high-angle set;(C) 24000-yd maximum range for low-angle set; 57

2.3 Precision ranging system: (A) using calibration pips; (B)using a bright spot range-index on 10-cm low-angle radar 59

2.4 Auto-barrage unit with ranging panel L22 642.5 lO-cm high-angle radar equipment 692.6 STAAG twin-Bofors mounting with Type 262 installed on it 722.7 Diagrammatic layout of STAAG mounting (Mark 2) 732.8 Production prototype of Type 901 on stabilised antenna

carrier 802.9 HAC table Mark 4 (a) side view; (b) rear view 882.10 Fuze-keeping Clock Mark 3 892.11 Rangefinder Director Mark 3 902.12 Director Mark 4 (GB)HA 1012.13 Director Mark 5"'M HAlLA 1022.14 Director Mark 6 HAlLA 1032.15 Gyro Rate-unit Mark 2 1042.16 Summary of results 1242.17 Pulse-to-pulse fading of 3-cm radar signals (1500 pps) : (A)

rapid fading; (B) long-period fading; (C) fading that exhibitsa large 30 cis component; (D) taken with a conically-scanning set to show the effect of the 30 cis misalignmentsignal for comparison 132

2.18 High-performance radars, aiming errors (rms) 1352.19 HACS ranging system 1413.1 Maintaining the plot on an ARL Table in HMS Royal

Sovereign during Combined Fleet exercises, 1937 1493.2 The Skiatron projection display in the ADR, HMS Venerable,

1943 159

xi

xii List of Illustrations

3.3 Layout of the AIO complex in battleships and cruisers,1944-45 162

3.4 Combined ADR and TIR in a light fleet carrier 1635.1 Physical arrangement of Davis' jammer oscillator 1955.2 Sixteen of the Type 91 radar jammer antennae of the Dover

'2' Station complex 1985.3 General arrangement of the RF head of a 1942-vintage crystal

detector/video amplifier receiver 2045.4 Side elevation of the 'Trumpet' type of detector/video

receiver 2055.5 The first modification of the GEC Type AB 2 receiver 2065.6 Overhead view of the CV39-modified Type AB 2 receiver 2075.7 External view of the mobile em-wave intercept vehicle 2085.8 Schematic reconstruction of the coverage of the German

coastal radar chain against Allied shipping 2176.1 Framecoil S25B: sketch showing configuration of main

components 2386.2 Principle of sense-antenna balancing: (a) simplified diagram

of sense-antenna system; (b) simplified equivalent bridgecircuit 239

6.3 Instrument set-up for measuring the resonant frequency of amast and balancing the sense system 243

7.1 Illustration of Hulsmmeyer's concept of the shipborne'Telemobiloscope' radar detecting an approaching target, aspresented in his patent 269

7.2 The Small Wiirzburg radar for early warning against aircrafttargets 272

7.3 The GEMA Seetakt surface-search radar. Early 60-cm versionfitted on the rangefinder of the Admiral Graf Spee, theantenna being covered by a canvas screen 275

7.4 The Giant Wiirzburg radar for air defence (AA fire-control,GCI) and later coast defence 277

7.5 The Seetakt radar fitted on the foremast of the Bismark 2807.6 The Seeburg coast-defence version of the Giant Wiirzburg 2847.7 Schematic illustration of the 'Radattel' A/N bearing-

determination principle 2877.8 Illustrations of the output display using 'Radattel' 2887.9 A Seetakt FuMO 27 mounted on the aft rangefinder on Prinz

Eugen 2897.10 The shipborne Berlin S (FuMO 81) radar antenna assembly

using an array of four in-phase dielectric-rod elements toproduce a horizontal beamwidth of 11°. Research on aneight-element array was in progress in 1945 292

7.11 The Metox search receiver: (a) front view; (b) internal view 298

List of Illustrations xiii

7.12 The Bali I search receiver antenna for U-boats, for use withthe WAnz spectrum search receiver. It covered bothhorizontal and vertical polarisation, and in developed formcould give an approximate azimuth bearing on horizontalpolarisation 300

7.13 The 'Naxos' Search/DF RF head covering the 8-12-cmwaveband, designated FuMB24 ('Cuba') 301

7.14 The 3-cm receiver RF head 'Miicke' (FuMB25) 3027.15 The 'Spinning Naxos' receiver RF head (FuMB7) covering the

8-12-cm waveband 3047.16 The pressure-tight Search/DF RF head 'Athos', covering

Allied S- and X-Band shipborne and airborne radar systems,fitted on the U249, which surrendered at Portlandimmediately after the end of the war 306

List of Tables

1.1 Summary of Waming Radar Parameters 402.1 Roll and pitch characteristics 912.2 Case 1: kill probability (no radar assistance) 952.3 Case 2: kill probability (radar ranging) 982.4 Case 3: kill probability (with GRU well-adjusted and

maintained) 1052.5 Case 4: kill probability (VT fuzing) 1072.6 Radar: errors in future-position (in yards rms), at future

ranges (time-of-flight) 1162.7 Fire-control: errors in future-position (in yards rms) at future

ranges 1172.8 The weapons: errors in future-position (yards rms) at future

ranges 1192.9 Target roughness of flight errors in future-position (yards

rms) at future ranges 1202.10 Summary of results: errors in future-position at future ranges 1212.11 Probability of a hit: single-shot hit probability (Ph) as a

percentage 1222.12 Probability of a hit with 903 radar in place of 905 1232.13 Summary of gunnery radars manufactured or developed

from 1938 to 1946 129

xiv

Preface

This book contains a series of technical monographs dealing with variousaspects of British Naval radar from its inception in 1935 until the end ofWorld War 2. It stems from several years of collective historical researchby a group of scientists, Naval officers and certain representatives of theelectronics industry, all personally involved some 40 or 50 years before. Itis one of two such volumes, both of which are complementary to DerekHowse's book Radar at Sea - the Royal Navy in World War 2, published in1993, which is addressed more to the general reader. The backgroundresearch, preparation and publication of all these books has beensponsored by the Naval Radar Trust.

Whereas Radar at Sea is a carefully researched historical treatise by asingle author, this book is a collection of accounts by people who actuallyworked at HM Signal School (later the Admiralty Signal Establishment) ­or were associated closely with it - during the period in question. Thesubjects are treated in considerably more technical detail than waspossible in Radar at Sea. With few exceptions they are based on theindividual authors' own contemporary experiences, supplemented byextensive archival research and discussions with surviving colleagues inorder to safeguard against the fallibility of human memory.

THE NAVAL RADAR TRUST

The idea that sparked off this venture was the brain-child of ProfessorJ. F. Coales, who had been intimately involved with Naval radar bothbefore and throughout World War 2. InJune 1985, half a century after thefirst historic experiments for the Air Ministry, the Institution of ElectricalEngineers organised a seminar on 'Fifty Years of Radar', to which Coales,in collaboration with the late J. D.S. Rawlinson, contributed a paperdealing with the early stages of Naval radar in Britain. The realisationthat so little else had been included about the Navy's contribution, asopposed to the other two Services, led him to put forward the idea ofassembling a comprehensive collection of archives on British Navalradar, not only for the historical record, but also in the hope that one dayit would lead to a published account.

A start was made by contacting those civilian and Naval officersinvolved whose whereabouts were known, and by gathering archivalmaterial - personal notebooks, recollections, photographs and so on. In

xv

xvi Preface

December 1985 a working reunion of more than 40 wartime colleagueswas held at Churchill College, Cambridge, at which it was agreed toproceed with Coales' idea. Since all concerned were at least in theirsixties, and many in their seventies and eighties, it seemed important toget on with the collection and digestion of data as soon as practicable.

From these beginnings the project steadily gained momentum. AnAdministrative Committee was elected to manage the enterprise; this wassubsequently formed into the Naval Radar Trust, with charitable statusand the following membership:

• Sir Hermann Bondi, KCB, FRS, then Master of Churchill College,Cambridge; formerly Chief Scientific Adviser, Ministry of Defence.

• Professor J. F. Coales, CBE, SeD, FEng, FRS, Emeritus Professor ofEngineering, University of Cambridge.

• Basil Lythall, CB, formerly Chief Scientist, Royal Navy, Member of theAdmiralty Board, and Deputy Controller of the Navy for Research andDevelopment.

• D. Stewart Watson, CB, OBE, formerly Director of the AdmiraltySurface Weapons Establishment; Deputy Chief Scientist, Navy; andDirector General of Establishments, Ministry of Defence.

By December 1986 Coales had contacted some 150 wartime colleagues. Ata second reunion it was resolved to continue with archival research andto aim towards the preparation of a book, for the general reader, thatwould tell the story of the early development of British Naval radar andits operational use at sea. In the hope that adequate financial supportwould eventually be forthcoming Derek Howse was appointed authordesignate - a major act of faith that eventually proved justified whenRadar at Sea was published at the beginning of 1993.

The book could only tell the technical story in very general terms, so itwas also decided to prepare a series of more definitive technical papers,both as authoritative technical background for the general book and tosupplement the growing archival collection. Working groups were set up ,each with a convener who volunteered to start the preparation of amonograph on a selected topic, such as an individual family of radars, aspecialised set of techniques, or a particular aspect of the use of radar atsea. The next few years saw several more reunions, the majority of themonographs reached completion, each in its tum being added to thearchives, and the original list of topics was extended to make thecollection more comprehensive.

It has now become possible to incorporate all these monographs,together with additional reference data. In view of the large amount ofmaterial the collection has had to be split into two separate books, eachwith an integrated bibliography and index. The present volume is

Preface xvii

concerned with the application of radars in operational systems - fortarget indication, weapon direction, command-and-control, and fighterdirection. It also includes the story of British Naval radar counter­measures/ a technical history of HF DF (which, in conjunction with radar,made a most important contribution to the Battle of Atlantic) and an essayon parallel developments in German Naval radar over the same period. Acompanion volume deals with radar development.' It gives an overviewof work in the Experimental Department of HM Signal School (later theAdmiralty Signal Establishment), and describes each of the main prog­rammes of radar equipment development, the underlying research andsome of the problems of installation, operation and maintenance at sea.

Although all the monographs were initiated as part of a commonventure, each one was originally prepared as an independent contribu­tion dealing with one major topic, and not necessarily depending onother monographs to provide background or to set the general scene. Notsurprisingly there were considerable areas of overlap. There were also theexpected differences of style, balance and depth of technical detail, and afew apparent inconsistencies. It has been possible to address some ofthese aspects in editing the present volume, but inevitably examples ofoverlap must remain.

SOURCES

A primary source of information has been the surviving records of theExperimental Department of HM Signal School, and its successor theAdmiralty Signal Establishment. Some of these are held at the PublicRecord Office; others remain in the Defence Research Establishment,Portsdown, now part of the Defence Research Agency, and are not yetavailable to the general public. Other important sources of informationexist at the Defence Research Establishment, Malvern (in the wartimearchives of the Telecommunications Research Establishment), at HMSCollingwood, at HMS Dryad and at the Ministry of Defence's NavalHistorical Branch in London. A certain amount of material is also to befound, rather widely scattered, in other files at the Public Record Office.

There is one major published source of technical information,concerned with the whole range of Service radar developments duringthe war. This is the 'Proceedings of the Radiolocation Convention// heldby the Institution of Electrical Engineers in London in 1946. Also, theInstitutions 'Proceedings of the Communications Convention/ publishedin 1947 contains accounts of the development of Naval HF OF (inter alia),described in a monograph in the present volume. A few more individualpapers were subsequently published in the Institution's journal and inother scientific and mathematical journals.

xviii Preface

Supplementing this is a wealth of collateral information received fromprivate individuals. Many scientists and serving officers attending thereunions have written their own recollections, lent or given personalpapers, and provided other information. Tape recordings have been madeof recollections of the few people then available who worked on radar wellbefore the war. To this has been added the very extensive collection ofhistorical detail and personal reminiscences assembled by Derek Howseduring the preparation of Radar at Sea . The whole now forms a mostvaluable archive, which is to be deposited in the Archive Centre atChurchill College, Cambridge, where it will be cared for professionally, incompany with many other Naval papers of World War 2.

Sources are discussed in more detail in the Bibliography.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Our first thanks must go to John Coales, without whom the project wouldnever have been started, and to all the authors of individual monographs.The source material is now very diffuse, and a great deal of painstakingwork has been necessary for each author to piece together as accurately aspossible the various elements of the story. Alex Rae prepared the indexesfor both volumes - as well as compiling a series of staff lists to bedeposited in the Churchill Archive Centre. Derek Howse providedvaluable reference material for several Appendices, notably those on thecomplex ramifications of radar type numbers and ships fitted; theseappear in the companion volume, which also includes a collection oftechnical data sheets prepared by Alan Laws. Thanks are also due toother members of the original working groups, and to many othercolleagues, for helpful contributions and discussion. Some are acknowl­edged in specific monographs but it is impossible to mention the manyothers who have contributed so enthusiastically in one way or another.

We are grateful to many Defence authorities for allowing access totheir archival collections, particularly Janet Dudley, formerly SeniorLibrarian at the Defence Research Establishment, Malvern; John Briggs,Librarian at the Defence Research Establishment, Portsdown, Lieutenant­Commander Bill Legg of HMS Collingwood and Lieutenant-CommanderPeter Lee of HMO Dryad for their willing assistance. John Briggs wasexceptionally patient and helpful in responding to numerous requests foraccess to the many old technical reports, memoranda and miscellaneousuncatalogued papers and photographs that remain at Portsdown, as wellas providing copies for use as working material. Here a special word ofthanks is due to Sid Wright, who gave up a great deal of his time to makenumerous journeys to Portsdown, Collingwood and Dryad on behalf ofauthors unable to go there themselves. His diligence in following up

Preface xix

many queries, and his own extensive knowledge and experience ofwartime radar, have been invaluable.

The majority of the photographs and illustrations in this volume wereprovided by courtesy of the Defence Research Establishment, Portsdown;the Naval Historical Branch, Ministry of Defence; HMS Collingwood; HMSDryad and the Defence Research Establishment, Malvern. Other exampleswere provided by the Imperial War Museum; Herr Fritz Trenkle; LondonNews Agency Photos, Ltd (which firm it has not proved possible to trace);E. B.Callick; and Peter Peregrinus, Ltd. Permission to use this material, asidentified in individual figure captions, is gratefully acknowledged.

Fred Kingsley has not only contributed two monographs; he has beenan exemplary editor. Faced with a diverse collection of papers, somealready published elsewhere, some in various stages of preparation and afew not even started, he set about his thankless task with determination. Itis mainly owing to his industry and application that the complete volumeemerged in such good time after his appointment, and that its componentparts were welded, with tact, persuasion and persistence, into a reas­onably consistent whole. John Coales, Derek Howse, Basil Lythall, HarryPout, Jack Shayler and Stewart Watson (in alphabetical order) acted as aninformal advisory group, to which Alec Cochrane has actively contributedfrom overseas; Jack Shayler has been particularly conscientious in readingevery monograph and providing constructive comments. Thanks are alsodue to Miss Carin Dean for patiently and expertly reproducing many ofthe original drafts to professional standards, and to Mrs Sheila Barker,who undertook several complex processing tasks with complete success.

Finally, the Naval Radar Trust is most grateful to the Ministry ofDefence, Mr David Packard, and the Medlock Charitable Trust for majorfinancial help, without which all the research and collection of archivalmaterial could not possibly have been carried out, nor the bookspublished. Other valuable contributions were received from BICC pic,GEC-Marconi Ltd, the Royal Society and the Fellowship of Engineering,as well as many generous contributions from individuals, both Naval andcivilian, who were involved in the developments during World War 2.Without their financial help and without the support and industry of somany wartime colleagues, who gave freely of their time and energywithout reimbursement, this book could never have been completed.

Esher, Surrey1994

Reference

BASIL LYTHALLOn behalf of the Naval Radar Trust

1. F. A. Kingsley (00.), The Development of Radar Equipments for the Royal Navy,1935-45 (Macmillan, 1994).

1928

1935 Feb.Sep.

1937 May

1937 Sep.

1938 Feb.

Mar .

Aug.

1939 Aug.

Dec.1940 Feb.

Apr.

June

Development and Installation of BritishNaval Radar: Some Significant

Milestones

HM Signal School applies for first patent on radio­location in name of L. S. Alder.Watson-Watt demonstrates detection of aircraft by radio.Admiralty instructs HM Signal School to start develop­ment of radar.Preliminary trials of metric radar completed.Research on 1200 MHz begins.Development of warning radar (to become Type 79)settles on 43 MHz.Decision taken to develop equipment on 600 MHz usingpulsed triodes.Type 79X, first experimental radar, installed in HMSSaltburn.Type 79Y, first operational radar, with 20 kW output,installed in HMS Sheffield, and in HMS Rodney inOctober.Type 79Z, with 70 kW output, installed in HMS Curlew.Full production started, leading to a total of about 100setsDevelopment of Type 281 started on 90 MHz.Trials of 600 MHz rangefinder at AA Range, Eastne y.HM Signal School instructed to design and produce 200sets of Type 282 (600 MHz) .Sea trials of 600 MHz radar in HMS Nelson. HM SignalSchool instructed to design and produce sets for fittingon all main armament and high-angle directors. 700 setsordered.Type 286 (RAF 200 MHz ASV radar with fixed mastheadantenna) started to be installed in large numbers indestroyers and smaller ships.

Oct. Type 281 installed in HMS Dido. Full production started,leading to a total of about 80 sets.

Nov. Signal School party visits Swanage to assemble copy of'breadboard' TRE 3,000 MHz (5-band) radar in a trailer,

xxi

Nov.Late

1942 Early

Apr.

May

Aug.

Late

End

EndDec.

xxii Development and Installation of British Naval Radar

followed by preliminary trails against Naval targetsusing TRE experimental equipment.

Nov. Decision to proceed immediately with the design of a 10­cm radar for convoy escorts.Trials of first production gunnery sets in HMS KingGeorge V (Type 284) and in HMS Southdown (Type 285).

1941 Mar. Trials of first prototype 5 kW S-band naval radar (Type271X) in HMS Orchis. Twelve prototypes completed, anda further 12 in hand. Initial production order placed for100 sets . Versions for destroyers and large ships (Types272 and 273) followed in July.First Type 79B, with single antenna, fitted in HMS Hood.

Apr. First multiple installation in a capital ship. Type 281 andeleven 600 MHz sets installed and commissioned in HMSPrince of Wales .

May First Type 290, interim replacement for Type 286 with 50kW output, installed in HMS Aurora.

JuI. Mobile trailer NT271X at Dover for coast defence.Resulted in Army conversion as CD No 1 Mark 4.

Sep. 32 escort vessels at sea with Type 271; orders increasedfrom 150 to 350. Experimental development in hand forhigher power (70 kW) version (Type 271 Mark 4, tobecome 271Q and 273Q), also for yet higher-power (500kW) version (Type 272/273 Mark 5, to become 276/277) .Development begun for Type 274 5-band main-arma-ment gunnery set of similar power.Prototype 271/272/273P delivered; order for 1000 sets.First installation of Type 281B with single antenna.Development started of S-band gunnery set for high­angle directors (Type 275)Work started on close-range auto-follow gunlaying radaron 10000 MHz (X-band) (Type 262).Trials with prototype 271Q (70 kW S-band) in HMSMarigold, followed in July by 273Q in HMS King GeorgeV.First installations of Types 284P and 285P, with beam­switching for blind-fire and common antenna for T/R,Initial work towards new fighter direction radar (Types294,295).First fitting of Type 291, final replacement for Type 286with 100 kW output.Types 271/272f273P: delivery of 1000 sets complete.Development contract placed on EMI for Type 262.

Development and Installation of British Naval Radar xxiii

1943 Mar . 500 KW S-band radar (Type 277T) installed in trailercabins for coastal defence.

Apr. Trials of seagoing version (Type 277X) in HMS Saltburn .Trials of Type 276 in HMS Tuscan followed in November.

Mid PPI displays start to be installed in large numbers onmost warning radars, reaching 5000 by war's end.

Aug. Trials of prototype Type 293 S-band target-indicationradar in HMS Janus.

1944 Progressive installation of Action Information Centres inmost classes of ship.

Mar. Trials of first production Type 277 in HMS Campaniafollowed by extensive installation of Type 277 in theFleet.

Mar. Revised development plan for fighter-direction radar(Types 980/981).

Aug. First installation of submarine radar Type 267W (Type291 with additional X-band facilities) in HMS Tuna.

Late Type 274 S-band gunnery radar installed on mainarmament directors in large ships.

Late First installation of Type 262 X-band close-range blind-fire radar.

1945 Early First installation of Type 275 5-band high-angle gunneryradar.

Feb. General installation of Type 268 X-band warning andnavigational radar in Coastal Forces.

Feb. Type 293M began to replace Types 276 and 293 for targetindication.

Apr. Types 277P and 293P began to replace Types 277 and293M.

Mid Introduction of Type 281BQ, with addition of continuousantenna rotation.

Late First installation of Type 960, replacement for both Type79 and Type 281, in HMS Vanguard.

Notes on the Contributors

Commander A. E. Fanning, MBE, DSC, joined the Royal Navy in 1932and served at sea, mainly in destroyers, throughout World War 2. Hespecialised in navigation in 1941, and later became Head of the ActionInformation Training Section at the Navigation School at Portsmouth(HMS Dryad) . In 1960 he joined the Admiralty Compass Observatory,becoming Deputy Director. Later, when the Observatory was amalga­mated with the Admiralty Surface Weapons Establishment (descendedfrom HM Signal School) he was the Senior Naval Officer and ApplicationCommander. He was awarded an MBE and a DSC for his services. He isthe author of Steady as She Goes, the history of the Compass Departmentof the Admiralty.

H. D. Howse, MBE, D5C, served at sea in the Royal Navy throughoutWorld War 2, latterly as a specialist navigator. In 1958 he took earlyretirement as a Lieutenant-Commander and took an appointment as acurator at the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, from 1963 until1982. He then became Clark Library Professor of the University of Cali­fornia, Los Angeles, for the academic year 1983-4. His published worksinclude The Sea Chart (with Michael Sanderson) (1973), Greenwich Timeand the Discovery ofLongitude (1980) and Radar at Sea - The Royal Navy inWorld War 2 (1993). He was awarded an MBE and a DSC for his services.

F.A. Kingsley, BSc, CPhys, FlnstP, CEng, flEE, joined the Admiraltyfrom Birmingham University in July 1941. Until 1945 he was engagedmainly in electronic-warfare projects, including technical planning insupport of the Navy's contribution to radar countermeasures in theassault phase of Operation OVERLORD. Subsequently he was engaged inoriginal radio-propagation research, electronic-warfare concepts andcommunications-systems developments. He became Head of theCommunications Division of the Admiralty Surface Weapons Establish­ment in 1961, with the primary task of modernising Royal Naval ship andsubmarine communications. During this period he served on a number ofinter-Service, NATO and CANUKUS Communications Systems workingparties. He was a member of the original Space Research Committees ofthe Royal Society, and of a Cabinet Office Committee on satellitecommunications. In 1965 he was appointed as an Assistant Director inCentral Staffs of the Ministry of Defence.

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xxvi Notes on the Contributors

B.W. Lythall, CB, MA. B.W. Lythall joined HM Signal School in 1940after graduating from Oxford University, working initially on thedevelopment of the first operational centimetric radars. He then workedon microwave systems throughout the war, subsequently specialising inantenna design. In 1953 he moved to the Admiralty Research Laboratoryto develop new methods of underwater acoustic detection. In 1957 he wasappointed Assistant Director of Physical Research at the Admiralty. From1958 he was Deputy Chief Scientist at the Admiralty Signal and RadarEstablishment. In 1964 he was appointed to the Admiralty Board as ChiefScientist, Royal Navy, serving until 1978. He was also Deputy Controllerof the Navy for Research and Development until 1971, when he becameDeputy Controller, Establishments and Research, in the ProcurementExecutive. In 1978 he became Director of the NATO Saclant ASWResearch Centre at La Spezia . He was awarded a CB in 1966.

H. W. Pout, CB, aBE, BSc (Eng), FCGI, flEE, FBIM, graduated fromImperial College, London, in 1940 and immediately joined HM SignalSchool, working initially on direction-finding. Subsequently he joined theGunnery Radar Group (under J. F. Coales), then in the early stages ofexpansion. From then until 1954 he specialised in gun and then guided­weapon radar-control systems. This was followed by four years in Navaloperational research, one year at the Imperial Defence College and fiveyears as Head of Guided Weapons Projects, Admiralty. In 1965 hebecame Assistant Chief Scientific Adviser (Projects) in the Ministry ofDefence in 1969; Director of the Admiralty Surface Weapons Establish­ment (descended from HM Signal School); from 1973 he filled a numberof Deputy Controllership appointments in the Ministry of Defence, theArmy Department and the Air Force Department. Following retirementfrom the Civil Service he was engaged in private consultancy work for aperiod, before undertaking a final appointment with GEe. He wasawarded a CB and an aBE for his services.

P. G. Redgment, MA, MIEE, MRIN, graduated from Cambridge in 1941after reading mechanical sciences. He joined the Direction-FindingSection in the Experimental Department of HM Signal School, becomingHead of the Shore DF Section in the (renamed) Admiralty SignalEstablishment in 1943. In 1944 he became Head of the reorganised DF & Y(rad io intercept) Division. After the war he was first engaged in thedevelopment of UHF communications systems, before transferring tounderwater-systems developments at the Admiralty Underwater Weap­ons Establishment, Portland.

Commander R. S. Woolrych, aBE, RN. At the outbreak of war R.S.Woolrych was an officer in the Seaman Branch of the Royal Navy. From

Notes on the Contributors xxvii

1943 he specialised in fighter direction from aircraft carriers. Postwarappointments were mainly concerned with Naval research and develop­ment, and operational research. He took early retirement from the Navyin 1954, and then studied architecture for five years as the basis for asecond career. He was awarded an aBE for his services to the Navy.