Shipbucket

Friends,

We have the fantastic part sheets with all kind of stuff. But one thing puzzles me: The enormous amount of antenae on ships, What are their purposes, exactly? And where to place them correctly? What is the difference between a single line comm antenna and a double or even triple one? And, with the coming of radar, which kind of antennae were dropped and which ones not? Because it is easy to see that a combat ship of, say, 1938/39, has much, much more antenna lines than the same ship after a 1941/42 or 43 refit where radar devices were mounted on.

I've already searched here and in the net for any article focussed on this subject but found nothing...

I am also interersted to know about these early electronics.

I know that certain antennae were for communications, long, medium and short wave, according to the distance to be covered by the radio transmission. Others were for establish communication between ships of the same fleet, others for communicating between posts aboard the ship: bridge to combat room, combat room to artillery stations, then, with the coming of the radar, I guess some lines were there to communicate between the main radar station to the fire control stations, but I'd like to hear this from the experts here of the forum... Which criteria do they follow when drawing ships of that era?

Another question: Many ships have long lines between the main mast and the bow flag pole and to the stern flag pole as well. How did they proceed when they had to open fire and not ripping these lines (or the poles) away?

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This is a large and complicated topic that unfortunately can't be easily summarized in a forum post

A great starting point is Norman Friedman's "Naval Radar", which unfortunately is out of print. Amazon has it for the low price of $175 for the hardcover...

I'll have some time over the next few weeks so if you have specific questions about equipment, please ask away.

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USN components, camouflage colors, & reference links (World War II only)

Seapower and Space is a useful companion volume for the discussion of radio communications equipment, although it focuses (as the name implies) on the postwar era.

No it can't. I've seen a bit on the net and the multiplicity of tasks wich need antennas for getting the basic jobs done (transmitting and receiving signals or voice) and the characteristics of the different antennae is a science for itself. It cannot be discussed here in as topic.
Radar is a different scenario. Though it's also basically the transmitting of a radio pulse (or many of them) and eventually getting some of them back, when and if reflected by a target, here - when drawing a ship - it's easier to find a suitable antenna since the part lists are very accurate.