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</ref><ref name=OtherTrackers>While the TDC's target tracking abilities were unique for submarine torpedo fire control during WWII, target tracking was used on surface ship torpedo fire control systems by a number of nations (see references in this article to [http://www.maritime.org/doc/destroyer/ddfc/index.htm US destroyer] and [http://www.fischer-tropsch.org/primary_documents/gvt_reports/USNAVY/USNTMJ%20Reports/USNTMJ-200F-0086-0124%20Report%20O-32.pdf Japanese torpedo fire control] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070720142332/http://www.fischer-tropsch.org/primary_documents/gvt_reports/USNAVY/USNTMJ%20Reports/USNTMJ-200F-0086-0124%20Report%20O-32.pdf |date=2007-07-20 }}). The TDC was the first analog computer to miniaturize the capability enough for deployment on a submarine.</ref>
Replacing the previously standard hand-held [[slide rule]]-type devices (known as the "banjo" and "is/was"),<ref>Beach, ''Run Silent, Run Deep''</ref> the TDC was designed to provide fire-control solutions for submarine torpedo firing against [[ship]]s running on the surface (surface warships used a different computer).<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.maritime.org/doc/destroyer/ddfc/index.htm|title = Torpedo Fire Control Equipment (Destroyer Type)}}</ref>
The TDC was a rather bulky addition to the sub's [[conning tower]] and required two extra crewmen: one as an expert in its maintenance, the other as its actual operator. Despite these drawbacks, the use of the TDC was an important factor in the successful [[commerce raiding]] program conducted by American submarines during the [[Pacific war|Pacific]] campaign of World War II. Accounts of the American submarine campaign in the Pacific often cite the use of TDC.<ref name=clear>{{cite book | last = O'Kane | first = Richard | title = Clear The Bridge:The War Patrols of the U.S.S. Tang | publisher = Bantam Books | year = 1977 | ___location = New York | isbn= 0-553-14516-9 }}</ref><ref name=wahoo>{{cite book | last = O'Kane | first = Richard | title = Wahoo: The Patrols of America's Most Famous World War II Submarine | publisher = Bantam Books | year = 1987 | ___location = New York | isbn= 0-553-28161-5}}; Beach, Edward L., Jr., Captain, USN (rtd). ''Run Silent, Run Deep'', ''passim''; Beach, ''Dust on the Sea'', ''passim''; Grider, George. ''War Fish'', ''passim''; Blair, Clay, Jr. ''Silent Victory'' (New York: Bantam, 1976), ''passim''.</ref> Some officers became highly skilled in its use,<ref>[[Robert Edson Dornin|Dusty Dornin]] was widely agreed to be the best. Blair, p.357.</ref> and the Navy set up a training school for its use.<ref>Blair, p.357.</ref>
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|access-date=2006-07-11}}</ref> These were often "woefully inaccurate",<ref>Holwitt, p. 147.</ref> which helps explain why torpedo spreads were advised.
During World War II, Germany,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.msichicago.org/exhibit/U505/virtualtour/photo_tour/contower.html |title=Archived copy |access-date=2006-08-01 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.is/20050608024538/http://www.msichicago.org/exhibit/U505/virtualtour/photo_tour/contower.html |archive-date=2005-06-08 }}</ref> Japan,<ref>[http://web.ukonline.co.uk/chalcraft/sm/attack.html Britain] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060619061752/http://web.ukonline.co.uk/chalcraft/sm/attack.html |date=2006-06-19 }}</ref> and the United States each developed [[analog computer]]s to automate the process of computing the required torpedo course.<ref name=JapanTechnology>{{cite book | last = Jackson, USNR | first = Lt.(jg) J.G. | url = http://www.fischer-tropsch.org/primary_documents/gvt_reports/USNAVY/USNTMJ%20Reports/USNTMJ-200F-0086-0124%20Report%20O-32.pdf | title = Japanese Torpedo Fire Control | date = February 1946 | publisher = US Naval Technical Mission to Japan | id = Fascicle O-1, Target O-32
In 1932, the [[Bureau of Ordnance]] (BuOrd) initiated development of the TDC with [[Arma Corporation]] and [[Ford Instruments]].<ref name="Holwitt, p.147">Holwitt, p.147.</ref> This culminated in the "very complicated" Mark 1 in 1938.<ref name="Holwitt, p.147"/> This was retrofitted into older boats, beginning with [[USS Dolphin (SS-169)|''Dolphin'']] and up through the newest [[Salmon class submarine|''Salmon'']]s.<ref name="Holwitt, p.147"/>
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The TDC needed to be positioned near other [[fire-control system|fire control]] equipment to minimize the amount of electromechanical interconnect. Because submarine space within the pressure hull was limited, the TDC needed to be as small as possible. On World War II submarines, the TDC and other fire control equipment was mounted in the [[conning tower]], which was a very small space.<ref name=silent>{{cite video | people = Wise, Robert (Director-One scene shows how cramped a conning tower could be.) |date = 1958 | title = Run Silent, Run Deep | medium = Film | ___location = Pacific Ocean}}</ref>
The packaging problem was severe and the performance of some early torpedo fire control equipment was hampered by the need to make it small.<ref name=USSubHis>{{harvnb|Friedman|1995|p=350}}</ref> It had an array of handcranks, dials, and switches for data input and display.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.fleetsubmarine.com/tdc.html|title = Torpedo Data Computer|date = November 2015}}</ref> To generate a fire control solution, it required inputs on
*submarine course and speed, which were read automatically from the submarine's [[gyrocompass]] and [[pitometer log]]
*estimated target course, speed, and range information (obtained using data from the submarine's [[periscope]], [[Target Bearing Transmitter]] (TBT),<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bowfin.org/website/bowfin/bowfin_systems/TBT/tbt.htm |title=Archived copy |access-date=2006-07-28 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060720074815/http://www.bowfin.org/website/bowfin/bowfin_systems/TBT/tbt.htm |archive-date=2006-07-20 }}</ref> [[radar]], and [[sonar]])
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*[http://www.bergall.org/320/patrol/torpedo.html US Torpedo History: Good description of operational use of the Mk 14, Mk 18, and Mk 23]
*[http://www.maritime.org/doc/tdc/index.htm Original Manual for the ''Torpedo Data Computer Mark 3'']
*{{cite book |author=Bureau of Ordnance |title=Tactical Data for Torpedoes Mark XIV &
*{{cite book |author=Bureau of Ordnance |title=Tactical Data for Torpedo Mark 18 |publisher=Navy Department |___location=Washington D.C. |series=Ordnance Data Pamphlet |id=O.D. No. 6697 Change 2 |date=10 August 1954 |url=https://maritime.org/doc/pdf/torp-mk18-tactical.pdf}}
*[http://home.comcast.net/~mbiegert/Work/HistOfTech/TDC/Model.htm Discussion of the torpedo ballistic and parallax corrections used by the Imperial Japanese Navy]
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