{"id":39244,"date":"2019-08-20T07:49:14","date_gmt":"2019-08-20T11:49:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=39244"},"modified":"2019-08-20T07:49:14","modified_gmt":"2019-08-20T11:49:14","slug":"a-simple-wwii-era-hack-proof-way-to-send-messages-between-ships","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2019\/08\/a-simple-wwii-era-hack-proof-way-to-send-messages-between-ships\/","title":{"rendered":"A simple WWII era &#8220;hack proof&#8221; way to send messages between ships"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_39245\" style=\"width: 778px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/5642900-1565894002.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-39245\" class=\"size-full wp-image-39245\" src=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/5642900-1565894002.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"768\" height=\"549\" srcset=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/5642900-1565894002.jpg 768w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/5642900-1565894002-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/5642900-1565894002-624x446.jpg 624w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-39245\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">U.S. NAVY PHOTO BY MASS COMMUNICATION SPECIALIST 1ST CLASS BRIAN P. CARACCI (via Popular Mechanics)<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Many thanks to <em>SWLing Post<\/em> contributor, Marty, who writes:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Hi Thomas, I spotted this article in Popular Mechanics &#8211; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.popularmechanics.com\/military\/navy-ships\/a28712518\/cyber-snooping-wwii\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>To Prevent Cyber Snooping, The US Navy is Relying on WWII-Era Communications<\/strong><\/a> &#8211; and of course I thought it was about short wave. Boy, was I wrong!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>(Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.popularmechanics.com\/military\/navy-ships\/a28712518\/cyber-snooping-wwii\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Popular Mechanics<\/a>)<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>The U.S. Navy, anticipating a future when a high-tech enemy could read its electronic communications, is going back to a hack-proof means of sending messages between ships: bean bags. Weighted bags with messages inside are passed among ships at sea by helicopters.<\/p>\n<p>In a future conflict with a tech-savvy opponent, the U.S. military could discover even its most advanced, secure communications penetrated by the enemy. Secure digital messaging, voice communications, video conferencing, and even chats could be intercepted and decrypted for its intelligence value. This could give enemy forces an unimaginable advantage, seemingly predicting the moves and actions of the fleets at sea with uncanny accuracy.<\/p>\n<p>Last week, a MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopter delivered a message from the commander of an amphibious squadron to the captain of the amphibious assault ship USS Boxer. The helicopter didn\u2019t even land to deliver it, dropping it from a hovering position before flying away. The message was contained in a bean bag dropped on the Boxer\u2019s flight deck.<\/p>\n<p>The bean bag system, as Military.com explains it, is nearly eight decades old. The system dates back to April 1942, when a SBD Dauntless dive bomber assigned to the USS Enterprise was flying a scouting mission ahead of the USS Hornet. Hornet, about to launch sixteen B-25 Mitchell bombers on a raid against Japan, was traveling in extreme secrecy to preserve the element of surprise. The Dauntless pilot encountered a Japanese civilian ship and, fearing he had been spotted, dropped a message in a bean bag on the deck of Hornet. You can see some archival footage of the event <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.org\/details\/NPC-1703\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">here<\/a>.[&#8230;]<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong style=\"text-align: center; font-size: 1rem;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.popularmechanics.com\/military\/navy-ships\/a28712518\/cyber-snooping-wwii\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Click here to continue reading the full article.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Marty, who writes: Hi Thomas, I spotted this article in Popular Mechanics &#8211; To Prevent Cyber Snooping, The US Navy is Relying on WWII-Era Communications &#8211; and of course I thought it was about short wave. Boy, was I wrong! (Source: Popular Mechanics) The U.S. Navy, anticipating a future [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[7959,6473,676],"class_list":["post-39244","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-communications","tag-popular-mechanics","tag-wwii"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-acY","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":45827,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2020\/10\/free-online-event-matt-zullo-presents-the-the-u-s-navys-on-the-roof-gang-prelude-to-war-october-8-2020\/","url_meta":{"origin":39244,"position":0},"title":"Free Online Event: Matt Zullo presents the &#8220;The U.S. Navy&#8217;s On-The-Roof Gang, Prelude to War&#8221; October 8, 2020","author":"Thomas","date":"October 7, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Aaron Kuhn, who notes that author Matt Zullo will give a free online presentation about his novel, The US Navy's On-The-Roof Gang, Volume One tomorrow (Thursday October 8, 2020, at 16:00 UTC). Click here to register for this free event. Description: THE US NAVY'S\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Books&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Books","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/books\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/OTRG-print-3D-1-e1602094762677.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":27850,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2017\/08\/image-shows-the-extent-of-human-radio-broadcasts\/","url_meta":{"origin":39244,"position":1},"title":"Image shows the extent of human radio broadcasts","author":"Thomas","date":"August 31, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"(Source: Popular Mechanics) Carl Sagan's famous line from his 1990 speech about the\u00a0Pale Blue Dot\u00a0image\u2014\"Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark\"\u2014is an understatement. We might consider our Milky Way, with its estimated 100 to 400 billion stars, a significant fixture in the cosmos. But there\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/gallery-1503605434-20130115-radio-broadcasts-2-1024x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/gallery-1503605434-20130115-radio-broadcasts-2-1024x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/gallery-1503605434-20130115-radio-broadcasts-2-1024x1024.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":59910,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2024\/06\/wwii-radio-history-d-day-broadcasting-and-communications\/","url_meta":{"origin":39244,"position":2},"title":"WWII Radio History: D-Day broadcasting and communications","author":"Thomas","date":"June 4, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Kris Partridge, who writes: With the imminent approach, Thursday, June 6, 2024, of the 80th anniversary of D-Day, followed by operation Overlord. Being both a radio amateur and in the broadcast industry , I have done a little research and find the two items,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Operation-Overlord-D-Day.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Operation-Overlord-D-Day.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Operation-Overlord-D-Day.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Operation-Overlord-D-Day.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Operation-Overlord-D-Day.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":29999,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2018\/01\/the-minerva-tropic-master-a-portable-wwii-era-morale-radio\/","url_meta":{"origin":39244,"position":3},"title":"The Minerva Tropic Master: a portable WWII era morale radio","author":"Thomas","date":"January 7, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"If you're a regular here on the SWLing Post, you've no doubt discovered that I'm a fan of vintage radios. 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To keep temptation at bay\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;AM&quot;","block_context":{"text":"AM","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/am\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Minerva-Tropic-Master-1024x768.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Minerva-Tropic-Master-1024x768.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Minerva-Tropic-Master-1024x768.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":62998,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2025\/05\/patrolling-the-ether-a-wwii-era-film-about\/","url_meta":{"origin":39244,"position":4},"title":"Patrolling The Ether: A 1944 Film About Tracking Down Nazis With Radio!","author":"Thomas","date":"May 25, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor Fred Waterer, who tipped us off to Patrolling the Ether\u2014a 1944 short film produced by the U.S. Office of War Information. This wartime documentary highlights how amateur radio operators and federal agents collaborated to monitor the airwaves and track down enemy spies. A fascinating\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Ham Radio&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Ham Radio","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/ham-radio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/zaB_w-j6bvg\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":17887,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2016\/03\/wwii-sussex-home-provided-bletchley-park-with-intercepts\/","url_meta":{"origin":39244,"position":5},"title":"WWII: Sussex home provided Bletchley Park with intercepts","author":"Thomas","date":"March 22, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"(Source: Eastbourne Herald) Much has been written about Bletchley Park and the decoding of German Enigma signals. However, the code breakers first needed the raw material \u2013 transcripts of enemy messages. The British Y Service was the \u2018ears\u2019 of Bletchley Park and without this, code breaking was impossible. There were\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"SWLingPost-Numbers1","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/SWLingPost-Numbers1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/SWLingPost-Numbers1.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/SWLingPost-Numbers1.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39244","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39244"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39244\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39244"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39244"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39244"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}