The First Radio Broadcasts From Ships

Parts 26, 27, 28, 29 and 30

[Taken from: Adventist World Radio's "Wavescan" - (DX Programs 450, 452, 453 and 456). Many thanks to Dr. Adrian Peterson]

26. The Story of another Radio Ship - the VOA Phoenix

According to Greek mythology, the "phoenix" was a large and beautiful bird which could die in a fire and then arise as a new and young creature. Very little else is known about this mysterious bird.

Almost as mysterious is the story of the radio ship Phoenix which was fitted out with a bevy of electronic equipment to serve as a mobile broadcasting station. There are just two main sources for the brief story about the "Phoenix"; one is a university dissertation on the history of the Voice of America and the other is a brief reference in a book on the history of radio broadcasting from ships. All other references to VOA "Phoenix" seem to stem from these two earlier sources.

It is known that the "Phoenix" was not a war vessel, but rather a Greek merchant ship that was converted in the United States for use as a radio broadcasting station. Gerry Bishop, in his memorable compilation of radio ships with the title, "Offshore Radio", refers to this Greek merchant vessel as the "Doddridge", and then he briefly refers to the later ship, the "Courier". It is suggested that in reality, the "Doddridge" became VOA "Phoenix", not VOA "Courier".

We could ask the question, What was the radio equipment on the "Phoenix"? The only information we can find is that it contained just one transmitter, rated at 85 kW. If this information is correct, then it was a mighty big transmitter for a small ship. It would seem that the only broadcast transmitter on the "Phoenix" was a mediumwave unit rather than shortwave.

The original purpose for the radio ship "Phoenix" was to act quickly as a temporary radio broadcasting station in the Mediterranean until a permanent station could be built at a satisfactory location. However, by the time the "Phoenix" was ready to fulfil its intended role in the Mediterranean, the European Conflict was almost over, and so the ship was then diverted for use in the Pacific.

The official date for the end of the European Conflict is given as May 8, 1945, so it would appear then that the "Phoenix" left the United States for its journey across the Pacific around March or April, 1945.

Actually, it is stated that the United States navy delayed giving approval for the ship to move into the Pacific and by the time it did arrive in Far Eastern waters, the war in the Pacific was over. However, it is understood that the "Phoenix" did go on the air with test broadcasts off the coast of California and also in Far Eastern waters. The fact that there are no known DX reports of these test broadcasts would seem to confirm that these were made on mediumwave rather than on shortwave. 

What happened to the "Phoenix" after the war? and what happened to all of its electronic equipment? No one seems to know. What is known is that it was a slow ship and that it did go on the air with test broadcasts in the Pacific around mid 1945, though it is officially stated that the ship was never used for regular radio broadcasting. In addition, there are no known loggings of this ship broadcasting station in any radio magazines at the time.

It would appear then that the radio broadcasting ship."Phoenix" was a temporary and very short lived project that never fully fulfilled its intended purposes.

27. Underwater Broadcast from a Sunken Ship

It was in August 1919, that the 200 ft long freighter, David W. Mills went aground at Ford Shoals, five miles west of Oswego Harbor in Lake Ontario. This event occurred during a fog caused by forest fires in Canada. Efforts to free the ship failed and it broke apart and sank during a violent storm a few days later. 

In 1993, TV station WCNY, the PBS Public Broadcasting Station in Syracuse, New York State, ran a 30 minute documentary regarding this ship, and this broadcast honored the efforts of local tourist personnel to establish an underwater marine preserve for use by recreational divers. This dive site is located a few miles off shore in about 20 ft of water. 

Eighty one years after the ship sank, and seven years after the earlier TV documentary, another TV broadcast was made from the same location, this time live from the site of the wreck, under the water. This live coverage marked the official opening of the underwater site as a recreational dive site.

In advance of the TV program, several dives were made at the site to film footage of the wreck itself which were later spliced into the live underwater program. Above the wreck was another boat, the Russell B, which was fitted out for use as a live TV studio. This surface boat was owned by the Lighthouse Marine of Port Ontario.

On the date of the broadcast, May 3, 2000, several TV personnel donned their diving suits and went down to the wreck of the "David W. Mills". Here they presented a live commentary as part of the special 20-minute TV feature. The complete program was broadcast live by station WIXT9 in Syracuse, and it was relayed also to Rochester. Segments of this unique program were seen nationwide on ABC television all across the States. 

It is now just 84 years this month since the good ship "David W. Mills" sank, an event that was memorialized in two different series of TV programs that went on the air in the years 1993 and 2000. 

28. On the Air in Tokyo Bay

Tokyo Bay is a huge and wide bay that is landlocked and protected by several islands, large and small. Surrounding the bay are many well known cities such as Chiba, Kawasaki and Yokohama, and of course, Tokyo itself. 

Originally Tokyo was known as Edo, the name of a ruling family in the Middle Ages. The name of the city was changed in 1868 to "Tokyo", a name that means "Eastern Capital". 

At the end of events associated with the Pacific War, His Majesty Hirohito, the Showa Emperor of Japan, announced on radio on August 15 1945 that the war was over. The Peace Ceremony was signed on board the navy vessel "Missouri" nearly three weeks later, on September 2. The role that radio played in these events forms an important and interesting chapter in international radio history. 

At the time of the signing ceremony on the aircraft carrier "Missouri", there were 260 Allied navy vessels at anchor in Tokyo Bay. The "Missouri" itself lay at anchor eighteen miles out in the bay and six miles off the coast of Yokohama. An armada of 1900 planes, airforce and navy, flew overhead.

The USS Missouri was launched in January 1944, the fourth navy vessel to bear this title. It was noted on the air in that era by shortwave listeners in the United States, New Zealand and Australia with the callsign, NCBL.

Another navy vessel, the USS Iowa, also played a major role in the relay of radio signals at the time of the historic events in Tokyo Bay. This ship, the "Iowa", was launched in August 1942, and it was often noted on air under the callsign KU1M calling KU5Q on the island of Guam.

At the time of the signing ceremony, many radio circuits were activated to ensure reliable worldwide coverage. The originating point was the main ship transmitters, NCBL, on the "Missouri". Nearby was the "Iowa" which acted as the network control for these broadcasts with its shortwave transmitters under the callsign KU1M. 

The four shortwave transmitters of Radio Tokyo at Nazaki in Japan carried a relay of the broadcast for long distance coverage, which was picked up in Guam, the Philippines and Hawaii for onward relay to the receiving stations in California and elsewhere. And from there of course, the relay became a worldwide radio broadcast phenomenon.

It was on September 2, 1945, at 9:02 am local time that General Douglas MacArthur stepped before the microphone that was set up on the landing deck of the "Missouri" for this historic worldwide broadcast. His wife Jean, was still in the Philippines at the time, living in the German embassy on the edge of Manila. She heard her husband's radio broadcast on a shortwave radio. 

There is only one known QSL from these ships in this era. A QSL letter was received by Ray Simpson, the shortwave columnist for the Australian magazine, "Radio & Hobbies". This letter, verifying the reception of KU1M on the "Iowa" in March 1947, was received from the radio section at navy headquarters in California. At the time, the "Iowa" was on navy manoeuvres off the coast of California and it was noted on 9670 kHz.

29. Two Ships & a Hotel

Back in the year 1993, a special publication in the form of a regular radio magazine highlighted in its 74 pages the early radio history in Australia. On page 8 of this magazine, "The Dawn of Australia's Radio Broadcasting", the story is told of a small radio transmitter that was installed on two different ships in Australian waters.

In 1919, the AWA company asked their Technical Director, William Bostock, to construct a special transmitter for use in the planned tests and braodcasts from two ships in Australian waters. A single Marconi Q-valve from England was used and when it was fed with 240 volts, it glowed a bright cherry red.

This small transmitter was installed in the coastal steamer, Riverina and tested for three weeks during the month of April, 1919. Later that same year, additional similar tests were carried out aboard another ship, the Bombala. These tests broadcast were heard quite widely and were decribed as very successful.

Another occasion of early radio broadcasting is presented in the same article and this one took place three years earlier, in the year 1916. Another AWA engineer, Harry de Dassel, was on board the Royal Mail Steamer, "Moana", one day's journey out from San Francisco. 

On the ship's radio receiver, he picked up an experimental broadcast from the Hotel Fairmount on the water's edge in the northern areas of San Francisco. This broadcast featured advertising for the hotel and several musical recordings. The callsign of this amateur station at the time was 6XG, and five years later this station was granted a broadcasting licence with the callsign KDN.

A quarter of a century later, the Fairmount Hotel again featured in radio broadcasting, this time on an international scale. The American government bought the Fairmount Hotel for the purpose of establishing studios and offices for the new shortwave station KGEI. This station, together with its sister transmitter, KGEX, was heard far and wide during the era of the Pacific War. 

Wavescan 454

On this occasion, we compile our Historic DX Report as though it were written just 90 years ago, in the year 1913. By this time, there are numerous wireless transmitters on the air all throughout the world, but every communication is still made in Morse Code, or its equivalent in different languages. Let’s see what is being heard 90 years ago as we bring you this Historic DX Report. 

SCOTLAND: As a result of the tragic sinking of the Titanic in April last year, a Scottish ship, the “Scotia”, left Dundee on March 8 to patrol the waters of the North Atlantic and to report by wireless the sighting of icebergs in the main shipping lanes. The “Scotia” is equipped with wireless apparatus made by the Marconi company in England and it has been allotted the international callsign MJN. 

ATLANTIC OCEAN: On October 11, the Italian liner “Volturno” caught fire in mid-Atlantic and in response to an urgent appeal using the new SOS signal, ten ships came to the aid of the stricken vessel. A total of 521 people were rescued and transferred from the burning ship to the rescue vessels.

30. The Ship that never Sailed!

Our opening feature in this edition of Wavescan was the long and interesting information about radio broadcasting on the islands of Palau. It is worthy of note that preliminary plans for the shortwave station KHBN called for a broadcast facility to be installed in a ship.

The original intent was to operate an international radio broadcasting station on board a ship and to station it at suitable locations for the broadcast of Christian Gospel programming. After giving serious consideration to this matter, High Adventure announced in 1989 that they were abandoning the concept of a ship radio station as too expensive, too expensive to construct and too expensive to operate.

Following this decision, investigations were made regarding the possibility of establishing their projected station at a suitable location somewhere in Asia; for example, in the Philippines, or Singapore, or Guam. Initially, approval was granted for them to erect their station at Piti, in the center of the west coast of Guam. 

However, environmental concerns came up, and they abandoned Guam in favor of Palau. Their station is located on the western edge of the main island of Palau on a low hill about 500 feet from the waterfront.

Thus the High Adventure radio ship never sailed, and in fact, it never got any further than the initial planning stages.

Click here for Parts 31-33