SECRET DEVICE LOCATES SUBMARINES

Chronicle (Levin), 8 April 1946, Page 4

SECRET DEVICE LOCATES SUBMARINES

' Wartime weapon disclosed. Received Sunday 11.20 p.m. washington, April 7. The nayy announced that the. greatest single weapon against suhmarines during the war was sonar (sound, navigation and ranging) which found sphpierged U-poats wh'ep rad^r cpujd uot Sonar, which is based on sppnd echog§, enahled American suhmarines tp prowl .mined Japanese water, includlsg TgkiP Bay. It also provided detailed maps of ' underwater def ences, minefields and other obstacles, epablipg dempfition crews to hlow them up on P-4(iy- Ifi aadition, ; son.ar- huoys, (,dropped by plapes, automatically .radioed .the prepence oX-iurking'.U-h)qats/ , The nqyy employed ' njusiqiaps with sonar, because it' was f oun'd that their ' trained . qars" . wqre bgst ' iav .- deciding whetW the echo.es came fripih a, ,SUbmarpbae.or a.reef or.sbine objgot. v Shrimps becanie a 'defeiice fgptpr when the navy found that g, jnaps pf pwimming ■shrimpg' SPHBdgjS' Jike haPPJ1 frying, and the sonar men could not track suhmarines. thrQugh tb.at interfgrence. Hence Aippis£caii submarinps qarr ried maps showing the nearest shrimp beds'for refpge from Japanese pursuers. The United States ha(J >a sonar sys.tem of sorts at the' outbreak of the war, but later borrowed some .of the best features of apdip. frojn thg British and after that pdoled knowledge 'witfi thgjp.