LT CMDR CHARLES GOODEVE'S ROYAL NAVY DRESS SWORD the half ba...

Hammer

£420

LT CMDR CHARLES GOODEVE'S ROYAL NAVY DRESS SWORD

the half basket hilt inscribed on the thumb piece C.F. GOODEVE R.N.V.R., 31in. etched regulation blade, scabbard and chamois-lined travel case -- 39in. (99cm.) overall

Sir Charles Frederick Goodeve O.B.E. (1904-1980) was a research chemist born in Canada but won a scholarship to study at UCL in 1927. An active member of the R.N.V.R., he was promoted to Lt Cmdr in 1936 and began turning his attention to naval issues. When war broke out he was transferred to the navy's gunnery and mine research establishment H.M.S. Vernon where he developed the principal method to counter the threat of magnetic mines and which essentially girdled a ship's hull with electrical pulses in opposition to their natural field, effectively cancelling it out - he called it 'degaussing' after the German scientist, whose name was used for a unit of magnetism, and the name stuck. It was used on over 10,000 allied ships during the war but was expensive and he developed a cheaper method called 'wiping' in which ships trailed magnetised cables - the British 'wiped' 400 ships in four days before D-Day alone. He was then transferred to the Department of Miscellaneous Weapon Development (DMWD) where he devised plastic armour and the 'hedgehog', a forward-thrown anti-submarine weapon for which he was appointed his O.B.E. By 1942 he was running the Navy's research and development strategy and created a special branch for India to deal with specialised problems faced in the East. In 1946 he was knighted and awarded the U.S. Medal of Freedom with Silver Palm.

Fine overall condition.