• Telefunken

     
    In 1911, the Atlantic Communication Company (American subsidiary of the German company Telefunken), began constructing the most powerful and technologically advanced commercial radio stations in America. It was completed in 1912 on 102-acre site in Sayville. It became known as the “Great Sayville Station” and was the first radio station to consistently span the Atlantic, exchanging traffic daily with its sister station in Nauen, Germany. On February 3, 1917, two months before the US declared war on Germany, the US Navy took over the Sayville station. After the navy took over the station, they did a general upgrade of the sites facilities. A new building for housing the transmitter began being built in early 1918, and by July, the new transmitter was installed. Within four months, the war ended and the significance of the station gradually declined. On October 1, 1925, Telefunken was placed on inactive service, and only a caretaker occupied the site.

    Another interesting note about the station is that two major messages were sent out of the station in code. First to waiting submarines at sea, and second to the German Foreign Minister Zimmerman to Mexico. The message to the submarine spelled out the location of the Lusitania, and the message of the minister was to ask that country to attack the US and divert them from the European War. The message was decoded by the British and forwarded to President Wilson, which then sent the US went to war.

    No buildings exist today, but the foundations, and all three inner and outer anchorages still exist.
    There are also many old electric poles still standing and scattered throughout you will see some old electronics.


    References:
    www.liwhs.org/navy.html
    www.liwhs.org/telefunken.html
    www.sayville.com/wireless.html


VSA Addons by Inflikted