Paul E. Watson (died September 18, 1943) was a pioneer researcher in the development of

radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, w ...

. Born in

Bangor, Maine Bangor ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Maine and the county seat of Penobscot County. The city proper has a population of 31,753, making it the state's 3rd-largest settlement, behind Portland (68,408) and Lewiston (37,121). Modern Bangor ...

, Watson was a civilian engineer employed by the

U.S. Army Signal Corps The United States Army Signal Corps (USASC) is a branch of the United States Army that creates and manages communications and information systems for the command and control of combined arms forces. It was established in 1860, the brainchild of M ...

from the late 1920s. In 1936, he was named Chief Engineer of a Signal Corps research group at

Camp Evans Camp Evans Historic District is an area of the Camp Evans Formerly Used Defense Site in Wall Township, New Jersey. The site of the military installation () is noted for a 1914 transatlantic radio receiver and various World War II/ Cold War la ...

Fort Monmouth Fort Monmouth is a former installation of the Department of the Army in Monmouth County, New Jersey. The post is surrounded by the communities of Eatontown, Tinton Falls and Oceanport, New Jersey, and is located about from the Atlantic Ocean. T ...

, New Jersey tasked with developing a workable long-range radar for coast defense. By 1937 Watson's team had developed a proto-type "Search Light Control Radar" (

SCR-270 The SCR-270 (Set Complete Radio model 270) was one of the first operational early-warning radars. It was the U.S. Army's primary long-distance radar throughout World War II and was deployed around the world. It is also known as the Pearl Harbo ...

) apparatus and successfully demonstrated it to the

Secretary of War The secretary of war was a member of the U.S. president's Cabinet, beginning with George Washington's administration. A similar position, called either "Secretary at War" or "Secretary of War", had been appointed to serve the Congress of the ...

. Watson's team then became the "Radio Position Finding Section", and worked with the

Westinghouse Corporation The Westinghouse Electric Corporation was an American manufacturing company founded in 1886 by George Westinghouse. It was originally named "Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company" and was renamed "Westinghouse Electric Corporation" in ...

over the following year to develop an Early Warning Radar, which was successfully deployed at

Highlands, New Jersey :''See also New York–New Jersey Highlands for the northwestern part of the state.'' Highlands is a borough in Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States census, its population was 5,005,

in August, 1938, and was capable of detecting incoming bombers at a range of 78 miles. A second system was deployed in

Meriden, Connecticut Meriden is a city in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States, located halfway between the regional cities of New Haven and Hartford. In 2020, the population of the city was 60,850.

in June, 1939, with an operational range of 138 miles.Vieweger, Arthur L.; Albert S. White.
Development of Radar SCR-270
, Retrieved June 1, 2008 Watson's prototypes were adopted by the Army in 1940 and Westinghouse delivered 112 sets prior to the American entry into World War II. This was the first radar system to be deployed by the United States military. Six of these sets were made operational in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only ...

by December 1941, and one, at Opana Point, detected the incoming Japanese air assault on

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the ...

on the morning of December 7. Watson was made a U.S. Army major with the outbreak of the war in 1941, and had risen to the rank of colonel by his death of a cerebral hemorrhage on September 18, 1943, at

Fort Monmouth, New Jersey Fort Monmouth is a former installation of the Department of the Army in Monmouth County, New Jersey. The post is surrounded by the communities of Eatontown, Tinton Falls and Oceanport, New Jersey, and is located about from the Atlantic Ocean. The ...

. His laboratory at Camp Evans was named "Watson Laboratories" after his death, and continued to be the chief Army electronics lab until absorbed by the new

U.S. Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Sign ...

into the current Rome Laboratory. Ironically, in the 1990s the U.S. Air Force would control the world's most powerful radar, designed to cover the entire Atlantic Ocean from Europe to Africa, from a headquarters in Watson's home town of

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Watson, Paul E. Year of birth missing 1943 deaths People from Bangor, Maine American inventors American electrical engineers United States Army personnel killed in World War II United States Army colonels