possible - British Torpedo Gyroscope? help needed

[butterfly]

more....

photo 1 shows what I believe to be a Broad Arrow, as opposed to an alignment arrow.
photo 2 shows a small 'nozzle'?? not sure what this is for
photos 3 & 4 show something which has been scratched into the 'sphere' - there are numbers toward the bottom of the large 'A'? mark, which I hadn't noticed until I took the photo!!
photos 5,6 & 7 show one of the air/gas ports with an unusual machined part, which is close to the 'small nozzle', maybe it has something to do with this as it forms a sort of arrow head pointing toward the nozzle with a ridge (see photos)


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[butterfly]

final few, I hope they are of interest,
regards Kev

photo 1 shows some markings on one of the axis points for the inner flywheel. Note there appear to be markings underneath the hexagonal securing nut. This side is also the side with the numbered inner disc.
photos 2,3,4 & 5 show close up of the 'geared section' of the gyro - again I do not know what exactly this part is for - possibly for an offsetting the gyro for an angled shot and maybe part of stabalizing to stop the torpedo running left or right???
photo 6 is a close up shot showing how the 'air/gas' tube? inset into the outer gimbal, appears to pass to the underside of the gimbal?? (see just above the hex nut - not easy to photograph- sorry)
photo 7 shows a close up of the numbers 6 47 with the diagonal mark, is this the date? or just random numbers - I have no idea.

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[butterfly]

Hey Kev,

Have a look at this old post of mine re the German WW2 torpedo gyro - it explains (well I hope it does!) how the limiter (points "B" & "C") restricts the initial movement of the gyro until the compressed air has sufficient time to spin it up to the operating rpm.

http://www.bocn.co.uk/vbforum/thread...5-Torpedo-Gyro

In the restricted position, the compressed air nozzle is directed onto the machined "buckets" around the circumference of the gyro, enabling optimization to the required operating rpm.

If you compared a number of different torpedo gyros, the steering gyros all appear to be based on a standard physical size and construction- there are also "other" gyros used in some torpedoes (aerial) for stabilizing, which are normally physically smaller compared to the steering gyro.

Cheers
Drew

Thankyou Drew,

I will have a good read of your thread.......its good to learn about something new

*** excellent thread Drew, its confirmed a few things for me regarding mine, though unfortunately as mine is just the gyro part and not the whole assembly it also adds further questions, but thats often the case; answer one question and add several more!! - appreciate the link you gave ***

regarding the stablilizing gyros, I have one from a crashed V1, its been smashed by impact but its good to see inside it. Three of these were used in the V1 - they are indeed much smaller - and lighter. When this Torpedo gyro arrived I was suprised by the weight of it - of course water weight is not such an issue, but in the air, weight has to be kept to a minimum.
here is an old thread of mine on the V1 gyro - http://www.bocn.co.uk/vbforum/thread...mb-part-(gyro)

regards Kev

[tigbrand]

Hi Chaps,would be some info in this lot on post ww2 torpedos,many of which were pre or ww2 designs anyway. You have to register and pay though.Tig. http://discovery.nationalarchives.go...id=405&catln=3

[butterfly]

Hi Chaps,would be some info in this lot on post ww2 torpedos,many of which were pre or ww2 designs anyway. You have to register and pay though.Tig. http://discovery.nationalarchives.go...id=405&catln=3

Thanks for the link Tig, appreciated.

I was hoping someone may recognise some details in the close-up photos to narrow the search down somewhat.

Assuming this is a British Gyro?? is there anything to narrow it down between aircraft launched and ship/submarine launched or were the gyros in both types of the same sort of design? (ie being 18" as opposed to 21" were the gyros any smaller or constructed differently in any way)

Also I have posted a number of close-up pictures, do any of these give any further clues as to the time period for this piece? (this is of course ignoring the 6 / 47 which may/may not be the date?) Was there a period in time where air/gas driven torpedoes gave way to electric torpedoes across the board, as regards new manufacture rather than old stock (I am aware that it was a MKVIII torpedo that sunk the General Belgrano during the Falklands conflict)

cheers Kev

[butterfly]

Below is a photo of the gyroscope that I posted previous showing an arrow pointing to 'zero'. Carefully inserting a 'key' into the gearing mechanism I found that it was free and worked easily. As the gears turn it revolves the brass base which reveals more enscribed numbers....... the numbers either side of the zero setting are 45, 90 and 135 - which correspond to degrees in relation to zero. Why specifically these numbers, I can only assume either there was another scale for reading off the angles, and these were 'basic settings'; or, that these were 'simple' angles with preset calculations already worked out.
Of course I may be barking up the wrong tree altogether, however it may again be another clue as to the age of this particular gyro.

as is often the case, one answer throws open a dozen more questions!!!!! LOL!!

regards Kev

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[apfsds]

Kev,

Most early torpedo gyroscope required that the gyro angle is manually set before launching.

Jason

[butterfly]

Kev,

Most early torpedo gyroscope required that the gyro angle is manually set before launching.

Jason

Hi Jason,

.....so then I assume that these markings would be manual setting. an angle of either 45, 90 or 135 degrees is a better angle to work out the complicated maths of an offset angle shot than say 36.5 degrees?

Computers would be able to work out the complicated maths involved for settings such as 36.5 degrees but in the heat of battle and with a slide rule etc it would take lots of time.

I found this online which deals with the first world war and gives an idea of the maths involved.......

http://tvre.org/en/gyro-angled-torpedoes

regards Kev

[butterfly]

I've cleaned the gyro a little, as it had a build up of dust and grime ......... here is the result (not easy to photograph due to the reflective surface).


regards Kev

gyro.jpg

[apfsds]

Kev, it is 110% a torpedo gyro. I just acquired the same specimen for my collection from a Greek seller. I cannot be certain, but I believe your specimen may be from 1947? Mine is dated 1952.