The IBM Naval Ordnance Research Calculator (NORC) was a one-of-a-kind first-generation (vacuum tube) computer built by IBM for the United States Navy's Bureau of Ordnance. It went into service in December 1954[1] and was likely the most powerful computer at the time.[2] The Naval Ordnance Research Calculator (NORC), was built at the Watson Scientific Computing Laboratory under the direction of Wallace Eckert.[3]
The computer was presented to the US Navy on December 2, 1954. At the presentation ceremony, it calculated pi to 3,089 digits, which was a record at the time. The calculation took only 13 minutes. In 1955, NORC was moved to the Naval Proving Ground[4] at Dahlgren, Virginia. It was their main computer until 1958, when more modern computers were acquired. It continued to be used until 1963.[5][6][self-published source] Its design influenced the IBM 701 and subsequent machines in the IBM 700 series of computers.
- ^ "NAVAL PROVING GRCOUND CALCULATORS". Digital Computer Newsletter. 7 (2): 7. April 1955.
- ^ The NORC was the first supercomputer, states Frank da Cruz (da Cruz 2004).
- ^ Lee, J.A.N. "(column)". IEEE Computer. 50th anniversary issue.
- ^ "9. Naval Proving Ground Calculators". Digital Computer Newsletter. 7 (4): 5. October 1955.
- ^ Reilly, Edwin D. (2003). Milestones in Computer Science and Information Technology. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 184. ISBN 9781573565219.
norc 1954.
- ^ McMurran, Marshall William (December 11, 2008). ACHIEVING ACCURACY: A Legacy of Computers and Missiles. Xlibris Corporation. p. 78. ISBN 9781462810659.