Existing comment:
Naval Radio Sound Lab (the future Naval Electronics Laboratory)
During World War II, the Navy presence on Point Loma grew from a small radio station to an established research lab. Founded in 1940, the Navy Radio and Sound Laboratory (NRSL) improved radar, radio transmission and reception, and sonar, NRSL's success with the design and arrangement of ship antennas led NRSL to an ongoing mission for antenna development.
Technical advances in electronics and radio opened the way for the use of sonar, but the new technology required operational testing before it could be reliably used by the Navy. In 1941, the University of California Division of War Research (UCDWR) contracted to perform sonar research at the NRSL facility in San Diego. UCDWR also performed basic research in oceanography and provided field engineering support to US submarines, UCDWR developed QLA, a FM high-definition sonar system that enabled US submarines to penetrate the heavily mined Japanese Inland Sea and effectively sever communications between the five main Japanese islands. UCDWR also developed the NAC and NAD Sound Beacons (sound decoy devices for submarines) and "racona" (small radar beacons to assist in navigation). |