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| [[File:MysteryDeviceInBritishSpottingTop.jpg|thumb|240px|'''Kilroy's Mechanical Aid-to-Spotter'''<br>This may be such a device, or an Evershed transmitter.]] | | [[File:MysteryDeviceInBritishSpottingTop.jpg|thumb|240px|'''Mechanical Aid-to-Spotter'''<br>Or possibly an Evershed or Elliott bearing transmitter.]] |
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| The '''Mechanical Aid-to-Spotter''' was designed by {{LieutRN}} [[Willie Dickson Kilroy|W. D. Kilroy]] to ensure that the [[Spotting Officer|spotting officer]] was watching the same target as was being fired upon by his own ship. | | The '''Mechanical Aid-to-Spotter''' was designed by {{LieutRN}} [[Willie Dickson Kilroy|W. D. Kilroy]] to ensure that the [[Spotting Officer|spotting officer]] was watching the same target as was being fired upon by his own ship. |
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| This page is not complete until I absorb the extensive data found in ''Manual of Gunnery for H.M. Fleet, Volume III, 1920''.
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| ==Mark I== | | ==Mark I== |
| The need for this was envisioned in early 1916. It seems likely that supply commenced in late 1916 at the earliest.<ref>''The Technical History and Index: Fire Control in HM Ships, 1919'', pp. 25.</ref> | | :[[Mechanical Aid-to-Spotter Mark I|<small>Main article</small>]] |
| | | The need for these instruments was envisioned in early 1916. It seems likely that supply commenced in late 1916 at the earliest.{{FCHMShips|pp. 25}} The first version was deployed in 22 of the earlier dreadnoughts and battlecruisers.<ref>''Manual of Gunnery for HM Fleet, Volume III, 1920'', p. 34.</ref> |
| The deflection dial has an index marked "S.T.Z." for "Sight Testing Zero", which is the true zero-deflection mark. The zero mark used generally is at 5 knots left deflection, meant to be an average drift deflection at all ranges.<ref>''The Technical History and Index: Fire Control in HM Ships, 1919'', pp. 26.</ref> This design feature reflects the difference between turret facing and line of sight.
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| By 1920, it was fitted in 22 ships:<ref>''Manual of Gunnery for HM Fleet, Volume III, 1920'', p. 34.</ref> [[Dreadnought Class Battleship (1906)|''Dreadnought'']], the three [[Bellerophon Class Battleship (1907)|''Bellerophons'']], [[Agincourt Class Battleship (1913)|''Agincourt'']], [[Erin Class Battleship (1913)|''Erin'']], the two surviving ships of the [[St. Vincent Class Battleship (1908)|''St. Vincent'' class]], [[Neptune_Class_Battleship_(1909)|''Neptune'']], the two [[Colossus Class Battleship (1910)|''Colossus'' class]], the two surviving [[Invincible Class Battlecruiser (1907)|''Invincible'' class]], the two surviving [[Indefatigable Class Battlecruiser (1909)|''Indefatigables'']], the four [[Orion Class Battleship (1910)|''Orions'']], and the three surviving [[King George V Class Battleship (1911)|''King George Vs'']].
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| ==Mark II== | | ==Mark II== |
| TODO: Plates 51, 49,
| | :[[Mechanical Aid-to-Spotter Mark II|<small>Main article</small>]] |
| | | This device is detailed in ''Manual of Gunnery for HM Fleet, Volume III, 1920''.<ref>''Manual of Gunnery for HM Fleet, Volume III, 1920'', pp. 35-37, Plates 45, 47, 49, 51.</ref> Supply of these to the latest capital ships commenced in the early months of 1919,{{FCHMShips|pp. 26}} and by 1920, 22 had been equipped.<ref>''Manual of Gunnery for HM Fleet, Volume III, 1920'', p. 35.</ref> |
| This device is detailed in ''Manual of Gunnery for HM Fleet, Volume III, 1920''.<ref>''Manual of Gunnery for HM Fleet, Volume III, 1920'', pp. 35-37, Plates 45, 47, 49, 51.</ref> Supply of these to the latest capital ships commenced in the early months of 1919.<ref>''The Technical History and Index: Fire Control in HM Ships, 1919'', pp. 26.</ref> | |
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| Installations generally followed this pattern:<ref>''The Technical History and Index: Fire Control in HM Ships, 1919'', pp. 25-26.</ref><ref>''Manual of Gunnery for HM Fleet, Volume III, 1920'', p. 35.</ref>
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| * one on each side of the foretop, driven by flexible shafting from the Evershed rack on the director
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| * one on each side of the [[Gun Control Tower]] employing an electrical [[F.T.P.]] system.
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| The deflection dials had an index marked "S.T.Z." for "Sight Testing Zero", which is the true zero-deflection mark. The zero mark used generally is at 6 knots left deflection, meant to be an average drift deflection at all ranges.<ref>''The Technical History and Index: Fire Control in HM Ships, 1919'', pp. 26.</ref>
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| By 1920, it was fitted in 22 ships:<ref>''Manual of Gunnery for HM Fleet, Volume III, 1920'', p. 35.</ref> the four [[Iron Duke Class Battleship (1912)|''Iron Dukes'']], the five [[Queen Elizabeth Class Battleship (1913)|''Queen Elizabeths'']], the five [[Revenge Class Battleship (1914)|''Revenges'']], [[Canada Class Battleship (1913)|''Canada'']], [[Tiger Class Battlecruiser (1913)|''Tiger'']], the two surviving [[Lion Class Battlecruiser (1910)|''Lions'']], the two [[Renown Class Battlecruiser (1916)|''Renowns'']], and the two [[Courageous Class Battlecruiser (1916)|''Courageous'' class battlecruisers]].
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| The control top instruments were driven off the director's Evershed rack by a flexible steel shaft enclosed in copper piping, and was also connected to the top's own Evershed transmitter by flexible tubing. The G.C.T. devices used an F.T.P. receiver connected to the slewing transmitter of the [[British Tripod Director Firing System|aloft director]].<ref>''Manual of Gunnery for HM Fleet, Volume III, 1920'', pp. 35-6.</ref>
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| ==Mark II*== | | ==Mark II*== |
| This model was designed for use in light cruisers, and supply commenced in June, 1918. The great variety in gun types on light cruisers warranted removal of the "S.T.Z." mark in favor of a movable pointer that could be positioned as any given gunsight would prefer. These were not driven by Evershed racks, but from a gearbox at the director tower, immediately over the center of the director. Some worked with the Elliott Bearing Transmitter, which lacked deflection arrangement and which therefore required the Aids to Spotter to have a separate deflection box installed on the bearing transmission line.<ref>''The Technical History and Index: Fire Control in HM Ships, 1919'', pp. 26.</ref>
| | :[[Mechanical Aid-to-Spotter Mark II*|<small>Main article</small>]] |
| | | This device is detailed in ''Manual of Gunnery for HM Fleet, Volume III, 1920''.<ref>''Manual of Gunnery for HM Fleet, Volume III, 1920'', pp. 37-39, Plates 52-55, 59, 60.</ref> |
| By 1919, it was supplied to the [[Hawkins Class Cruiser (1917)|''Hawkins'']], [[Capetown Class Cruiser (1918)|''Capetown'']], [[Caledon Class Cruiser (1916)|''Caledon'']], [[Danae Class Cruiser (1917)|''Danae'']], [[Centaur Class Cruiser (1916)|''Centaur'']] and [[Birmingham Class Cruiser (1913)|''Birmingham'']] classes, with plans to eventually fit it in
| | Most often mounted in light cruisers from June 1918; an installation was generally a pair mounted on each side of the fore top.<ref>''Manual of Gunnery for HM Fleet, Volume III, 1920'', p. 37.</ref>{{FCHMShips|pp. 26}} |
| [[Chatham Class Cruiser (1911)|''Chatham'']], [[Weymouth Class Cruiser (1910)|''Weymouth'']], [[Cambrian Class Cruiser (1915)|''Cambrian'']], [[Caroline Class Cruiser (1914)|''Caroline'']], [[Arethusa Class Cruiser (1913)|''Arethusa'']],
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| [[H.M.S. Furious (1916)|''Furious'']], [[H.M.S. Eagle (1918)|''Eagle'']] and [[Hermes Class Aircraft Carrier (1919)|''Hermes'']].<ref>''The Technical History and Index: Fire Control in HM Ships, 1919'', pp. 26.</ref>
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| By 1920, it was fitted in 67 ships, 16 with an Elliott Bearing Transmitter and Deflection Box, and 52 with an Evershed Bearing Transmitter (details as to which are recorded on their class pages):<ref>''Manual of Gunnery for HM Fleet, Volume III, 1920'', p. 35. I have screwed up the count somehow, but I think 67/16/51 is correct</ref> the eight [[Danae Class Cruiser (1917)|''Danaes'']], five [[Hawkins Class Cruiser (1917)|''Hawkins'' class cruisers]] (including ''Vindictive''), the five [[Capetown Class Cruiser (1918)|''Capetowns'']], the two [[Emerald Class Cruiser (1920)|''Emeralds'']] (''Euphrates'' was also listed, though she'd never be completed), the five [[Ceres Class Cruiser (1917)|''Ceres'' class light cruisers]], three surviving [[Caledon Class Cruiser (1916)|''Caledons'']], two [[Centaur Class Cruiser (1916)|''Centaurs'']], four [[Cambrian Class Cruiser (1915)|''Cambrians'']], two [[Birkenhead Class Cruiser (1915)|''Birkenheads'']], two [[Calliope Class Cruiser (1914)|''Calliopes'']], six [[Caroline Class Cruiser (1914)|''Carolines'']], the seven surviving [[Arethusa Class Cruiser (1913)|''Arethusas'']], the two surviving [[Birmingham Class Cruiser (1913)|''Birminghams'']], six [[Chatham Class Cruiser (1911)|''Chathams'']], three surviving [[Weymouth Class Cruiser (1910)|''Weymouths'']], [[Gorgon Class Battleship (1914)|''Glatton'']], [[Furious Class Battlecruiser (1916)|''Furious'']], [[Hermes Class Aircraft Carrier (1919)|''Hermes'']], and [[Eagle Class Aircraft Carrier (1918)|''Eagle'']].
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| ==See Also== | | ==See Also== |
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| ==Bibliography== | | ==Bibliography== |
| {{refbegin}} | | {{refbegin}} |
| *{{BibUKFireControlInHMShips1919}} | | *{{FCHMShips}} |
| * Handbook for this device (not read by me) C.B. 1285 | | * Handbook for this device (not read by me) C.B. 1285 |
| {{refend}} | | {{refend}} |
