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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]). 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" & "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>http://www.maritime.org/doc/destroyer/ddfc/index.htm</ref>
*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>http://www.bowfin.org/website/bowfin/bowfin_systems/TBT/tbt.htm</ref> [[radar]], and [[sonar]])▼
*torpedo type and speed (type was needed to deal with the different torpedo ballistics)<!--This was accounted for by changing cams in the machine, but can't recall if the source is Blair, Grider, O'Kane, or Beach...or somewhere else...-->▼
The TDC performed the [[trigonometry|trigonometric]] calculations required to compute a target intercept course for the torpedo. It also had an electromechanical interface to the torpedoes, allowing it to automatically set courses while torpedoes were still in their tubes, ready to be fired.▼
The TDC's target tracking capability was used by the fire control party to continuously update the fire control solution even while the submarine was maneuvering. The TDC's target tracking ability also allowed the submarine to accurately fire torpedoes even when the target was temporarily obscured by smoke or fog.▼
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=harv}}</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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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>http://www.fleetsubmarine.com/tdc.html</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>http://www.bowfin.org/website/bowfin/bowfin_systems/TBT/tbt.htm</ref> [[radar]], and [[sonar]])
▲*torpedo type and speed (type was needed to deal with the different torpedo ballistics)<!--This was accounted for by changing cams in the machine, but can't recall if the source is Blair, Grider, O'Kane, or Beach...or somewhere else...-->
▲The TDC performed the [[trigonometry|trigonometric]] calculations required to compute a target intercept course for the torpedo. It also had an electromechanical interface to the torpedoes, allowing it to automatically set courses while torpedoes were still in their tubes, ready to be fired.
▲The TDC's target tracking capability was used by the fire control party to continuously update the fire control solution even while the submarine was maneuvering. The TDC's target tracking ability also allowed the submarine to accurately fire torpedoes even when the target was temporarily obscured by smoke or fog.
===TDC functional description===
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