Bravo Zulu, and others

[Skyray]

Roger, Wilco, Over and Out.

[wrpawson]

I spent 7 years in the Navy, leaving at the end of 1981. "BZ" was a part of the Navy lexicon then -- and I assume it still is now. It is not surprising that the Coast Guard uses it, too, as they use many of the same resources the Navy does.

BZ does not come from the International Code of Signals (at least it was not part of it back when I was in the Navy). The ICS is a book of pennant and Morse signals that ships of any country can use to communicate with other ships even when you do not speak the same language -- but it is for merchant ships (and the Navy often has to deal with them, so we learned how to use the code, as well -- but we did not use this code to communicate Navy ship to Navy ship).

BZ comes from another code book of signals for use by Navy (and allied) ships to communicate with each other. However, this code book is a classified document. So while I could tell you more I'd then have to kill you all -- and then what would be the point of being a forum of one?

OK -- enough levity. Actually, while the book is classified, I can't reveal anything that would compromise security because the codes change every year or so (if I recall correctly). In fact, we were told NOT to memorize the codes (a) because we were required to ALWAYS use the book to decode messages in order to avoid things like collisions if we depended on what we THOUGHT the code meant, and (b) because the codes change every few years and if you decoded it properly by memory a year after it changed you could really screw up, and (c) so you would not compromise security if the commies took you as a POW and tortured you for information (however, we are also told that no sooner was the new code book distributed to NATO than the Soviets had a copy too, so they would be torturing us for the fun of it and not for the code book information, so don't be fooled when they shove the bamboo under the fingernails).

All this said, some codes never change. Like BZ has always meant "Well Done." When I was in Naval OCS the instructor asked who knew what it meant. Of course us former whitehats all raised our hands and one guy gave the correct answer. For which he was reamed a new you know what for having memorized a code -- much to the amusement of the rest of the class.

When we were being tested on use of the code book -- by means of a set of little metal signal flags "hoisted" on a small magnetic flagpole -- I still recall that the first signal decoded to "concentrate dummy".
The last code was "Rendezvous at the datum" which means "go to the last place a submarine was known to be" -- but the Datum was also the name of a watering hole on the base. A place more fun to go than the last known location of a sub.

Did any of this help answer the question?

Bill Pawson

[RiverAux]

Sorry, I'll go with the Navy's official version which was cited earlier.  http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq101-2.htm

"Bravo Zulu"
This is a naval signal, conveyed by flaghoist or voice radio, meaning "well done"; it has also passed into the spoken and written vocabulary. It can be combined with the "negative" signal, spoken or written NEGAT, to say "NEGAT Bravo Zulu," or "not well done."

There are some "myths and legends" attached to this signal. The one most frequently heard has Admiral Halsey sending it to ships of Task Force 38 during World War II. He could not have done this, since the signal did not exist at that time.

"Bravo Zulu" actually comes from the Allied Naval Signal Book (ACP 175 series), an international naval signal code adopted after the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was created in 1949. Until then, each navy had used its own signal code and operational manuals. World War II experience had shown that it was difficult, or even impossible, for ships of different navies to operate together unless they could readily communicate, and ACP 175 was designed to remedy this.

In the U.S. Navy signal code, used before ACP 175, "well done" was signaled as TVG, or "Tare Victor George" in the U.S. phonetic alphabet of that time. ACP 175 was organized in the general manner of other signal books, that is, starting with 1-flag signals, then 2-flag and so on. The 2-flag signals were organized by general subject, starting with AA, AB, AC, ... AZ, BA, BB, BC, ... BZ, and so on. The B- signals were called "Administrative" signals, and dealt with miscellaneous matters of administration and housekeeping. The last signal on the "Administrative" page was BZ, standing for "well done."

At that time BZ was not rendered as "Bravo Zulu," but in each navy's particular phonetic alphabet. In the U.S. Navy, BZ was spoken as "Baker Zebra." In the meanwhile, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) had adopted English as the international air traffic control language. They developed a phonetic alphabet for international aviation use, designed to be as "pronounceable" as possible by flyers and traffic controllers speaking many different languages. This was the "Alfa, Bravo, Charlie, Delta..." alphabet used today. The Navy adopted this ICAO alphabet in March 1956. It was then that "Baker Zebra" finally became "Bravo Zulu."

[wrpawson]

What an odd reply. "Sorry"? For what?

Your "official Navy version" only substantiates what I wrote -- the code is NOT from the ICS, as someone else suggested , but from the Navy signal book used by NATO. How and when it originated or whose "idea" it was was not part of my discussion, which included some (IMHO) funny sea stories thrown in from my personal experience. So what are you "Sorry" about, since your offering only adds to mine rather than contradicting it? Or perhaps mine adds to the citation you point to as having been referenced earlier (must be in another thread as i don't find it in the current one). But I think starting your reply with "Sorry" was a bit off base.

[RiverAux]

Look at the third post in this very thread...

[wrpawson]

Thank you for revealing the location of the link. I had to look hard to realize there was a link in the third posting. But finally deduced that I should click on the words "Bravo Zulu". I'm still learning how to use this forum system.

However, the official article still doesn't contradict what I wrote -- but supplements it -- or perhaps better said, I supplement the article. And BZ still is from the NATO code book not the ICS code book.

The use of "Bravo Zulu" in pronouncing BZ comes from the ICAO phonetic alphabet, not the ICS code book, although the signals in the ICS are pronounced in accordance with the ICAO alphabet. But that is a different issue than where the signal itself came from.

And my sea stories about learning how to use the code book are still amusing (at least I think so).

So, what is at issue here? I think nothing is -- we all seem to be in agreement about the source of BZ -- except a reply post curiously begun with the word "Sorry" that seemed to be a non sequitur. And I believe we are done discussing that.

Incidentally, in hopes of keeping terminology correct, "BZ" is a FLAG signal, not a pennant signal. It may be a fine distinction, but it is an important one when sending code -- pennants are shaped like elongated triangles, whereas signal flags are rectangular shaped. Pennants represent numbers (read as pennant 1, pennant 2, pennant 3, etc) and "repeats" of the flag or pennant immediately above it (read as 1st sub, 2nd sub, 3rd sub, 4th sub) and a number of other specialty signals (such as "divine worship" using the church pennant), whereas signal flags represent letters of the alphabet and numbers, pronounced using the international phonetic alphabet. Somewhere around the house I still have a deck of cards with all the flags and pennants that I got in the Navy for use to practice learning them.

[RiverAux]

I meant "sorry, but I'll take the Navy's official word on the subject" rather than that of someone going all secret squirrel about it."  Not saying that you're wrong, just that there is no need to start referring to "classified" information when the story is already out there.

[wrpawson]

Referring to the classified nature of the code was part of the gratuitous  levity. It was part of the set up for what followed.

In fact, the code book IS a classified document, and we were ordered not to memorize the codes. But of course, the ones that never change, like BZ, get memorized anyway. Which puts us all in violation for compromising security -- which is why the instructor had such fun with the fellow who answered his question about what BZ meant.

Applying common sense, it is an "open secret" -- and such a low level "housekeeping" signal that it doesn't really matter that we all know it and use it so freely -- which is why we have not all been court martialed for memorizing it.