From the Navy to commercial fishing From the Navy to commercial fishing
Sonar, or Sound Navigation and Ranging,started out as a military application during the 1st World War. In fact, it was originally referred to as ASDICS, or Anti-Submarine Detection Investigation Committee. It was devised to detect enemy submarines and ultimately destroy them. It wasn’t until 1953, following a deal with the Institute of Marine Research, Bergen, Norway, that Sonar was used for anything other than military applications. Simrad’s technicians had been tasked withcommercialising Sonar and were preparing to revolutionise the world of fishing. It’s a question as to whether Sonar would be part of the fishing world at all, if Simrad had failed in this task. The concept of Sonar in fishing was the first great leap but there were many more to come… Simrad developed the first ever fishingEchosounder and like Sonar, it was based on a military design, this time from the Norwegian Defence ResearchEstablishment.The system needed a complete redesignto make it suitable for fishing and wasfirst launched two years before Sonar in 1951. Submarine attack on a British convoy to Russia.