My father-in-law was a sailor on Subs in the 80's. He said they had Selectrics and that sometimes they had them hooked up as printers too, which I had never heard of.
I never thought they'd have typewriters in a submarine, of all places. Can't imagine what they were used for, other than typing reports. I bet they were used only when the subs were not in stealth mode, though... I can imagine the look on the face of a young sonar operator as he listens to a persistent "clack clack clack" under the sea.
The 6th picture (the one with the fancy carpet) is the Queen Mary's radio room. From what I read it was an immensely busy room. 600 telegrams were received every day. They also had a complete wireless telephone system. IF you picked up a receiver in your stateroom you could be connected with the mainland through a very powerful wireless transceiver.
Those are great photos. Thanks for posting them. I wonder were the typewriters Mills? Seems most everything government was in all upper case, at least when I worked for Army in the 70s.
My father-in-law was a sailor on Subs in the 80's. He said they had Selectrics and that sometimes they had them hooked up as printers too, which I had never heard of.
ReplyDeleteGreat pictures.
So I've heard. I believe they were painted white like the 1940s Navy Radio Mills, but I might be wrong on that account. What a very cool connection!
DeleteI never thought they'd have typewriters in a submarine, of all places. Can't imagine what they were used for, other than typing reports. I bet they were used only when the subs were not in stealth mode, though... I can imagine the look on the face of a young sonar operator as he listens to a persistent "clack clack clack" under the sea.
ReplyDeleteI thought the exact same thing. Maybe they used a Noiseless machine while under the sea.
DeleteNeat pictures. Must have been wretchedly hot on those ships in the South Pacific, or in subs.
ReplyDeleteThe 6th picture (the one with the fancy carpet) is the Queen Mary's radio room. From what I read it was an immensely busy room. 600 telegrams were received every day. They also had a complete wireless telephone system. IF you picked up a receiver in your stateroom you could be connected with the mainland through a very powerful wireless transceiver.
DeleteIntriguing! Two years ago, I took a Hermes 3000 with me on our houseboat holidays - worked out well!
ReplyDeleteThose are great photos. Thanks for posting them.
ReplyDeleteI wonder were the typewriters Mills? Seems most everything government was in all upper case, at least when I worked for Army in the 70s.
Great photos! Here's another for your Venn Diagram: http://typewriterheaven.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/floating-shift.html
ReplyDelete