Contributions to the development of underwater acoustics at the Harvard Underwater Sound Laboratory

The Harvard Underwater Sound Laboratory (HUSL) began in June 1941, six months before Pearl Harbor, and closed on January 31, 1946. HUSL was directed throughout its existence by (then) Assoc. Prof. Frederick V. Hunt, who incidentally coined the acronym sonar. This paper traces several contributions HUSL made to undersea warfare through exploitation of underwater acoustics. Especially significant were developments by HUSL in sonar and underwater ordnance (torpedoes). Both developments were supported by numerous subprojects on a wide range of applications such as reverberation suppression, Doppler enhancement, and torpedo transducer design. Particular attention is paid to work on air-dropped and submarine-launched acoustic homing torpedoes. HUSL’s far-reaching influence continues to be evident in today’s sonar and torpedo systems. Closure of HUSL spawned Penn State’s Ordnance Research Laboratory (now Applied Research Laboratory) and enriched sonar development at the US Navy Underwater Sound Laboratory, New London. Moreover, HUSL personnel returning to the University of Texas soon founded the Defense Research Laboratory (now Applied Research Laboratories) at Texas. We pay particular homage to living HUSL alumnus A. Wilson Nolle, who, along with our recently departed colleague, Reuben Wallace, and 12 other deceased alumni, had come to HUSL from the University of Texas.