List of vacuum tube computers


Vacuum tube computers, now termed first generation computers, are programmable digital computers using vacuum tube logic circuitry.
They were preceded by systems using electromechanical relays and followed by systems built from discrete transistors. Later entries in this list may have been built using transistors in addition to vacuum tubes.
This is a list of vacuum tube computers, arranged by date put into service:
ComputerDateUnitsNotes
Atanasoff–Berry Computer19421Not programmable, could solve a system of linear equations
Colossus194310First programmable special-purpose electronic digital computer. Used to break the German Lorenz cipher. Working replica demonstrated daily at The National Museum of Computing, Bletchley Park.
ENIAC19451First large-scale general-purpose programmable electronic digital computer. Built by the University of Pennsylvania's Moore School of Electrical Engineering for the U.S. Army's Ballistic Research Laboratory. Originally programmed by wiring together components, by April 1948 it had been converted to a form of stored-program operation.
19481First electronic stored-program computer, worked June 1948; prototype for the Mark 1. Working replica demonstrated daily in Manchester Museum of Science and Industry
Manchester Mark 119491Provided a computing service from April 1949. First index registers. Replaced in 1951 by Ferranti Mark 1.
EDSAC19491First ran on 6 May 1949, and provided a computing service for Cambridge University until 1958. Working replica being built at The National Museum of Computing, Bletchley Park.
BINAC19491First stored-program computer to be sold, but did not work for customer.
CSIRAC19491Oldest surviving complete first-generation electronic computer — unrestored and non-functional.
SEAC19501First U.S. stored-program computer to become operational. Built by and for the U.S. National Bureau of Standards. Used solid-state diode circuits for its logic. Several computers were based on the SEAC design.
SWAC19501Built for the U.S.'s National Bureau of Standards, it had 2,300 vacuum tubes. It had 256 words of memory, using Williams tubes
ERA Atlas1950 Used 2,700 vacuum tubes for its logic circuits
MADDIDA19506Special-purpose digital computer for solving a system of differential equations. Forty-four integrators were implemented using a magnetic drum with six storage tracks. The interconnections of the integrators were specified by writing an appropriate pattern of bits onto one of the tracks.
Pilot ACE19501Based on a full-scale design by Alan Turing
Elliott 15219501Naval fire control computer, real-time control system, fixed program
Harvard Mark III19511It used 5,000 vacuum tubes and 1,500 crystal diodes
Ferranti Mark 119519First commercially available computer, based on Manchester Mark 1.
EDVAC19511The successor to ENIAC, and also built by the University of Pennsylvania's Moore School of Electrical Engineering for the U.S. Army's Ballistic Research Laboratory. One of the first stored-program computers to be designed, but its entry into service was delayed. EDVAC's design influenced a number of other computers.
Harwell Dekatron Computer19511Now officially the oldest original working computer in the world. Is frequently demonstrated at The National Museum of Computing, Bletchley Park.
Whirlwind19511Parallel logic, approx 5,000 vacuum tubes. First use of core memory.
UNIVAC I195146Mass-produced. 46 were made.
LEO I19511First computer for commercial applications. Built by J. Lyons and Co. restaurant and bakery chain. Based on EDSAC design.
UNIVAC 11011951Designed by ERA, Used 2,700 vacuum tubes for its logic circuits
Hollerith Electronic Computer 1951Initial design by Andrew Donald Booth, then engineered by British Tabulating Machine Company. HEC 1 can be seen at The National Museum of Computing, Bletchley Park.
IAS machine19511Built at the Institute for Advanced Study, sometimes called the von Neumann machine, since design was described by John von Neumann. 1,500 tubes. It was the basis of about 15 other computers.
MESM19511Built near Kiev, used 6,000 vacuum tubes. First universally programmable computer in USSR. Designed basically near to Von Neumann architecture but had two separate banks of memory - one for programs and another for data
Remington Rand 4091952~1000Built by Remington Rand, it was a punched card calculator programmed by a plugboard
Harvard Mark IV19521built by Harvard University under the supervision of Howard Aiken for the United States Air Force
G11952Built by the Max Planck Institute for Physics in Göttingen, esp. by Heinz Billing
ORDVAC19521Built by the University of Illinois for the Ballistic Research Laboratory and was a twin of the ILLIAC I
ILLIAC I19521Built by the University of Illinois in Urbana
MANIAC I19521Built at Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory and based on the IAS computer
IBM 701195219Built by IBM, also known as the Defense Calculator, based on the IAS computer
BESM-119521Built in the Soviet Union
Bull Gamma 31952Made by Groupe Bull and contained almost 400 tubes.
AVIDAC19531Based on the IAS computer
FLAC19533Design based on SEAC. Located at Patrick Air Force Base.
JOHNNIAC19531Built by the RAND Corporation, based on the IAS computer
MIDAC19531Built at the University of Michigan, the first at a university in the Midwest
IBM 702195314Built by IBM for business computing
UNIVAC 11031953Designed by Engineering Research Associates
RAYDAC19531Built by Raytheon for Naval Air Missile Test Center
Strela computer19537Built in the Soviet Union
Datatron1954Commercial computer built by ElectroData Corporation
IBM 6501954~2000The world's first mass-produced computer
IBM 7041954123The first mass-produced computer with floating-point arithmetic hardware for scientific use
IBM 7051954Mostly compatible with the IBM 702, for business use. There is one that is not in operating condition at Computermuseum München.
BESK1954 April1Sweden's first computer and was the fastest computer in the world for a brief time
IBM NORC1954 Dec1Built by IBM for the US Navy Bureau of Ordnance, it was the first supercomputer and the most powerful computer in the world for at least 2 years. 9,800 tubes in logic.
UNIVAC 110219543A variation of the UNIVAC 1101 built for the US Air Force
DYSEAC19541Built by the U.S. National Bureau of Standards as an improved version of SEAC. Mounted in a trailer van, making it the first computer to be transportable.
WISC19541Built by the University of Wisconsin–Madison
REAC 400 1955In 1961 REAC installed for $60,000 at University of Minnesota. General purpose electronic analog computer.
CALDIC19551Designed to be inexpensive and simple to use; it used decimal arithmetic
MOSAIC19551Second implementation of ACE architecture after Pilot ACE.
English Electric DEUCE195531Commercial version of Pilot ACE
Zuse Z22195555An early commercial computer.
ERMETH1955Built by Eduard Stiefel, Heinz Rutishauser, Ambros Speiser at the ETH Zurich
HEC 4 1955Built by Andrew Booth
WEIZAC19551Built by the Weizmann Institute of Science under the guidance of Prof. G. Estrin. First computer designed in the Middle East.
G21955Built by the Max Planck Institute for Physics in Göttingen, esp. by Heinz Billing
Axel Wenner-Gren ALWAC III-E1955Commercially constructed and installed at University of British Columbia and Oregon State University
IBM 305 RAMAC1956>1000The first commercial computer to use a moving-head hard-disk drive for secondary storage
PERM19561Built in Munich
D11956Built by Joachim Lehmann at the TU Dresden
SMIL19561Built in Sweden and based on the IAS computer
Bendix G-151956>400A small computer for scientific and industrial purposes by the Bendix Corporation. It had a total of about 450 tubes and 300 germanium diodes.
TIFR Pilot Machine1956TIFRAC was the first computer developed in India, at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in Mumbai.
LGP-301956~500Data-processing system made by Librascope; bit-serial drum machine with only 113 tubes, along with 1450 diodes
UNIVAC 1103A1956First computer to have hardware interrupts
FUJIC19561The first electronic computer in Japan, designed to perform calculations for lens design by Fuji
Ferranti Pegasus195638Vacuum tube computer with magnetostrictive delay line memory intended for office usage. Second surviving oldest computer in the world.
SILLIAC19561Built at the University of Sydney, based on the ILLIAC and ORDVAC
RCA BIZMAC19566RCA's first commercial computer, it contained 25,000 tubes
Ural series1956–1964Ural-1 to Ural-4.
BESM-2195720+general purpose computer in the BESM series
CIFA-119574First computer built in Romania at Institutul de Fizică Atomică
DASK19571The first computer in Denmark; had an early implementation of ALGOL
UNIVAC 11041957A 30-bit variation of the UNIVAC 1103
Ferranti Mercury195719An early commercial vacuum tube computer by Ferranti, with core memory and hardware floating point capability
IBM 6101957180A small computer designed to be used by one person with limited experience
FACIT EDB 219579
LEO II195711Commercial version of LEO I prototype.
MANIAC II19571Built by the University of California and the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory
MISTIC19571A Michigan State University based on the ILLIAC I
MUSASINO-119571A Japanese computer based on the ILLIAC I
MMIF1957MMIF or Machine mathématique IRSIA-FNRS, devised by a team funded by the Belgian public institutions IRSIA and FNRS, and build at the Bell Telephone Mfg Co in Antwerp, from 1952. In use 1957–1958 in Antwerp, 1958–1959 in Brussels.
Sandia RAYPAC Sandia's Blast Prediction Unit used for Operation Teapot
EDSAC 219581First computer to have a microprogrammed control unit and a bit slice hardware architecture.
IBM 7091958An improved version of the IBM 704
UNIVAC II1958An improved, fully compatible version of the UNIVAC I
UNIVAC 110519583A follow-up to the UNIVAC 1103 scientific computer
AN/FSQ-71958Largest vacuum tube computer ever built. 52 were built for Project SAGE.
ZEBRA195855Designed in Holland and built by Britain's Standard Telephones and Cables
Ferranti Perseus19592
Rice Institute Computer19591Operational 1959-1971, 54-bit tagged architecture
Cyclone19591IAS-type computer at Iowa State College
DERA19591Built by Alwin Walther at the Technical University of Darmstadt; first operative in 1957, development completed in 1959
D21959Built by Joachim Lehmann at the TU Dresden
TIFRAC1960The first computer developed in India
CER-101960The first computer developed in Yugoslavia, it also used some transistors
Philips PASCAL / STEVIN1960Philips Automatic Sequence Calculator; 1200 valves, 10000 transistors, and 15000 germanium diodes. PASCAL and STEVIN are identical, except input-output equipment. Both were used internally.
The Wegematic 10001960Improved version of the ALWAC III-E
Odra 10011960First computer built by Elwro, Wroclaw, Poland
Minsk-11960Built in Minsk
G31961Built by the Max Planck Institute for Physics in Göttingen, esp. by Heinz Billing
Sumlock ANITA calculator1961<10,000/yearDesktop calculator
UMC-11962Developed in Poland, it used the unusual negabinary number system internally
BRLESC196211,727 tubes and 853 transistors
OSAGE19631Close copy of the Rice Institute Computer built at the University of Oklahoma