As the world headed into World War I, the British navy was arguably the best and most sophisticated international intelligence service in the world.
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In a way it had to be, for it was operating in a global environment and needed to know what was happening.
From its ships and bases, a constant stream of intelligence fed back to London. It was already an early expert in what we now call SIGINT, intelligence based on the interception of signals.
When the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) was created, it became an integral element in this global network. It not only provided information, but had access to the global Royal Navy information flows.
As the possibility of war became closer, the RN developed plans to attempt to seize German naval code books.
In December 1912, Lieutenant Commander Walter Thring from the Royal Navy was recruited to the RAN to oversight, among other things, naval intelligence.
An energetic man, Thring quickly had a major impact. Among other things, he created a War Book for the RAN based on the Royal Navy version. This set out the actions to be taken should war break out and played a major role in the RAN’s subsequent fast response.
As the possibility of war became closer, the RN developed plans to attempt to seize German naval code books.
On August 2, 1914, two days before Britain’s formal declaration of war, the RAN received instructions to activate the Examination Service, the name used for search and seizure operations on vessels entering or leaving Australian ports.
By August 8, the RAN had identified seven German targets. By August 10, a copy of the German maritime codes had been seized. This meant that the RAN and Admiralty were able to read German maritime traffic within a week of the war starting.
By September 3, the RAN had captured multiple sets including the signal book of the German Imperial Navy. The effect was that the entire global German naval communications system had been compromised within a month of the war starting.
Initially, all the intercepted traffic was sent to the RAN station in Perth where the first code book had been captured. There Captain C. J. Clare, the district naval officer, had commissioned George A. Pfizer, the senior master of modern languages at Perth Modern School to translate and make copies of the captured books.
Working hard, Pfizer completed his task by August 15, 1914. On that day, copies were despatched to RAN HQ in Melbourne and to the Admiralty by ship. Until they arrived in London, the RAN remained the centre of the global British decryption effort.
You would think that the German navy would have changed its codes after the early loss of ships. In fact, in an astonishing display of complacency, it did not do so until early 1916. The early Australian naval intelligence triumph therefore had long-term impact on the war.
Jim Belshaw’s email is ndarala@optusnet.com.au. He blogs at http://newenglandaustralia.blogspot.com.au/ (New England life) and http://newenglandhistory.blogspot.com.au/ (New England history)
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