Note
This document is an excerpt from the Navy Electronics Directory, compiled by Frederick W. Chesson of Waterbury, Connecticut.
It serves as a historical reference and nomenclature guide for U.S. Navy communications-electronics equipment, spanning from before World War I up until the introduction of the Joint Army-Navy (AN) designation system in 1943.
The excerpt breaks down into a two main sections:
1. The Evolution of Navy Nomenclature
The introduction explains how the Navy avoided the Army's naming systems and instead created its own distinct identification methods:
Early Manufacturer Codes: Starting around 1915, the Navy used two-letter codes beginning with "C" to identify the commercial suppliers of the hardware (e.g., `CG` for General Electric, `CW` for Western Electric, and `CNA` for National). By 1943, the influx of wartime contractors forced a transition to four-letter codes.
he SE System: Managed by the Bureau of Steam Engineering, many sets designed between 1917 and 1925 utilized `SE` designators.
Functional Category Letters: Interwar and WWII systems (like major radar and aircraft systems) used functional prefix letters, such as `A` for aircraft IFF, `D` for direction-finding, `G` for general aircraft transmitters, `R` for general radio receivers, and `S` for search radar.
Component Supply Classes: Specific pieces of hardware within a larger system used five-digit component numbers where the first two numbers indicated a supply class (e.g., `46xxx` for receivers, `52xxx` for transmitters).
2. The Equipment Directory
The bulk of the text is an alphabetical catalog listing specific models, frequency ranges, power outputs, manufacturing years, and operational notes. Some notable groupings included are:
Early Spark and Arc Transmitters: Very early equipment from the WWI era (like the `CE`, `CL`, and `CM` series).
Aircraft Gear: Famous tactical units like the ARB receiver and ATB transmitter combination, as well as the ATC/ART-13 Collins autotune transmitter.
Radio Receivers: Comprehensive lists of legendary receivers including the RAG/RAH twins, the VLF/HF RAK/RAL sets, and various National-designed HRO/RAS variants.
Radar, Sonar, and Test Equipment: Early search and fire-control radars (the `SA`, `SC`, `SG`, and `SK` series), early sonobuoys (`J` and `Q` series), and test frequency meters (like the Bendix `LM` series).
