SK radar

Last updated
SK (radar)
SK-1 radar on USS Kasaan Bay (CVE-69) 1944.jpg
SK-1 aboard USS Long Island
Country of origin United States
Manufacturer General Electric
Introduced1944
Type Air-search radar
Frequency VHF band
Beamwidth 10°
Pulsewidth5 μs
Range160.9 km (86.9 nmi)
Azimuth ± 3 °
Precision± 100  yd (91 m)
Power250 kW [1]

SK was an American-made air-search radar used during World War II by the United States Navy. Models included SK-1, SK-2 and SK-3. [2]

Contents

Overview

SK was a very high frequency search set for large ships. It furnished range and bearing of surface vessels and aircraft, and it could be used for control of interception. The set had both "A" and PPI scopes, provisions for operating with remote PPIs and for IFF connections, and built-in BL and BI antennas. [3]

With the antenna at 100 ft (30 m), SK could detect medium bombers at 1,000 ft (300 m) altitude at 100 miles (160 km). Range accuracy was ± 100 yards (91 m) and azimuth accuracy ± 3°. There was no elevation control, but elevation could be estimated roughly from positions of maximum and minimum signal strength. [3]

Shipment for SK included spares, with tubes for 400 hours, and a separate generator if the ship's power is DC. SK was not air transportable.

SK had 10 components weighing approximately 5,000 lb (2,300 kg). The heaviest unit, at 2,400 lb (1,100 kg), was the antenna assembly. The antenna measured 15 ft (4.6 m) x 16 ft 9 in (5.11 m). It was mounted 100 ft (30 m) or more above water. The minimum operators required were one per shift. Primary power required was 3500 watts, 115 volts, 60 Hz. The source of power is ship's power of 115 volts, 60 Hz. [3]

During the later stages of World War II, a parabolic antenna called SK-2 replaced the SK-1. [1]

On board ships

Flag of the United States.svg United States

Naval Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg United Kingdom

See also

Citations

  1. 1 2 "Radar Equipment of World War II". NavWeaps.
  2. Robert, Buderi (1998). The Invention That Changed the World: How a Small Group of Radar Pioneers Won the Second World War and Launched a Technical Revolution. Touchstone. ISBN   0684835290.
  3. 1 2 3 "US Radar: Operational Characteristics of Radar Classified by Tactical Application". NHHC. Retrieved 2022-02-18.

Related Research Articles

The United States Navy, United States Coast Guard, and United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) use a hull classification symbol to identify their ships by type and by individual ship within a type. The system is analogous to the pennant number system that the Royal Navy and other European and Commonwealth navies use.

USS <i>Missouri</i> (BB-63) Iowa-class battleship of the U.S. Navy

USS Missouri (BB-63) is an Iowa-class battleship built for the United States Navy (USN) in the 1940s and is currently a museum ship. Completed in 1944, she is the last battleship commissioned by the United States. The ship was assigned to the Pacific Theater during World War II, where she participated in the Battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa and shelled the Japanese home islands. Her quarterdeck was the site of the surrender of the Empire of Japan, which ended World War II.

USS <i>Alabama</i> (BB-60) Fast battleship of the United States Navy

USS Alabama (BB-60) is a retired battleship. She was the fourth and final member of the South Dakota class of fast battleships built for the United States Navy in the 1940s. The first American battleships designed after the Washington treaty system began to break down in the mid-1930s, they took advantage of an escalator clause that allowed increasing the main battery to 16-inch (406 mm) guns, but Congressional refusal to authorize larger battleships kept their displacement close to the Washington limit of 35,000 long tons (36,000 t). A requirement to be armored against the same caliber of guns as they carried, combined with the displacement restriction, resulted in cramped ships. Overcrowding was exacerbated by wartime modifications that considerably strengthened their anti-aircraft batteries and significantly increased their crews.

USS <i>Kentucky</i> (BB-66) Uncompleted battleship of the United States Navy

USS Kentucky (BB-66) was an uncompleted battleship intended to be the last ship of the Iowa class. Hull BB-66 was originally to be the second ship of the Montana-class battleships. However, the urgent need for more warships at the outbreak of World War II and the U.S. Navy's experiences in the Pacific theater led it to conclude that rather than battleships larger and more heavily armed than the Iowa class, it quickly needed more fast battleships of that class to escort the new Essex-class aircraft carriers being built. As a result, hulls BB-65 and BB-66 were reordered and laid down as Iowa-class battleships in 1942.

USS <i>Indiana</i> (BB-58) Fast battleship of the United States Navy

USS Indiana (BB-58) was the second of four South Dakota-class fast battleships built for the United States Navy in the 1930s. The first American battleships designed after the Washington treaty system began to break down in the mid-1930s, they took advantage of an escalator clause that allowed increasing the main battery to 16-inch (406 mm) guns, but refusal to authorize larger battleships kept their displacement close to the Washington limit of 35,000 long tons (35,562 t). A requirement to be armored against the same caliber of guns as they carried, combined with the displacement restriction, resulted in cramped ships, a problem that was exacerbated as wartime modifications that considerably strengthened their anti-aircraft batteries significantly increased their crews.

USS <i>Massachusetts</i> (BB-59) Fast battleship of the United States Navy

USS Massachusetts (BB-59) is the third of four South Dakota-class fast battleships built for the United States Navy in the late 1930s. The first American battleships designed after the Washington treaty system began to break down in the mid-1930s, they took advantage of an escalator clause that allowed increasing the main battery to 16-inch (406 mm) guns, but refusal to authorize larger battleships kept their displacement close to the Washington limit of 35,000 long tons (36,000 t). A requirement to be armored against the same caliber of guns as they carried, combined with the displacement restriction, resulted in cramped ships, a problem that was exacerbated by wartime modifications that considerably strengthened their anti-aircraft batteries and significantly increased their crews.

USS <i>Washington</i> (BB-56) WWII-era fast battleship of the United States Navy

USS Washington (BB-56) was the second and final member of the North Carolina class of fast battleships, the first vessel of the type built for the United States Navy. Built under the Washington Treaty system, North Carolina's design was limited in displacement and armament, though the United States used a clause in the Second London Naval Treaty to increase the main battery from the original armament of nine 14 in (356 mm) guns to nine 16 in (406 mm) guns. The ship was laid down in 1938 and completed in May 1941, while the United States was still neutral during World War II. Her initial career was spent training along the East Coast of the United States until Japan attacked Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, bringing the United States into the war.

<i>Iowa</i>-class battleship Fast battleship class of the United States Navy

The Iowa class was a class of six fast battleships ordered by the United States Navy in 1939 and 1940. They were initially intended to intercept fast capital ships such as the Japanese Kongō class and serve as the "fast wing" of the U.S. battle line. The Iowa class was designed to meet the Second London Naval Treaty's "escalator clause" limit of 45,000-long-ton (45,700 t) standard displacement. Beginning in August 1942, four vessels, Iowa, New Jersey, Missouri, and Wisconsin, were completed; two more, Illinois and Kentucky, were laid down but canceled in 1945 and 1958, respectively, before completion, and both hulls were scrapped in 1958–1959.

<i>North Carolina</i>-class battleship US Navy fast battleship class (1937–1947)

The North Carolina class were a pair of fast battleships, North Carolina and Washington, built for the United States Navy in the late 1930s and early 1940s.

USS <i>Wichita</i> (CA-45) US Navy unique heavy cruiser

USS Wichita was a unique heavy cruiser of the United States Navy built in the 1930s. The last American cruiser designed to meet the limits of the London Naval Treaty, she was originally intended to be a New Orleans-class heavy cruiser, accordingly with the maximum main armament of three triple 8-inch (203 mm) gun turrets. These were instead placed on an improved hull derived from the Brooklyn-class light cruisers, with increased armor. This design would go on to form the basis for the later World War II–era heavy cruisers such as the Baltimore-class cruisers. The ship was authorized by the 1929 Cruiser Act, laid down at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard in October 1935, launched in November 1937, and commissioned into the US Navy in February 1939.

The names of commissioned ships of the United States Navy all start with USS, for United States Ship. Non-commissioned, primarily civilian-crewed vessels of the U.S. Navy under the Military Sealift Command have names that begin with USNS, standing for United States Naval Ship. A letter-based hull classification symbol is used to designate a vessel's type. The names of ships are selected by the Secretary of the Navy. The names are those of states, cities, towns, important persons, important locations, famous battles, fish, and ideals. Usually, different types of ships have names originated from different types of sources.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CXAM radar</span> Radar system

The CXAM radar system was the first production radar system deployed on United States Navy ships, operating in the mid-high VHF frequency band of 200 MHz. It followed several earlier prototype systems, such as the NRL radar installed in April 1937 on the destroyer Leary; its successor, the XAF, installed in December 1938 on the battleship New York; and the first RCA-designed system, the CXZ, installed in December 1938 or January 1939 on the battleship Texas. Based on testing in January 1939, where the XAF was more reliable, the US Navy ordered RCA to build six XAF-based units for deployment and then shortly thereafter ordered 14 more.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">3-inch/50-caliber gun</span> Naval gun

The 3"/50-caliber gun in United States naval gun terminology indicates the gun fired a projectile 3 inches (76 mm) in diameter, and the barrel was 50 calibers long. Different guns of this caliber were used by the U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard from 1900 through to 1990 on a variety of combatant and transport ship classes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Task Force 95</span> Military unit

Task Force 95 was a United States Navy force of World War II. It was established at Okinawa in July 1945 and conducted three operations into the East China Sea before the end of the war in mid-August that year. Task Force 95 was active as late as November 1945.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">AN/SPS-6</span>

AN/SPS-6 is a two-dimensional radar manufactured by Bendix and Westinghouse Electric. It was used by the US Navy as a first-generation air-search radar after World War II, and was widely exported to allies. In addition, the improved AN/SPS-12 is the derivative types developed in other countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">AN/SPS-10</span> Naval Radar System

AN/SPS-10 is a two-dimensional radar manufactured by Raytheon Technologies. It was used by the US Navy as a surface-search radar after World War II and was equipped aboard naval ships during the Cold War. Variants include AN/SPS-10B, AN-SPS/10E, and AN/SPS-10F.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">AN/SPS-8</span>

AN/SPS-8 is a two-dimensional radar manufactured by General Electric. It was used by the US Navy as a height finding radar after World War II, and was equipped aboard naval ships during the Cold War. Variants include AN/SPS-8A, AN-SPS/8B, AN/SPS-8C and AN/SPS-8D After modernization, it was redesignated as AN/SPS-30.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">AN/SPS-29</span>

AN/SPS-29 is a two-dimensional radar that was manufactured by General Electric. It was used by the US Navy as an early warning radar after World War II, and was equipped aboard naval ships during the Cold War. Variants include AN/SPS-29A, AN/SPS-29B, AN/SPS-29C, AN/SPS-29D and AN/SPS-29E. After modernization, it was redesignated as AN/SPS-37.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SC radar</span> Radar of the United States Navy

SC was an American-made air and surface-search radar used during World War II by the United States Navy. Variations include SC-1, SC-2 and SC-3.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SM radar</span> Radar of the United States Navy

SM was an American made fighter-direction radar used for the ship ground-controlled interception (GCI) during World War II by the United States Navy. Variation included the SM-1.

References