H2S Radar

I used to work with someone who worked on the design team and he told me that there were so many problems that someone said ‘this stinks!’ So it ended up with the name of the smelliest substance that they could think of!

Seems it was useful for confirming coastlines and lakes.which is why it seems to have been noted as a navigation aid. It was part of the tools at hand ie OBOE. With time it got better….
Some H2S Mk. IX units remained in service on the Handley Page Victor aircraft until 1993, providing fifty years of service.

lots here…..https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H2S_(radar)

‘Most Secret War’ by RV Jones goes into some detail about this. There is a link to stink bombs….

An alternative explanation is Home Sweet Home. Believe it if you like. There was a list of codewords, and each project simply took the top one. That way they was no temptation to use something that gave away anything about its purpose (or anything else) to the enemy. Other electronic codewords were Monica, Moonshine and Serrate.

Well that’s one version. There is another that claims that someone described the ground mapping radar as a ‘stinker’ and the name was adopted in a slightly less crude form.

An alternative explanation is Home Sweet Home. Believe it if you like. There was a list of codewords, and each project simply took the top one. That way they was no temptation to use something that gave away anything about its purpose (or anything else) to the enemy. Other electronic codewords were Monica, Moonshine and Serrate.