Posted on Feb 8, 2023
Communications Intercept: The Early Years (Part 2 of 5)
476
15
2
8
8
0
Intercepts and Cryptology World War One in the Beginning…
The United States was just getting its feet wet in Intercept during World War I. Up to this time radio equipment was elementary with spark and crystal detectors. Even though Lee deForest had invented the audion tube in 1906 to detect and amplify radio waves, the long range radio reception of radio waves did not become practicable until after 1913 when Edward H. Armstrong patented a circuit for the regenerative receiver.
As with anything else, the facts of true beginnings depend on memory and conjecture. When it comes to the beginnings of Intercept on the East Coast of the United States, we must depend on careful comparisons of several versions of each separate incident.
Otter Cliffs, Maine
The U.S. Navy’s radio station at Otter Cliffs, Maine, did an admirable job at what was a relatively new concept – Intercept.
The United States was just getting its feet wet in Intercept during World War I. Up to this time radio equipment was elementary with spark and crystal detectors. Even though Lee deForest had invented the audion tube in 1906 to detect and amplify radio waves, the long range radio reception of radio waves did not become practicable until after 1913 when Edward H. Armstrong patented a circuit for the regenerative receiver.
As with anything else, the facts of true beginnings depend on memory and conjecture. When it comes to the beginnings of Intercept on the East Coast of the United States, we must depend on careful comparisons of several versions of each separate incident.
Otter Cliffs, Maine
The U.S. Navy’s radio station at Otter Cliffs, Maine, did an admirable job at what was a relatively new concept – Intercept.
Communications Intercept: The Early Years (Part 2 of 5)
Posted from stationhypo.com
Cryptology
Military History
State of Maine
WWI
Intelligence
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 2
4
4
0
PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."German Code Books Acquired
The British lucked out in 1914 when they received a copy of SIGNALBUCH KAISERLICHEN MARINE, (SKM). It had been recovered from the German cruiser MAGDEBURG sunk by the Russians earlier that year.
Although in effect until May 1917, the SKM could be used on only a few intercepts until an analyst surmounted the difficulties.
More useful, perhaps, was the HANDELSVERKEHRSBUCH (HVB) recovered by the Australians from the SS HOBART of the German-Australian Steamship Lines. It was found in a secret compartment during an “immigration/quarantine” inspection of the ship. The HVB was used between German naval vessels and merchant ships.
The third code cipher book recovered was in a lead-lined box jettisoned from a sinking German destroyer after war action. That book was the VERKEHRSBUCH(VB).
With these three code cipher books the British cryptographers could provide the Admiralty with more information about the German Navy than before.
Generally, the naval cipher systems used by the Germans were so inferior, so the story goes, that the captain of a German collier supplying the German Pacific Fleet had no trouble understanding a wireless message sent to his ship by Admiral von Spee, even though it was in code and the collier captain did not have the key."
..."German Code Books Acquired
The British lucked out in 1914 when they received a copy of SIGNALBUCH KAISERLICHEN MARINE, (SKM). It had been recovered from the German cruiser MAGDEBURG sunk by the Russians earlier that year.
Although in effect until May 1917, the SKM could be used on only a few intercepts until an analyst surmounted the difficulties.
More useful, perhaps, was the HANDELSVERKEHRSBUCH (HVB) recovered by the Australians from the SS HOBART of the German-Australian Steamship Lines. It was found in a secret compartment during an “immigration/quarantine” inspection of the ship. The HVB was used between German naval vessels and merchant ships.
The third code cipher book recovered was in a lead-lined box jettisoned from a sinking German destroyer after war action. That book was the VERKEHRSBUCH(VB).
With these three code cipher books the British cryptographers could provide the Admiralty with more information about the German Navy than before.
Generally, the naval cipher systems used by the Germans were so inferior, so the story goes, that the captain of a German collier supplying the German Pacific Fleet had no trouble understanding a wireless message sent to his ship by Admiral von Spee, even though it was in code and the collier captain did not have the key."
(4)
(0)
2
2
0
Read This Next
Continue with Facebook 
Continue with Google