During the three-year period of internment it had been allowed to deteriorate to such an extent that it would have been necessary to practically rebuild it in order to use it again. The main trouble was caused by the salt water cooling system eating its way through a galvanized iron case and getting into the frequency transformer coils making them unfit for use. It has not been used since. The second transmitter, known as a five kilowatt quench gap set, did excellent work ever since the ship was taken over. It is good for 1,200 miles under fair conditions and has worked 2,200 miles. The third transmitter is a one-half kilowatt spark coil set and can be used from the ship’s power mains for short distances, or in case of emergency (if the dynamos were not working for any reason), it can be used from power supplied by storage batteries. Its radius is about two hundred miles.
Two of the original German receivers were kept, but one was replaced by a later type U. S. Navy receiver. The ship was never out of transmitting communication as the European coast is picked up before the American coast is lost and vice versa. The large transmitting stations of the United States and Europe are copied from any part of the ocean. Honolulu, a high powered station, has been copied while the ship lay in Liverpool, England, a distance of approximately 8,000 miles.
When at sea we had special stations to copy on specified schedules, so that messages to the ship from the United States are copied when the ship is only a few hours from the European ports. These messages are acknowledged after transmitting communication has been established with the United States.
There are three antennæ, or aerials, two used for telegraphic transmission and one for telephonic transmission. All three are used for receiving. The radio telephone set has been installed since the ship was taken over and is an American invention. It is very effective up to twenty miles and has been used to transmit a distance of thirty-six miles from this vessel. It was used during the war for inter-communication among the ships of a convoy or to and from the convoy and their escort, and after the war was used for inter-communication between ships lying in a harbor and the harbor station itself. This eliminates interference with the main harbor station working ships at sea. At the same time it allows the ships in the harbor to work among themselves or communicate with the shore. Prior to the telephone invention this work was done by visual signal when the ships were within visual signal distance with each other or the shore. When not so situated it had to be done by boat, as so many ships using their telegraph would have made it practically impossible for the shore station to work ships at sea on account of the interference. The voice over a radio phone has been proven to be clearer and more distinct than over land line telephones.
On the Leviathan there are three operators and a messenger on duty at all hours of the day and night when at sea. One operator supervises the watch, two are constantly “listening in” with telephones, and one man does the messenger work. Both “listening in” operators copy signals practically all the time when on watch. Each has an antenna and a receiving set of his own and listens on different wave lengths. Two messages may be sent simultaneously, or two received simultaneously, but it is not possible to send and receive at the same time. The two receiving operators sit within a foot of each other, yet it has happened more than once, that while one operator was copying a message from Rome, Italy, at the same instant the other man was copying a message from Balboa, Canal Zone. It is a common occurrence for one operator to be copying a European station while the other copies a United States station. The radio force at present consists of one radio gunner, one radio officer, one chief radio electrician and nine operators.
Upper Row, Left to Right—
Lieut. Comdr. J. W. Ford Lieut. R. S. Skead Ensign H. B. Rowedder
Bottom Row, Left to Right—