Dr W Hackmann (Museum of the History of Science, University of Oxford)
will give a lecture on 'Asdics at war' Thursday, 16 December 1999
Time: 5.30 pm (tea at 5.00 pm)
Venue: Institution of Electrical Engineers, Savoy Place, London WC2R 0BL.
Admission is free and all are welcome.
Synopsis of 'Asdics at War'
Sonar began in this country as 'asdics' (Anti-Submarine Detection
Investigation Committee) as a scientific response to the German U-boat
campaign of the First World War. Sonar, like radar later on, has its
origins in the technology of wireless telegraphy. Scant attention had
been paid before the First World War by the Royal Navy to the submarine
threat, and now a heavy price was to be paid in the massive destruction
of merchant shipping. Radical methods had to be devised, both
organisationally and technologically to cope with this new form of
warfare. The most successful response was underwater detection by
ultrasound. Dr W Hackmann will explore the interaction between sonar
technology and the evolution of the submarine in the two World Wars and
in the interwar and postwar periods.
Further information can be found at:
http://www.iee.org.uk/Events/s16dec99.htm
OR contact Helen Pope: [log in to unmask]
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