A steel, brass and bronze ‘Weymouth Pattern’
A steel, brass and bronze Weymouth Pattern Whitehead torpedo gyroscope Royal Gun Factory, Woolwich, circa 1903 With heavy brass rotor pivoted within steel gimbals set within bronze frame also containing pre-tension coil spring and pierced dome shaped starting gear and fitted with various levers and armatures for setting-up and automatic operation of the gyroscope within a Whitehead torpedo, in a substantially constructed mahogany box with hinged lid over front folding down carrying the assembly, the left hand side with heavy hinged brass handle and stamped W. WELLS, 1903 to lower edge, the front with brass plate stamped RGF, A, 1101 over stencilled initials S.D., (lacking winding crank), the box 24cm (9.5ins) wide. The development of the torpedo was in part instrumented by the British Engineer Robert Whitehead whilst he worked for the Austro-Hungarian Navy building on the idea thought of in the early 19th Century and developed by Captain Luppis of the Austrian marine artillery. Initially torpedoes were conceived as a boat packed with explosives, it was Whitehead who first designed an underwater torpedo and he had established working models by 1866 - either powered by compressed air or a steam engine. Initially poor accuracy, due to using a pendulum and hydrostat, limited the torpedo s effective range; it was only when Ludwig Obry incorporated a gyroscope that they became much more precise. Whitehead bought Obry s patent in 1896 and the Royal Navy first started ordering and installing "Weymouth pattern" gyroscopes provided by Whitehead in 1898. Satisfaction with early results was such that by 1900 all new torpedoes were fitted with gyros and there was a brisk trade in retrofitting them to existing models. By the end of that year around 1,250 gyro s had been ordered for use in over 80 vessels (however it was practice to have one gyroscope for every two torpedo s at this time). Originally gyroscopes were employed to only control the vertical rudders of the torpedo to keep it on a perfectly straight course. Previous to their use the rudders were set into a fixed position so the individual torpedoes would roughly go straight on practice runs and to try to avoid or take into account any deflections in heading that might occur as the torpedo entered the water. The gyro was intended to render this adjustment dynamic, though practical use often resulted in significant deviations of heading. The gyroscope was fitted with a clockwork coil spring, pre-tensioned to give a starting spin to the gyroscope of 2,400rpm when the torpedo was fired.
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A steel, brass and bronze Weymouth Pattern Whitehead torpedo gyroscope Royal Gun Factory, Woolwich, circa 1903 With heavy brass rotor pivoted within steel gimbals set within bronze frame also containing pre-tension coil spring and pierced dome shaped starting gear and fitted with various levers and armatures for setting-up and automatic operation of the gyroscope within a Whitehead torpedo, in a substantially constructed mahogany box with hinged lid over front folding down carrying the assembly, the left hand side with heavy hinged brass handle and stamped W. WELLS, 1903 to lower edge, the front with brass plate stamped RGF, A, 1101 over stencilled initials S.D., (lacking winding crank), the box 24cm (9.5ins) wide. The development of the torpedo was in part instrumented by the British Engineer Robert Whitehead whilst he worked for the Austro-Hungarian Navy building on the idea thought of in the early 19th Century and developed by Captain Luppis of the Austrian marine artillery. Initially torpedoes were conceived as a boat packed with explosives, it was Whitehead who first designed an underwater torpedo and he had established working models by 1866 - either powered by compressed air or a steam engine. Initially poor accuracy, due to using a pendulum and hydrostat, limited the torpedo s effective range; it was only when Ludwig Obry incorporated a gyroscope that they became much more precise. Whitehead bought Obry s patent in 1896 and the Royal Navy first started ordering and installing "Weymouth pattern" gyroscopes provided by Whitehead in 1898. Satisfaction with early results was such that by 1900 all new torpedoes were fitted with gyros and there was a brisk trade in retrofitting them to existing models. By the end of that year around 1,250 gyro s had been ordered for use in over 80 vessels (however it was practice to have one gyroscope for every two torpedo s at this time). Originally gyroscopes were employed to only control the vertical rudders of the torpedo to keep it on a perfectly straight course. Previous to their use the rudders were set into a fixed position so the individual torpedoes would roughly go straight on practice runs and to try to avoid or take into account any deflections in heading that might occur as the torpedo entered the water. The gyro was intended to render this adjustment dynamic, though practical use often resulted in significant deviations of heading. The gyroscope was fitted with a clockwork coil spring, pre-tensioned to give a starting spin to the gyroscope of 2,400rpm when the torpedo was fired.
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