IBM 729 the tape reel. A 3/4 inch gap between records allowed the mechanism enough time to stop the tape. Initial tape speed was 75 inches per second (2.95 m/s) and recording density was 200 characters per inch, giving a transfer speed of 120 kbit/s. Later 729 models supported 556 and 800 characters/inch (transfer speed 480 kbit/s). At 200 characters per inch, a single 2400 foot tape could store the equivalent of some 50,000 punched cards (about 4,000,000 six-bit bytes, or 3 MByte). The 729 series was superseded by 9 track tape drives introduced with the IBM System/360. The IBM 729 I
USS Apache (SP-729) Bug" (SP-1795), USS "Sea Hawk" (SP-2365), USS "Kangaroo" (SP-1284), and "SP-729"—to be shipped to France as deck cargo along with spare parts to keep them operational. However, this proposed movement appears to have been cancelled, probably because of the armistice with Germany of 11 November 1918 that ended World War I and eliminated the need for more U.S. Navy patrol craft in Europe. Instead, "SP-729" headed south via the inland waterway in December 1918, bound for Naval Air Station Pensacola at Pensacola, Florida, probably for duty as a crash boat. "SP-729" was decommissioned at Key West, Florida, and stricken from