Raytheon Anschütz is a company that produces
marine navigation
Navigation is a field of study that focuses on the process of monitoring and controlling the movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another.Bowditch, 2003:799. The field of navigation includes four general categories: land navigation, ...
systems and related instruments. It formed as Anschütz & Company in 1905 in
Kiel
Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021).
Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the J ...
,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
, in order to produce the first
gyrocompass for large ships, which entered service in 1907. The company expanded to produce
autopilots and new forms of compasses. The original company was broken up at the end of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
.
The company reformed in 1952, expanding their autopilot line and introducing computerized systems in the 1970s and full modular bridge systems in 1995. The same year, the company was purchased by
Raytheon who purchased several other European nautical companies and began to centralize manufacturing at Anschütz's Kiel factories. This included
radar
Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, w ...
systems from Sweden's Standard Radio.
History
Inspiration
In 1898, Dr.
Hermann Anschütz-Kaempfe
Hermann Franz Joseph Hubertus Maria Anschütz-Kaempfe (3 October 1872 – 6 May 1931) was a German art historian and inventor. He was born in Zweibrücken and died in Munich.
In his quest to navigate to the North Pole by submarine, he becam ...
attempted to navigate from Germany to the United States under the polar ice cap in a
submarine
A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...
. This attempt failed for a variety of reasons, one being that the
magnetic compass became increasingly inaccurate as one approached the polar regions, especially when used from a steel ship. This inspired Anschütz-Kaempfe to solve the compass problem.
In 1903, Anschütz-Kaempfe introduced the world's first usable
gyrocompasses. The gyrocompass does not rely on the Earth's magnetic field, instead, it is powered by the Earth's rotation and its effects on other spinning objects. This allows it to accurately measure the north direction regardless of location or any external magnetic effects. Similar concepts had been developed by Marinus Gerardus van den Bos and Barend Janse in 1885, but not used commercially. In 1904, his version was fit to the
light cruiser SMS ''Undine'' and with this initial success, he filed for a German patent on 27 March 1904 and followed this with a British filing the next year.
In 1905, Anschütz formed Anschütz and Co. in
Kiel
Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021).
Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the J ...
with help from the
German Navy, with co-partners Lieutenant Friedrich von Schirach and Friedrich Treitschke. In 1906,
Max Schuler
Maximilian Joseph Johannes Eduard Schuler (5 February 1882 in Zweibrücken – 30 July 1972) was a German engineer and is best known for discovering the principle known as Schuler tuning which is fundamental to the operation of a gyrocompass or ine ...
, Anschütz's cousin, joined the firm and developed a new mathematical theory today known as
Schuler tuning
Schuler tuning is a design principle for inertial navigation systems that accounts for the curvature of the Earth. An inertial navigation system, used in submarines, ships, aircraft, and other vehicles to keep track of position, determines directi ...
to keep the gyro properly aligned with the surface of the earth. The first production-quality model, completed in 1907, used two gimbals to allow the gyro to spin in X and Y, and was levelled to the surface by floating the assembly in mercury. It was tested on the
battleship
A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of large caliber guns. It dominated naval warfare in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
The term ''battleship'' came into use in the late 1880s to describe a type of ...
SMS ''Deutschland'' in March 1908, which demonstrated its tendency to tumble in high sea states. This led to the introduction of a three-gyro system to address this problem, while the existing two-gyro version was accepted for service in the meantime. The three-gyro system was first completed in 1910 and entered service in 1912. It equipped most of the German fleet by the opening of
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
in 1914.
Lawsuit
During this period,
Elmer Ambrose Sperry developed a similar device and received patents for it in England in 1908 and in the US the next year. In May 1914, Sperry sold a model to the German Navy, which Anschütz heard about and decided to sue Sperry for
patent infringement
Patent infringement is the commission of a prohibited act with respect to a patented invention without permission from the patent holder. Permission may typically be granted in the form of a license. The definition of patent infringement may v ...
. During an initial hearing in
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
in 1914, Sperry argued that Anschütz's patent was invalid as it contained no real changes from the original van den Bos version, whose patent had since expired. Anschütz pointed to the damping method in their own patent which they claimed had been copied exactly in Sperry's devices.
The court, realizing this was a highly technical manner, suggested that a suitable expert in both the technical matters and patent law agreeable to both parties be brought in to pass judgement. On 5 January 1915,
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein ( ; ; 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest and most influential physicists of all time. Einstein is best known for developing the theory ...
was paid 1,000 Marks to appear before the court and answer a series of technical questions, followed by a written report filed 6 February. He concluded that both were correct: the initial Anschütz patent seemed too vague to conclude it was an improvement on the earlier patent, but also agreed that Sperry's damping system did infringe on Anschütz's design.
At a follow-up meeting on 26 March, Anschütz asked Einstein to personally inspect the Sperry device, which was carried out on 10 July and resulted in a second report 7 August. This concluded that the stabilization system in the Anschütz patent did indeed represent a true advance over the original van den Bos patent, and reiterated his conclusion that the Sperry system was substantially the same. On 16 November 1915 the court concluded in favour of Anschütz, issuing a 300,000 Mark fine to Sperry and forbidding him from selling devices using any concepts from the Anschütz patent. Sperry ignored both findings and made widespread sales to the allied forces.
Inter-war and WWII
In 1920, the company introduced the first
autopilot for ships, the "Iron Helmsman". In 1925 they began work on a gyrocompass system, in partnership with
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein ( ; ; 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest and most influential physicists of all time. Einstein is best known for developing the theory ...
, which used two spheres instead of traditional gyroscopes and gimbals. In 1930, Anschütz-Kaempfe sold most of his shares to
Carl Zeiss. The company remained a supplier to the German Navy and merchant fleets until 1945, when its factory was dismantled at the end of the war.
Re-formation
The company was re-founded in 1952. From this point, they concentrated mainly on the commercial fleet. They introduced their first
electromechanical autopilot in 1956, and first fully electrical model in 1969. In 1974 they introduced their first computerized course tracking system. In 1976, they were part of the merger of several companies that formed Zeiss Ikon. Through the 1980s and 90s the company increasingly computerized its offerings.
In 1995 they were purchased by
Raytheon, who already marketed a large variety of marine-related gear, notably their
radar
Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, w ...
systems. The company remained semi-independent, and over time Raytheon used their Kiel locations to concentrate their other European holdings.
References
Citations
Bibliography
*
*
* {{cite journal
, first=Matthew , last=Trainer
, title=Albert Einstein's expert opinions on the Sperry vs. Anschütz gyrocompass patent dispute
, journal=World Patent Information
, volume=40
, date=2008
, pages=320–325
, doi=10.1016/j.wpi.2008.05.003
Navigational equipment
Raytheon Company