Admiralty Knew Every Move of German Fleet

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 227, 14 December 1927, Page 13

Admiralty Knew Every Move of German Fleet

SECRET OF ‘‘ROOM 40” INTERCEPTING AND DECODING ENEMY MESSAGES By Cable.—Press Association.— Copyright. | Reed. 1.25 p.m. LONDON, Tuesday. “The best-kept secret of the war,” is how Sir Alfred Ewing describes "Room 40,” a department of the Admiralty, which was used for intercepting and decoding enemy wireless signals. It was so called to prevent people from inquiring into its activities, and until the secret leaked out very few officials or officers of the fleet were aware of its existence. Sir Alfred Ewing, who is now principal of Edinburgh University, was formerly Director of Naval Education. At the outbreak of the war Mr. Winston Churchill requested him to handle the enemy ciphers department, which grew until it was staffed by 50 cryptographers. Sir Alfred, in addressing the Philosophical Institute, at Edinburgh, apologised for eavesdropping which is usually ignoble, but in war-time becomes a high vocation. He established many listening posts whereat enemy signals were intercepted and telegraphed to Whitehall. Often 2,000 messages a day were received and the Admiralty knew almost everything that the German fleet was doing. The British fleet was th’ereby enabled to give battle at the Doggerbank and at Jutland. From December, 1914, the German fleet did not make a move without the Admiralty knowing • beforehand. The alleged British stupidity was the most valuable asset. Only after the war did Germany discover how it had been hoodwinked. The Germans frequently changed their cipher keys, but “Room 40” became so expert that the changes made no difference. Zeppelins and submarines proceeding homeward were particularly talkative to each other. Decoded messages threw much preliminary light on the Easter Rebellion in Ireland. Germany’s offer of an alliance with Mexico when the United States was wavering, reached “Room 40” and was passed on to Ambassador Page in the' strictest secrecy. Its subsequent publication in the United States resolved public opinion for war.