Mark 8 Fire Control Computer: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 19:45, 25 June 2010

Revision as of 18:54, 9 May 2011

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The '''Mark 8 Fire Control Computer''' was developed by [[Bell Laboratories]] during [[World War II]]. It was initially requested by the USN [[Bureau of Ordnance]] as an alternative to the Ford Instruments [[Mark I Fire Control Computer]], in case supplies of the Mk 1I were interrupted or were unable to be manufactured in the required numbers<ref>Annals of the History of Computing, Volume 4, Number 3, July 1982

''Electrical Computers for Fire Control'', p218-46

W. H. C. Higgins, B. D. Holbrook, and J. W. Emling</ref>. The Mk 8 computer used all electric methods of computation, in contrast to the Mk 1, which performed most computations via mechanical devices. The Mk 8 was found to be more accurate than the Mk 1 and substantially faster in reaching a fire control solution<ref>Annals of the History of Computing, Volume 4, Number 3, July 1982

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Mark 1 in accordance with the principles of the Mark

8 to obtain a faster solution time..."p232

</ref>, but by the time it was developed and tested in 1944, supplies of the Mk 1 were found to be sufficient in quantity. The USN extensively tested the Mk 8 and may have incorporated some of its technology into the post war [[Gun_Fire_Control_Systems#Ford_Mark_1A_Fire_Control_Computer|Ford Instruments Mk1A computer]]. The Mk 8 technology was similar to that used in the M9 [[gun data computer]] used by the US Army for coast defence fire control and in the [[SCR-584 radar]] system computer.

==Notes==