Huff Duff: The open secret. The development of high-frequency direction finding by the United States Navy for the Battle of the Atlantic.
Item
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Title
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Huff Duff: The open secret. The development of high-frequency direction finding by the United States Navy for the Battle of the Atlantic.
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Identifier
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AAI9405600
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identifier
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9405600
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Creator
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Williams, Kathleen Broome.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Patrick Abbazia
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Date
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1993
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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History, Modern | History, United States
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Abstract
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Huff Duff (HF/DF, high frequency direction finding) is widely credited with playing a significant part in winning the Battle of the Atlantic for the Allies. This work examines the origins of the American device, how it came to be developed, deployed, and operated in combat, and the justification for claims of its effectiveness.;Like sonar and radar, HF/DF was an electronic device used by Allied navies to locate German U-boats. Direction finders work by picking up radio transmissions and indicating their direction of arrival. The high frequency direction finders of World War II not only pointed to the direction of the enemy transmitter, but were capable of ascertaining the approximate distance from the receiver, either by triangulation, or depending on the type of radio wave received.;Contrary to most accounts, the HF/DF devices deployed by the U.S. Navy were not British in origin but were the creation of a French engineer at ITT. Aggressive marketing by the president of ITT introduced the device to top American military. The operational need for such electronic technology, especially in the Navy, eventually ensured its adoption.;Failure to impose a centralized and rationalized administration of the war effort in America--in spite of the proliferation of committees and other control mechanisms--allowed for the sort of creativity and productivity of which HF/DF was an example. HF/DF did not emerge from an official plan, but was successfully created, promoted and produced by private enterprise. Once a viable device was available, the Navy joined effectively in its installation, training in its use, and operation in combat.;Information from shore-based D/Fs was used effectively from early in the war to reroute convoys away from U-boat infested areas. The shipborne devices necessary for direct attacks on U-boats only came into operation later, and were less reliable.;Like the other electronic devices, HF/DF on its own did not have a very impressive record. But as part of a whole spectrum of measures used together against the U-boats HF/DF was as important as any.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy Restricted.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.