British Wireless Systems

The Royal Navy started using wireless telegraphy in a network of land- and ship-based installations starting around 1900. Their hardware evolved rapidly along a number of lines.

Service Gear Mark I

Developed by Captain H. B. Jackson, these early systems were functional but generally regarded as inferior to contemporary systems crafted by Marconi. They were known as "Jackson" equipment before the advent of Service Gear Mark II.

Marconi Gear

Signor Marconi's equipment was developed in a collegial competition alongside the early Jackson gear. When the two systems did not prove identical, the Marconi systems almost always proved superior.

Service Gear Mark II

By 1901, the early Jackson gear was refined in Vernon into a "Wireless Telegraphy Apparatus, Mark II" thought to be more nearly equal to the Marconi design. Fifty-two such sets were ordered, and known by their serial numbers.