When in Winnipeg, Charles Goodeve had served in the Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve and in England he also joined the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve. In 1936 he was then promoted to Lieutenant Commander and in 1939 he started to work at HMS Vernon. While working at HMS Vernon he specialized in ways to spot threats of mines. He then developed a technique called the "Double L" for minesweeping magnetic mines. Minesweeping is the practice of removing explosive naval mines. Later Charles developed the degaussing method. This method was used for reducing the magnetic field around ships which would set off mines.
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| Picture of The Hedgehog used during World War 2 |
In 1940, Charles Goodeve applied the British production of the Swiss designed Oerlikon 20 mm cannon. This was needed for anti aircraft protection on naval ships as well as merchant ships. Charles then renamed his group to the Directorate of Miscellanous Weapons Development (D.M.W.D). This group went on to work on antisubmarine warfare and developed the hedgehog. This was an array of spigot mortars that threw small contact fused bombs ahead of a ship. By the end of the war the hedgehog had stopped over 50 U-boats from getting blown up by naval mines and over hundreds of enemy U-boats from passing through. Charles was awarded an O.B.E for his work in developing weaponry.
In 1942 Charles Goodeve was appointed to be Assistant Controller of Research and Development. This allowed Goodeve to have a broad oversight of the Navy's research and development efforts.
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