Torpedo Data Computer: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 17:55, 29 August 2024

Revision as of 22:36, 6 February 2025

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{{Short description|Electromechanical analog computer}}

[[Image:TDCfullview.jpg|thumb|right|U.S. Navy Mk III Torpedo Data Computer, the standard US Navy torpedo fire control computer during World War II. Later in World War II (1943), it was replaced by the TDC Mk IV, which was an improved and larger version.]]

The '''Torpedo Data Computer''' ('''TDC''') was an early [[electromechanical]] [[analog computer]] used for [[torpedo]] [[fire-control system|fire-control]] on [[US Navy|American]] [[submarine]]s during [[World War II]]. [[Royal Navy#1914–1945|Britain]], [[Kriegsmarine|Germany]], and [[Imperial Japanese Navy|Japan]] also developed automated torpedo fire control equipment, but none were as advanced as the [[US Navy]]'s TDC^(?),<ref name=JapanGermany>{{cite book | last = Friedman | first = Norman | title = US Submarines Through 1945: An Illustrated Design History | year = 1995 | publisher = Naval Institute Press | isbn=1-55750-263-3 | pages = 195 }}</ref> as it was able to automatically track the target rather than simply offering an instantaneous firing solution. This unique capability of the TDC set the standard for submarine torpedo [[Fire-control system|fire control]] during World War II.<ref name=computermuseum>{{cite web | title = Analog Computers | work = Lexikon's History of Computing | year = 1995 | url = http://www.computermuseum.li/Testpage/AnalogComputers.htm#Restoration | access-date = 2006-07-03 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120814130501/http://www.computermuseum.li/Testpage/AnalogComputers.htm#Restoration | archive-date = 2012-08-14 }}

</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>