Bismarck's Radio Messeges

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DJ Jugenaut

Bismarck's Radio Messeges

Post by DJ Jugenaut »

Hi all.

I have a question about how Radio messages were received and sent by the Chief of Fleet, for example. Did he directly speak into a microphone of the radio equipment or did he dictate them to his assistant, who would then take the message to where a technician would relay it to Group North, for example?

Also, how did he receive them? Did he hear the audio or was it brought to the bridge by an assistant from an area presumably meant for radio messages and telegrams?

Another question: How many were sailors were actually wearing a life jacket when the ship went down?

Thanks in advance.
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Re: Bismarck's Radio Messeges

Post by tommy303 »

Normally, the radio used was a Lorenz transmitter and receiver utilizing a key and morse code rather than a voice system which would tend to be too short ranged except for ship-to-ship or ship to air transmission. If security was a concern, messages between ships in visual sight of one another could be sent using signal lamps or signal flags. For ship to shore messages between the chief of fleet and Group HQ on land, Luetjems would most likely dictate the message to a staff member who would then have the message double encoded using the Enigma machine and the Offizier and Stab encryption proceedures. The encrypted message would then be taken to the radio transmitting room where it would be sent.

Received messages were written down by the wireless operators and sent to the decoding room. A double encrypted message using the Offizier and Stab proceedure would be decoded once in the decoding room and sent to the Admiral's staff where the Fleet communication officer would decode the second encryption and give it to the admiral.

As to how many sailors were wearing a life jacket when the ship went down, impossible to say except that probably the majority would have had them as putting one on was standard abandon ship proceedures.

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Re: Bismarck's Radio Messeges

Post by Dave Saxton »

tommy303 wrote:Normally, the radio used was a Lorenz transmitter and receiver utilizing a key and morse code rather than a voice system which would tend to be too short ranged except for ship-to-ship or ship to air transmission. If security was a concern, messages between ships in visual sight of one another could be sent using signal lamps or signal flags. .
The Kriegsmarine did have three alternative Talk Between Ships (TBS) systems, or radio telephones, they could use for short range (unsecure)communications. The primary system was by Telefunken operating on the UKW (Ultra Kurz Wellen)frequency bands. The antennas for these systems on Bismarck were whip type mounted on the mast heads. An Example of this system in action would be the cries from the confused destroyer Eckoldt asking the Admiral Kummetz to stop shooting at it during the Battle of Barents Sea. Kummetz replied that it wasn't German cruiser Hipper that was shooting at it but enemy cruisers instead. These radio transmissions were monitored and recorded by the enemy and were expected to be.

A second TBS system available was more secure. This system called the FA-70 was manafactured by GEMA operating on (G wellen radar frequency band) the UHF band. This system incorporated voice scrambling and de-scrambling. This was likely the system being used between Scharnhorst and destroyer Z32 and other destroyers during the Battle of N Cape at 0925 hours. The British remained completely unaware of these voice communications between Scharnhorst and destroyers and so dismissed reports of survivors about them.

There was also another Telefunken TBS system operating on 50cm wavelength, but I don't know any details about it or if Bismarck operated it.
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Re: Bismarck's Radio Messeges

Post by Dave Saxton »

tommy303 wrote: For ship to shore messages between the chief of fleet and Group HQ on land, Luetjems would most likely dictate the message to a staff member who would then have the message double encoded using the Enigma machine and the Offizier and Stab encryption proceedures. The encrypted message would then be taken to the radio transmitting room where it would be sent. .
As far as I know the Enigma key net that Bismarck would operate remained secure during the time of the Bismarck operation, although Bletchley Park had began to break into other Enigma key nets operated by the Navy at that time, as a result of the U-110 capture and the first weather ship raids.

The Baron researched if any Enigma traffic had given away information to the enemy during the operation and discovered that a Luftwaffe engima message intercept indicated that Bismarck was making for France. Bletchley Park had been breaking into Luftwaffe Enigma messages fairly regular since June 1940.
Entering a night sea battle is an awesome business.The enveloping darkness, hiding the enemy's.. seems a living thing, malignant and oppressive.Swishing water at the bow and stern mark an inexorable advance toward an unknown destiny.
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Re: Bismarck's Radio Messeges

Post by tommy303 »

The Baron researched if any Enigma traffic had given away information to the enemy during the operation and discovered that a Luftwaffe engima message intercept indicated that Bismarck was making for France. Bletchley Park had been breaking into Luftwaffe Enigma messages fairly regular since June 1940.
For the most part, messages between Luetjens and Groups North and West, were not broken until well after the events they were alluding to had already happened--usually three to seven days after the messages were intercepted. Aside from the message Dave mentioned, one other made a contribution to the hunt--ironically before it started. This was an Enigma encoded message sent by Bismarck to group North which indicated that prize crews and charts had been taken aboard the battleship. The message was eventually broken a month later on 21 May, and indicated that Bismarck was being readied for an Atlantic raid. Another contribution to the hunt, indirectly, was the change in origin of messages being sent to Bismarck. Up to about noon on 24 May, messages being sent to Bismarck were sent by the controlling transmitter in Wilhelmshaven, but after noon, messages being sent to Bismarck began to be sent by a new controlling transmitter in France, indicating that Bismarck had passed into the control area of Group West. This indicated that Bismarck was heading to France instead of backtracking and heading back to Norway. This was noted by Harry Hinsley of Hut 4, Bletchley Park, and together with the decrypted Luftwaffe message made it almost a certainty that Bismarck was heading to occupied France.

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Re: Bismarck's Radio Messeges

Post by Steve Crandell »

Dave Saxton wrote:A second TBS system available was more secure. This system called the FA-70 was manafactured by GEMA operating on (G wellen radar frequency band) the UHF band. This system incorporated voice scrambling and de-scrambling. This was likely the system being used between Scharnhorst and destroyer Z32 and other destroyers during the Battle of N Cape at 0925 hours. The British remained completely unaware of these voice communications between Scharnhorst and destroyers and so dismissed reports of survivors about them.
If the British were unaware of it, that implies they weren't receiving it. If that were the case it wouldn't matter whether it was encripted.
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Re: Bismarck's Radio Messeges

Post by Dave Saxton »

Steve Crandell wrote:If the British were unaware of it, that implies they weren't receiving it. If that were the case it wouldn't matter whether it was encripted.
True. The Germans thought all such TBS transmissions were vunerable to interception eventually.
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Re: Bismarck's Radio Messeges

Post by A Raven »

The RN became aware of the use of UHF in 1943, and the first ship fitting for interception and D/Fing began the following year.
The RN first became aware of the use of VHF by the German Navy in November 1939. In Febuary 1940, through airborne interception, the RN became aware of the use of VHF for voice transmission as opposed to noise signals. From June 1940 when the Germans made their first E Boat sortie against the British, the RN monitored these VHF signals for content and traffic analysis.
It was not until early July 1941 that the Germans knew with certainty that their VHF transmissions were being intercepted, and they also believed mistakenly that the signals were also being D/Fd.
The first shipborne VHF intercept equipment went to sea in April of 1941.
The first such equipment on a ship of the Home Fleet was fitted in mid 1941 on the destroyer Cossack.


Steve Crandell wrote:
Dave Saxton wrote:A second TBS system available was more secure. This system called the FA-70 was manafactured by GEMA operating on (G wellen radar frequency band) the UHF band. This system incorporated voice scrambling and de-scrambling. This was likely the system being used between Scharnhorst and destroyer Z32 and other destroyers during the Battle of N Cape at 0925 hours. The British remained completely unaware of these voice communications between Scharnhorst and destroyers and so dismissed reports of survivors about them.
If the British were unaware of it, that implies they weren't receiving it. If that were the case it wouldn't matter whether it was encripted.
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Re: Bismarck's Radio Messeges

Post by tommy303 »

If I recall, TBS monitoring was begun in the RN about 1941-42, but only became generally available about 1943-44.

Their shoulders held the sky suspended;
They stood and Earth's foundations stay;
What God abandoned these defended;
And saved the sum of things for pay.
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