PRODUCTION OF SPERRY GYRO-COMPASSES BY DODGE BROTHERS IN WWII 58834

Made during WWII, AS THE WORLD SPINS details the work of Dodge Brothers, a division of Chrysler, in WWII war production. The film focuses on electric gyro-compasses designed by Sperry, which needed to be mass produced for the wartime Liberty Ship and Victory Ship effort, as well as for the fleet. With Sperry overwhelmed by demand, Dodge picked up the slack and pulled off one of the engineering miracles of the war, producing the extremely complex device in large numbers and in record time.
The film begins with a brief history of the compass and shows how the magnetic compass was subject to deflection once ships were made out of metal and not out of wood. It was replaced by an electric compass, incapable of being deflected by metal and (also important) magnetic mines which were used by the Germans. At 2:12, the toll on shipping taken by magnetic mines in the Battle of the Atlantic is vividly demonstrated as a ship hits a mine and is badly damaged. At 2:29, the principle of a degaussing cable is shown, but unfortunately it destroys the accuracy of magnetic compasses.At 2:50 the Sperry gyro compass, which is not affected by deflecting purposes, is shown. Its advantages are described. Up to five repeater and master compasses are used on a ship, as shown at 4:00. At 4:27, the Dodge plant is shown, with its production line used to produce large numbers of gyrocompasses in record time. At 4:50, sub-assembly of the compass is shown, with different tasks being assigned to various parts of the factory -- with each compass using up to 10K parts inside. 300 sub-contractors supplied machine parts to Dodge for this work. At 7:00, the difficult work of assembling the rotor for the gyroscope is seen. At 8:18, constant inspection of precision parts is shown. At 13:19, "hot runs" of the gyrocompass and repeater compasses is shown to ensure perfect operation. At 14;15, a female war worker takes a record of the compass' readings. At 16:00, crated gyrocompasses are shipped.
Elmer Ambrose Sperry produced a workable gyrocompass system , and founded the Sperry Gyroscope Company. The unit was adopted by the U.S. Navy and played a major role in World War I. The Navy also began using Sperry's "Metal Mike": the first gyroscope-guided autopilot steering system. In the following decades, these and other Sperry devices were adopted by steamships such as the RMS Queen Mary, airplanes, and the warships of World War II. After his death in 1930, the Navy named the USS Sperry after him.
A gyrocompass is a type of non-magnetic compass which is based on a fast-spinning disc and the rotation of the Earth (or another planetary body if used elsewhere in the universe) to find geographical direction automatically. Although one important component of a gyrocompass is a gyroscope, these are not the same devices; a gyrocompass is built to use the effect of gyroscopic precession, which is a distinctive aspect of the general gyroscopic effect. Gyrocompasses are widely used for navigation on ships, because they have two significant advantages over magnetic compasses: (1) they find true north as determined by the axis of the Earth's rotation, which is different from, and navigationally more useful than, magnetic north, and (2) they are unaffected by ferromagnetic materials, such as in a ship's steel hull, which distort the magnetic field.
A gyro compass operates by reacting to earth’s rotational movement and points to true north. Several repeaters are used aboard ships to provide a true bearing, dial at the steering station, the “wings” on either side of the wheelhouse, possibly the captain’s quarters and engine room. At the “wing” repeaters a bearing circle can be used to determine direction to buoys, a landmark and other vessels. From buoys and landmarks a plot can be made of own position. Gyrocompass data are also sent to navigational aids, such as radar ARPA, radio direction finder, Loran and Transit Satellite Navigator to provide true bearing data.
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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit www.PeriscopeFilm.com

[@cynthiahite2129]

Who would dislike any of these old films? That is just so strange to see a "thumbs down" on any of these old documentary screen liners.

[@connormason7907]

KZbin took dislikes away on everything now

[@WillN2Go1]

4:31 Dodge Main, Hamtramck Michigan. (1910-1980) My grandmother worked there for over 30 years. Working there during the war she said "I made tank parts." A terrific film. Women working alongside men at the same jobs. That was always my impression. Detroit really was the engineering capital of the world.

[@glennarrant3743]

I worked on the Sperry (Now Honeywell) when I was in the Coast Guard. The Mk 14 was an excellent piece of hardware. I later worked on the satellites that replaced gyro compasses

[@gormauslander]

Thank you very much for your service!

[@davem5333]

The production during WWII of ships, planes was mindboggling. Even more so was the incredible amount of sophisticated technology that was installed. I never had any idea of these devices or how complex they were.

[@ajjackson1526]

What's mind-boggling to me is how far they advanced in technology in just 5 years.

[@Walruswaffle]

The B-29 gun targeting system blew my mind when I learned of it. Anyone interested in WW II tech needs to look it up in detail.

[@robertscott8226]

People in those days did a lot of thinking!

[@burntorangeak]

Such pride in manufacture, And yet Chrysler drove itself face first into the ground less than forty years later.

[@mikedevaney9901]

During WW2, Lionel model train co. made compasses for ships and tugboat. I'm lucky enough to own one.

[@moitoi4064]

Thanks for posting the clip, I worked for Sperry. The MK XIV gyrocompass presented here is produced in the 50’s, when I joined the company in 1979 there were still a few onboard ships, they were gradually replaced by the MK XX which is smaller in size, as years go by the gyros are getting smaller and smaller, Sperry produced the MK 37 and SR-120 in the 80’s, they also produce gyrocompasses for fishing boats like the SR-50. The smaller the master compass is, the faster the rotor has to spin which require frequent replacement of the rotor bearings, also balancing has to be accomplished every year during maintenance overhaul by a qualified technician. It takes 4 hours for the compass to stabilize after its energized, once it’s settled the accuracy is less than 1degree variable error, if more than 2 degree error service has to be performed at the next port of call, most probable cause is vertical ball bearings to be replaced. There is no liquid in Sperry gyrocompasses, other companies like Anschutz or C Plath use liquid but not Sperry, the latest models however have a transparent grease in their sensitive element. Do you know that the sensitive element that contains the rotor is stationary in space and that the ship is turning around it? And oh BTW I never seen the master compass installed below deck at the ship’s center of gravity, theoretically it’s the perfect spot I agree but practically they are installed on the bridge or in a room next to the bridge.

[@moitoi4064]

@@danjarvis6980 I always recommend the Captain to leave the gyro running all the time even if the ship stays a long time in port, the reason being is that when you restart a gyrocompass there's a chance that the rotor would not start, it takes a lot of force to start the rotation of the rotor, if the rotor bearings are locked because of grease gumming up chances are you are going to depart without the gyrocompass or the port authorities will not allow you to depart until the gyro is fixed.

[@deltajohnny]

Thank you very much for the very detailed post! 👏👏👏👍👍👍

[@tom7601]

During WWII my dad, who was too old to fly combat missions was an Army Air Corps/Army Air Forces ferry pilot. He ferried mostly B-17s to England. He depended on the Sperry to get his flights safely to their new home. I seem to remember they took off from the Midwest and flew to Newfoundland to take care of any squawks and top up the fuel. From there they flew to Greenland (Gander?). They spent the night there and the ground crew did required service. Then it was over the North Sea to England. The B-17s flew with a crew of two, pilot and copilot/navigator, and strict radio silence.

[@Paddington60]

Greenland to England is flying over the North Atlantic, the North Sea is between Great Britain (England Scotland) and Europe (Belgium, Holland, Germany, and Denmark) Brave men and women all, those who flew the ferry flights.

[@shawnfoxfirth9684]

Gander is in Newfoundland .

[@colvinator1611]

That is an excellent account of the manufactur of a vital piece of equipment. Thanks a lot, Colin UK 🇬🇧

[@phantomphlyer4417]

Amazing. This is why American became a super power and a light upon the hill. I hope we can continue this for our future generations

[@BK-uf6qr]

Such a dynamic time period when man stepped forward from the old world to a new modern world. This time period has an allure of people with a singular purpose, united for a common purpose. A true battle between good and evil. Socially, improvements were slower than hard tech, however. If there is one aspect I don’t pine for is the vestige of old prejudices. Yet, that yoke was starting to be lifted.

[@mahdyfouad4822]

15:02 that is quality control

[@ronaldjohnson1474]

What the bean counters did to Dodge and others should be considered criminal.

[@discerningmind]

All of this is remarkably wonderful. What stands out to me is how great Chrysler was, and then after years of mismanagement how insignificant it is today. It's pitiful that can happen to a great American company.

[@Robert--cm2nf]

It is still amazing how fast the US government speeded up the war needs , even for today standards it is still a wonder

[@JuanAdam12]

Robert 30-06 I still don't understand how this was possible.

[@loftalofta8423]

Yes incredible...a whole nation put to work on the same goal...impressive

[@allandavis8201]

Adam E. As they say “needs must, when the devil drives” or in other words when the need arose the nations of the allies rose up to the challenge, amazing what can be done when the need was and is (pandemic 2020) so great that if the challenge wasn’t/isn’t met we are going to be in major manure pile.

[@gormauslander]

Considering how long anything takes to get done because of legislature and lobbying, it is nothing short of a miracle

[@martyzielinski1442]

@@gormauslander -back then, rules were “bent” when necessary. I’m sure it was often necessary.....

[@davidclark3304]

As of 9-9-21 one of these is for sale on Ebay for $990. It's located in Tacoma WA. I don't know how long its been for sale. This is a very interesting unit and I was very tempted, but its large and heavy, and for me, alas, too expensive.

[@Rockit442]

Tears to my eyes at 2:12 I can only imagine. What did he just witness? I wonder if he made it home...

[@duradim1]

He is cold.

[@TerryPullen]

Amazing machine.

[@ChatGPT1111]

This film shows the attention to detail, intense workmanship, quality precision and the pride of manufacturing without people being distracted by constant government and corporate PC propaganda that we now witness daily.

[@jlwilliams]

This film was government propaganda. Those workers were motivated to work with pride and quality by government propaganda. It was true, but it was still propaganda. Today's workers get so distracted by ginned-up conspiracy theories, fake ideologies, and hate-mongering that they don't believe their own government even when it's telling them the truth.

[@shawnfoxfirth9684]

Delivered in a third of the estimated time ...Today it would take three times the estimated time and way over budget .

[@gormauslander]

Looking at you, lockheed

[@shawnfoxfirth9684]

Well Titan I'll toss ya a shit for that .. . Thanks lad .

[@gangisspawn1]

Instaportal is a phishing scam.

[@InflatablePlane]

Looks like this was all done at Dodge Main in Hamtramck. Sad that whole plant and most of the neighborhood surrounding it is gone now. All leveled to build the GM Poletown assembly plant.

[@ldv1452]

Remarkable!

[@PeriscopeFilm]

Love our channel? Help us save and post more orphaned films! Support us on Patreon: www.patreon.com/PeriscopeFilm Even a really tiny contribution can make a difference.

[@20alphabet]

Saw a few of these back in the day.

[@gangisspawn1]

I always take my Sperry gyrocompass when I go hiking so I don't get lost.

[@billjames1953]

The Texas Clipper, TAMUG training ship had one of those Gyro. It was big.

[@6h471]

Dodge was a division of Chrysler corp, but the Dodge brothers had nothing to do with it, as they both died a few months apart in 1920.

[@peglegnoid6139]

Perfect dynamic balance ?

[@FrankGutowski-ls8jt]

I wonder why, when using the conventional magnetic compass, the imposed, protective magnetic field around the ship couldn’t be switched off just long enough to get a reading, then turned right back on. I’d think that doing so would minimally expose the ship to high risk.

[@theplanetruth]

2:55- What is true north, and how is it determined?

[@philup4947]

Piss off you flat earth tool

[@Bunny99s]

Well, just bother Google. True north is the direction towards geographic north: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/True_north The geographic north pole is the point where the axis of rotation leaves the earth surface on the northern hemisphere en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Pole A gyro compass will orient itself towards geographic north due to the precession of the rotating body which is introduced due to the rotation of the earth. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gyrocompass Apart from true north we also have magnetic north. However the magnetic north pole is slightly off from the geographic north pole. Also the magnetic declination does vary heavily depending where you are on earth which makes magnetic compasses quite unreliable without a proper declination map. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_declination

[@theplanetruth]

In the show notes, it says a gyrocompass detects the earths rotation. Where is this demonstrated, or explained?

[@philup4947]

Piss off you flat earth tool

[@philtorres2975]

If you don't understand that, telling you to put one foot in front of the other and your ass will follow would probably be extremely difficult for you to understand. Worked with the Sperry mk 19 compass while in the US Navy.

[@normkraack]

It was the genius engineering that produced Inertial Navigation Systems. They used accelerometers to sense the Earth's rotation. No movement in the X-axis indicated true north. NOT magnetic north.

[@peterhoebarth4234]

@@philup4947 stupid nasa - troll. Lol

[@tyroniousyrownshoolacez2347]

Guaranteed if it was made by the Chrysler group it was the best made product ever!.................for 3months.

[@JuanAdam12]

Curious to know if anyone here knows whether this equipment was of the quality and reliability touted in this film.

[@Paddington60]

When I went to sea it was with Mark XX (20) I think, and they are easily recognisable compared to this Mark XIV. The XX was that accurate I would say so I would not be surprised if the film is quite correct. I am sure the compass was more accurate than the bearings the user could take. The binnacle seems to have changed more than the gyro sphere. I only saw one ship where the master gyro was placed as near to the centre of the ship as possible. Most the master was on the bridge, so the bigger binnacle may have been to offer more efficient damping. Then again we did not roll or pitch a tremendous amount, even in a Tropical Revolving Storm.

[@JuanAdam12]

Thank you for that information.

[@flipflopsguy8868]

WHO WON THE WAR ON ALL FRONTS AT THE SAME TIME 🤨... 🇺🇲

[@randydewees7338]

The part count was 10,000? I find that unbelievable, unless it includes all of the individual identical balls for the bearings.

[@mottthehoople693]

such wonderful devices designed by men with pencils and slide rules now either on the bottom of the sea or scrapped by unskilled me with no idea of what they were destroying bet none of these exist now

[@samsonn25]

Government thought it would take 2 years??

[@TlD-dg6ug]

Having made parts for the marines, as well as for aerospace.... Milotary standards are rarely followed these days by alot of corporations. They then lie about the testing and results, and those shitty parts go into service. Thats why I left the Aero/Defense machinist game.

[@robertporch8895]

Made when, Made in USA, meant it was the very best in the World.

[@samiam5557]

MOPAR helped Uncle Sam kick Hitler & Tojo in the ass! 🤣🤗😋

[@flipflopsguy8868]

IF IT COULDN'T BE DONE, WE DID IT ! 🇺🇲 CONCEIVED IN AMERICA, MADE IN CHINA. 😷

[@burntorangeak]

"must be accurate to within 3/10ths of one degree at each of its five positions -" I should've known such witchcraft would be tested on a pentagram.

[@Haruki_Aikawa]

Made by Dodge... So they crapped out at 30k miles and the dealerships told them the motor wasn’t properly broken in...

[@williamwilson3080]

I didn't appreciate the advertisements from our screeching, squealing, bastard of a president that we unfortunately have. Who, incidentally was a notorious " coward and yellow bellied draft dodger" and never saw a day of military action or true heroism to this nation in his entire life.

[@wonniewarrior]

And we have another brain dead demonrat supporter screeching about things political in a old documentary about war. I swear you demonrats will make political tantrums at a kindergarten bake sale blaming 'orange man bad' because the little kiddies and their parents didn't make ethnic cookies and were proud to wear American flags.

[@misters2837]

Too bad Dodge took a huge dump in quality in the 70's almost went bankrupt, and now has changed hands in last 30 years like a hot potato.