Sonar: Navigating Underwater Warfare with Advanced Technology

By Fouad Sabry

What is Sonar

Sonar is a technique that uses sound propagation to navigate, measure distances (ranging), communicate with or detect objects on or under the surface of the water, such as other vessels.

How you will benefit

(I) Insights, and validations about the following topics:

Chapter 1: Sonar

Chapter 2: Side-scan sonar

Chapter 3: Hydrophone

Chapter 4: Echo sounding

Chapter 5: Sonobuoy

Chapter 6: Beamforming

Chapter 7: Towed array sonar

Chapter 8: Acoustic signature

Chapter 9: Surveillance Towed Array Sensor System

Chapter 10: Project Artemis

(II) Answering the public top questions about sonar.

Who this book is for

Professionals, undergraduate and graduate students, enthusiasts, hobbyists, and those who want to go beyond basic knowledge or information for any kind of Sonar.

• Language: English
• Publisher: One Billion Knowledgeable
• Release date: Jun 20, 2024

Book preview

Chapter 1: Sonar

Sonar, also known as sonic navigation and ranging, is a method of navigating and ranging sounds.

The term sonar can be used to refer to either of two distinct types of technology: passive sonar, which involves listening for the sound that is produced by vessels, and active sonar, which involves emitting pulses of sounds and listening for echoes. Sonar can be utilized as a method for determining the acoustic position of targets in the water as well as for measuring the echo characteristics of those structures. Prior to the development of radar, methods of acoustic locating in the air were utilized. Other applications of sonar include the navigation of robots, and SODAR, which is an upward-looking in-air sonar, is utilized for the examination of atmospheric conditions. The term sonar is also used to refer to the apparatus that is utilized in the process of producing and receiving sound. Very low frequencies, known as infrasonic frequencies, and extremely high frequencies, known as ultrasonic frequencies, are utilized in sonar systems. Underwater acoustics, often known as hydroacoustics, is the process of studying the sound that occurs underwater.

Leonardo da Vinci is credited with being the first person to apply the method, which was documented in 1490. He utilized a tube that was placed into the water in order to discover vessels by ear.

Leonardo da Vinci was the first person to record the use of sound by humans in the water. He described how a tube that was inserted into the water was used to detect vessels by placing an ear to the tube. Although some animals, such as dolphins, bats, and certain shrews, have been using sound for communication and object detection for millions of years, the first recorded use of sound by humans in the water was in 1490.

The necessity of detecting submarines during World War I motivated additional research into the use of sound as a detection method. Both the British and the French made early use of underwater listening devices known as hydrophones. In 1915, the French scientist Paul Langevin, in collaboration with Constantin Chilowsky, a Russian immigrant electrical engineer, worked on the construction of active sound devices for the purpose of detecting submarines. This work had an impact on subsequent designs, despite the fact that piezoelectric and magnetostrictive transducers eventually replaced the electrostatic transducers that they had previously utilized. For the purpose of hydrophones, lightweight sound-sensitive plastic film and fiber optics have been utilized, whilst for projectors, terfenol-D and lead magnesium niobate (PMN) have been produced.

In 1916, under the British Board of Invention and Research, Canadian physicist Robert William Boyle took on the active sound detection project with A. B. Wood, developing a prototype for testing in mid-1917. The Anti-Submarine Division of the British Naval Staff was the recipient of this work, which was carried out in complete secrecy. Quartz piezoelectric crystals were utilized in order to create the world's first functional underwater active sound detection system. The name that was used to describe the early work (which was supersonics) was changed to ASDics, and the material that was used for the quartz was changed to ASDivite. This was done in order to safeguard the confidentiality of the situation. ASD stands for Anti-Submarine Division, which is the origin of the abbreviation often used in the United Kingdom. In 1939, in response to an inquiry from the Oxford English Dictionary, the Admiralty made up the tale that it stood for Allied Submarine Detection Investigation Committee, and this is still commonly accepted, Britain and France had already constructed prototypes of active systems by the year 1918. 1920 was the year that the British conducted their ASDIC test on HMS Antrim, and 1922 was the year when production began. In the year 1923, the 6th Destroyer Flotilla had vessels that were outfitted with ASDIC. On the island of Portland, in the year 1924, an anti-submarine school known as HMS Osprey and a training flotilla consisting of four vessels were established.

Before the start of World War II, the Royal Navy had already assembled a comprehensive anti-submarine system that included five sets for various surface ship classes and others for submarines. These sets were included into the system. By employing the depth charge as an anti-submarine weapon, early ASDIC was unable to achieve its full potential in terms of effectiveness. This resulted in a loss of ASDIC contact in the moments leading up to the attack because it was necessary for an attacking vessel to pass over a submerged contact before dropping charges over the stern. In practice, the hunter was firing without seeing, which allowed the commander of the submarine to take evasive action during that period of time. This predicament was resolved by employing new strategies and acquiring new weaponry.

In addition to the creeping attack, Frederic John Walker was responsible for the development of other tactical advancements. For this purpose, it was necessary to have two anti-submarine ships, which were often corvettes or sloops. Using ASDIC, the directing ship followed the target submarine from a position approximately 1500 to 2000 yards behind the submarine during the tracking process. From a position that was between the ship that was leading the attack and the target, the second ship began an assault while her ASDIC was turned off and she was traveling at a speed of five knots. The directing ship was able to control this attack by the use of radio telephone, taking into account their ASDIC as well as the range (as determined by the rangefinder) and bearing of the ship that was attacking. As soon as the depth charges were discharged, the ship that was leading the assault immediately departed the local area at full speed. After entering the target area, the ship that was coordinating the operation also discharged a series of depth charges across the region. Due to the slow speed at which the submarine approached, it was unable to accurately forecast when the depth charges would be detonated. Any evasive action was noticed by the ship that was directing the ship, and the directing ship then gave the assaulting ship the appropriate steering directions. The German acoustic torpedo was ineffective against a battleship that was moving at such a slow speed, which was an advantage brought about by the low speed of the attack. There was a variant of the creeping attack known as the plaster attack. In this strike, three attacking ships that were working in close proximity to one another were directed over the target by the ship that was directing them.

In order to address the issue of the ASDIC blind spot, new weapons were developed. These ahead-throwing weapons included Hedgehogs and subsequently Squids, which were able to project warheads at a target that was ahead of the attacker while still being in communication with the organization. These made it possible for a single escort to launch more precisely targeted assaults against submarines. A number of developments that took place throughout the war led to the creation of British ASDIC setups that utilized a variety of beam forms in order to continuously cover blind zones. Acoustic torpedoes were utilized at a later time.

The United States of America received free transfer