"Underdome" Pattern Navyphones
The "Underdome" Pattern Navyphones were a family of 4 Graham navyphones (Patterns 860, 861, 862 and 863) so-called because some were crowned by a dome-like bell. They featured modestly improved transmitters and receivers relative to earlier models,[1] and were powered by motor generator supply.[2] They were ready for use by 1909.[3]
- As Sketched in Torpedo Drill Book, 1914, pp 268-269
Pattern 860
Pattern 861
Pattern 862
Pattern 863
This was a fire control navyphone for use at gun positions. It first appeared in Bellerophon.[4] Each would be wired directly to a pattern 861 navyphone in the control position.[Inference]
Form Factor
The 860 was similar to the Pattern 2109A Navyphone except it had a bell fitted on top rather than the external bell used by the earlier model.
The round casing was probably iron and it featured a push-to-talk switch on its right side similar in appearance to those I have presumed automatically twisted the front-mounted transmitter when pressed. Trusting the simple drawing, the sound horn appeared at the 8 o'clock position, and it had no call-up button.
Service Life
The 860's manufacture period was brief, as the Pattern 2464 Navyphone was used in Orion.[5] It is not clear whether this or later models ever replaced existing installations.
This was a fire control navyphone for use in TSes and Gun Control Positions. It first appeared in Bellerophon.[6] Each would be wired directly to a pattern 860 navyphone at a gun position.
Form Factor
The 861 was similar to the Pattern 2108A Navyphone it improved upon and supplanted, except it had portable receivers similar to Telaupads (though not called such, perhaps because they lacked a head-arc bracket) on a cable. It had a call-up push to ring the bell atop an 860 it would be wired directly to.
The round casing was probably iron and it featured a push-to-talk switch on its right side similar in appearance to those I have presumed automatically twisted the front-mounted transmitter when pressed. Trusting the simple drawing, the sound horn is replaced by the use of the portable receivers.
Service Life
The 861's manufacture period was brief, as the Pattern 2463 Navyphone was used in Orion.[7] It is not clear whether this or later models ever replaced existing installations.
The 862 had two rigid receiver arms and no bell.
This was a navyphone for use in engine rooms, first introduced in Bellerophon.[8]
Each would be wired directly to a Pattern 2108A Navyphone[9] or pattern 863 navyphone at a gun position.[Inference] It was considered a replacement for the Pattern 2109A Navyphone.[10]
Form Factor
The 862 was similar to the Pattern 1856A Navyphone it improved upon and supplanted, except it lacked a call-up button and it appears that both its receivers were on rigid arms.
The round casing was probably iron and it featured a push-to-talk switch on its right side similar in appearance to those I have presumed automatically twisted the front-mounted transmitter when pressed.
Service Life
The 862 may have enjoyed longer active installation life than the other "Underdome" phones, as it seems that Orion may have used them as well,[11] though the 1910 Annual Report of the Torpedo School mentions that the Pattern 2461 Navyphone is a suitable replacement for these engine room applications.
It has a bell and a push-to-call button.
This was a navyphone for general use. It first appeared in Bellerophon, perhaps being used where Pattern 2140A Navyphones had been employed in previous classes,[12] although in 1909 the 2140B was seen as the type to be supplanted.[13]
Form Factor
The 863 was similar to the 2140A, but it had that distinctive bell on top that earned the "Underdomes" their name. It had "shutter" (?) and push replacements.[14]
The round casing was probably iron and it featured a push-to-talk switch on its right side similar in appearance to those I have presumed automatically twisted the front-mounted transmitter when pressed. Trusting the simple drawing, the sound horn was at the 8 o'clock position.
Service Life
The 863's manufacture period was brief, as the Pattern 2461 Navyphone was used in Orion.[15] It is not clear whether this or later models ever replaced existing installations.
See Also
- Navyphone
- Pattern 210X Navyphones (preceding patterns)
- Pattern 246X Navyphones (succeeding patterns)
Footnotes
- ↑ Torpedo Drill Book, 1914. p. 268.
- ↑ Torpedo Drill Book, 1914. p. 267.
- ↑ Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1909. p. 70.
- ↑ Torpedo Drill Book, 1914. p. 271.
- ↑ Torpedo Drill Book, 1914. p. 271.
- ↑ Torpedo Drill Book, 1914. p. 271.
- ↑ Torpedo Drill Book, 1914. p. 271.
- ↑ Torpedo Drill Book, 1914. p. 271.
- ↑ Torpedo Drill Book, 1914. p. 268.
- ↑ Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1909. p. 70.
- ↑ Torpedo Drill Book, 1914. p. 271.
- ↑ Torpedo Drill Book, 1914. p. 271.
- ↑ Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1909. p. 70.
- ↑ Torpedo Drill Book, 1914. p. 269.
- ↑ Torpedo Drill Book, 1914. p. 271.
Bibliography
- H.M.S.O., London (1914). Torpedo Drill Book, 1914 (Corrected to May 15) Copy in Tony Lovell's library.
- H.M.S. Vernon. Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1909, with Appendix (Wireless Telegraphy). Copy 7 at The National Archives. ADM 189/29.
