Marine signal point

A naval signal point is a land station that is used for communications between land services of the Navy and naval vessels in the coastal area.

Tasks and equipment

Ships of the Austro-Hungarian Navy anchor in front of the Pula naval base

In earlier centuries it was customary for warships not to moor in the port, but to anchor in the roadstead in front of their base. In order to be able to communicate with the anchoring ships, signal stations with flagpoles were set up in the naval bases in order to be able to exchange flag signals . Later, these stations were additionally Morse - headlamps equipped.

Many signaling points also received two-way radios , but optical signal traffic was still carried out because it could not be detected electronically. In order to be able to use this advantage beyond the immediate vicinity of the bases, additional signal points were set up in exposed locations such as capes and islands .

Signal points in Germany

The Imperial Navy set up signal points at their most important bases. The German Navy operated five signal points in Wangerooge , Helgoland , Olpenitz , Kiel and Fehmarn , which were subordinate to the naval command service.

When, after the end of the Cold War, the navy's activities relocated from the German coastal area to waters outside of Germany, optical communication lost its importance. The signal points could therefore be converted to unmanned operation with remote-controlled radio devices. As the last German naval signal point, the signal point in Olpenitz was decommissioned in 1997.

The former naval signal point of the Imperial Navy at the first entrance in Wilhelmshaven , now a pilot station
Signal station of the Imperial Navy in Tsingtao
The Helgoland naval signal point was on the lighthouse