32 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News • MAY 2014
MR’S 75TH ANNIVERSARY
E
lmer A. Sperry casts a
long shadow over the
history of modern na-
val, nautical and aero-
nautical technology, one
few people know much
about, but should, for a man crowned
both the “father of modern navigational
technology” and “the father of automatic
feedback and control systems,” as well
as a pioneer of rocket and missile tech-
nology.
“It is safe to say that no one American
has contributed so much to our naval
technical progress,” eulogized Charles
Francis Adams III, Secretary of the Navy
from 1929-1933, on the death of engi-
neering genius Elmer Ambrose Sperry,
June 16, 1930, at 69.
Appointed to a newly formed Naval
Consulting Board in 1915, Sperry spent
the next decade working closely with
the Navy, at times alongside his aviator
son Lawrence (see related story, p. 38),
developing gyro-compasses, stabiliz-
ers, autopilots, bomb sights, automatic
fi re control systems and powerful spot-
lights for ships and aircraft. Much of this
technology was deployed by the Navy
in both world wars, and continues to be
used in some form on vessels of all sizes
today.
“Harnessing the motion of the earth”
Describing Sperry as “. . . he who har-
nessed the motion of the earth to do his
bidding. . ., the New York Times in an
editorial on the day after his death, cel-
ebrated his achievements thusly:
“For those who travel by sea he pro-
vided not only the pilot who whatever
betides hold his rudder true, but also a
‘stabilizer’ to prevent the rolling of the
ship and a device for signaling to prevent
collisions. For those traveling by air, he
has helped to maintain the equilibrium
of their planes and to lessen the peril of
fi re and to penetrate the fog.”
Sperry’s inventions, which often in-
volved electricity and employed some
form of control system, contributed
greatly to advancements in lighting,
mining, rail safety, street cars, brakes,
engines, automatic ignition, automatic
pilots, radar, guided missiles, drones and
wireless systems. But if anyone deserves
the epitaph “steady as she goes,” Sperry
does.
The New York Times had it right when
IT described Sperry as “. . . ever thinking
(Photo: Hagley Museum and Library)
Inventor, Entrepreneur, Industrialist &
The Father of Modern Navigational Tech
By Patricia Keefe
“Here’s one of the best pictures of
your father and at the same time
one of the few which was taken
showing him actually using the
gyrocompass. I suggest you keep
this for your records.”
Note to Elmer Jr. from
Robert B. Lea, July 8, 1937
MR #5 (32-41).indd 32 4/29/2014 12:14:25 PM
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