# Morse Keys



## Mayday (May 26, 2009)

Has anyone got an interesting story to tell about morse keys and morse communications?

Referencing actual keys, if the morse key from the Titanic could one day be retrieved what value could be placed on it? What would someone be prepared to pay if the Titanic morse key appeared on EBAY?

So, interesting stories. Can anyone reecall any actual morse conversations which should go down in history as being uniquely memorable?
As an example, I recall being in the vicinity of Guam when there was a wedding ceremony taking place over a morse connection between a bride operator stationed at Guam and a groom operator at San Francisco radio, KPH or KFS, I do not recall which.

And also, a quite hilarious response to a CQ request from a FOC vessel requesting QRU? from an obviously bored sparky FOC de cq QRU? How I laughed, the third mate thought I gone bonkers, wearing headphones, today they call it dementia but they can't hear what I can hear.

Regards, John McKay. + Grouse.


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## RayL (Apr 16, 2008)

In the 1960s it seems the U.S. was still using old Liberty and Victory ships to ship supplies to south-east Asia (it was the height of the Vietnam War). In Jan 1967 I was R/O on the Speybank and for four days we were in the queue to enter Bangkok. The Greenway Victory was on its way and its radio operator was trying but failing to be heard by Bangkok Radio. No one was offering to relay on his behalf so I did, but it was an extremely laborious process because the operator seemed only half-trained and was excruciatingly slow in both receiving and sending.

Perhaps the remains of that ship now exists as a permanent exhibit in Portland, Oregon, who knows? I gather some prows were saved for that purpose, memorialising the fantastic production effort that brought those vessels into being in WW2.


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## Troppo (Feb 18, 2010)

Re the key from MGY (Titanic).

One of the dives to the wreck explored the radio room - there is very little left, and the key certainly was not visible in the pics I saw...


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## Naytikos (Oct 20, 2008)

posted by RayL
_ and for four days we were in the queue to enter Bangkok_. 

By April the queue was 19 days. I too was surprised by the WW2 relics used by the U.S. to convey supplies. Some of those same museum-pieces were resurrected a second time for the first Iraq war. The re-commissioning involved installing window-type airconditioners and refrigerators in cabins before anyone could be persuaded to sign on. (A local resident owns a shipyard where some of them were brought back to life).


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## RayL (Apr 16, 2008)

Very interesting Naytikos, thank you. I guess we're a bit the same here in regard to our fire engines--they keep the old 1950s "Green Goddesses" in storage somewhere in case ever needed (or at least they used to).

Four days was bad enough, so 19 days must have seemed an eternity.


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## RayL (Apr 16, 2008)

Re my #2 post above. I tried googling the phrase "victory ships" and found a full list of the names. This revealed to me that my memory had been at fault and the ship I assisted in Feb 1967 was the S.S. Greenville Victory. I then went on to find a web page dedicated to that ship and it confirmed that she was used to ship military supplies to war zones for decades after WW2. She was laid down in L.A. on 21 Mar 1944, launched 28 May 1944 and delivered for service 8 Jul 1944. She entered the Reserve fleet 22 Mar 1976 and was sold for scrap 26 May 1983. The name Greenville comes from a county in South Carolina.


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## BobClay (Dec 14, 2007)

Once in the 70's we were berthed next to a Russian ship in Madras. They came aboard and asked us if we could lend them a film, so we dug into the Walport Box and came up with 'Get Carter' and they invited us to come along and have a drink and watch the film, and possibly explain what was going on. I'm sure they showed the film reels in order 1,3,2 but in all fairness that didn't seem to matter, a bit of sex and violence apparently was a big improvement on their films. The sparky invited me up the radio room and impressed me with a huge water-cooled transmitter (I was off a Bank Ship with the Oceanspan set up) but when I examined his morse key it had a 'US Army' stamp on its base. I looked at the Russian sparky and he shrugged his shoulders and said in broken English: "It's a bloody good key." Says all you need to know about the Cold War really. By the way, the Russians really know how to drink. I got back to the Weybank in a wheel barrow. Good night though (I think.)


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## johnvvc (Feb 8, 2008)

*morse communications...*

"Has anyone got an interesting story to tell about morse keys and morse communications?"

When I worked at AngleseyRadio/GLV we had a ship come up on 500 (the distress/calling frequency). His morse was a trifle erratic and very slow. We were used to all sorts and after a bit of an effort we got this guy off 500 and on to working frequencies.

Apparently the Radio Officer had been taken ill and this was one of the mates on the key! He explained that he couldn't keep a regular watch but would come up on the radio at certain times to check for messages and I seem to remember we made a sked to meet him on working frequencies at the appointed times. They were heading for Liverpool. They arrived ok and we never heard any more about it. 

On reflection I wonder why he didn't come up on r/t - maybe he was mike shy !!! (Jester)


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## sparks69 (Dec 18, 2005)

Once in Naples I was asked by the O/M if I could have a chat with the R/O on an adjacent Niachos tanker called Jules (the R/O not the tanker). The agent had said comms with the World Whatsit had been very difficult. So, for a laugh, I walked over to the WW and met this hippy looking chap who asked if I could set up the RCA radio gear to work on R/T as he didn't know morse. I did this and left him with a list on how to get onto 2182 and a couple of HF RT frequencies and told him to read his handbook about radio procedures. I left him with the parting advice that using 2182 might be a good idea on his way over to the USA if anything went wrong with him, the crew or the ship. Never heard of him again. I always wondered what happened to him. One always liked to help a fellow Brit !


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## Troppo (Feb 18, 2010)

sparks69 said:


> I could set up the RCA radio gear to work on R/T as *he didn't know morse*.


What?

(EEK)


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## Naytikos (Oct 20, 2008)

I completely agree with R651400. Niarchos attached great importance to the company sked and one had to be very slick to keep up with all the other R/Os.

However: there was an old chap called Julian who had been around since day one and was known personally by Mr Niarchos. He would only sail on the old I-class tankers, which were all fitted with RCA gear. Unfortunately he had brain cancer, (attributed to a life-time of proximity to bare transmitter feeders in radio rooms), and had a very short attention span so could not cope with getting a QRY from a coast station. So he always passed his traffic to another company ship on the sked; generally one or two chaps on a similar route would look after him for the duration.
This may be the same fellow as described by sparks69.


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## Troppo (Feb 18, 2010)

How could he be the "Commodore R/O" if he didn't know morse?

(EEK)


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## trotterdotpom (Apr 29, 2005)

I'm astonished to read that two former Niarchos employees seem to find it acceptable that someone who wasn't up to the basic bread and butter tasks (allegedly). Wonder how hoe coped on those most important skeds?

John T


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## Troppo (Feb 18, 2010)

Let alone if he had to send an XXX, or, god forbid, an SOS.....


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## trotterdotpom (Apr 29, 2005)

R651400 said:


> The Justin/5LLV (probably now sk) I knew who was on first name terms with Niarchos and knew Troyba Piraeus like the back of his hand could beat the pants of anything I've seen so far on this forum.



He knew the boss and the red light district - that's clever. Beat the SN members at what? It would have been handy if he could send his own wires.

John T


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## trotterdotpom (Apr 29, 2005)

I'm talking about the useless article that Sparks69 was on about and who you thought might be your pal, Justin.

John T


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## trotterdotpom (Apr 29, 2005)

R651400 said:


> Yes you do seem to do most of SN's talking.
> Try reading for a whiliie...


I'm cut!

John T


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## sparks69 (Dec 18, 2005)

Ref my bit about Jules. The date was 18th of February 1970 according to my diary. Jules, probably in his late teens or early 20s, was QUOTE _A student at Warwick (UK) University earning some money to subsidise his grant_ UNQUOTE.
Could have been wrong about the make of gear but it was a big ugly looking metal consol.


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## Troppo (Feb 18, 2010)

OK - we have cleared that up.

It wasn't teh Commodore...(Jester)

So, why was the ship carrying a clearly uncertificated R/O?

Why did the super duper radio super allow it?

Or, was Jules a good mate of the owner?

B\)


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## Naytikos (Oct 20, 2008)

Given the age-range, it obviously wasn't the same chap I was referring to either (who may or may not have been the same one R651400 mentions).

The five of us have now contributed mightily to the art of developing a discussion about nothing at all simply due to a confusion over names and ages.

John T: Well I don't know that 'finding acceptable' is quite right. However in the sixties there was a dearth of R/Os and companies would try different sources of supply. At one time Niarchos sponsored a radio school and donated all of the gear from a couple of scrapped ships. I had one of it's products as a trainee (under Greek law even R/Os had to have sea-time before getting their ticket); he was absolutely useless and I told Ian Davies (the Radio Superintendant referred to by R651400) so. However the chap was handled by the Piraeus office and so may well have ended up on his own ship at least until the first port of call! Another source was R/Os from Filipino fishing boats.......
That didn't work either.


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## Troppo (Feb 18, 2010)

70 quid a month! 

Serious money in 1960.

(Thumb)


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## trotterdotpom (Apr 29, 2005)

R651400 said:


> Can't vouch for 1970 but in 1960 this is one example of how Niarchos radio super I Davies head-hunted...
> 
> Url from Ian Coombe's excellent Radio Officer Nostalgia site:-
> 
> http://iancoombe.tripod.com/id20.html


I received a similar letter from Townsend Ferries when I obtained my 1st Class.

John T


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## Willum (Feb 20, 2012)

A Morse story. I was an R/O on QE2 there were 5 of us at any one time. Our first vist to China was about 1980. The usual method of sending info to the ships agent was by telex but this had not reached China yet. We sent the whole passenger list with name passport number DOB and nationality to the shore, all 1500 passengers by morse on probably 8Mhz. We took it in turns to send 1/2 hour on and it took most of the day. Probably one of the longest 'QTC's or telegrams ever sent. When we got to the port the next day the Agent said, 'Thats ok you could have handed it over on arrival'


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## BobClay (Dec 14, 2007)

Willum, I had a bit of that, although not so enormous as yours. We picked up some boat people on our way to Singapore, I can't remember how many, but they were sleeping all over the ship (a product tanker as I remember it, so not very large) so there were a few. They were Vietnamese and I had to send a list of names, passport numbers (if they had one,) occupation, description and all kinds of other details I can't even remember. I have to say those lads at 9VG were not only very good, but very understanding given the length of the message. Interestingly we also retrieved a rather clumsy looking Chinese made Kalashnikov, and that generated more bloody radio traffic any half dozen of the refugees. I often wonder at all the stories that have passed through a morse key from ships over the best part of a century, for sure would make a good read.


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## Troppo (Feb 18, 2010)

Willum said:


> When we got to the port the next day the Agent said, 'Thats ok you could have handed it over on arrival'



Oh dear....bet the comments form the radio room were unprintable...B\)


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## J. Davies (Dec 29, 2010)

Morse and Morse keys ... a surprising way to make friends. Working on Swire ships in the Far East we often berthed at Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea (plus some of the smaller wharves around the coast like Lae, Kietta and Wewak). The radio manager at P2M was an expatriate Italian living there with with his family. The station was not exactly busy and this guy would often chat about all sorts of stuff on the key after we had exchanged QTC's. It led to me being invited to the station and to his house for dinner with the family. It was very memorable.

The same thing happened earlier when I was working on the South African coast. The ZSC operators were quite bored late nights and would chat on CW on MF or HF. I recall several riotous evenings ashore with those guys in Capetown. 

These days I still try to maintain friendships using Morse as a ham operator. Whilst visiting Japan on business trips or vacation I have met some wonderful CW amateur operators who I had chatted with on the air using CW, and visited their homes and consumed vast quantities of the amber liquid at various nightspots in Tokyo and Kobe.

Morse is not quite dead !

73
John


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## RayL (Apr 16, 2008)

Just stumbled on my old basic Morse key and other fifty-year-old sea mementos in the shed during a major clear-out. The key is screaming for refurbishment (it won't even move at present) and a mouse has nibbled off the edge of various do***ents. It's a message from Old Father Time, for sure.


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## J. Davies (Dec 29, 2010)

Here's some you may recognise or have sailed with, all in my collection.

L-R
Amplidan, supplied with SP Radio ship stations. A superb key.
GHD, a Japanese key made for the amateur radio market.
Marconi 365B, one a of several variants supplied with MMIC ships.
Kent, for the amateur market.


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## trotterdotpom (Apr 29, 2005)

Nice to have a fireproof key but where do you get a fireproof operator to use it?

John T


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## beedeesea (Feb 28, 2006)

I always assumed that they meant that the key wouldn't burn, I gather now that they meant the key wouldn't CAUSE a fire, by sparking amidst fumes, etc. Am i correct?

Brian


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## morseman2020 (Oct 28, 2020)

Mayday said:


> Has anyone got an interesting story to tell about morse keys and morse communications?


An interesting story here.....








German Klopfertaste ( knocker key) M99 1914- Refurbishment


cwcom, morse key, refurbishment, morse over the internet,




nemosphotography.blogspot.com





and a "companion" story to the above, here...









German Klopfertaste ( knocker key) M99 1914- Refurbishment


cwcom, morse key, refurbishment, morse over the internet,




nemosphotography.blogspot.com


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## majoco (Oct 15, 2008)

I bought an Amplidan on our local web auction site reasonably cheaply - I think it was around NZ$80 say £40 or thereabouts. I had no knowledge of them so did some Googling and found they are/were in great demand by collectors - the last of the new ones went for about US$350. On inspection mine had met with an accident at some time - the bakelite (?) base had been 're-manufactured' - in fact it looked pretty good - two layers of 3mm plastic glued together, the lower one being hollowed out to clear the screws and conductors of the top layer. I don't the the knob is genuine either but it's pretty close. I now have it screwed onto a block of schist so I can slide it around the bench but it stays put when keying.


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