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www.marinelink.com 35 batteries and the mass production of gas- powered cars at half the cost of electric.

That state of affairs would prove for- tuitous for other modes of transporta- tion – notably ships and planes, the latter another emerging – and more successful – technology in the late 1800s to early 1900s.

Sperry’s early interest in electricity – which he dropped out of Cornell after a year to pursue – was eventually over- taken by his fascination with gyroscopes and gyrocompasses. He neither discov- ered these concepts, nor was he the fi rst to market with patents. That was Ger- man Hermann Anschütz-Kaempfe, who was awarded a gyrocompass patent in 1906 in the U.K.

Sperry could barely contain his enthu- siasm at a 1908 meeting of the Society of

Naval Architects and Marine Engineers (SNAME), telling the gathering, “The marine interests may certainly expect great and material aid from this wonder- ful instrument. Not only, I predict, will it guide our ships, but it will be found to have other important and far-reaching bearing upon the operation of ships at sea.”

Sperry’s approach in general was to expand upon and further advance exist- ing applications, which he particularly applied to gyroscopes. For example, by 1907, Sperry was working on the issue of stability in moving vehicles. He took gyrostabilizer technology already in ex- istence – it fostered stability by pushing rolling ships in the opposite direction of the force of the waves – and added a mo- tion sensor, a motor to amplify the effect of the sensor on the gyroscope and an automatic feedback and control system.

The net result was a better performing stabilizer. He followed that up with his improvements on existing gyrocompass technology.

His timing was perfect.

The gyrocompass was immune from (Photo: U.S. Navy)

USS Sperry (AS-12), named after Elmer A. Sperry, departing Mare Island, July 24, 1942. “It is safe to say that no one American has contributed so much to our naval technical progress.”

Then Secretary of the Navy Charles Francis Adams III, upon Sperry’s death.

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