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Re: Seeking WWII radio code names of US warships
Alex Daverede Sep 12, 2020 7:52 PM (in response to gary santos)1 person found this helpfulGary,
What you seek will not be easy to find. The names are known as codes for ship calls and are promulgated by various authorities such as the officer in tactical command (OTC), task force/task group commander, squadron/division commander, and so on.
As you correctly noted, such information needs to be protected, so the documents with this information would be classified. The problem with classified operational information such as this is that the information is readily superseded by newer promulgations and are subsequently destroyed, meaning that few documents of this type survived the war.In my former career as a declassification archivist, I had the good fortune to examine some records salvaged from the wreck of the USS Peary (DD-226). Among the legible documents in this collection was a list written on 23 December 1941 by Commander, Destroyer Squadron Twenty-Nine listing the calls for all of the ships in the Asiatic Fleet’s strike force. Peary’s call was Harry; that for USS Houston (CA-30) was Atchinson. Finding this particular document was a fluke. It was part of the Peary’s Registered Publications collection and would have been destroyed when superseded by a newer issuance of the document. However, Peary was sunk before that happened. The contents of her registered publications safe were somehow preserved, and NARA now holds these records.
I hope you find this information helpful.
A. J.
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Re: Seeking WWII radio code names of US warships
gary santos Sep 24, 2020 12:18 PM (in response to Alex Daverede)Hello Alex,
Been reading action reports from Air Group 12 during Operation Iceberg. One unidentified carrier is 'Hoosier Base', another is 'Pelican Base'. Very frustrating not knowing what ships they were.
Thanks for your assistance
Gary Santos
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