U-boat detection during First World War
Scientists were paid £1 a day for their work
Fifty members of Arran History Society welcomed Diana Maxwell of Aberdour and Whiting Bay to their March meeting, writes Norma Davidson.
Aberdour is near Rosyth with its naval dockyard situated on the River Forth. She was aware of the existence of a research station there during the early years of World War I and in the mid-1990s began to research the station. By information gleaned from local folk and the records which had by then come into the public domain she was able to build up a fascinating talk sub-titled, Memories of Hawkcraig Admiralty Experimental Establishment Station, 1915-1919. Like all shore-based establishments, it had a nautical name, in this instance HMS Tarlair.
In the early years of the war, one in every three merchant ships were lost to U-boats and at one time the nation was down to six weeks of supplies; indeed, some sources said as little as two weeks.
Cyril Ryan, an ex-Royal Navy Officer who subsequently worked for Marconi, invented a receiving microphone for detecting underwater sound. Working on the idea of detecting U-boats he took his idea to the Admiralty. Admiral Beatty, commanding officer of Rosyth, gave the idea his backing and the establishment was created at Hawkcraig Peninsular. Cyril Ryan lived locally, coincidentally in the house the speaker now owns, and a seaplane was based in a local hotel garden
The hydrophone, as the device was called, could detect sound underwater from a distance of four miles and eventually it would be fitted to all naval vessels, with 4,000 officers and men trained in its use.
Cyril Ryan was a character who loved his dogs, but not the one who ate his sandwiches. Being an inventor, he devised an alarm that attached to his lunch and activated to deliver a wee electrical shock to his canine companion, who we assume stole no more sandwiches. Scientists were paid £1 a day for their work, and many eminent names were in their number.
Diana based much of her work on the memoirs of Albert Wood who worked under Professor Rutherford. Sir Richard Paget, a prominent musician and scientist, went on to invent the first artificial larynx and later when the hydrophone was improved to use two detectors, that was masterminded by Professor W H Bragg who won the Nobel Prize for his work on X-ray crystallography.
The hydrophone itself was a receiver microphone approximately eight inches in diameter, which passed through a diaphragm and had a waterproof casing. Many musicians were also pressed into contributing as they were presumed to have a very advanced perception of sound.
Sir Hamilton Harty, founder of the Halle Orchestra, and his wife, the singer Agnes Nicholls, were two such.
In 1916 George V visited the base to observe this major scientific research of World War I, where civilian and naval scientific brains and musicians with their expertise were all working together for the first time.
The base had 12 naval ships, including a remote controlled boat, submarine, destroyer, trawler and a seaplane. There was also access to HMS Pegasus, the first aircraft carrier. Seaplanes launched from a slipway were used as observers to spot U-boats from above. They were used in the Battle of Jutland as observers and when they were armed at a later date sank three U-boats. Eventually 31 listening hubs were installed around Britain and more than 55 detections and sinkings were recorded.
Professor Alexander Rankine perfected a photophone, which projects a voice using a light beam. This technology went on to contribute to the first talking pictures and eventually laser beams. Sound travels four-and-a-half times faster underwater than above, and the ever-improving hydrophone could now detect at a distance of 12 miles.
A ‘porpoise’ was designed which could be towed behind a boat, the equipment being housed in a bombshaped capsule.
Also there was a magnophone which was a hydrophone housed in a mine, and when it detected its target it would be programmed to detonate. One U-boat was destroyed in this way in Scapa Flow. Another success was the indicator loops which were installed at every naval dockyard by the start of WWII.
Cyril Ryan combined his love of dogs and his inventing by constructing the first remote controlled dog. The base must have been a very busy area at the time, and bizarrely, Paderewski, the great pianist, came and gave a concert which had to take place in the centre of a large field as the planned venue, the officers’ mess, could not accommodate the huge audience. He went on to become the Prime Minister of Poland bu for sure, he never forgot performing in that field.
The base closed in 1919, and the huts were demolished. Today only the concrete bases and a small remnant of the slipway remain.
HMS Tarlair has certainly been productive in its four year history. Sonar replaced the hydrophone as it was based on the same principle, but Rosyth says the hydrophone is still in use because it cannot be detected. This was a subject of which we knew nothing, but Diana Maxwell made us well aware of the contribution to the war that was made in the remote corner of Fife, a hive of activity now returned to nature.
The next meeting of the society will be on Monday April 24, one week later than usual because of Easter, at 2pm in Brodick Hall, when the speaker will be Stuart Wilson who will talk about Sir Alexander Fleming, and his work on Penicillin.
Visitors are always most welcome.