National Affairs: Robot

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An atmosphere of secrecy hung over Norfolk Navy Yard last week. At rest there was the battleship Utah, silent, crewless. Aboard her were many work men, but no hammers resounded, no chips flew as they went , silently about their tasks. Skilled electricians and radio experts superintended every move of the delicate operation that will convert the Utah into the Navy's greatest experiment in radio-controlled warships. When the work is completed the Utah will carry not a man, but will steer herself, steam at slow speeds and fast, maneuver, lay down smoke screens — all directed by a distant destroyer. Only thing she will not do is fire her guns.

Ten years ago John Hays Hammond Jr. perfected a system of radio control for ships, the first ever put into actual use. Directed by his devices, the battleship Iowa was used as a target during naval maneuvers off Panama in 1923. Recently the destroyer Stoddert was converted into a radio-controlled target, maneuvered off San Diego. The Navy intends similarly to equip the destroyers Kitty and Boggs.

The control system used on the Utah differs somewhat from that perfected by Inventor Hammond, though the principal features are the same and the Navy is using Hammond patents. But on the Utah the use of practically standard multiplex telegraph equipment permits single signals to be distributed to various apparatus in different parts of the vessel. Thus a signal for increased speed will open throttle valves, turn electric switches, regulate the supply of oil pouring into the boilers.

When she steams out of Norfolk Navy Yard the Utah, ordered scrapped after the London Naval Conference, will be known officially as a target, will maneuver defensively as an enemy ship.