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Re: Radio Direction Finding in World War I
Posted by:
chrisheal
()
Date: May 25, 2016 10:34AM
Hello
I cannot answer your direct question, but the following may be of interest:
Ramsay, David, ‘Blinker’ Hall: Spymaster, The Man who Brought America into World War 1 (Spellmount, Stroud 2009), pp 36-7:
Early in 1915, Room 40’s efficiency was further improved by the development of a network of direction finding stations. DF had originally been developed by Marconi from 1911 onwards … During January 1915, the first weekly maps based on DF information were produced for Military Intelligence, originally detailing German wireless positions and later indicating movements not only of troops but of Zeppelins and aircraft … Hall reasoned that giving the existing wireless stations DF capability would enable them to track the course of German warships … Hall instructed Marconi to set up a DF station, originally in their factory at Chelmsford, which was later moved to the coast at Lowestoft. This was the first unit in a chain of six stations covering the entire North Sea … As early as May 1915, Room 40 had successfully followed the track of a U-boat across the North Sea from the time it had sailed from its base at Emden.
For my own research, I would very much like to know where these DF stations were and whether one of them was a part of the naval wireless station at Hornsea Island, near Portsmouth (which ruins I shall be visiting next week).
Best wishes
Chris Heal
I cannot answer your direct question, but the following may be of interest:
Ramsay, David, ‘Blinker’ Hall: Spymaster, The Man who Brought America into World War 1 (Spellmount, Stroud 2009), pp 36-7:
Early in 1915, Room 40’s efficiency was further improved by the development of a network of direction finding stations. DF had originally been developed by Marconi from 1911 onwards … During January 1915, the first weekly maps based on DF information were produced for Military Intelligence, originally detailing German wireless positions and later indicating movements not only of troops but of Zeppelins and aircraft … Hall reasoned that giving the existing wireless stations DF capability would enable them to track the course of German warships … Hall instructed Marconi to set up a DF station, originally in their factory at Chelmsford, which was later moved to the coast at Lowestoft. This was the first unit in a chain of six stations covering the entire North Sea … As early as May 1915, Room 40 had successfully followed the track of a U-boat across the North Sea from the time it had sailed from its base at Emden.
For my own research, I would very much like to know where these DF stations were and whether one of them was a part of the naval wireless station at Hornsea Island, near Portsmouth (which ruins I shall be visiting next week).
Best wishes
Chris Heal
| Subject | Written By | Posted |
|---|---|---|
Radio Direction Finding in World War I
|
jliller | 05/05/2016 07:25PM |
|
Re: Radio Direction Finding in World War I
|
chrisheal | 05/25/2016 10:34AM |