Signal code letters allocated 1886-1947

(New page revised 8 August 2004)

The following table indicates the initial letters of the four-letter signal codes allocated by leading maritime nations (other than the United States and Great Britain) for selected years in the period 1886 to 1932 as shown in the national lists included in the appendices to the Lloyd’s Universal Register of 1886 and Lloyd’s Register 1890-1932. (There may be other lists or codes allocated by other nations: the table represents what was included in Lloyd’s.) It will serve to illustrate how much duplication there was until the system was reformed. However, as discussed elsewhere on this site, the signal letters can be used as ship identifiers for research purposes provided the nation, year of construction and means of propulsion are also used in conjunction.

Only the initial letters are shown in the table for reasons of space. Thus H will indicate a range such as HBCD to HWRD for that nation in that year. The first and last four letter codes for each initial letter for each nation for the years in the table are available upon request in Excel or Quattro Pro spreadsheet format to assist projects to more fully document signal codes or to document ships using signal codes as identifiers (email address at end of item or on home page).

Also shown in the right hand column are the unique code ranges subsequently allocated by international agreement*, principally to illustrate how radically the earlier system was changed to avoid duplication of codes. Again, only the initial letters are shown**. Generally codes are shown only for those nations in the earlier part of the table. They are from a 1947 source but, subject to confirmation, they are probably the new codes issued during the 1930’s or with only minor revisions as, despite its date, the list includes codes for three nations and the Free City of Danzig that were absorbed by the USSR and Germany at the outbreak of World War II so its origins predate that. Codes were also allocated to many other nations not shown in the table irrespective of whether they owned many or any ships as the new codes also covered aircraft. Since 1947 signal codes have become alphanumeric and of varying length within the limits of internationally recognised conventions to avoid duplication but I have not explored further revisions to the system in fuller depth.

* As far as I know as they came into force on 1 January 1934, subject to confirmation.

** Thus, for example, only British codes after this date commence with G or M and only Danish codes are in the range OUA to OZZ.

It will be apparent that the 1930’s change in the system was radical. I have not explored the stability of codes for individual ships during the period after 1932 or their potential as database identifiers as they are irrelevant to databases of merchant sailing ships. I hope that someone researching steam and motor ships or 20^th century shipping in general will follow up that aspect. I would be happy to discuss my experience with anyone wanting to research that.

Nation	1886	1890	1895	1903	1913	1920*	1932	1947	Nation
Argentina	-	-	-	-	-	-	H	LOA - LWZ	Argentina
Austria	H	H	H	H	H	-	-	OEA - OEZ	Austria
Austria	J	J	J	J	J	-	-		Austria
Belgium	-	-	G	G	G	G	G	ONA - OTZ	Belgium
Belgium	M	M	M	M	M	M	M		Belgium
Brazil	-	H	-	-	-	-	-	PPA - PYZ	Brazil
Brazil	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	ZVA - ZZZ	Brazil
Chile	-	H	H	?	H	H	H	CAA - CEZ	Chile
Denmark	H	H	-	-	-	-	-	OUA - OZZ	Denmark
Denmark	K	K	K	K	K	K	K		Denmark
Denmark	L	L	L	L	L	-	-		Denmark
Denmark	M	M	M	-	-	-	-		Denmark
Denmark	N	N	N	N	N	N	N		Denmark
Estonia	-	-	-	-	-	-	H	ESA - ESZ	Estonia
Finland	-	-	-	-	-	Q	Q	OFA - OJZ	Finland
Finland	-	-	-	-	-	R	R		Finland
Finland	-	-	-	-	-	S	S		Finland
Finland	-	-	-	-	-	T	T		Finland
Finland	-	-	-	-	-	V	V		Finland
Finland	-	-	-	-	-	W	W		Finland
France	H	H	H	H	H	H	-	F	France
France	J	J	J	J	J	J	-	HWA - HYZ	France
France	K	K	K	K	K	K	-	THA - THZ	France
France	L	L	L	L	L	L	-	TJA - TZZ	France
France	M	-	-	-	-	-	-	XVA - XWZ	France
France	N	-	-	-	-	-	-		France
France	-	-	-	-	-	-	O		France
Germany	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	D	Germany
Germany	J	J	J	J	J	J	J	EZA - EZZ	Germany
Germany	K	K	K	K	K	K	K		Germany
Germany	L	L	L	L	L	L	L		Germany
Germany	M	M	M	M	M	M	M		Germany
Germany	N	N	N	N	N	N	N		Germany
Germany	P	P	P	P	P	P	P		Germany
Germany	Q	Q	Q	Q	Q	Q	Q		Germany
Germany	R	R	R	R	R	R	R		Germany
Germany	-	-	-	S	S	-	-		Germany
Germany	-	-	-	-	T	-	-		Germany
Greece	-	-	-	-	H	H	H	SVA - SZZ	Greece
Greece	-	-	-	-	-	-	J		Greece
Iceland	-	-	-	-	-	L	L	TFA - TFZ	Iceland
Italy	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	I	Italy
Italy	P	P	P	P	P	P	P		Italy
Italy	Q	Q	Q	Q	Q	Q	-		Italy
Italy	R	R	R	R	R	R	-		Italy
Italy	S	S	S	S	S	S	-		Italy
Japan	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	J	Japan
Japan	-	-	-	J	J	J	J	EKA - EKZ	Japan
Japan	-	-	-	K	K	K	K	EMA - EOZ	Japan
Japan	-	-	-	-	L	L	L	ERA - ERZ	Japan
Japan	-	-	-	-	-	M	M	EUA - EYZ	Japan
Japan	-	-	-	-	-	N	N	HGA - HGZ	Japan
Japan	-	-	-	-	P	P	P	HLA - HMZ	Japan
Japan	-	-	-	-	-	Q	Q		Japan
Japan	-	-	-	-	-	R	R		Japan
Japan	-	-	-	-	-	-	S		Japan
Japan	-	-	-	-	-	-	T		Japan
Japan	-	-	-	-	-	-	V		Japan
Latvia	-	-	-	-	-	-	H	YLA - YLZ	Latvia
Latvia	-	-	-	-	-	-	J		Latvia
Latvia	-	-	-	-	-	-	T		Latvia
Netherlands	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	PAA - PIZ	Netherlands
Netherlands	P	P	P	P	P	P	P		Netherlands
Netherlands	Q	Q	Q	Q	Q	Q	Q		Netherlands
Netherlands	T	T	T	T	T	T	T		Netherlands
Norway	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	LAA - LNZ	Norway
Norway	J	J	J	J	J	J	J		Norway
Norway	-	-	-	K	K	K	K		Norway
Norway	-	-	-	-	-	-	L		Norway
Norway	-	-	-	M	M	M	M		Norway
Norway	W	W	W	W	W	W	W		Norway
Portugal	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	CSA - CUZ	Portugal
Portugal	-	-	-		L	L	L		Portugal
Portugal	-	-	-	M	M	M	M		Portugal
Portugal	-	-	-	N	N	-	-		Portugal
Portugal	-	-	-	-	-	-	T		Portugal
Portugal	-	-	-	V	V	V	V		Portugal
Roumania	-	-	-	-	P	-	-	YOA - YRZ	Roumania
Russia	-	-	-	H	H	H	-	R	Russia
Russia	-	-	-	-	I	I	-	U	Russia
Russia	-	-	-	J	J	J	-	YKA - YKZ	Russia
Russia	-	-	-	-	K	K	-	YXA - YZZ	Russia
Russia	-	-	-	L	L	L	-		Russia
Russia	-	-	-	M	M	M	-		Russia
Russia	-	-	-	N	N	N	-		Russia
Russia	-	-	-	-	O	O	-		Russia
Russia	-	-	-	P	P	P	-		Russia
Russia	-	-	-	Q	Q	-	-		Russia
Russia	-	-	-	R	R	-	-		Russia
Russia	-	-	-	S	S	-	-		Russia
Russia	-	-	-	T	T	-	-		Russia
Russia	-	-	-	V	V	-	-		Russia
Russia	-	-	-	W	-	-	-		Russia
Spain	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	EAA - EHZ	Spain
Spain	J	J	J	J	J	J	J		Spain
Spain	K	K	K	-	-	-	K		Spain
Spain	L	L	L	-	-	-	L		Spain
Spain	M	M	M	-	-	-	M		Spain
Spain	N	N	N	-	-	-	-		Spain
Spain	P	P	P	-	-	-	-		Spain
Spain	Q	-	-	-	-	-	-		Spain
Spain	R	R	R	-	-	-	-		Spain
Spain	S	S	S	-	-	-	-		Spain
Spain	T	T	T	-	-	-	-		Spain
Spain	V	V	V	-	-	-	-		Spain
Sweden	-	-	-	-	-	-	G	SAA - SMZ	Sweden
Sweden	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	YTA - YUZ	Sweden
Sweden	-	-	J	J	J	J	J		Sweden
Sweden	-	-	-	-	-	K	K		Sweden
Great Britain								G	Great Britain
Great Britain								M	Great Britain
United States								K	United States
United States								N	United States
United States								W	United States

Keep scrolling down for links.

* the 1920 column entry for Germany is for 1924.

Entries in the right hand column are only for the metropolitan nation unless the allocation covers both nation and colonies, whereas the codes for earlier years cover both. The full listing of codes introduced in the 1930s is much longer. The intention is simply to illustrate how radical the change was for those nations which had formerly issued codes as discussed elsewhere on this site. No significance should be attached to which line the 1947 codes are entered in. They are simply listed in alphabetic order for each nation for practical reasons.

No attempt is made to show British and American codes for the earlier period. Each jurisdiction used several initial letters also used by the other nations.

Acknowledgement: Brian Cave for assistance with the 1947 codes.

Information sought: Can anyone with access to a Brown’s Signalling Manual for 1934 or 1935 or some other suitable source please confirm that the 1947 codes are as adopted in 1934.

Please direct comments and information to j_lowe@ihug.co.nz

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