The Admiralty Signal and Radar Establishment (ASRE) originally known as the Experimental Department and later known as the Admiralty Signal Establishment (ASE) was a research organisation of the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

established in 1917. It existed until 1959 when it was merged with the Admiralty Gunnery Establishment to form the

Admiralty Surface Weapons Establishment The Admiralty Surface Weapons Establishment (ASWE) and later known as the Admiralty Research Establishment (ARE) was a department of the British Admiralty and later Navy Department (Ministry of Defence) responsible for research and development, ...

(ASWE). Its headquarters were located in Haslemere, Surrey, England.

History

The Admiralty Signal and Radar Establishment began as the ''Admiralty Experimental Department'' that was set up in 1917 at HM Signal School, Portsmouth, to coordinate research work undertaken since 1896 on the Torpedo School ships HMS Defiance and

HMS Vernon Two ships and a training establishment of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS ''Vernon'', possibly after Admiral Edward Vernon: * was a 14-gun armed ship listed between 1781 and 1782. * was a 50-gun fourth rate launched in 1832. She becam ...

. Concern had already arisen in 1940 as regards the vulnerability of the Signal School to

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...

bombing, but a raid in the autumn of 1940 brought matters to a head, and the move was initiated. In April 1941 the Experimental Department was renamed the Admiralty Signal Establishment (ASE) which, like its predecessors, was primarily focused on communications. Premises were found in Lythe Hill House, Haslemere, and in August 1941, the ASE became a separate establishment. Basil Willett was the Captain Superintendent. In July 1943 a delegation came from the USA to discuss radar and communications. The discussions included

Henry Tizard Sir Henry Thomas Tizard (23 August 1885 – 9 October 1959) was an English chemist, inventor and Rector of Imperial College, who developed the modern "octane rating" used to classify petrol, helped develop radar in World War II, and led the fir ...

, Cecil Horton, Cedric Holland and George Thomson. However, technological advances during the Second World War necessitated an increase in related fields of research, and in 1948 these were brought under one body, the Admiralty Signal and Radar Establishment at Portsmouth. In 1959 it was merged with the Admiralty Gunnery Establishment (AGE) to form the

(ASWE).

Timeline

* Admiralty Experimental Department, (1917-1941) * Admiralty Signal Establishment, (1941-1948) * Admiralty Signal and Radar Establishment, Portsmouth (1948-1959) * Admiralty Surface Weapons Establishment (ASWE), Portsdown, Portsmouth (1959-1984)

References

External links

{{Admiralty Department Admiralty departments Admiralty during World War I Admiralty during World War II Royal Navy shore establishments 1917 establishments in the United Kingdom 1959 disestablishments in the United Kingdom