description
Object description
Short recruitment film concentrating on the rôle of the Royal Navy's 'communicators' - the officers which use radio, teleprinters and all forms of naval communications.
Full description
Opening with an extract from wartime training film (SEA CADETS ?) showing "sparkers" training in Morse and semaphore; in the modern Royal Navy, these are now referred to as "communicators" and now make use of teleprinters rather than Morse. Training takes place at HMS Mercury shore station near Portsmouth: lectures and practical work are briefly shown, and the two branches - RO (Tactical) and RO (General) - described. All communicators are primarily sailors, and do their share of routine tasks (cleaning weapons, swabbing floors). Teleprinter communications shown in detail. Ship's main communications office where different parts of the ship can be patched together. Finally, the importance of the role of communications is emphasised by briefly dramatising (using stock footage) a security alert where ships and helicopters team up to scare off an enemy vessel.
Physical description
U-matic
