Curious note on rangefinder history

[taffer]

I've read a brief note on the newspaper this morning about the (for now) unsuccessful rescue of the rangefinder assembly from a WWII nazi warship, the Admiral Graff Spee.

According to the note, the accuracy of that aiming technique on the german cannons was a real nightmare for allied forces. Before leaving that revolutionary weapon in hands of the British forces, the captain decided to sink it in the Montevideo Bay area.

Good luck our rangefinders are used for more constructive things !

[SolaresLarrave]

So that's what the whole rigamorole was about! My wife heard the news in the radio, where they only said some firm was after the Graf Spee's wreckage. They just didn't explain why?

When I went to Montevideo two years ago, I was told by some people that the top of the Graf Spee's mast is still visible at times, when the tide is relatively low. Many of the German crew members chose to stay in Uruguay or Argentina, which were both fairly partial to the German side. In fact, countries like these and mine, Guatemala, were kindly "convinced" to declare war against Germany in the very late stages of WW II.

In fact, now that I remember, the Germans also had an admirable bombing sight system called Norden, which helped them drop bombs accurately. It was stolen by the allies and adapted to their planes later. These guys were good with optics!

Thanks for the tidbit, Oscar!

[Brian Sweeney]

My dad was in B29's; The Norden was more gyroscope than optics. The Pilot turned over all controls to the bombardier when engaged.

The Norden Bombsight was made in the US:

Carl Lucas Norden: Mechanical engineer, born in Semarang, Java. He emigrated to the USA from Switzerland in 1904, worked for Sperry Gyroscope (1911-17), but formed his own company in 1915. In 1911 he developed the first gyrostabilizing equipment for US ships, and became known for his contributions to military hardware. In 1927 he produced the first Norden bombsight, which allowed precision bombing.

Alexander Seversky: Aeroplane manufacturer, born in Tiflis, Russia A Russian war hero in World War 1, he flew more than 50 combat missions after he had lost a leg. An assistant naval attache at the Russian embassy in Washington, he decided to stay in the USA following the Russian Revolution. He founded Seversky Aero Corp (1922), which became Republic Aviation (1939), and designed bombsights and landing gear for seaplanes and flying boats. He became a naturalized US citizen (1927) and wrote Victory Through Air Power (1942), controversial at the time for arguing that the Allies could win World War 2 primarily through air superiority. Seversky applied for no less than 360 U.S. patents. This included a gyro-stabilized bomb site purchased by the Army Air Corps.

And: See the RF windows on the Turret of the Missouri? Talk about effective baselength!

[rover]

Norden Systems was right here in CT, Westport. I believe I am correct in saying that they are no longer an independent company.

Brian, what a nice memory jog. I remember visiting the Battleship Massachussetts park and looking through the main turret rangefinder as a child. I also house sat a couple times while in college for a man who was an engineer for United Technologies. His specialty was optical systems and in his family room/library he had many books about both naval and aircraft rangefinders and sights. That was before the History Channel and served for good reading while I tended to the needs of his hyper dog.

[Scarpia]

I too visited the USS Massachussets around 1993 when my daughter was an undergraduate at Brown.
Fall River, Mass is known for three things. Lizzie Borden, Battleship Park and Emeril Lagasse who was born and raised there and studied cooking at Johnson & wales U. in nearby Providence.
The rangefinders on the 10 U .S. battleships built in the 1940's were there in case rangefinding radars failed. The British invented radar, but it was perfected here in the U. S. as the british had their hands full with the Germans.
Parts for the hightly secret Norden bombsight were manufactured in Brooklyn in a neighborhood known then as Vinegar Hill and now known as DUMBO (down under the Brooklyn Bridge). Apparently, manufacturing was divided among plants in different States as a security precaution.
Today's auto focus cameras use the radar principal for determining distance substituting light waves for microwaves.
Microwaves can be very dangerous which is why microwave ovens are so carefully shielded.
Kurt M.

[HelenB]

Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass?

Best,
Helen

[SolaresLarrave]

Wow! the wealth of knowledge there is here... And I thought I was smart! Good thing I'm not alone!

Neither am I modest... Sorry!

[taffer]

I love so much the history around cameras and photography, each time you scrath a bit you find a whole world there Thanks a lot for your posts about this !

I admit I'm a National Geographic / Discovery channel fan, really hard to decide between these two and the cooking channel though

Oscar

[Brian Sweeney]

Here is a nice source for photo's and images of the Navy.

http://www.history.navy.mil/branches/org11-2.htm

And to really bring back memories of that battleship visit,

(PS: This one is a real photograph, unlike the image posted of the Missouri)

[Scarpia]

To Helen, I stand corrected. How could I make such a mistake as I used to work in DUMBO and was brung up in Brooklyn.
Thanks. Kurt M.