The Pelican, also known as Bomb Mark 55 and, in one version, SWOD Mark 7, was a

guided bomb A guided bomb (also known as a smart bomb, guided bomb unit, or GBU) is a precision-guided munition designed to achieve a smaller circular error probable (CEP). The creation of precision-guided munitions resulted in the retroactive renaming of ...

developed by the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Guided by

semi-active radar homing Semi-active radar homing (SARH) is a common type of missile guidance system, perhaps the most common type for longer-range air-to-air and surface-to-air missile systems. The name refers to the fact that the missile itself is only a passive dete ...

, Pelican was produced in and sizes; the program reached the stage of live trials before being cancelled.

Design and development

The project that led to the development of Pelican was initiated by the

National Defense Research Committee The National Defense Research Committee (NDRC) was an organization created "to coordinate, supervise, and conduct scientific research on the problems underlying the development, production, and use of mechanisms and devices of warfare" in the U ...

in 1942. Two main guided-bomb programs were established for use by the U.S. Navy's

Bureau of Ordnance The Bureau of Ordnance (BuOrd) was a United States Navy organization, which was responsible for the procurement, storage, and deployment of all naval weapons, between the years 1862 and 1959. History The Bureau of Ordnance was established as part ...

; one led to the

active radar Active may refer to: Music * ''Active'' (album), a 1992 album by Casiopea * "Active" (song), a 2024 song by Asake and Travis Scott from Asake's album ''Lungu Boy'' * Active Records, a record label Ships * ''Active'' (ship), several com ...

-guided

Bat Bats are flying mammals of the order Chiroptera (). With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most birds, flying with their very long spread-out ...

, which saw operational service near the end of the war, while the other was for a bomb controlled by a semi-active radar seeker, which was designated Bomb Mark 55 and named Pelican.Parsch 2004 Two versions of Pelican were developed; one used a bomb as its basis, named Pelican Mark II, while the other used a bomb and was referred to as Pelican Mark III. Both had a high-mounted wing, with a twin-fin

empennage The empennage ( or ), also known as the tail or tail assembly, is a structure at the rear of an aircraft that provides stability during flight, in a way similar to the feathers on an arrow.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third ed ...

providing stabilization and control. The semi-active radar seeker head was designed for use with the

AN/APS-2 The AN/APS-2, originally known as ASG (air-surface, model G), was a surface search radar developed by Philco originally for use in US Coast Guard blimps to detect German submarines. It proved better than several similar models then being built, and ...

radar carried in the

Lockheed PV-1 Ventura The Lockheed Ventura is a twin-engine medium bomber and patrol bomber of World War II. The Ventura first entered combat in Europe as a bomber with the RAF in late 1942. Designated PV-1 by the United States Navy (US Navy), it entered combat in ...

; the PV-1 could carry two Pelican Mark IIs or a single Pelican Mark III. While Pelican required its launching aircraft to continue illuminating its target with its onboard radar following launch, compared to the ''Bat'' which carried its own radar set, Pelican could be released at a greater range. The Pelican Mark III received the designation SWOD (Special Weapons Ordnance Device) Mark 7 late in its development.

Operational history

Initial tests of Pelican were conducted in December 1942, and trials continued through 1943; these established that the radar-homing Pelican was significantly more accurate than bombs using

television guidance Television guidance (TGM) is a type of missile guidance system using a television camera in the missile or glide bomb that sends its signal back to the launch platform. There, a weapons officer or bomb aimer watches the image on a television scree ...

. However the weight of the Pelican meant that the range of the PV-1 was inadequate for service in the Pacific Theatre, and the number of Venturas that could be converted was limited by operational needs; as a result, despite successful tests, including one on 9 September 1944 that saw two of four Pelicans launched hit the target hulk ,Friedman 1982, p.202 the program was cancelled on 18 September 1944 by Admiral

Ernest King Ernest Joseph King (23 November 1878 – 25 June 1956) was a Fleet admiral (United States), fleet admiral in the United States Navy who served as Commander in Chief, United States Fleet (COMINCH) and Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) during Worl ...

.Grossnick and Armstrong 1997, p.143. The resources devoted to the project were redirected to accelerated development of its successor, the U.S. Navy-deployed

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * * * {{USN early guided weapons Anti-ship missiles of the United States World War II guided missiles of the United States Guided bombs of the United States World War II aerial bombs of the United States

Design and development

Operational history

See also

References

Citations

Bibliography