rbeville%tekig5.pen.tek.com@RELAY.CS.NET (11/22/90)
From: rbeville%tekig5.pen.tek.com@RELAY.CS.NET A question for battleship buffs: In a photo of the _USS_ARIZONA_ being constructed in the shipyard, 1916, there is a huge, HUGE dial on the superstructure above the crow's catwalk(?). It faces the bow. It has the scale 0...9 with zero at the top, and one hand. In another photo, of the cruise with FDR, after the birdgage to tripod conversion, it is still there. What was the function/use of this dial??? SOURCE: February, March leafs of 1991 Memorial USS Arizona calendar. that's -OWARI- from GLOWWORM-7-9-4 best regards, rbeville@tekig5.PEN.TEK.COM Bob Beville, Tektronix, Inc., Beaverton, OR 97077 [mod.note: This device is a range clock. These became popular in the British and American navies during WWI and remained so until sometime in the 20's, I gather. As I understand it, the range clock simply indicated the range at which the ship's main guns were being fired; the idea was that other ships in the battle line, which might be unable to obtain an accurate range of their own, could read the range from a ship which was "on." Also used in this manner were angle markings painted along the bottom edge of the gun turrets; if the target was obscured to one ship, it could read the bearing from the turret markings of another nearby ship. - Bill ]
phil@zorch.SF-Bay.ORG (Phil Gustafson) (11/29/90)
From: phil@zorch.SF-Bay.ORG (Phil Gustafson) In article <1990Nov21.213843.16784@cbnews.att.com> rbeville%tekig5.pen.tek.com@RELAY.CS.NET writes: > > In a photo of the _USS_ARIZONA_ being constructed in the > shipyard, 1916, there is a huge, HUGE dial on the superstructure > >[mod.note: This device is a range clock. These became popular in >the British and American navies during WWI and remained so until >sometime in the 20's, I gather. As I understand it, the range clock >simply indicated the range at which the ship's main guns were being >fired; the idea was that other ships in the battle line, which might >be unable to obtain an accurate range of their own, could read the >range from a ship which was "on." > Also used in this manner were angle markings painted along the >bottom edge of the gun turrets; if the target was obscured to one >ship, it could read the bearing from the turret markings of another nearby >ship. - Bill ] As usually happens, our moderator has done a fine job of answering this one. As often happens, I have to pop a pennyworth in. Range clocks, at least in the USN, lasted to the very beginning of World War Two. The builder's model of the IOWA, in fact, shows range clocks, as well as scads of small rangefinders, an amidships full of boats, and boat cranes to lug the former around. By the time she was launched, Iowa's boat deck had been stuffed with Bofors AA guns and the clocks and optical gadgets replaced or supplemented by eight radars, close to the number in the whole Navy at the time of Pearl Harbor. Those battleship admirals didn't change their ideas real fast in peacetime, but learned the lessons of the first year of the war very well. The Nautical Museum near Fisherman's Wharf has a wonderful model of the California before her 20's rebuild. The range clocks and turret markings are very conspicuous. -- | phil@zorch.SF-Bay.ORG | Phil Gustafson | {ames|pyramid|vsi1}!zorch!phil | UNIX/Graphics Consultant | sgi!gsi!phil | 1550 Martin Ave., San Jose CA 95126 | phil@gsi | 408/286-1749