Evening star., 1945-08-17
Rodor Played Major Role in Naval Warfare
BY ROBERT BRUsKIN.

Radar virtually has eliminated
surprise attacks against the Navy by
warships and planes, and has in
creased the killings Of its guns by
giving ships eyes" which penetrate
darkness and distance.
Lifting Of censorship by Great
Britain and the United States, which
began pooling its knowledge in 1910,
disclosed today the major part
played by radar in destroying the
fleets Of Japan, Germany and Italy
during battles in which crewmen OF
opposing ships never saw each 9TH
er's vessels.
This was accomplished by remov-
ing the greatest element of warfare,
the ability to conceal movements.
Radar pulses" can detect moving
and stationary objects, particularly
at sea or in the air, despite night,
fog, smokescreen, clouds or the glare
Of the sun. Radar also can determine
If q ship or plane Is friend or en-
emy. When radar found it to be an
Axis vessel 1t measured the bearing
and range, course and distance, cor
related this information with the
roll Of the ship on which 1t was op-
Grating, and presented target infor-
nation accurate to > few yards.
Show Shells on Way.
The "pips" (reflected "radar
pulsesD also showed the shells en-
route to the target and their re-
suits.
One of the earliest times in the
war during which an American ship
discovered, identified, tracked, fired
on and sank a Jap vessel through
radar occurred November 4, 1912,
during the final phase of the sea
battle for Guadalcanal. The new
warship discovered the enemy dur
ing the night eight miles away. The
second salvo landed squarely on the
target which disappeared from the
radar screen.
In the battle of Matapan in March
l94l, the British discovered three
Italian cruisers and two destroyers,
tracked them down during the night,
and when illuminated by search
lights at close range, they were
quickly destroyed by H. M. S. War
spite. The Italians appeared to be
unaware Of the ships presence.
Radar also aided the British in
their destruction of the 26,000-ton
Scharnhorst which was attempting
to raid Russia hound convoy and
the 35,000-ton Bismarck on her final
dash to Brest.
The ability Of radar to discern
land and buildings clearly from the
sea, made it an exceptional aid in
bombardments of Japan by fleets,
despite weather which blacked out
targets. Its potentialities for safe
navigation in peacetime was illus
trated early in the war when a for
nation of American cruisers were
ordered to lombard enemy shore
installations in the Solomons on an
exceptionally dark night. The
waters were poorly charted. Rely
ing on radar, they cruised through
an archipelago which required in
tricate navigation, evaded several
mine sweepers, bombarded their OBJ
jective accurately, and still in for
nation at Is knots, returned to re-
port that one of the reefs shown on
their crude charts was in error by
6 miles.
Served Another Purpose.
For two winters, the Navy op-
Grated in sketchily charted waters
of the Aleutians, depending on
radar to bring them to their targets
and return safely to their narrow
harborS.% aM g stSA
Radar served another useful pur-
pose during convoy operation when
visibility was poor Convoy escorts
could determine Immediately
through radar when ships struggled
away from the protective warships
to become easy prey for submarines.
Radar also was able to determine If
ships, both merchant and naval,
were on their correct course and not
swerving into collision. The radsr
scope showed all ships of convoy or
formation of warships and their po.
sition in relation to each other.
Enemy planes could be detected
with equal precision by radar sets
which are installed on nearly all
types of Navy ships and were effec-
tive in guiding r1Infire