Radio age research, manufacturing, communications, broadcasting, television (1941)

Communications Secrecy DIFFICULTY ENEMY WOULD HAVE IN DUPLICATING OUR EQUIPMENT AND FOLLOWING SIGNALS GIVES RADIOTELEGRAPHY RELATIVE SECURITY By Ray Hutchens K.C.A. Co7nmntiications, Inc. (Editor's Note: "How long, be- cause of unreasonable trust iyi cable secrecy, viust we continue to play into the hands of the Axis?" asks Editor Ray Hutchens of R. C. A. Communications. Inc.'s magazine 'Relay.' Throwing nexv light on an old argument, Editor Hutchens con- tributes the follou'ing interesting discussion of the relative secrecy of cablegrams and radiograms.") THE followinp excerpt, from the (liief SiKiial Officer's report to the Secretary of War after the first World War, is taken from the November 16, 1920 issue of Tele- graph & Telephone Age, journal of the American communications in- dustry. It exiilodes the false "in- herent-secrecy-of-submarine- cable" theory: "Up to the time of makiuir this study it had been trenerally assumed that it would be impracticable to tap an ocean cable without producinsr an electrical disturbance at the ends which would undoubtedly result in discovery. "After a careful inquiry into the matter. Colonel Carty [the late Colonel John J. Carty, former vice president of the AT&T] reached the conclusion that it might be pos- sible to tap successfully, and with- out discovery, an ocean cable, by employing some recent electrical discoveries. He devised a tentative scheme which was submitted to the engineers of the American Tele- graph and Telephone Company, who FROM SUCH OPERATING STATIONS AS THESE IN R. C. A. CO.MMC.NICATIONS, I.NC.'S, NEW YORK HEADQUARTERS, THIS rOUNTRY IS IN INSTANTANEOUS RADIO- TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION WITH ALL PARTS OF THE WORLD. reported that the scheme was prob- ably workable. Accordingly, ex- perts of that Company and the Western Electric Company under- took the development of the neces- sary apparatus. Radical improve- ments were made by them upon the first suggested idea; special appara- tus was constructed; a ship was equipped and put to sea; connec- tion was made with an Atlantic cable and messages loere intercept- ed, and a clear, legible record of them was obtained. All of this was accomplished without producing any disturbance whatever in the working of the cable. It was clearly demonstrated that cable tapping could be accomplished in this man- ner, and that cable tapping so ac- complished could not be detected by any possible means at the shore ends of the cable." Exit "cable secrecy!" It was sim- ple then, and it would be even sim- pler today, for the electronic art has advanced tremendously in twenty- four years. We would be unimag- inative indeed if we believed that Germany, thorough in all other phases of espionage, would neglect so simple, so important, so inviting a task as cable-tapping. Cables Cut in 1918 During the last war, Germany had no trouble in locating and cut- ting cables connecting the United States with Europe and South America. The account given below is from the log of a German sub- marine officer whose ship, the V-l-'il, was assigned to the task of cable-cutting as an incidental task during a program of mine-laying and torpedoing: "Our next assignment was to cut the cables off New York harbor. We cruised leisurely up the coast, arriv- ing off Fire Island just after sun- down. The morning of May 28, 1918 was fair, with a gentle west wind and calm sea. . . . We could 18 RADIO AGE