The video follows Type 79X from HMS Saltburn in 1936 through Type 79Y on Sheffield and Rodney, then the manually rotated Type 79Z and consolidated Type 79B. The early installations required awkward antennas and, in one version, cabling that limited how far the aerial could turn before it had to be unwound. Detection range and the ability to track surface targets improved as the family developed. Radar did not arrive as a sudden wartime novelty: equipment, power generation, internal cabling, antenna placement, and operational uses were already influencing ship design through the 1930s.
Chapter · 2:09:01-2:15:12
Type 79 radar extended night awareness before the war
Early Type 79 sets show that the Royal Navy was fitting radar and designing around its electrical demands before World War II began.