I own one of these keys and occasionally use it when I'm operating CW.
73, WA1GOV
"Bathtub" Key, Canadian Air force, CAN. REF 10F/7741.
This key is commonly known as the "Bathtub" key, due to it's unusual shape. It is an aircraft key used in a wide variety of WWII aircraft. The key has a very heavy action, which can be explained by the fact that the user was usually wearing very thick gloves and would sometimes thump the key with a clenched gloved fist!
The following is a short article from Morsum Magnificat Number 71. " RAF Type F (Bathtub) Key 10A/7741. On a visit to the Com-Centre in Auckland, I was shown a RAF Bathtub key and asked what it was. I was able to tell them quite a bit about the key. When I was at pre-sea college in the 1960's we used to buy bathtub keys for a shilling or two, take off the knob and chuck the rest of the key away. The knob fitted a WT 8 Amp No 2 MK2 key perfectly (and many other keys) and was very popular. You still see many keys today modified with knobs from, or similar to, the Bathtub key. The Com-Centre published my summary of the key, including the usual story about the clip being used to hold the key down when the plane ditched. The article brought the following response from ZL2AKV, which I think you might find of interest." "This particular key was wired up to the 1154 transmitter and the associated 1155 receiver in Harvards and Ansons. Admittedly the key had a terrible touch, but operationally they were thumped with a heavily gloved fist during the Canadian winters and often as not the aircraft was in turbulence. The transmitters could not be tuned until the aircraft engines were started. Then the case clip was moved onto the shoulder of the knob to clamp while tuning up. If tuning was started in the cold, then the aircraft batteries would revert to zero! Further the cunningly designed bakelite case was to enclose any spark gap in order not to blow up the aircraft in the event of a fuel leak! (Com-Centre Communicator Issue #6, MM #71.)"
Two ex RNZAF Wireless Operators, visiting the Kapiti Coast Museum, stated that the aerial behind the aircraft was 120 feet long. If the plane had to ditch over water, the operator would place the clip onto the shoulder of the knob and watch the meter on the transmitter. When the lead weight on the end of the aerial shorted in the sea, the operator would advise the pilot that the height was now 50 feet. (These operators told that they had both once in their careers forgotten to wind the aerial up before landing. The aerial made a fierce twang as the lead weight caught on a fence and the operator would be expected to replace the missing weight, at a cost of five shillings, from his own pocket!)
The following text is from an article called "The Key That Won the War" by Reg Godwin, G3VDH, and appeared in the newsletter "Fists Club Down Under" Oct 2001.
"One of my earliest radio-related memories as a child, was of playing with some items my father had rescued from his days as Wireless Operator / Mechanic in the RAF during WWII.
A favourite item was an ugly looking lump of brown Bakelite with a doorknob shaped knob on the top and two brown terminal posts. I called it ?The Pig?, but in reality it was an RAF type F (10F/7741) Morse key, known to most amateurs as the ?Bathtub Key?.
This key was standard issue in most RAF aircraft both pre and post war, being associated with the R1082 / T1083 TX / RX combination, which developed into the famous R1155 / T1154 double act. All the heavy bombers, Lancaster, Halifax and Wellington aircraft were equipped with this combination of TX / RX and Bathtub key. They were still made up to 1967 and have been spotted in Canberras, in the early nineties.
It had several interesting features: - The base of the knob was shrouded in a leather or rubber diaphragm and this, together with the totally enclosed Bakelite case, prevented the key from igniting inflammatory mixtures of fuel vapour and oxygen. Conversely, it was relatively fireproof if the worst happened to the aircraft.
The case was also designed to be weatherproof for use in open-cockpit planes and later in rescue launches. The heavy Bakelite case also protected the operator from the 1kV across the key terminals!
An unusual feature of the key was a spring clip at the front of the case, which could be flicked forward to hold down the knob and send a continuous carrier. This was used not only in tune-up, but if the aircraft was in trouble, the crew could bale out leaving the carrier on, to enable the DF stations to get a fix on their position.
From the amateur point of view, there are very few who enthuse about the key's extremely heavy action, even on minimum spring tension. This is due to the use of a spring-loaded V notch instead of the normal bearings, designed so that the key could take a pounding, from the gauntlet-clad fist of the wireless op who was himself being tossed about by turbulence and often ground fire. The keys were also used in Air Sea Rescue launches, where heavy seas, gave the same problems of stability as in the aircraft. Operators rarely sent above 12 wpm in these conditions, even though they qualified at 22wpm.
The type F key was made in Mill Hill, London and there were versions made for use in the Canadian RAF which were black in colour.
This unique key will always have a place in my heart, as I used it to gain my Morse test and my class A license, as a 15 year old, in 1966. ?Long live the Bathtub Key!?"