A RE-TYPE OF AN ARTICLE
ABOUT ANOTHER FAMOUS VLF SITE {RUGBY BEING THE MOST FAMOUS OF COURSE!}
NORTHWEST
CAPE [AUSTRALIA] – CALLSIGN N W C
TAKEN
FROM THE R.N. COMMUNICATOR MAGAZINE SPRING 1968
Article submitted by
the Royal Naval Communication Centre [RNCC] Singapore by an unnamed author.
NOTE:
The first part of this page is interesting [at least I think so] and innocuous.
However, the attached link URL, is very scary and I cannot believe that I am an
ex submariner, a former user of NWC, well turned 66 years of age, and I have
never heard this story before. If you dont read the whole thing, read Part 1 and
view the image file.
“Navcomsta
{Navy Communications Station} Northwest Cape lies about 850 miles north of Perth
as the kangaroo jumps and for those of you who have started to hear of this
place but know little about it, a brief description follows.
After a prolonged survey of likely sites for a VLF
station to cover the Pacific and Indian Ocean areas the US Navy decided in 1960
that the deserted bush at NW Cape was perfect.
Negotiations with the Australian Government followed whilst plans were
drawn up and, in 1963, 18,000 acres of land were set aside for use by the US
Government for a nominal fee. In 1963 [October] the first spade was driven into the ground
and anyone who knows the Australian outback will appreciate how tough a job that
is. And then, streets ahead of
schedule, in August 1967 the callsign ‘NWC’ was first heard on the air.
And, judging from some reports, the callsign NWC has been heard
practically all around the world.
Originally intended only to house the new VLF station, plus administrative
facilities, it was later decided to add an HF receiver and transmitter complex.
With the addition, now, of a satellite terminal, the Navcomsta NW Cape
must be about the most modern military radio station.
Apart from a Royal Australian Navy Liaison Officer, the whole complex is manned
by the USN – if manned is the right word, for they have two Wave officers and
some nursing sisters on the staff. A
USN Captain is the first [and present] commanding officer of a station that
includes about 20 officers and 300 men.
Being new, the station is also somewhat novel to the average Brit. The security regulations might have been written and produced
by the late Ian Fleming. Disembodied
voices invite one to ‘State your name and business’ when the appropriate
door bell is pressed. Assuming one
answers this satisfactorily , a ghost [presumably] opens the door, for when I
did so the door eventually opened, as they say in the adverts, ‘untouched by
human hand.’
The object of the VLF station was to improve submarine communication coverage in
the Indian Ocean and the Pacific. It
certainly does that, but the old polar diagram needs checking. It’s improved reception even up the Bristol Channel
according to one submarine.
Needless to say, the vital part of this station is the VLF aerial and this needs
a photograph to do it justice. It
is arranged in a rough circle, each aerial being ‘panelled’ to permit easy
maintenance and, of course, the amount of wire used to arrange optimum radiation
is staggering. One thing no one
told the designers. They installed
some plastic covered insulation pieces in the aerial system.
The station had hardly been commissioned when all the plastic insulation
started to disappearing. The white
cockatoos were eating it.
So, if ever your ship is in the vicinity of Exmouth Gulf, see if you cant go
alongside the NW Cape Jetty and take a look at the modern wireless station.
But take a tip, don’t let anyone pipe “hands to bathe”.
The water abounds in poisonous fish of many varieties”.
Apart from the spelling mistakes, the suspect syntax and the technical
inaccuracies [e.g. HF transmitters and receivers AERIALS are not to be found at
the same site], the article gave one a pretty good idea of what the new station
was all about. Enroute to the UK [via the Pacific] from a two and half year
commission based on Singapore [see my page ADEN.htm],
we [H.M. Submarine “AURIGA”] used NWC for our signals, finally chopping to
GBR on leaving Bermuda on the home leg. It
was a good station with a huge power output.
In telling you this story, I though
I would add one of my now customary maps to help you with the geography lesson.
Just as well I did I think, because the name North West Cape is misleading at
least as far as ENCARTA is concerned, and all my maps come from that source.
Look first at this map
of Western Australia. I have stuck
two pins on the map. The one on the left {out at sea} is in fact North West Cape
proper, and approximately 99 miles to the east, the second pin, is the headland
on which North West Cape [NWC] is sited, only the name of the main land area is
called EXMOUTH. Australians refer to the station as EXMOUTH VLFT
[Very low frequency transmitter]. 
.
The distance between PERTH and the CAPE is in fact 675 miles [as the crow flies!
– and not {as stated} 850 miles: it is about time those kangaroo jumps were
calibrated]. Then in this second
map
I have again added two pins. North West Cape is
show out at sea in position 21° 48' S 112° 33' E whilst the EXMOUTH VLF
TRANSMITTER is in position 21° 52' S 114° 6' E.
The actual VLF station is sited at a location called EXMOUTH at the very
tip of Cape Range, deep inside the Cape Range National Park.
The bay to the right of the VLF station is the Exmouth Gulf which clearly
provides a lee against the Indian Ocean.
Rugby [and Criggion of course] differ greatly from NorthWest Cape [but we know
it is Exmouth really] in several ways probably, but for the time being I am
going to concentrate on just three differences. Firstly Rugby is at…guess
where?….Rugby of course – we Brit’s are good navigators whereas, as
discussed, Northwest Cape isn’t……isn’t at Northwest Cape.
Secondly, Rugby was built by the British, in Britain, for the use of the
British…Northwest Cape score reads US, Australia, US [with just a couple of
Aussie submarines] thrown in as sweeteners! But, of all the differences, the
most outstanding is that of “ WHAT WAS THE VLF SITE USED FOR”.
Simple question? Not so, as you
will read!
I would like to meet the man who could ‘engineer’ a use for Rugby that is
different from its transparent use, namely for sending signals
[and time signals on VLF] at LF and VLF {respectively
GYD and GBR] to warships and submarines; LF time signals [MSF] to the whole
world; HF transmissions [keyed by Portishead Radio at Burnham Somerset]
for merchant ship services and warships using conventional CW ship-shore
frequencies; and for HF times signals to the whole world.
However,
as I close this little cameo, I am going to pass you over to a web site which
believes that Northwest Cape [Exmouth] was an American device [linked to all
other US VLF stations around the world] which had an AGENDA of mind-blowing
theory. The site even gets near to claiming that the Australian
Prime Minister was murdered by the Americans because he SAW THROUGH THE VLF PLOY
and FOUND THE REAL REASON FOR CALLSIGN NWC.
Have a
look at this, but be warned, it will change your attitude to all things VLF.
Just remember, it has nothing whatsoever to do with us submariners.
This site also shows photographs of the aerial farm at Exmouth. http://www.ellisctaylor.homestead.com/BRIGHTSKIES.html
I will be back with more soon.