Decca Navigator (hyperbolic phase navigation)
Decca Navigator (navegación hiperbólica por fase)
- Date
- 1944-1946 · confidence high
- Place
- London, England, United Kingdom
- Credited to
- William J. O'Brien and the Decca Navigator Company
- Field
- Movement
What it is
A radio positioning system that compares the phase of continuous waves from a master and slave stations, accurate to tens of metres. It was used in the English Channel on D-Day and later in fishing and merchant ships.
Conceived by the American William J. O'Brien in 1937 and developed by the Decca company in 1944; its use on D-Day was limited and the first civil chain went in in 1946.
What it led to
- the north-west Europe Decca chain until 2000
- navigation for fishing and survey ships
- the move to GPS