Charles F. Goodeve

Charles Frederick Goodeve (21 February 1904 – 7 April 1980) was a Canadian chemist and pioneer in operations research. During World War II, he was instrumental in developing the "hedgehog" ASW weapon and the degaussing method for protecting ships from naval mines.

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Goodeve was born on 21 February 1904 in Neepawa, Manitoba, the son of an Anglican clergyman. He attended University of Manitoba, passing his B.Sc. exams in 1925 in chemistry and physics, and receiving an M.Sc. electrochemistry in 1927. In that year he was awarded a scholarship at University College London, where he studied under Frederick Donnan. Goodeve was appointed a Lecturer in Physical Chemistry in 1930 and Reader in 1937. He was awarded the D.Sc. from the University of London in 1936 for his work with Donnan, and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1940.

Naval service

While in Winnipeg, Goodeve had served in the Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve. In England he joined the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve. In 1936 he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Commander. In 1939, he began work at HMS Vernon, specializing in ways to counter the threat of mines. He developed the "Double L" technique for minesweeping magnetic mines. Later he developed the degaussing method for reducing the magnetic field around ships which triggered mines; Goodeve coined the term after the gauss unit, used by the Germans during the war to measure magnetic fields which they named after German scientist Carl Friedrich Gauss (1777–1855).

In 1940, Goodeve implemented the British production of the Swiss-designed Oerlikon 20 mm cannon, which was needed to provide antiaircraft protection for naval and merchant ships. His group, renamed the Directorate of Miscellaneous Weapons Development (D.M.W.D.), then worked on antisubmarine warfare developing the hedgehog, an array of spigot mortars which threw small, contact-fused bombs ahead of a ship. At one point, to protect the project from internecine warfare inside the Royal Navy, Goodeve finagled a demonstration of a prototype for Prime Minister Winston Churchill. By the end of the war the weapon had accounted for some fifty U-boats. For his work in weapon development, Goodeve was awarded an O.B.E.

In 1942, the Third Sea Lord, Vice Admiral Sir William Wake-Walker, appointed Goodeve Assistant Controller Research and Development, with broad oversight of the Navy's research and development efforts.

At the end of the war, Goodeve was knighted, and awarded the U.S. Medal of Freedom.

Industrial research

After the war, Goodeve became the Director of the British Iron and Steel Research Association (B.I.S.R.A.).

After retiring in 1969, Goodeve pursued his interest in operational research.

Goodeve developed Parkinson's disease, which contributed to his death on 7 April 1980.