The Navy Vol_22_Part2 1960 - Navy League of Australia

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BIGGERCAPSTANin anew,modernAlways ask for . . .sizeSHELLEY'SFAMOUS DRINKSObtainable from leading•hops and saloonsCORDIAL FACTORYSHELLEY & SONSMURRAYPTY. LTD.STREETMARRICKVILLENAW.•Phone: LA 5461DRIBAR IWMauri2-6COMPRESSED YEASTVACUUM PACKED'Dribarm' is a special form of compressed yeast,dried under scientific conditions and carefullycompounded with a suitable yeast food.Packed to the high specifications of the AusfalianNavy.Obtainable from: Merchants, Stores, Grocers ordirect fromBrothers & Thomson (N.S.W. Branch) Pty. Ltd.Barrack Street, Sydney — Telephone BX 2601Get your suppliesofVULCATEX RUBBATEX HORNEXfromFORBES KANKEN & SONS PTY.24 Bond Street, Sydney'Phone: BU 346!LTD.NICOL BROS. PTY. LTD.INCORPORATINGPENGUIN HEAVY LIFTING PTY. LTD.&PENGUIN PTY. LTD.ALL CLASSES OF STEAM, DIESELAND GENERAL ENGINEERINGBOILERMAKERS, OXY-ACETYLENEAND ELECTRIC WELDERSPLUMBING AND ELECTRICAL WORKFLOATING CRANE AVAILABLE AT ALL TIMES(20 TON CAPACITY)ALL CLASSES OF MARINE EQUIPMENT FOR SALE10-20 WESTON ST., BALMAIN EAST'Phones: WB3121 — 5 linesAfter Hours: UM 9485, WM 3225, FM 5708Naval CommunicationsWin BattlesATTLES have been lost, forB want of a horseshoe nail,but many more have been lostthrough lack of communicationsor because of faults orbreakdowns in this importantpart of our organisation.In 1942, for example, ourcommunications won a battlefor us. The outlook was grimenough for the worst of pessimists.France out of it, Italyand Japan agair.st us. the latterhaving proved to be a wellorganised,capable and ruthlessenemy. They had capturedhalf a world, including our impregnablefortress at Singapore.They had dealt theI'.S.A. a crippling blow andbad sunk our best ships —PRINCE OF WALES and RE-PULSE, PERTH and HOUS-TON. YARRA and VAMPIRE,and dozens more. The NewWorld in the U.S.A. was notyet strong enough to save theOld, but it was willing to try.So here they were, with seventyships and thousands of men,assisted by H.M.A. Ships AUS-TRALIA, CANBERRA andHOBART to re-capture thecapital of the British SolomonIslands and Guadalcanal. Thislatter was important becausethe Japanese had almost completedan airstrip there, fromwhich they could have successfullybombed the East Coast ofAustralia. With the ports ofNewcastle and Kembla out ofaction. Australia's war effortmight be practically finished.The invading armada had succeededin landing the Marines,together with their warlikestores and equipment. The pacewas a furious one. for we knewthat far away to the North, atRalmul. were many more Japanesein ships, submarines andaircraft, who would probablytake exception to our temerityand doubtless would attempt toput a spoke in our wheel, orperhaps try to knock a fewout.Our gallant little Force ofCoast Watchers, hiding onthese islands in close proximityto, and hunted by, the Japanese,never staying in one spotmore than a few hours, nowcomeinto the picture.They did not know of ouroperations, of course, but oneof them, Paul Mason, Esq.,heard what he considered to beabout forty heavy bomberspass close to him, headingsouth. He, therefore, called upa certain call sign and madethe following message :"FORTY HEAVY BOMBERSFLYING SOUTH 1030 MA-SON," which was safely receivedon the mainland of Australia.The message was thenpassed to Brisbane, from whereit was relayed to Sydney. Fromhere it was relayed to CanberraNaval Radio Station, whotransmitted it to Pearl Harbour,in mid-Pacific. PearlHarbour transmitted it on theship broadcast, and we receivedit in H.M.A.S. AUSTRALIA at1057. That message, whichtook twenty-seven minutes toreach us was a very valuableone. We knew how far NorthMason was. and we knewroughly the speed of heavybombers. We, therefore, knewthe Japanese would arriveoverhead at about midday.We set about making preparationsto greet them, andhoped they'd bring their ownlunch since we hadn't verymuch. We stopped the unloadingof the convoy, got itunder way ill a compact littlefleet, with the warships in atight circle about it, and hadthem going at full speed andzig-zagging.When the Japanese arrivedwe were ready for them, andno ship was hit by a bomb,though several were damagedby torpedoes and one by a suicidepilot.However, without that messagefrom Mr. Mason we.mighthave had such serious casualtiesas to cause our withdrawalfrom the venture. Hence, youmay see the importance of theefficient Communications Organisation.Now, the way theCommunication Organisationworks is as follows:—Admiralty, in London, haswhat are ca'lled "FIXED SER-VICES" with each of theNaval Commands. Each Commandhas Fixed Services withWHITEHALL, and with theneighbouring Commands: andso we in Australia are in touchwith:IX>NDONSINGAPOREWELLINGTON (N.Z.)PEARL HARBOUR.If we want to pass a messageto, say, MALTA, we pass itvia CANBERRA and LON-DON. One for WASHING-TON could go via PEARL,while a message for a ship atsea on the Far East Stationwould go via SINGAPORE.Each Naval Command has itsown internal organisation. Australia'snerve centre is at CAN-BERRA NAVAL RADIO STA-TION in H.M.A.S. HARMAN.This station is connected by aTeleprinter Network to Sydneyand Melbourne, as well asto the R.A.A.F. and Army Network.HARMAN is a MajorTHENAVYJuly, 1*60 3
NAVAL COMMUNICATIONS (Cont.)Tape Relay Station, as well asour Main Railio Station. Sydneyand Melbourne are MinorTape Relay Stations, and theyeach have many tributariesrunning off to outlying stations.For example. Sydneyserves The Flag < Ifficer-iiit'harge.East Australia, theR.A.N. Air Station and theAustralian Joint Anti-SubmarineSehool at NOW HA.H.M.A.S. PENGUIN, H M A S.WATSON, The DOCKYARD,and many other Naval Establishments.Each of these isconnected by teletype or someother means to Sydney SignalCentre, but if a ship has sailed,she must be reached by radio—close to the port she would bereached on the loeal coastalfrequency, but if proceedingfar from port she will have setwatch on the Area Broadcastand will receive her messagesvia CANBERRA N A V A I.RADIO. Each message is numberedanil the ship makes sureher numerical sequence is completeso that no messages arcmissed. She must ask for themissing ones.The messages passing betweenLONDON and CAN-BERRA are usually by RadioAutomatic Teletype (RATT).and many of the ships are fittedto receive RATT as well. Thisis automation entering into thegame, for it is not read by aman using a pencil or typewriter.A teletype operatortypes the message out by teletypeperforator, which makesa tape somewhat after the fashionof the old pianola roll. Theperforated tape, when put in atransmitter head, passes themessage out over the air bymeans of radio signals, wtuch.as they are nicked up in thereceiving ships, works the teletypethere to give a replica ofwhat was originally typed.Ships in harbour obtain theirmessages via Sydney SignalCentre. Urgent signals arepassed at once, either by visualsignalling, by telephone or byradio. Non-urgent messagesare usually collected twicedaily by the orderly or postman.On receipt, the messagesare copied and delivered to thenecessary officers or offices, andare filed ill the correct logs sothat they may easily be tracedor referred to.Confidential or secret messagesare. of course, never madein plain language. These mustbe dealt with by the cryptographicteam, who are skilledin the art of encrypting anddecrypting messages. So skilledare they that sometimes nobodyat all can unravel whatthey have done!The Communications Departmentis the eyes and ears ofHer Majesty's Fleet, and theyarc never closed. Fur twentyfourhours every day. and for:ttifi days in I960 they watchand listen, and they providethe means whereby the Admiralmay receive informationand pass his orders to the shipsand authorities under his command.Mercury was the Messengerof the finds, and the RoyalNavy's Signal Sehool is calledH.M.S. MERCURY because wecommunicators are the messengersof the admirals and wewill put a girdle round theearth (by radio) in about a fifteenthpart of a second.C. H. NICHOLIjS.H.M.A.S. Vampire —Radio Messages go byAutomatic TeletypeU.R.A.N. Margaret Lumaden chocking tape relay.SUUp. like H.M.A.S. VAMPIRE and QUIBERON, at pre^nt aervl» r with the StrategicRewrvr. are In conrtant wtrelew communication with AuMralhJi NavJ^uSJrtSS4 THE NAVYJuly, I960
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The Navy Vol_22_Part2 1960 - Navy League of Australia

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