[Milsurplus] PT Boat Callsigns

[WA5CAB--- via Milsurplus]

It (the 4-letter call sign) was used in CW traffic, and on carriers could 
be turned on on the LF Homer transmitter.  Voice traffic used the ship's 
tactical call sign.  Which for example for CV-45/LPH-8 was BEARCAT (I think 
because it was the first carrier to fly the F8F).

In a message dated 03/29/2015 18:12:19 PM Central Daylight Time, 
kk5f at earthlink.net writes: 
> Sam wrote:
> 
> >http://www.navsource.org/archives/12/05190.htm
> >
> >They all have Nan callsigns.
> 
> More directly, they have four-character alphabetic call signs beginnig 
> with N.
> 
> Almost all USN vessels have, for more than 80 years.  Like:
> NUBC - USS Daniel Boone SSBN-629 (my sub)
> NBQK - USS Intrepid CVS-11 (my ship)
> NWFM - USS Sawfish SS-276 (my dad's sub in 1944)
> 
> Even oddities:
> NWBE - USS Los Alamos AFDB-7 (floating dry dock)
> NECZ - YT-9 (harbor tug built in 1903)
> NEPR - USS Constellation IX-20 (sailing ship)
> NAPJ - USS Constitution IX-21 (sailing ship)
> 
> NERM - USS Los Angeles ZR-3 (rigid airship)  Civil aircraft of that
>        era had five-character alphabetic calls starting with K.
> 
> So just about anything USN had one of the 17576 possible Nxxx calls.
> 
> But they were almost never used...certainly not for voice communications.
> It's a waste for the navsource.org website to display any phonetic
> alphabet representation for a ship's call letters be it in the WWII system
> (N = nan) or current (N = nancy).
> 
> On the extremely rare occasions that I as OOD communicated by voice from
> my SSBN to another unit, tactical call signs were used.  Our call NUBC was
> without significance...it was never used or cited.
> 
> I'm certain the same was true of PT boats in WWII.
> 
> Mike / KK5F
> 

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