Station S
The Research Desk at OP-20G first established Station S in 1932 at Fort Stevens, just outside of Astoria, Oregon. Chief Radioman Dorman Chauncey, one of the first five self-taught On-The-Roof Gang members known as Class #0, assessed the location wasn't optimal for intercept operations, but the site was vacant and ready for occupation. More valuable, the site would be co-located with a main U.S. Navy radio station, callsign "NUZ," which could procure radio equipment without drawing undue attention and would help keep maintenance costs for the intercept site down.
In 1939, the Navy Radio Station at Fort Stevens closed and Station S moved to Fort Ward on Bainbridge Island, Washington, in Puget Sound, where it remained through the end of World War II. Station S provided unique coverage of Japanese diplomatic communications.
In November 1941, On-The-Roof Gang operators there intercepted a Japanese diplomatic broadcast explaining the implementation of the "Winds Execute" code, wherein Japanese authorities would secretly communicate their intentions regarding diplomatic relations with three named countries by coding it into a broadcasted weather phrase. There were three possible phrases, each unique and signifying the state of relations with one of the three countries: the United States, Great Britain, or Russia.
Station S also intercepted the famous "14 Part Message," which was the final communication from Japan to the Japanese Embassy in Washington, DC prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor. The message was meant to be translated into English by the Japanese Ambassador's staff and delivered to the White House before the attack, but translation difficulties at the Japanese embassy delayed the delivery of the message until after the attack.
Station S eventually assumed responsibility for training USN Radiomen in the radio intelligence skill of copying the Kata Kana telegraphic code after the famous "On-The-Roof Gang" classroom in Washington, DC was closed.