→ See also: OP-1064A — Computer Mark 1 Maintenance Manual, Volumes 1 & 2 (1947) — the companion volume covering all maintenance test procedures and adjustment instructions.
Ordnance Pamphlet 1064 (29 June 1945) is the U.S. Navy’s complete theory and operation manual for the Computer Mark 1 and Modifications. The Computer Mark 1 is an analog electro-mechanical computing instrument that forms the heart of the Gun Director Mark 37 fire control system, designed for both anti-aircraft and surface fire control. It continuously integrates target motion data — range, bearing, and elevation rates — with own-ship motion, deck tilt, and ballistic corrections to produce gun orders accurate enough to achieve first-round hits on fast-moving aircraft.
The computer occupies the Plotting Room and receives inputs from the Gun Director (line-of-sight angles, range, and range rate), the Stable Element (level and cross-level angles caused by the ship’s rolling and pitching), and the ship’s course and speed indicators. From these inputs it solves the fire control problem continuously: computing predicted target position, advance range, sight angle, sight deflection, and fuze setting order simultaneously. Nine major mechanisms handle these computations: the Deck Tilt Group, Relative Motion Group, Integrator Group, Rate Control Group, Prediction Section, Trunnion Tilt Section, Synchronize Elevation Group, Parallax Section, and the Star Shell Computer Mark 1.
The pamphlet is organized in three parts: Part 1 provides a general description of the Computer Mark 1 in the Gun Director Mark 37 System, covering simplified and detailed accounts of tracking, prediction, and stabilization, parallax corrections, and summary data. Part 2 covers operation — controls, operating instructions for all four modes of operation, a sample problem, and operating cautions. Part 3 is a detailed engineering description of each computing group and section. The Appendix covers limits of accurate computation and modification differences. Addendum 1 (14 September 1951) covers the Computer Mark 1A. A companion publication, OP-1064A, covers care and maintenance of this equipment.
Using the viewer: Use the Full Table of Contents button (bottom-right) to jump to any section. Toggle between Main Document (OP-1064, Parts 1–3) and Appendix & Addendum (Appendix pp. 377–444 and Addendum 1, 1951) with the buttons at bottom-right.