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Dumaresq
The Dumaresq is a mechanical calculating device invented around 1902 by Lieutenant John Dumaresq of the Royal Navy. It is an analogue computer that relates vital variables of the fire control problem to the movement of one's own ship and that of a target ship. It was often used with other devices, such as a Vickers range clock, to generate range and deflection data so the gun sights of the ship could be continuously set. A number of versions of the Dumaresq were produced of increasing complexity as development proceeded. Geometric principle The dumaresq relies on sliding and rotating bars and dials to represent the motion of the two ships. Normally the motion of the ship carrying the dumaresq is represented by a metal bar running above the instrument. Below the bar is a round metal plate inscribed with a coordinate plot, and an angle scale around its outer rim. The fixed bar is mounted on a bearing that allows it to be turned to represent the direction of motion of the ship, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Saumarez Dumaresq
Rear Admiral John Saumarez Dumaresq ( ;G.M. Miller, ''BBC Pronouncing Dictionary of British Names'' (London: Oxford UP, 1971), p. 48. 26 October 1873 – 22 July 1922) was an officer in the Royal Navy. He served during the First World War but is most remembered as an inventor, for development of the device named after him, the Dumaresq, which helped users calculate the rate at which the range to an enemy ship was changing over time. He was the first Australian born officer to command the Australian Fleet. Early life Dumaresq was the grandson of a British colonial settler, William Dumaresq, who had migrated to Australia, in 1825, accompanying the Governor of New South Wales, Ralph Darling, who was married to his sister, Eliza. He was born at Rose Bay, New South Wales, but left Australia as an infant. In 1907, he married Christian Elizabeth Louisa Dalrymple. Naval career Dumaresq lived in England from age two and became a naval cadet at HMS ''Britannia'' in 1886. He became ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Analog Computers
An analog computer or analogue computer is a type of computer that uses the continuous variation aspect of physical phenomena such as electrical, mechanical, or hydraulic quantities (''analog signals'') to model the problem being solved. In contrast, digital computers represent varying quantities symbolically and by discrete values of both time and amplitude (digital signals). Analog computers can have a very wide range of complexity. Slide rules and nomograms are the simplest, while naval gunfire control computers and large hybrid digital/analog computers were among the most complicated. Complex mechanisms for process control and protective relays used analog computation to perform control and protective functions. Analog computers were widely used in scientific and industrial applications even after the advent of digital computers, because at the time they were typically much faster, but they started to become obsolete as early as the 1950s and 1960s, although they rem ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Analogue Computer
An analog computer or analogue computer is a type of computer that uses the continuous variation aspect of physical phenomena such as electrical, mechanical, or hydraulic quantities (''analog signals'') to model the problem being solved. In contrast, digital computers represent varying quantities symbolically and by discrete values of both time and amplitude ( digital signals). Analog computers can have a very wide range of complexity. Slide rules and nomograms are the simplest, while naval gunfire control computers and large hybrid digital/analog computers were among the most complicated. Complex mechanisms for process control and protective relays used analog computation to perform control and protective functions. Analog computers were widely used in scientific and industrial applications even after the advent of digital computers, because at the time they were typically much faster, but they started to become obsolete as early as the 1950s and 1960s, although they rem ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fire-control System
A fire-control system (FCS) is a number of components working together, usually a gun data computer, a director, and radar, which is designed to assist a ranged weapon system to target, track, and hit a target. It performs the same task as a human gunner firing a weapon, but attempts to do so faster and more accurately. Naval based fire control Origins The original fire-control systems were developed for ships. The early history of naval fire control was dominated by the engagement of targets within visual range (also referred to as direct fire). In fact, most naval engagements before 1800 were conducted at ranges of . Even during the American Civil War, the famous engagement between and was often conducted at less than range. Rapid technical improvements in the late 19th century greatly increased the range at which gunfire was possible. Rifled guns of much larger size firing explosive shells of lighter relative weight (compared to all-metal balls) so greatly increa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dreyer Table
Admiral Sir Frederic Charles Dreyer, (8 January 1878 – 11 December 1956) was an officer of the Royal Navy. A gunnery expert, he developed a fire control system for British warships, and served as flag captain to Admiral Sir John Jellicoe at the Battle of Jutland. He retired with the rank of admiral in 1943, having served through two world wars and having already retired once. Background and early life Frederic Dreyer was born on 8 January 1878 in the Irish town of Parsonstown (now Birr) in King's County (now County Offaly), the second son of the Danish-born astronomer John Louis Emil Dreyer who was director of the Armagh Observatory. Educated at The Royal School, Armagh, in 1891 Dreyer joined the Royal Navy and entered the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth. Royal Navy career Early years At Dartmouth Dreyer performed well in his examinations and was placed fifth in his term. He then served as a midshipman in HMS ''Anson'' (1893–1896) and HMS ''Barfleur'' (1896–1897). ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dreyer Fire Control Table
Admiral Sir Frederic Charles Dreyer, (8 January 1878 – 11 December 1956) was an officer of the Royal Navy. A gunnery expert, he developed a fire control system for British warships, and served as flag captain to Admiral Sir John Jellicoe at the Battle of Jutland. He retired with the rank of admiral in 1943, having served through two world wars and having already retired once. Background and early life Frederic Dreyer was born on 8 January 1878 in the Irish town of Parsonstown (now Birr) in King's County (now County Offaly), the second son of the Danish-born astronomer John Louis Emil Dreyer who was director of the Armagh Observatory. Educated at The Royal School, Armagh, in 1891 Dreyer joined the Royal Navy and entered the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth. Royal Navy career Early years At Dartmouth Dreyer performed well in his examinations and was placed fifth in his term. He then served as a midshipman in HMS ''Anson'' (1893–1896) and HMS ''Barfleur'' (1896–1897). ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frederic Dreyer
Admiral Sir Frederic Charles Dreyer, (8 January 1878 – 11 December 1956) was an officer of the Royal Navy. A gunnery expert, he developed a fire control system for British warships, and served as flag captain to Admiral Sir John Jellicoe at the Battle of Jutland. He retired with the rank of admiral in 1943, having served through two world wars and having already retired once. Background and early life Frederic Dreyer was born on 8 January 1878 in the Irish town of Parsonstown (now Birr) in King's County (now County Offaly), the second son of the Danish-born astronomer John Louis Emil Dreyer who was director of the Armagh Observatory. Educated at The Royal School, Armagh, in 1891 Dreyer joined the Royal Navy and entered the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth. Royal Navy career Early years At Dartmouth Dreyer performed well in his examinations and was placed fifth in his term. He then served as a midshipman in HMS ''Anson'' (1893–1896) and HMS ''Barfleur'' (1896–1897). ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mechanical Computers
A mechanical computer is a computer built from mechanical components such as levers and gears rather than electronic components. The most common examples are adding machines and mechanical counters, which use the turning of gears to increment output displays. More complex examples could carry out multiplication and division—Friden used a moving head which paused at each column—and even differential analysis. One model, the Ascota 170 accounting machine sold in the 1960s calculated square roots. Mechanical computers can be either analog, using smooth mechanisms such as curved plates or slide rules for computations; or digital, which use gears. Mechanical computers reached their zenith during World War II, when they formed the basis of complex bombsights including the Norden, as well as the similar devices for ship computations such as the US Torpedo Data Computer or British Admiralty Fire Control Table. Noteworthy are mechanical flight instruments for early spacecraft, which ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vickers Range Clock
The Vickers Range Clock was a clockwork device used by the Royal Navy for continuously calculating the range to an enemy ship. Overview In 1903, Percy Scott described a device he'd invented which was similar to the Vickers clock. In April 1904, Vickers worked with Scott and patented their device, samples of which were available for trials in 1905. In 1906, the Royal Navy ordered 246 units for use on their ships. More than one might be installed, to allow for tracking multiple targets. The device consisted of a circular dial with a single central rotating pointer, like a clock. The dial was engraved with the ranges in yards. The clockwork motor drove the pointer at a constant rate determined by a control on the right hand side of the device. This had a handle and its own dial, on which the rate of change of range (or "range rate") could be selected. This was calculated by other means, often by use of a Dumaresq or a time-and-range plot. A second rotating handle was fitted to the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Military Computers
This article specifically addresses U.S. armed forces military computers and their use. History Some of the earliest computers were military computers. Military requirements for portability and ruggedness led to some of the earliest transistorized computers, such as the 1958 AN/USQ-17, the 1959 AN/MYK-1 (MOBIDIC), the 1960 M18 FADAC, and the 1962 D-17B; the earliest integrated-circuit based computer, the 1964 D-37C; as well as one of the earliest laptop computers, the 1982 Grid Compass. Military requirements for a computer small enough to fit through a submarine's hatch led to the AN/UYK-1. Construction Typically a military computer is much more robust than an industrial computer enclosure. Most electronics will be protected with a layer of conformal coating. There will be more structure inside to support the components, the plug-in cards will be individually supported and secured to assure they do not pop out of their sockets, the processor and heat sink will be secured, m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
British Admiralty
The Admiralty was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for the command of the Royal Navy until 1964, historically under its titular head, the Lord High Admiral – one of the Great Officers of State. For much of its history, from the early 18th century until its abolition, the role of the Lord High Admiral was almost invariably put "in commission" and exercised by the Lords Commissioner of the Admiralty, who sat on the governing Board of Admiralty, rather than by a single person. The Admiralty was replaced by the Admiralty Board in 1964, as part of the reforms that created the Ministry of Defence and its Navy Department (later Navy Command). Before the Acts of Union 1707, the Office of the Admiralty and Marine Affairs administered the Royal Navy of the Kingdom of England, which merged with the Royal Scots Navy and the absorbed the responsibilities of the Lord High Admiral of the Kingdom of Scotland with the unification of the Kingdom of Gr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
