The University of California Division of War Research reports consists of an incomplete set of unclassified UCDWR reports, Navy Radio and Sound Laboratory (NRSL) and Naval Electronics Laboratory (NEL) files, memoranda, pamphlets, manuals, training aids, and data notebooks.
University of California Division of War Research Reports, 1941-1953 (SAC 18)
OFF-SITE STORAGE: COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE. ALLOW ONE WEEK FOR RETRIEVAL OF MATERIALS.
Extent: 8.0 Linear feet (8 records cartons)
The University of California Division of War Research (UCDWR) was created in response to an escalation of hostilities in Europe. In 1941, the National Defense Research Committee (NDRC) proposed a research and development program that would investigate methods for detecting submerged or partially submerged submarines. With the Navy's approval, two laboratories were set up. The Atlantic coast laboratory was located at the U.S. Navy Underwater Sound Laboratory in New London, Connecticut, and was operated under a contract with Columbia University. The Pacific coast laboratory was located at the U.S. Navy Radio and Sound Laboratory in San Diego, California, with the University of California acting as the contract agency. This was the first collaborative effort between the Navy and the University of California on wartime research.
The UCDWR concerned itself primarily with fundamental investigations of techniques and procedures for detecting and successfully combating submarines. Until the contracts were actually written up between NDRC and the universities, the Office of Scientific Research and Development (OSRD) assumed responsibility for the projects initiated by NDRC, and NDRC remained the directing body for the scientific programs. Contract OEMsr-30 between OSRD and the University of California was executed on August 15, 1941. At first, other names, such as the University of California Division of National Defense Research, and the San Diego Laboratory, were attached to the effort.
For many years UCDWR was located in the same building as the U.S. Navy Radio and Sound Laboratory (NRSL) at Point Loma. Problems of overcrowding and overlapping laboratory programs occurred with the rapid growth in UCDWR and NRSL personnel. The Navy helped to alleviate some of these problems by supplying buildings for UCDWR. Changes in laboratory organization and cooperation from the Navy fostered a close working relationship among UCDWR and NRSL, including other naval commands, U.S. Fleet Sonar School, local submarine squadron, and units of the Pacific fleet.
Though UCDWR was originally conceived as a temporary wartime operation, it was decided that its work could continue under the direction of a more permanent organization. On March 1, 1945, the UCDWR program was transferred to the Navy Department as contract NObs-2074 from OSRD, and the Bureau of Ships assumed responsibility for the direction of the contractor's work. When the war ended abruptly on September 2, 1945, immediate action was taken to complete all the reports for final distribution, which took many months to finish.
At the same time the Navy Radio and Sound Laboratory was absorbed by the Navy Electronics Laboratory (NEL) which eventually inherited all the structures at the Point Loma facility. In late June 1946, UCDWR became the Marine Physical Laboratory. The University of California assumed responsibility for Task 10 of contract NObs-2074. The Marine Physical Laboratory (MPL) was officially opened on June 1, 1946, with Carl Eckart appointed as Director. It became part of Scripps Institution of Oceanography in April 1948.
The University of California Division of War Research reports consists of an incomplete set of unclassified UCDWR reports, Navy Radio and Sound Laboratory (NRSL) and Naval Electronics Laboratory (NEL) files, memoranda, pamphlets, manuals, training aids, and data notebooks. The Completion report... covering operations of the University of California Division of War Research... from 26 April 1941 to 30 June 1946 was prepared at the end of the contract period, highlighting the laboratory's history and organization. Additionally, it includes bibliographies detailing the technical reports produced and patents submitted during the project. The Completion report is found in box 6 of the collection, in the RESEARCH REPORTS series.
Arranged in five series: 1) SOUND FIELD DATA NOTEBOOKS; 2) INSTRUCTION MANUALS AND GUIDES; 3) RESEARCH REPORTS; 4) NAVY RADIO AND SOUND LABORATORY REPORTS; and 5) NAVY ELECTRONICS LABORATORY INTERNAL TECHNICAL MEMORANDA.
Custodial History/Provenance
In 1957, the UCDWR records were sent to federal record centers. This collection of photocopies of unclassified reports was received by the Central University Library in 1976 and transferred to the SIO Archives in 1985. The data notebooks were found in SIO archives in 1981. No further information is available about these accessions.
SIO archivist Deborah Day attempted to collect additional UCDWR organizational records and traced them from one naval repository to another, but was unable to obtain the official working records of the group. She did obtain copies of photographs captured by the project's photographer; the original photos and negatives had been submitted to the Navy.
In 1985, Day noted that Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR) maintained a complete set of UCDWR reports, however this has not been recently verified.
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