I am a fan of both naval history and the history of computing machines. I just saw a great video on the Torpedo Data Computer (TDC) that have I include here. The TDC was one of the last examples of an electromechanical analog computers. It played a major role in the Allied submarine war in the Pacific during World War 2.
If you wish more detailed information on the operation of the TDC, I have a number of posts on the topic. See these:
Some of you of a certain age may have seen analog computers in old science fiction movies. These films used analog computers as a kind of prop. The first analog computer I ever saw was a differential analyzer in When Worlds Collide. I am including a video here from Earth versus the Flying Saucers.
Not quite like the computer on Star Trek, but it did have nice penmanship.
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