GERMAN CODE

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 89, 8 January 1918, Page 7

GERMAN CODE

HOW U-BOATS ARE GUIDED. A United Press dispatch from Stockholm, says the Montreal correspondent of the "Daily Express," 6tates that Allied secret service aud intelligence officers, with the co-operation of the police of the Scandinavian countries, nave 'recently succeeded in unearthing and dispersing large and' well-organised German submarine intelligence office headquarters in Gothenburg, Sweden. The officer discovered a naval intelligence map'of the waters surrounding the British Isles' aid the North Sea. The water area on the map was divided into small squares, each one numbered, Au elaborate code was also found for use in conjunction, with this map. Messages based on this code, although apparently reading like private mercantile telegrams and cable messages, could in reality be deciphered into accurate descriptions of Allied warships 6r of belligerent or neutral merchantmen. Agents were sent from the spy headquarters in Gothenburg to Scandinavian ports, and attempts were made, whether successful or not, to get them into England. These agents were supplied with the code and maps mentioned; and were reporting to headquarters the sailings of merchantmen. It is supposed that in some way the headquarters in Gothenburg communicated the information to German submarines at sea —probably by wireless stations hidden along the coast. One of the chief branches _ tbe Gothenburg office was in Cliristiania. Another branch was in Malmo, Sweden. It is believed that many of the agents of the German spies in Gothenburg were Scandinavians. Fragments of this story have already reached England. .Their 'importance is : trebled in the light of the full details which appear above. A Norwegian paper recently published part of tbe German sea spies's code, as follows:— Code Word. Torpedo-boat Barrel, Ist series ' British' First quality Norwegian Black-painted Swedish B' llo Danish ( Red Russian ...'. Sixth quality An order for "600 barrels, first quality, first series," would mean: "British torpedo-boat in square 500 on chart."