The significance of the work at ARL may eventually be stumbled upon by naval historians!Until then this somewhat superficial account of the scientific and experimental work carried out by the staff of ARL Teddington will have to do! What follows also serves to counter the latter-day assumption, being asserted with increasing frequency, that all (important) Naval R & D took place at Portland in Dorset. Consequently, it may come as a surprise to many that staff at ARL provided the greater innovative technological contribution towards the Royal Navy's Cold War capability to combat submarines of the Soviet Navy; without which the move from air to sub-surface platform for the nation's nuclear deterrent may not have been viable, or sustainable.

The work undertaken at ARL (over the years) was incredibly diverse in nature. In addition to the main area of work,  underwater acoustics, it ranged from the likes of Infra-Red detection and sensors that Dr RV Jones worked on, and ship de-gaussing experiments that (spycatcher) Peter Wright was involved with, to gunnery fire control, navigational plotting tables and the design of the Echo Depth Sounder. Primarily it undertook 'pure' science with the 'applied' science carried-out by other establishments e.g. Admiralty Experimental Works (AEW) and Admiralty, later Naval, Engineering Laboratory; in reality there was considerably more overlap than this suggests.

In the early days, the ARL Acoustics Group was concerned with the development of ASDIC (submarine detection by sound echo - Active sonar). This work was transferred to HMS Osprey at Portland in 1927, allowing the Acoustics Group to obtain a better understanding by concentrating on the more fundamental issues.

The ARL (Cold War) Package
By 1937, studies began to be centered on the requirement to reduce the underwater noise of naval vessels with the aim of decreasing detectability and, at the same time, increasing their ability to detect - detection sensitivity. The work on (platform) noise reduction spawned the requirement to measure the (in-water) radiated noise - ARL's first noise range (at Loch Goil) commenced operations in 1942. The work also led to submarines, e.g. HMS/M Scotsman, being used as trials platforms for silencing techniques to achieve faster and quieter performance. The bulk of this particular area of work was fed into the design of the Royal Navy's Porpoise Class of diesel-electric submarines, whose radiated noise when snorting was a staggering 3% of what was previously the norm. Further,  they were virtually undetectable when submerged and running on electric-drive.

Porpoise Class diesel-electric submarine aka P-Boat; in-service: 1957-88

By 1959 building had commenced on the Royal Navy's Oberon Class (O-Boats), another class of diesel-electric submarine to a very similar design but featuring GRP casings to lower their radiated noise still further.

Oberon Class diesel-electric submarine aka O-Boat; in-service:1960-93

They and the earlier P-Boats were the quietest of all NATO submarines and considerably quieter than the Soviet submarines. Their quietness in operation made them ideal platforms for the ARL-designed long-range passive sonar, Sonar 2007 - prototype versions of which were extremely successfully trialed in HMS/Ms Sealion and Otus in 1965.

Production version of Sonar 2007 in the Sound Room of HMS/M Otus

The at-sea advantage provided by the 'ARL Package' was a key element in establishing ASW barriers for detecting, tracking and trailing Soviet submarines. This was of vital importance in the protection of the UK nuclear deterrent i.e. the Polaris missile equipped Resolution Class submarines when deployed on their prescribed station.

The principal back-drop to ARL's work over this period was the evolution of UK submarines.  Click here for an overview of the evolution of UK submarines.

Post WWII cessation of hostilities in Europe, a few of the GC&CS Bletchley Park mathematicians and statisticians spent periods of time at ARL, the most notable being Dr IJ (Jack) Good (1959-62 at ARL) who together with Professor Donald Mitchie (the Artificial Intelligence pioneer) was responsible for the final form of the Colossus computer, when at Bletchley Park. A realisation was made, early on, that Numerical or Statistical Analysis had a part to play in furthering understanding of operational issues relating to sonar and the platforms. Another mathematician, and acquaintance of Bletchley Park's most famous cryptanalyst Dr Alan M Turing, Dr Alister GD Watson became head of the Admiralty Submarine Sonar Research Group at ARL. In 1945 both of them were working in Teddington, 200-300 yards apart, although in different establishments as Alan Turing had joined the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) to develop the pioneer, programmable computer: Automatic Computing Engine (ACE).

1951. Although submarine related work (principally their quietening, detectability & detection) was absorbing most of the resources, ARL was more than capable of responding to operational requests. As an example at the time of the tragic loss of HMS/M Affray, ARL scientist WR (Rosse) Stamp hastily designed and constructed a towable, submersible enclosure for a CCTV. The equipment was embarked upon HMS Reclaim and operated, by Rosse and Lionel Buster Crabb, without a single hitch, and ultimately made the initial identification of HMS/M Affray at her final resting place.

Throughout the 1950s, the work on submarine detection expanded as quieter/faster submarines loomed on the horizon. The mainstream experiments and investigations involved seabed sited arrays, and for this further areas of expertise were developed. A large project was initiated, which culminated in a joint UK and US trial extending over a period of some months. This was known as the CORSAIR Project and involved the laying of  large UK and US hydrophone arrays with 'gap closing / filling' additional elements on the seabed in the Shetlands. This was an evaluation, by the UK, of a US initiative into seabed sited surveillance sonar that came to be known as SOSUS. 

In the Sixties ARL came under the auspices of the Directorate of Naval Physical Research (DNPR) and the director AW Ross was a regular visitor to the establishment. Regular visitors to the site increased, as submarines became a key platform of the Cold War, to include those on the Submarine Commanding Officer's qualifying course i.e.  the Perisher. This gave a unique opportunity for future submarine commanders to obtain an understanding of the RN's work on submarine sonar and their detectability, and to offer their thoughts on matters. A close working relationship was forged between ARL and the submarine squadrons, which led to several pieces of purely experimental equipment (developed for lab use) being installed on both Patrol and Fleet submarines with varying effectiveness; some being approved and accepted for operational use e.g. Sonars 2007, 2017 and 2018. By the late sixties, submarine detection and detectability became even more important issues with the change from aircraft  to submarine as the platform for the nation's nuclear deterrent. ARL's response was to undertake trial-fits of sonar equipment at the behest of the submarine squadrons, commence investigations and the development of a UK Towed Array for submarines, and facilitate, with knowledge and equipment, the establishment and continuance of the joint (RN and RAF) acoustic analysis centre within ARL - a key Naval intelligence component of the Cold War. ARL also launched into a major project to fit-out HMS/M Grampus (P-Boat) with an experimental very long-range active sonar with the objective of improving our nuclear-powered (Fleet) submarines'  attack capability.

Maps

Below is a map of the establishment (as it was for many years) following the construction of the 'Fire Control' building in 1939. A number of quite sizeable smaller buildings were in the area of the Orlit Hut including a small lodge-style house that backed onto the NPL Sports Field, between the site of ARL and the public accessible areas of Bushy Park.

Below is a modern day map of the location, courtesy of Google Maps. Click on 'Sat' to see the housing development that now occupies the old site. The establishment's main gate was approximately at the junction of the (new) Admiralty Road and Queens Road.

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