331:) from the fishing fleet equipped with more sophisticated sensors and communication equipment. Very capable crews were assigned to these trawlers of unremarkable appearance. They were assigned to patrol stations off United States naval bases to photograph and report arrival and departure of United States warships and auxiliaries. Other trawlers of similar appearance would patrol weapons firing ranges used by the United States Navy to observe practice firings of modern weapons and record the acoustic and/or electromagnetic signature of the sonar, search radar, fire-control radar, guidance, and/or command electronics of each weapons system. The United States Navy officially designated these trawlers as Auxiliary, General Intelligence or AGI, and they were informally known as "tattletales".
40:
58:
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with steel nets, and focus high power electromagnetic transmitters to burn out the amplifying circuitry of their electronic sensors. The AGI crews then revealed their ship-handling skills using superior maneuverability to evade the destroyers' intentions. This jousting in international waters
176:
with cargo and passengers during the 1920s and 1930s. Starting in 1933 as a station ship she was assigned to monitor internal
Japanese Fleet frequencies and direction finder azimuths. She had three intercept operators and one chief radioman supervised by an officer.
390:, it garnered attention from many Soviet spy trawlers. A year later, the radar station was shut down due to interference. The source of the interference was never confirmed and some theories still hold Soviet countermeasures responsible.
311:
also have some of the capabilities of spy ships, and as they are controlled by their national governments, they are also intermittently used for similar purposes, such as tracking enemy missile tests.
208:. During that era, the United States fielded about 80 vessels, usually classified as "environmental research" craft, while the Soviet Union had around 60 ships, often converted trawlers or
334:
An AGI might be assigned to a single patrol station for as long as six months. These ships were not fast enough to keep up with most warships, but they sometimes congregated around
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equipment, thus functioning as auxiliary spy ships tracking western naval vessels and electronic communications (though their main function remained commercial fishing).
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missile and the locations of the submarines capable of launching them. While the Soviet Navy requested more sophisticated ships, they were allocated trawlers (called
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1193:
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39:
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188:, and they are in use by all major powers. Their uses, in addition to listening in on communications and spy on enemy fleet movements, were to monitor
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204:"signatures" – the patterns of noise that could often identify the specific type of submarine and were thus valuable in
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Spy ships in the modern sense of being specially built and entirely dedicated to intelligence tasks came into being during the early
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was not strictly a spy ship, being used for space tracking, there is some overlap between her capabilities and those of a spy ship.
415:
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607:
1378:
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477:
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65:
209:
200:). One of the most important functions for both Cold War spy ship fleets, especially in the 1960s, was the gathering of
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320:
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and ground stations provided significant intelligence before the
Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941.
1373:
926:
DOCID: 3362395 - Approved for
Release by NSA. on 06-16-2008, FOIA Case #51505 - UNCLASSIFIED See pages 31 & 32.
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305:), the monitoring is usually much more efficient and in some respects better than even that of spy satellites.
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282:. Sometimes however, active measures such as radar or sonar may also be used to detect the movement of
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112:, due to the high costs and advanced equipment required. They tend to be parts of the nation's
1311:[Construction of the second electronic reconnaissance ship for the Navy has started].
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in 1960, the Soviet Union attempted to obtain more information about the capabilities of the
335:
105:. In a wider sense, any ship intended to gather information could be considered a spy ship.
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communications. This is mostly done via passive means such as radio receivers or passive
900:"The Origination and Evolution of Radio Traffic Analysis - The Period between the Wars"
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was known for having equipped many of their thousands of ships with sophisticated
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or other vehicles or troops. However, this risks revealing the ship's purpose.
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1309:"Ruszyła budowa 2. okrętu rozpoznania elektronicznego dla Marynarki Wojennej"
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358:, or in suspected patrol areas of ballistic missile submarines. After the
254:(or at least outside territorial waters), so as to not violate territorial
235:
17:
879:. December 1973. United States Naval Institute Proceedings. pp. 68–69
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In 1972, as the U.S. and U.K. partners started operating radar station
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973:"Moscow's South Pacific Fishing Fleet Is Much More Than It Seems"
149:
An early version of what would become known as a spy ship is the
1141:
Gregory, William H. (1984). "Their
Tattletales (Our Problems)".
898:
National
Security Agency - Naval Security Agency Report (1986).
291:
197:
113:
94:
1338:"Russian Ships Near Data Cables Are Too Close for U.S. Comfort"
1295:"Pakistan gets spy ship from China to track ballistic missiles"
1092:
134:
1194:"India commissions secretive nuclear missile tracking vessel"
374:
to come alongside the AGIs to push against them, foul their
1270:"New spy vessel to keep track with "unpredictable" Russia"
1245:"Spy ship changes name and continues intelligence mission"
1000:"Legislative group says fishermen are spying for Beijing"
1219:"Norge får to spionskip - satser store summer på "Eger""
595:
List of active
Russian Navy ships#Special-purpose ships
258:. From there, it will use its electronic equipment to
1336:Sanger, David E.; Schmitt, Eric (26 October 2015).
1049:
30:"Spy Ship" redirects here. For the 1942 film, see
1051:"Soviet Spy Ship Waiting to Observe Trident Test"
301:area than a fixed installation (given a close by
1120:"Cold War Warriors: Spy Ships - Theirs and Ours"
813:(a class of US spy ships of the early Cold War)
108:Spy ships are usually controlled by a nation's
8:
1171:"The eerie emptiness of 'Britain's Area 51'"
909:. National Security Agency. Archived from
319:As the United States Navy began deploying
270:frequencies and also try to intercept and
1173:. British Broadcasting Corporation Future
876:USS Gold Star - Flagship of the Guam Navy
845:French, Howard W. (12 September 2002).
837:
141:are sometimes also called "spy ships".
1164:
1162:
1113:
1111:
1020:"Spy Ship Off L.I. Awaits Trident Sub"
934:
932:
381:U.S.–Soviet Incidents at Sea agreement
116:, though they may also be operated by
126:masquerade as civilian ships such as
7:
1068:from the original on 23 October 2012
297:As it is located much closer to the
101:, usually by means of sophisticated
27:Ship intended to gather intelligence
133:Ships which are used to infiltrate
971:Kim, Byung Ki (6 September 1988).
196:launches (especially of potential
25:
948:. 2 February 1968. Archived from
164:, which made frequent voyages to
1249:The Independent Barents Observer
379:continued until signing of the
215:In the late 1980s, the Soviet
1:
1384:Electronic intelligence ships
1317:(in Polish). 15 November 2023
1153:United States Naval Institute
847:"Suspected Spy Ship Salvaged"
437:Yuan Wang-class tracking ship
1192:Puby, Manu (16 March 2021).
998:Lu, Fiona (16 August 2003).
321:ballistic missile submarines
250:A spy ship usually stays in
1088:"Don't Arm Serbs, US Warns"
873:Lademan, J. U. Jr. (1973).
352:United States Seventh Fleet
1400:
977:Asian Studies Backgrounder
29:
1122:. Emmitsburg News-Journal
481:-class fleet service ship
344:United States Sixth Fleet
1314:National Security Bureau
627:-class intelligence ship
619:-class intelligence ship
611:-class intelligence ship
603:-class surveillance ship
103:electronic eavesdropping
981:The Heritage Foundation
811:Technical research ship
51:technical research ship
826:Battle of Amami-Ōshima
771:Private Jose F. Valdez
247:
206:anti-submarine warfare
82:
54:
787:Sgt. Joseph E. Muller
779:LT. James E. Robinson
364:Joint Chiefs of Staff
262:sea and air traffic,
238:
91:reconnaissance vessel
60:
42:
1379:Signals intelligence
1369:Espionage techniques
1062:The Associated Press
1028:The Associated Press
987:on 28 February 2009.
916:on 18 September 2013
520:Royal Norwegian Navy
360:Cuban Missile Crisis
252:international waters
940:"The Ferret Fleets"
368:counter AGI program
315:Soviet AGI trawlers
97:intended to gather
1343:The New York Times
1198:The Economic Times
1057:The New York Times
1024:The New York Times
952:on 24 October 2008
852:The New York Times
699:United States Navy
427:Type 814A spy ship
370:for United States
248:
83:
55:
1374:Espionage devices
432:Type 815 spy ship
422:Type 813 spy ship
394:List of spy ships
336:aircraft carriers
16:(Redirected from
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1297:. 18 March 2024.
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1064:. 14 June 1981.
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983:. Archived from
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453:(Decommissioned)
309:Tracking vessels
212:research ships.
128:fishing trawlers
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1274:Barentsobserver
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1169:Piesing, Mark.
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581:Henryk Zygalski
396:
354:in the western
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274:coded radio or
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217:fisheries fleet
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118:secret services
93:is a dedicated
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32:Spy Ship (film)
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1225:(in Norwegian)
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1118:Murphy, John.
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1096:. 3 April 1999
1079:
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1030:. 13 June 1981
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340:air operations
325:UGM-27 Polaris
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139:special forces
124:Naval trawlers
76:reconnaissance
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37:
33:
19:
1341:
1331:
1319:. Retrieved
1312:
1303:
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1277:. Retrieved
1273:
1264:
1252:. Retrieved
1248:
1239:
1227:. Retrieved
1222:
1213:
1201:. Retrieved
1197:
1187:
1175:. Retrieved
1148:
1142:
1136:
1126:14 September
1124:. Retrieved
1098:. Retrieved
1091:
1082:
1070:. Retrieved
1055:
1044:
1032:. Retrieved
1023:
1014:
1008:. p. 3.
1005:Taipei Times
1003:
993:
985:the original
976:
966:
954:. Retrieved
950:the original
943:
918:. Retrieved
911:the original
906:
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881:. Retrieved
875:
868:
856:. Retrieved
850:
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770:
762:
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746:
738:
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706:
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684:Turkish Navy
675:
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653:Swedish Navy
645:
641:Spanish Navy
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589:Russian Navy
580:
572:
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506:Italian Navy
478:
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444:Finnish Navy
416:Chinese Navy
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210:hydrographic
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66:
61:
45:
36:
1144:Proceedings
674:HSwMS
666:HSwMS
658:HSwMS
617:Yury Ivanov
558:Polish Navy
488:Indian Navy
473:German Navy
459:French Navy
338:conducting
329:tra-ou-lery
174:Philippines
80:German Navy
18:Spying ship
1364:Ship types
1358:Categories
1279:19 October
1254:19 October
1229:19 October
1100:31 January
1072:31 January
1034:31 January
956:31 January
858:31 January
832:References
785:USNS
777:USNS
769:USNS
763:Palm Beach
715:Georgetown
676:Carlskrona
593:See also:
493:INS Anvesh
388:Cobra Mist
372:destroyers
299:surveilled
155:cargo ship
110:government
53:", in 1967
1177:9 January
793:USS
761:USS
753:USS
745:USS
737:USS
729:USS
723:Jamestown
721:USS
713:USS
705:USS
689:TCG
601:Primor'ye
579:ORP
573:Hydrograf
571:ORP
565:Nawigator
563:ORP
499:INS Dhruv
406:ARA
383:in 1972.
303:shoreline
231:Operation
202:submarine
179:Gold Star
160:Gold Star
158:USS
153:civilian
44:USS
1203:16 March
1155:: 97–99.
1066:Archived
821:incident
805:See also
288:missiles
284:aircraft
243:Vanguard
186:Cold War
172:and the
87:spy ship
1321:30 July
819:Liberty
739:Liberty
731:Belmont
660:Artemis
625:Vishnya
534:Marjata
526:Marjata
512:Elettra
346:in the
342:of the
272:decrypt
260:monitor
256:borders
194:missile
145:History
46:Liberty
979:(80).
920:4 June
883:24 May
795:Sphinx
755:Pueblo
747:Banner
707:Oxford
646:Alerta
633:Yantar
609:Balzam
550:Rizwan
536:(2014)
528:(1992)
408:Narwal
376:screws
362:, the
239:While
221:SIGINT
69:-class
1151:(2).
914:(PDF)
903:(PDF)
668:Orion
292:ships
280:sonar
276:phone
268:radar
264:radio
241:USNS
225:ELINT
198:ICBMs
170:China
166:Japan
135:spies
72:ELINT
64:, an
49:, a "
1323:2024
1281:2017
1256:2017
1231:2017
1205:2021
1179:2023
1128:2016
1102:2018
1074:2018
1036:2018
958:2018
945:Time
922:2014
885:2012
860:2018
817:USS
691:Ufuk
548:PNS
479:Oste
266:and
223:and
192:and
114:navy
95:ship
74:and
67:Oste
62:Oker
1149:110
1093:BBC
907:NSA
350:or
137:or
89:or
1360::
1340:.
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