Wartime Science 2

Z Battery

Britain also made advancements in the fields of rocketry as well. By 1940 they had developed a three inch rocket in which 128 of them could be fired from a projector at a single time. These rockets were to be used against German aircraft. Soon, a rocket battery called the Z-battery was formed to use these rockets and the first German plane was taken down. A type of Z-battery, the UP-3, was hooked up with a radar system. This system allowed the rocket to predict the flight paths of its target and had a devastating effect. Upon impact, the explosion carried a 70 foot lethal radius, but soon enough the rocket was increased in size in order to carry a bigger warhead.

Air-to-Surface Missle

Another British development was air-to-surface missiles. These missiles were a modification of the UP-3. They were 6 feet in length and could travel up to 1,000 mph. The Royal Navy used these against submarines, and although the army declined the idea of using them, they continued modifications of the UP-3.

Stooge Missile

The Stooge was another missile to be developed by Britain near the end of the war. These missiles were designed primarily to attack Japanese Kamikaze. It was guided by radio, had a range of 8 to 9 miles, reached a top speed of 500 mph and carried a 220lb warhead.

Sonar Technology

US and UK developments of sonar and its ability to locate submarines underwater played the biggest role in the defeat of attacks by Nazi U-boats in the Battle of the Atlantic in 1943. It was responsible for sinking nearly 1,000 enemy submarines. The Allies cooperated with each other in laboratories as US Navy experts and British Scientists combined US sonar with the best features of British systems.

The submarines were detected using a concept similar to echo-location in Dolphins. A retractable projector were installed under the keel of the ship that sent out sound waves under the surface of the ocean and when a target is hit, the signal echoes back to its source. This echo is then analyzed and could distinguish between different objects (threatening or not) and locate with precision where exactly a target was. The projector was covered by a dome to ensure a clear signal unaffected but outside noise could be received.

A major part of sonar and how it works is the transducer that sends out the signal. Electric energy from a transmitter moves tubes which vibrates the diaphragm of the transducer. A certain “ping” is then sent out and when echoed back, electric current is produced which in turn produces a different ping. Different objects produce different pings so the men onboard can distinguish from a threat and a non-threat.