In 1942, at the request of the Navy Department in Washington,
a stainless steel antenna, Premax No. SM-725, Navy No. 66053, was developed by Premax for use on PT boats and landing
craft and this unit became standard for all such installations. The design was required to withstand wind pressures of 90
miles an hour with minimum deflection under severe rolling of such small craft. Premax made over 10,000 of these special
antennas.
During 1942 Premax also designed, at the request of the
Navy Department, two heavy aluminum antennas, Premax Nos. USA-128
and USA-135, Navy Nos. 66046 and 66047, for use
on battleships and aircraft carriers. These antennas were quite
different from anything which had previously been made and
had to be designed to withstand strains of 60 miles per hour, a
ship rolling of 30 degrees, with a deflection at the top of the
28 or 35-foot antenna not exceeding six feet. The Premax design
was completely acceptable and was adopted as a Navy
standard for all large warships. Premax was the exclusive
manufacturer and made about 2,000 of these units.
From
1946 Premax
Antenna Manual