page_title: History of submarines
section_title: Sensors
hierarchical_section_title: History of submarines / Associated technology / Sensors
caption_attribution_description: English: ASDIC display in Berlin Museum of Technology
context_page_description: Beginning in ancient times, mankind sought to operate under the water. From simple submersibles to nuclear-powered underwater behemoths, humans have searched for a means to remain safely underwater to gain the advantage in warfare, resulting in the development of the submarine.
context_section_description: The first submarines had only a porthole to provide a view to aid navigation. An early periscope was patented by Simon Lake in 1893. The modern periscope was developed by the industrialist Sir Howard Grubb in the early 20th century and was fitted onto most Royal Navy designs.
  Passive sonar was introduced in submarines during the First World War, but active sonar ASDIC did not come into service until the inter-war period.  Today, the submarine may have a wide variety of sonar arrays, from bow mounted to trailing ones.  There are often upward-looking under-ice sonars as well as depth sounders.
  Early experiments with the use of sound to 'echo locate' underwater in the same way as bats use sound for aerial navigation began in the late 19th century. The first patent for an underwater echo ranging device was filed by English meteorologist Lewis Richardson a month after the sinking of the Titanic. The First World War stimulated research in this area.  The British made early use of underwater hydrophones, while the French physicist Paul Langevin worked on the development of active sound devices for detecting submarines in 1915 using quartz.  In 1916, under the British Board of Invention and Research, Canadian physicist Robert William Boyle took on the active sound detection project with A B Wood, producing a prototype for testing in mid-1917. This work, for the Anti-Submarine Division of the British Naval Staff, was undertaken in utmost secrecy, and used quartz piezoelectric crystals to produce the world's first practical underwater active sound detection apparatus.
  By 1918, both France and Britain had built prototype active systems.  The British tested their ASDIC on HMS Antrim in 1920, and started production in 1922.  The 6th Destroyer Flotilla had ASDIC-equipped vessels in 1923.  An anti-submarine school, HMS Osprey, and a training flotilla of four vessels were established on Portland in 1924.  The US Sonar QB set arrived in 1931.
caption: ASDIC display unit, 1944.
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