Lloyd's Indicators

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Lloyd's Indicators were a family of electrical data instruments under development and trial in the mid 1880s that could transmit and receive a variety of information, such as helm orders.

They were evaluated by the Royal Navy's torpedo training school Vernon along with several other early data communication systems of which little is known. After protracted testing stretching into the mid 1890s, it is not clear that any were widely adopted.

Design and Evaluation

Though the inventor was only referred to as Lieutenant Lloyd, the Navy Lists of the time seem to suggest this must be Edward William Lloyd.

By 1887, Lloyd had adapted his design to provide solutions for turret, helm, torpedo and engine room orders and they were being fitted in "various ships".[1] However, by 1888 no decision had been made to widely adopt Lloyd's or any other contender as a Service article,[2] and not only was the same true the following year, but Willis's Indicators had been added to the list of electrical indicators under consideration.[3] By 1891, Lloyd's and Willis's instruments, alone, were still under trial,[4] a process that extended into 1892[5]

See Also

Footnotes

  1. Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1887. p. 15.
  2. Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1888. p. 22.
  3. Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1889. p. 10.
  4. Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1891. p. 15.
  5. Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1892. p. 12.

Bibliography

  • H.M.S. Vernon. Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1886. Copy 92 at The National Archives. ADM 189/6.
  • H.M.S. Vernon. Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1887. Copy 12 at The National Archives. ADM 189/7.