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11 May 2024 12:25
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Welcome to the gyroscope forum. If you have a question about gyroscopes in general,
want to know how they work, or what they can be used for then you can leave your question here for others to answer.
You may also be able to help others by answering some of the questions on the site.
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Question |
| Asked by: |
peter cotton |
| Subject: |
where to find more info? |
| Question: |
I have (I, believe) a Torpedo gyroscope in a box, maker W & Co, all brass, and box includes some dated test
results ? in 1939/42/43. Have been asked to sell for a friend, but would like to nail down some quality provenance. before offering on to the market
Friend knows very little and thinkd it is a testing device, for torpedo gyroscopes ? but i think it is a gyroscope that has had a number of maintenance tests.
Australia has untill the 1960s not had a lot of subs, and it seems logical, that there is a chance to trace this items movements. even hopefully the sub or subs to whick it belonged Submariners are thin on the ground here. any advices would be greatfully accepted. cheers Peter |
| Date: |
1 April 2007
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Answers (Ordered by Date)
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| Answer: |
webmaster - 01/04/2007 16:54:39
| | | Hi Peter,
You have a Whitehead torpedo gyroscope. All old torpedos of that time had a gyroscope
which was used for guidance. The gyroscope will always try to point in the same direction. If the torpedo starts to go off course the gyroscope puts pressure on a mechanism that turns the rudders. Basically the gyroscope keeps the torpedo on a very accurate straight line. Whitehead & Co was the main supplier of torpedos and torpedo gyroscopes for the British navy and most of the commonwealth. Note: That torpedos were used on subs and ships, so it may not have come from a submariner. Hence I would expect to find quite a few in Australia and particularly where they were serviced. Most gyroscopes were stored outside the torpedos in wooden boxes until the torpedos need to be armed. They would have been tested quite often, hence the test dates.
Whitehead & Co gyroscopes are normally started by a very strong spring. So you should see a spring around the gyroscope and some gearing.
They have since been replaced by much better systems.1940/50 torpedo gyroscopes are quite common. As you can guess thousands were never used and became obsolete, may seemed to be taken 'home'.
They often appear on ebay, the Whitehead ones and American ones are often on for about £100 to about £300. They tend not to sell once they get nearer the high value. Ones from Japan are worth more (they are air powered and less common).
Hope this helps.
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