NationMaster - Encyclopedia: GEE (navigation)

×GEE or AMES Type 7000 was a British radio navigation system used by the Royal Air Force during World War II. GEE was designed to improve aircraft navigation accuracy, thereby increasing the destructiveness of raids by Avro Lancasters and various other bombers. AMES or Air Ministry Experimental Station was the way of identifying RAF radar types during World War II AMES Type 1, Chain Home (CH) AMES Type 2, Chain Home Low (CHL) AMES Type 3, Type 1 and Type 2 operating in close proximity AMES Type 4, Overseas Chain Home, also... Radio navigation is the application of radio frequencies to determining a position on the earth. ... â€œRAFâ€ redirects here. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki TÅjÅ Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... The Avro Lancaster was a British four-engine Second World War bomber aircraft made initially by Avro for the British Royal Air Force (RAF). ...

The technology of GEE was developed by the Americans into the LORAN system. LORAN was used by the US Navy and Royal Navy during World War II, and after the war came into common civilian use world-wide for coastal navigation, until GPS made it obsolete. Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 Ã— 597 pixelsFull resolution (2955 Ã— 2207 pixel, file size: 855 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) GEE control bays At RAF Air Defence Museum File historyClick on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 Ã— 597 pixelsFull resolution (2955 Ã— 2207 pixel, file size: 855 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) GEE control bays At RAF Air Defence Museum File historyClick on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 714 Ã— 600 pixelsFull resolution (3024 Ã— 2541 pixel, file size: 1. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 714 Ã— 600 pixelsFull resolution (3024 Ã— 2541 pixel, file size: 1. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 726 Ã— 600 pixelsFull resolution (2800 Ã— 2313 pixel, file size: 993 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) GEE airborne equipment At RAF Air Defence Museum File historyClick on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 726 Ã— 600 pixelsFull resolution (2800 Ã— 2313 pixel, file size: 993 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) GEE airborne equipment At RAF Air Defence Museum File historyClick on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time. ... LORAN (LOng RAnge Navigation) is a terrestrial navigation system using low frequency radio transmitters that use the time interval between radio signals received from three or more stations to determine the position of a ship or aircraft. ... The United States Navy (USN) is the branch of the United States armed forces responsible for naval operations. ... This article is about the navy of the United Kingdom. ... GPS redirects here. ...

Technical details

Gee was a hyperbolic navigation system, like the OMEGA Navigation System and the current-day LORAN-C. Omega is the name for the first truly global radionavigation system for aircraft operated by the United States of America in cooperation with six partner nations. ... LORAN (LOng RAnge Navigation) is a terrestrial navigation system using low frequency radio transmitters. ...

GEE transmitters sent out precisely timed pulses. There were three Gee stations, one master and two slaves. The master sent a pulse followed two milliseconds later by a double pulse. The first slave station sent a single pulse one millisecond after the master's single pulse, and the second slave sent a single pulse one millisecond after the master's double pulse. The whole cycle repeated on a four millisecond cycle. On board the aircraft, the signals from the three stations were received. The on board equipment would display the two slaves' signals as blips on an oscilloscope type display. Since the display timing was controlled by the pulses from the master station, the display equipment gave the difference in reception time of the pulses and hence the relative distance from the master and each slave. The aircraft carried a navigation chart with several hyperbolae plotted on it. Each hyperbolic line represented a line of constant time difference for the master and one slave station. All the navigator had to do was find the intersection of the two hyperbolae representing the two slave stations. Illustration showing the interior of a cathode-ray tube for use in an oscilloscope. ...

The System almost Compromised

During the development phase, a trial Gee set was on board a Vickers Wellington flying over occupied Europe. The aircraft crashed, and since the equipment was not fitted with demolition charges, the British couldn't be sure that the set wouldn't be studied by the Germans. It subsequently appeared that the Germans completely missed it. The Vickers Wellington was a twin-engine, medium bomber designed in the mid-1930s at Brooklands in Weybridge, Surrey, by Vickers-Armstrongs Chief Designer, R.K. Pierson. ...

R. V. Jones took charge of the attempts to hide the existence of the system. First he forbade the use of the codename 'Gee' in any signal traffic, but instead, false signals were sent referring to a non existent system called 'Jay' (it was hoped that the similarity would cause confusion). Next he had a number of extra aerials (antennae) added to the Gee transmitters radiating false signals. He then arranged for a couple of RAF personnel to talk 'carelessly' in a restaurant about how 'Jay' was in fact a complete copy of the German Knickebein system and also arranged for this to be reported via the Double Cross system to add credence (and just in case no-one was listening). Finally, he arranged for false Knickebein signals to be transmitted over Germany. All of this appealed to Jones's flair for practical joking. Reginald Victor Jones (September 28th, 1911-December 17th, 1997) was an English physicist and scientific intelligence expert. ... â€œRAFâ€ redirects here. ... Knickebein (crooked leg in German, but also the name of a magic raven in a German fairy tale) was a radio navigation system used by the Luftwaffe early in World War II to aid bomber navigation. ... The Double Cross System or XX System, was a World War II anti-espionage and deception operation of the British military intelligence arm, MI5. ...

The ruse worked better than he could have hoped. The Germans spent many months trying to jam the Knickebein signals unable to fathom out why their jamming was completely ineffective. It was nearly seven months before the Germans finally realised that they were jamming signals that were not being received, and that the British were using a completely different system. It was several more months before effective jamming was achieved. Gee was highly susceptible to jamming. All the Germans had to do was radiate surplus pulses. The British were amazed that the system remained unmolested for as long as it did - three months was the best that they could normally expect. The German jamming was only effective over their occupied territory, and Gee remained perfectly usable over Britain.

Service history

GEE entered service in March 1942 and was accurate to about 165 yards at short ranges, and up to a mile at longer ranges over Germany. At its extreme range, which was about 400 miles, it had an accuracy of 2 miles. Unlike the German beam systems where the bombers flew to their targets along the beam, the GEE pulses were radiated in all directions, so even if detected, they would not reveal the bombers' likely destinations. As the system was passive, unlike H2S, there were no return signals which could give away the bombers' positions to night fighters. The aircraft receivers themselves were designated "ARI 5033" in GEE Mk.I and "ARI 5083" in GEE Mk.II. A yard (abbreviation: yd) is the name of a unit of length in a number of different systems, including English units, Imperial units, and United States customary units. ... â€œMilesâ€ redirects here. ... The Battle of the Beams was a period in early World War II when Luftwaffe bombers started using radio navigation for night bombing. ... An early H2S picture of the Pembroke and Milford Haven area The H2S radar was used in bombers of RAF Bomber Command. ...

Stations

Eastern chain

The Eastern chain operated from 22 June 1942. The master station was at Daventry, Northamptonshire. (SP5766081) is the 173rd day of the year (174th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1942 (MCMXLII) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link will display the full 1942 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Holy Cross Church Daventry is a market town in Northamptonshire, England with a population of 22,367 (2001 census). ... Northamptonshire (abbreviated Northants or Nhants) is a landlocked county in central England with a population of 629,676 (2001 census). ...

The monitor station was RAF Barkway^[1]^[2]^[3], near Royston, Hertfordshire. (TL380364) Barkway is a village and civil parish in the North Hertfordshire district of Hertfordshire, England, about five miles south-east of Royston. ... Location within the British Isles Royston is the most northern town in Hertfordshire. ... For the similarly named county in the West Midlands region, see Herefordshire. ...

The span of the Clee Hills, with Titterstone Clee to the left (south) and Brown Clee to the right (north), viewed from Shatterford Hill in Worcestershire. ... Shropshire (pronounced /, -/), alternatively known as Salop[6] or abbreviated Shrops[7], is a county in the West Midlands of England. ... RAF Stenigot was a World War 2 radar station situated near Donington on Bain, Lincolnshire, England. ... Hindhead is a village on the A3 road in Surrey, about 10 miles south-west of Guildford. ... This article is about the English county. ...

Northern chain

The Northern GEE chain operated from late 1942 until March 1946 [1]. The master and monitor stations were on Burifa Hill on Dunnet Head, in Caithness, Scotland. (ND201755) Most Northerly Point of Mainland Britain Sketch map of Dunnet Head, showing position of Easter Head Dunnet Head (Scottish Gaelic: Ceann DÃ¹naid) is a peninsula that includes the most northerly point of the mainland of Great Britain. ... Caithness (Gallaibh in Gaelic)[1] is a committee area of Highland Council, Scotland; a lieutenancy area; and a registration county, Caithness was formerly a district within the Highland region from 1975 to 1996 and a local government county with its own county council from 1890 to 1975. ... This article is about the country. ...

The Shetland Islands, also called Shetland (archaically spelled Zetland) formerly called Hjaltland, comprise one of 32 council areas of Scotland. ... Pennan is a small village in the county of Aberdeenshire in Scotland comprising of a single row of houses. ... Logo of Aberdeenshire Council Aberdeenshire (Siorrachd Obar Dheathain in Gaelic) is one of the 32 unitary council areas in Scotland. ... Durness with Smoo Cave, the youth-hostel is up on the right side. ... Sutherland (Cataibh in Gaelic) is a committee area of the Highland Council, Scotland, a registration county, and a lieutenancy area. ...

South Western Chain

A chain of Gee stations was opened after the war in North Germany. Stations were at Winterberg, Ibug, Nordhorn and Uchte. Ex members of the RAF who served on this chain have their own website at www.rafwinterberg.co.uk.

See also

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The bouncing bomb was a kind of bomb designed by Barnes Wallis of Vickers-Armstrong at Brooklands, Surrey. ... hey hey you no i rock at soccer cuz no i made the school team!! yay me aka katelyn â™¥ Incendiary devices or incendiary bombs are bombs designed to start fires or destroy sensitive equipment using materials such as napalm, thermite, chlorine trifluoride, or white phosphorus. ... A British 22,000 lb (10,000 kg) Grand Slam bomb The Grand Slam (Earth Quake bomb), was a very large freefall bomb developed by the British aeronautical engineer Barnes Wallis (who also made the bouncing bomb) in late 1944. ... The Tallboy was an Earth quake bomb developed by Barnes Wallis and brought into operation by the British in 1944. ... Area bombardment is the policy of indiscriminate bombing of an enemys cities, for the purpose of destroying civilian morale. ... 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The Deutsche Luftwaffe or (German: air force, literally Air Weapon, pronounced lufft-va-fa, IPA: ) is the commonly used term for the German air force. ...

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