TNT History Archives: Turks Mull Russian SIGINT Lessons-Learned (1927)/Part III/FINAL

//Ed. note: In this example, the Russian author touts the 
value of SIGINT collection of targets at sea.  Although
difficult to see, the map below depicts primarily the Black
Sea and ships with wireless stations along the Turkish 
coast that have been tracked through Russian SIGINT.  

The two tracking stations at Sevastopol on the Crimean 
coast and Lazarovski (Sochi) look like semicircular fans.

While the author was no doubt preoccupied with the 
Russian Civil War at this time, May 1921, there was 
another war going on between Turkey and Greece.  
The ships in the Black Sea the Russians tracked were l
ikely Greek, British, Italian and French vessels penning 
in the Turks.

Turkish gun-running in the Black Sea click here for a
report about the exploits of the 'Alemdar', a Turkish 
ship that ferried guns and ammunition sent by the 
Bolshevik government to the Turkish independence
forces, from Novorossysk to the Turkish Black Sea
coast.//

"This map shows the Black Sea, Sea of Marmara and the Mediterranean

Sea, relative to the Eastern Front (of the Russian Civil War), based on

collections taken from location-fixing stations at Lazarovski (Sochi)

and Sevastopol.  Active wireless stations are shown within the 

imaginary lines eminating from the two location-fixing stations.

The target stations are clearly shown at the intersecting points of the 

imaginary lines' directions.  The curved lines show the change of 
position of the target stations, as discerned by the location-fixing
stations.  

The date of the collection is May 1921. For example, a wireless 
station that was in the vicinity of Batum on 2-3 May, moved further
west on 3-4 May and was tracked up until 12-13 May, after passing
through the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara to the Aegean Sea.

Subsequently, its position could not be determined because it had 
left the area beyond which its signal could not be heard.  Yet,
another target station, despite being quite far from the surveillance
point, was tracked from Istanbul to Beirut.  

The value of the location-fixing capability is especially relevant for
coastal defense during wartime.  In addition, the sea is quite amenable
to astronomical or meteorological observations that the location-
fixing stations can help with.  Also, commercial shipping vessels that
have a wireless station can contact a shore-based location-fixing station
in the event of a storm at sea that blinds them with regard to their 
position.  According to information that has been obtained, these 
capabilities currently make the location-fixing stations very popular
with governments in Europe and America." 

//END of PART III/FINAL//